How bodies Speaks

NEW AGER: Have you ever seen one of those nature shows where you see males fighting in order to gain the upper hand or more simply gain a mate? , and where the female of the species is looking after the young? While many would acknowledge that every person is different, some suggest that this basic pattern seems to carry over into the human species. Men would compete against each other to win the women, and compete against nature to win their dinner. For men, winning meant staying alive. NEW AGER: Women, on the other hand, were often in the role of taking care of the families and encouraging cooperation. For women, avoiding fights meant staying alive. Linguists have noticed that men and women tend to carry over these basic traits into how they communicate, even today. Women's speech seems to demonstrate a desire to avoid a conflict. For example, suspecting her man of taking her hairbrush, rather than accuse her man outright .. NEW AGER: You borrowed my hairbrush without asking permission. She will use a tag question as a way to bring the other person into the conversation, and soften a remark so as to sound less accusatory .. You didn't take my hairbrush, did you? In a similar vain, it's suggested that women are more likely to use what linguists call hedges - those words like 'perhaps', 'seem'' etcetera so as to turn a direct statement into a softer one. Just in case the listener has a different take on the situation. NEW AGER: Well, it seems like the fridge is broken. Perhaps we should call a repair man. While the woman may just want to flag up the fact the fridge is broken .. The man may infer something else .. Why don't you just ask me directly to get the fridge fixed! NEW AGER: Linguists have noticed that men show a preference for more directness in conversation - calling a spade a spade and get the job done. Linguists have also noticed that women see communication as a way of developing close relationships. Talking about their problems is one way to help develop this bond. Sharing problems

has less to do with the need to find a solution and more to do with establishing a kind of intimacy. WOMAN: I'm so exhausted. My boss is giving me so many assignments and I never get any recognition for the work I do. NEW AGER: The man, however, hears the problem as a request for advice and responds as such. MAN: You should take a vacation! WOMAN: It's not that simple! NEW AGER: The woman feels hurt, assuming that the man is uninterested, wanting only to offer a quick solution. He, on the other hand, is left confused by his failure to help her feel better. Thankfully, understanding how people communicate is a skill which we can develop throughout our lives and it's good to remember that life would be pretty boring if we were all the same.

Making Headlines
COMEDIAN: What, a cow holding an axe? If you're a copy editor for a newspaper, or even just someone who has to write a lot for their job or studies, one of the trickier things to spot is when a word or sentence means one thing to you, but something completely different to somebody else. This is especially tricky in newspaper headlines, because the number of words is so limited. For this headline to make more sense, extra words would have to be added, or the tense changed. But headlines need to be short and punchy. COMEDIAN:

Sometimes the double meanings that occur in badly written headlines can be hilarious. Look at these examples .. This is a headline from a report into the dangers of bouncy castles. But, according to the headline, it's not the play equipment that's inflatable, it's the children! Yup, if you're trying to write something serious, the last thing you want to be is an unintentional comedian

Making a powerful impact

ADVENTURER: What do you do, in your daily life, that's bad for the environment? What are your environmentally unfriendly actions? Do you drive a car? Are you a frequent flyer? Do you buy imported stuff you don't really need then throw away the packaging? ADVENTURER: I mean, I know, sometimes, I do. In this age of consumerism, everyone does! But. we do have a choice. One way to work out and then reduce the impact you personally have on the environment is to calculate your carbon footprint. Your carbon footprint is the total carbon sum of your actions, be it when you travel, when you shop, when you eat, when you bathe --- any action that uses up fossil fuels such as oil, coal or gas. ADVENTURER: And just as we have two feet, we also have two carbon footprints - the primary and the secondary. Your primary carbon footprint measures your direct use of fossil fuels. That is, the amount of gas, oil or coal you use every day by commuting to work, cooking your dinner or watching TV. Think, for example, about where you live. How much electricity and gas do you use to keep your home warm in the winter or cool in the summer? ADVENTURER: Do you use low-energy light bulbs? How many electrical appliances do you have on at the same time when you're at home? Now, think about all these and write them down. Go on, it's important! Next, think about how you travel. ADVENTURER: Do you drive a car? Do you take the bus, subway or train to work? Or do you cycle or walk? How often do you fly? Write these down too. ADVENTURER:

