Pec 9 lesson 5

00. Illiterate adj. unable to read and write, knowing little or nothing about a particular subject:
A surprising percentage of the population is illiterate.
computer illiterate financially/technologically

1. avid adj. extremely eager or interested:

an avid football fan
an avid supporter of the arts
He took an avid interest in the project.

1. prolific adj. producing a great number or amount of something:

He was probably the most prolific songwriter of his generation.
Rabbits and other rodents are prolific (= have a lot of babies).

3 survey n. an activity in which many people are asked questions in order to gather information about what
most people do or think about something.
We are conducting a survey to find out what our customers think of their local bus service
A recent survey found/revealed/showed that 58 percent of people did not know where their heart is.
to conduct/carry out/do a survey

4. Average he result you get by adding two or more amounts together and dividing the total by the number of amounts:
The average of the three numbers 7, 12, and 20 is 13, because the total of 7, 12, and 20 is 39, and 39
divided by 3 is 13.
Prices have risen by an average of four percent over the past year.
My income's rather variable, but I earn £175 a day on average.
6. Unmissable adj. when something is so obvious that you can not miss it, you can say it is unmissable

6. Trend a general change in a situation or in the way that people are behaving.

9 to slouch to stand, sit, or walk with the shoulders hanging forward and the head bent slightly over so that you
look tired and bored:
Straighten your back - try not to slouch.
A couple of boys were slouched over the table reading magazines.
A group of teenagers were slouching around outside the building.

9. To avert to prevent something bad from happening:

to avert a crisis/conflict/strike/famine
to avert disaster/economic collapse

10. to tap to touch the screen of a phone, tablet computer, etc. in order to give an instruction for something to happen :
You can manage the repeat and shuffle options by tapping the screen once and swiping to the left.
When I tapped on the update button, the screen went blank.
10. Tapping hitting something lightly

10. Oblivious adj. not conscious of something, especially what is happening around you:
Absorbed in her work, she was totally oblivious of her surroundings.

11. Surroundings all of the things near or around a person, animal or thing

14. all the way as much as possible or completely

If you want to bring it up with the boss, I'll support you all the way.

16. Cursory quick and probably not detailed:

a cursory glance/look
a cursory examination
17.to glance to give a quick short look:
 She glanced around/round the room to see who was there.
He glanced up from his book as I passed.
Could you glance over/through this letter and see if it's alright?

17 . buzz to make a continuous, low sound such as the one a bee makes:
I can hear something buzzing.

17. to signal to make a movement, sound, flash, etc. that gives information or tells people what to do:
Flashing lights on a parked car usually signal a warning (to other drivers).
She signalled to the cars behind her that they were going the wrong way.

17 . signal an action, movement, or sound that gives information, a message, a warning, or an order:
When she gave (them) the signal, they all cheered.
The police officer gave us the signal to stop.

19. gigantic extremely large:

a gigantic statue
The cost has been gigantic.
20. Asteroid n. one of many large rocks that circle the sun

20. to engulf to surround and cover something or someone completely:

The flames rapidly engulfed the house.
Northern areas of the country were engulfed by/in a snowstorm last night.
The war is threatening to engulf the entire region.

21. Lithe able to move easily and gracefully

23. Inane adj. extremely silly or with no real meaning or importance:

He's always making inane remarks.
There are too many inane quiz shows on television these days.

24. Throwing stones in a glass house , from the expression people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones,
which means that you should not criticize other people for having faults that you yourself have .

29. quaint adj. can also be used to show that you do not approve of something, especially an opinion, belief, or
way of behaving, because it is strange or old-fashioned:
"What a quaint idea!" she said, laughing at him.

29 to pick up LEARN pick something ↔ up to learn something by watching or listening to other people
I picked up a few words of Greek when I was there last year.
Mary watched the other dancers to see if she could pick up any tips.

31. to nest to build a nest, or live in a nest:

We've got some swallows nesting in our roof at the moment.
Farm buildings are ideal nesting sites for barn owls.
31. Cuckoolike

(S. he means that teenagers always seem to have their cellphones in their hands . )

31 palm the inside part of your hand from your wrist to the base of your fingers:

This tiny device fits into the palm of your hand.

34. survey n. an activity in which many people are asked questions in order to gather information about what most people
do or think about something.
an examination of opinions, behaviour, etc., made by asking people questions:
A recent survey found/revealed/showed that 58 percent of people did not know where their heart is.
to conduct/carry out/do a survey
41 freshman a student in the first year of high school, college, or university:
 He's a freshman at Harvard.
Greg and Jody met in their freshman year at college and married soon after they graduated.

44. literate able to read and write

Over the last hundred years, people have become healthier, more literate, and better educated.

48. assessment is the act of making a judgment about someone or something .

49. gap an empty space or opening in the middle of something or between two things:
The children squeezed through a gap in the wall.
She has a small gap between her front teeth.

54. to cut somebody off from something to prevent someone from having something that they need or want
The project aims to ensure that poorer people are not cut off from the benefits of computer technology.

57. core curriculum/subjects/skills etc.

subjects that have to be studied at a school or college

57. undergraduate N. a student who is studying for their first degree at a college or university
a student who is studying for their first degree at a college or university

60. upcoming adj Tickets are selling well for the group's upcoming concert tour.

Accused
Against
Ancestor
Case
Confess
Endowment
Engulfed
Glance
Human

Literate

district is a particular area in a town or country

reception is yhe act of receiving sounds and / or images on a cellphone , radio, or TV.

Syllabus is a list of the topics or books that will be studied in a course

Ancestor a person related to you who lived a long time ago:

There were portraits of his ancestors on the walls of the room.

Quaint is when something is attractive because it is unusual and and has a style that is a little old.

The mayor seems oblivious to the likely effects of the new legislation

the
Picked up
Remote
Required
Reveal
Syllabus
Tsunami an extremely large wave caused by a violent movement of the earth under the sea

Undergraduate
Civilizations human societies with their own social organizations and cultures.

The western the part of the world that includes Europe and North America

The upcoming happening soon

Surroundings all of the things near or around a person, animal or thing

Terrifying = extremely frightening

Gap the distance between two things

Terrifying extremely frightening

Dictionary entries

Canon n. a comprehensive list of books within an area of study.

Cu later NOT : ( informal written English ) = See you later. Not ( sad face )

Not interjection ( informal English ) from the entry for CU LATER NOT ) USED IN A JOKING MANNER TO INDICATE THAT A
PREVIOUS STATEMENT IS NOT TRUE. (E.G., That test was so easy . Not !)

The National Endowment for the Arts, or NEA, is an agency in the U.S. government that promotes growth and development of
the arts in the country .

Nielsen = the Nielsen company is an American marketing research company that studies consumers habits and behavior.

SMS = short message service

Unmissable adj. obvious , unable to be missed . (e.g., You must’ve noticed the unmissable fact that it’s raining. So we”ll have
to cancel the picnic.)

Young fingers will be typing – referring to young people typing text messages

illiterate

uneducated in the fundamentals of a branch of learning

The U.S. is producing civilizational illiterates.

avid

marked by active interest and enthusiasm

The good news is that today's teenagers are avid readers and prolific writers.
oblivious

lacking conscious awareness of

Even if you don't have teenage kids, you'll see other people's offspring slouching around, eyes averted, tapping away, oblivious
to their surroundings.

cursory

hasty and without attention to detail; not thorough

You might get a cursory glance before a buzz signals the arrival of the latest SMS.

inane

devoid of intelligence

Seconds before the earth is hit by a gigantic asteroid or engulfed by a super tsunami, millions of lithe young fingers will be
typing the human race's last inane words to itself

quaint

attractively old-fashioned

It's a quaint old habit I picked up as a kid, in the days before cellphones began nesting, cuckoolike, in the palms of the young.

proportion

relation with respect to comparative quantity or magnitude

the proportion of Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 who read a book not required at school or at work is now 50.7
percent, the lowest for any adult age group younger than 75

curriculum

an integrated course of academic studies

Do you have all--better make that any--of the books on the Columbia University undergraduate core curriculum?

canon

a collection of books accepted as holy scripture

It's not perfect, but it's as good a list of the canon of Western civilization as I know of.

propose

declare a plan for something

Reveal that this is in fact a reading party and that for the next two weeks reading is all you are proposing to do--apart from
eating, sleeping, and talking about the books.

Questions

1 . Who was this article written by ? by Niall Ferguson

2. What’s the article about ? texting make U stupid.

3. in this article, the author is worried that young Americans won’t be able to compete against the global rivals .

Why does he think so ?

4. according to the author, what is the good news about today’s teenagers ? Teenagers are avid readers and prolific writers.

And what is the bad news about them ? the bad news is that what they are reading and writing are text messages

5. According to a recent survey by Nielsen, what’s the average number of texts Americans between the ages of 13 and 17 send
and receive per month ? Americans between the ages of 13 and 17 send and receive an average of 3,339 texts per month.

6. And how many text messages do American teenage girls send and receive per month ?

Teenage girls send and receive more than 4,000.

7. What does the author mean when he says that text messaging is an unmissable trend ?
Unmissable adj. obvious , unable to be missed .
(e.g., You must’ve noticed the unmissable fact that it’s raining. So we”ll have to cancel the picnic.)

Do you agree or disagree with him ?

8. According to the author, how do teenagers behave when they are texting ?

9. How many of the Seven Wonders of the World can you name ?

(S. THE COLOSSUS OF RHODES, THE GREAT PIRAMID OF GIZA, THE HANGING GARDENS OF BABYLON, THE LIGHTHOUSE OF
ALEXANDRIA, THE MAUSOLEUM OF HALICARNASSUS, THE STATUE OF ZEUS AT OLYMPIA , THE TEMPLE OF ARTEMIS AT
EPHESUS.)

10. Do the seven wonders of the world exist?

(note to teachers: you might want to inform your students that only the Great Pyramid of Giza exists )

11.When the author says that a group of teenagers would be texting all the way if you look them to see the Seven Wonders of
the world, do you think he’s being serious or ironic ? explain

12. Did you know that the Adoration of the Magi, painted by the Italian painter Sandro Botticelly around 1475, shows three
Magi, or Kings, laying gifts before the baby Jesus?

13. According to the author, what would you probably happen if you showed a teenager Botticelli’s Adoration of the Magi ?

14. You know that an asteroid is any of the thousands of small planets that circle the sun, don’t you

What does the author think would probably happen seconds before the earth is hit by a gigantic asteroid or engulfed by a
super tsunami ?

15. Even though as asteroid is a small planet, if one were to hit the earth, would people see it as small or gigantic ?

16. who does the author refer to when he says “ millions of lithe young fingers will be typing the human race’s last inane
words to itself “ ?

17. Explain the last message the author thinks the teenagers might send to each other before the earth is hit by a gigantic
asteroid or engulfed by a super tsunami.18. Did you know that the expression People who live in glass houses shouldn’t
throw stone means that you shouldn’t criticize other people for having faults that you yourself have ?
18Did you know that the expression People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones means that you should not
criticize other people for having faults that you yourself have ?

19. So, what is the author implying when he says “ before I am accused of throwing stones in a glass house “ ?

20. How many emails does the author confess that he probably sends and receives a day ?

( in previous lessons you have seen e-mail written with a hyphen. In lesson 5 , you will see email written without a hyphen,
which is also commonly used and accepted )

21. according to the author, what is the difference between what he himself does and what teenagers do ?

(S. while many teenagers today don’t read, the author is an avid reader )

22. what does the author say about his habit of reading before cellphones become so much a part of teenagers ‘s lives ?

23. what does the author mean when he says “ before cellphones began nesting cuckoolike, in the palms of the young “ ?

(S. he means that teenagers always seem to have their cellphones in their hands . )

24.according tot eh author, what are the reading habits of today’s teenagers like ?

25. according to the most recent survey by the National Endowment for the Arts, what percentage of Americans between the
ages of 18 and 24 read a book not required at school or at work ?

26. According to the NEA, how many 13- year-old Americans read for pleasure every day ?

27. What fact in relation to college freshmen’s reading habits is terrifying the author as a professor ?

28.According to the author , how often do a third of American college seniors read for pleasure ?

29. Why do the reading habits of young Americans matter ? The author gives two reasons . Name the first reason .

30. What does this article say about the gap in reading ability between the 15-year-olds in the Shanghai district of China and
those in the United States ?

31. What is the second reason that reading habits of young Americans matter ?

32.What are some of the books the author thinks that people should have on their bookshelves ?

33. Where did the author get this list ?

34. Why does the author recommend this list ?

(S. because it’s as good as good a list of the canon of Western civilization as he knows of . )

35. If readers don’t have all the books on the list , what’s the first thing the author suggests that that readers do ?

36. When the author suggests a way to encourage teenagers to read more , is his suggestion addressed to teenage readers or
adult readers ?

37. according to the author , how can adult readers encourage their teenage children to read more ?

38. why is this article called Texting Makes U Stupid ?

C general questions
 1. How many messages do you send and receive a day ?
2. Are you a teenager like the ones described in this article who are avid readers and prolific writers ? explain.
3. Which do you read most today: newspapers, magazines, books, e-books, or text messages ? explain.
4. Have you read any of the books mentioned in this article ? Which one ? What is it about ?
5. In your opinion, how important is reading to today’s teenagers ?
6. in your opinion, is it really trued that today’s teen don’t read book as much as they did in the past ? explain.
7. Did you know that the word as has many uses ? For example, in this article when the author of this article says that
reading is a quaint old habit he picked up as a kid, what does he means by as a kid ? ( S. he means when he was a kid )

And when the author says that, as a professor , what terrified him was the fact that college student spend very little time
reading for pleasure , what does he mean by as a professor ? ( S. he means being a professor. )

8. Do you only read books that you have to read for school, or do you also rea for pleasure ? explain.
9. What do you think parents and teachers can do to get today’s teenagers to read more ?
10. 10. Do you agree with the title of this article Texting Make U Stupid ? explain
11. what

12. Texting Makes U Stupid

13. The good news is that today’s teenagers are avid readers and prolific writers. The bad news is that what they
are reading and writing are text messages.

According to a survey carried out last year by Nielsen, Americans between the ages of 13 and 17 send and
receive an average of 3,339 texts per month. Teenage girls send and receive more than 4,000.

It’s an unmissable trend. Even if you don’t have teenage kids, you’ll see other people’s offspring slouching
around, eyes averted, tapping away, oblivious to their surroundings. Take a group of teenagers to see the
seven wonders of the world. They’ll be texting all the way. Show a teenager Botticelli’s Adoration of the
Magi. You might get a cursory glance before a buzz signals the arrival of the latest SMS. Seconds before the
earth is hit by a gigantic asteroid or engulfed by a super tsunami, millions of lithe young fingers will be typing
the human race’s last inane words to itself:

C u later NOT :(

Now, before I am accused of throwing stones in a glass house, let me confess. I probably send about 50 emails
a day, and I receive what seem like 200. But there’s a difference. I also read books. It’s a quaint old habit I
picked up as a kid, in the days before cellphones began nesting, cuckoolike, in the palms of the young.

Half of today’s teenagers don’t read books—except when they’re made to. According to the most recent
survey by the National Endowment for the Arts, the proportion of Americans between the ages of 18 and 24
who read a book not required at school or at work is now 50.7 percent, the lowest for any adult age group
younger than 75, and down from 59 percent 20 years ago.

Back in 2004, when the NEA last looked at younger readers’ habits, it was already the case that fewer than
one in three 13-year-olds read for pleasure every day. Especially terrifying to me as a professor is the fact that
two thirds of college freshmen read for pleasure for less than an hour per week. A third of seniors don’t read
for pleasure at all.

Why does this matter? For two reasons. First, we are falling behind more-literate societies. According to the
results of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s most recent Program for
International Student Assessment, the gap in reading ability between the 15-year-olds in the Shanghai district
of China and those in the United States is now as big as the gap between the U.S. and Serbia or Chile.

But the more important reason is that children who don’t read are cut off from the civilization of their
ancestors.

So take a look at your bookshelves. Do you have all—better make that any—of the books on the Columbia
University undergraduate core curriculum? It’s not perfect, but it’s as good a list of the canon of Western
civilization as I know of. Let’s take the 11 books on the syllabus for the spring 2012 semester: (1) Virgil’s
Aeneid; (2) Ovid’s Metamorphoses; (3) Saint Augustine’s Confessions; (4) Dante’s The Divine Comedy; (5)
Montaigne’s Essays; (6) Shakespeare’s King Lear; (7) Cervantes’s Don Quixote; (8) Goethe’s Faust; (9)
Austen’s Pride and Prejudice; (10) Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment; (11) Woolf’s To the Lighthouse.

Step one: Order the ones you haven’t got today. (And get War and Peace, Great Expectations, and Moby-Dick
while you’re at it.)

Step two: When vacation time comes around, tell the teenagers in your life you are taking them to a party. Or
to camp. They won’t resist.

Step three: Drive to a remote rural location where there is no cell-phone reception whatsoever.

Step four: Reveal that this is in fact a reading party and that for the next two weeks reading is all you are
proposing to do—apart from eating, sleeping, and talking about the books.