Now let's think about your secondary carbon footprint; that is, how you use up fossil fuels indirectly. Think about the difference between buying a shirt made locally, and a shirt imported from a faraway foreign country? Which one do you think uses up the most fossil fuels? That's right, the imported shirt; it has to travel hundreds or even thousands of miles on a ship or in an airplane to reach your local shop. And that uses up a lot of carbon. ADVENTURER: So, think about the things you buy. Do you buy locally grown vegetables or fancy foreign imported ones? What kind of clothes do you wear? Are they locally made? Do you like German cars, American computers and Japanese DVD players? ADVENTURER: Now, write it all down. And be honest! Remember, everything you do and everything you buy contributes to your carbon footprint. Now, finally, do you recycle or reuse when you're finished with something, or do you just throw it away? Make a list. ADVENTURER: Make a list of all the environmentally friendly things you do, and all the unfriendly ones. Use this list to help you become more environmentally aware. Think of it this way: every day you can save the world, even if it's just a little bit. Doesn't that make you feel good?

Crime scene reports

NEWSCASTER: The world of journalism is populated with hungry investigative reporters looking to uncover the latest scandals and hard-nosed correspondents, some of whom twist the words of the rich and famous and push them into making contradictory statements. So, it's no wonder that when we're presented with so much negative press, an uplifting human interest story can feel like a breath of fresh air. Lukas Hadorn, a Swiss born foreign correspondent, began working as a journalist in 2003. LUKAS HADORN: To tell you the truth, from day one I felt as if I wanted to take the side of the people. I'm not interested in pulling them out of obscurity and thrusting them into the limelight. I try to respect and maintain each person's dignity.

NEWSCASTER: Stuck for an angle for a story, Lukas took himself out onto the streets and let himself be inspired by the people and things around him. Out on the streets meeting and interacting with people is where you can find Lukas today. Not in Switzerland but in China. He came to China as a foreign correspondent for a Swiss publication. Later, he decided that he wanted to know more about the people, and to do that, he needed to get more Chinese under his belt. NEWSCASTER: As a student of Mandarin, he keeps up his passion for people and understanding the world through photography. LUKAS HADORN: I was with a friend of mine, when we came across these old Shanghai cameras from the seventies and eighties. At first it was just a bit of fun but little did I know when I bought it that it would take such great quality pictures. There's another plus to this camera too being an object that a lot of Chinese people know. It makes a great conversation starter. People here are always asking me about the camera and why I, as a foreigner, am using such an old camera instead of a new digital one. LUKAS HADORN: It's a great way to break the ice. It's quite a privilege to have people tell you their story. I get really caught up with the people I write about. There's nothing more interesting than people's stories and it's not something to abuse. To be perfectly honest, the stories of everyday people are the most interesting thing in the world. NEWSCASTER: It seems that there are stories all around us and as Lukas says, "All you have to do is step outside your front door".

Breaking bad news

PROFESSOR: What you've just watched is a common occurrence these days. Most car thieves aren't caught but, when they are, it's because there's been an eyewitness to the crime. But just how reliable are eyewitnesses? DOROTHY:

The thief was black. No, no, no he was white. Umm .. he was tall and thin. Oh and he was carrying a knife. Although he was about 300 meters away, I was really scared. GEMMA: I was on my bike, and I saw the thief as I cycled past. It was quite dark, but I could tell he was old, at least 35, with blonde hair. He was wearing jeans and a hoodie. JIM: Yeah, I saw the thief. He stole that BMW. He was short and fat and he had brown hair. He was wearing black sweats. If I hadn't been driving my car, I would've stopped him. PROFESSOR: The single biggest factor in suspects being wrongly convicted is eyewitness error. What we see, how we perceive it and what we remember are totally different things. And, to complicate matters, everyone has their own memory of the same event. Memory doesn't form an accurate photographic image in your mind. Rather, it creates a story that we re-invent when we tell it to someone. PROFESSOR: As in every story, what happens depends on the person telling it. If we take the three eyewitness statements from earlier, we can see that they're complicated by personality, attitude, prejudice, age and exaggeration. That's not to say that the people were lying, they simply remember the crime in the way that suits them best. What makes things more complicated are the three stages of memory an eyewitness has to go through. The first stage is the perception of the crime. PROFESSOR: In other words, how the witness sees and processes it. If the crime happens really fast, or at a distance, the eyewitness is more likely to get it wrong. Secondly, there's the period of time between the crime happening and the eyewitness giving evidence. If the gap is longer, giving evidence becomes more difficult. When the time comes for the eyewitness to give evidence, not only might they have forgotten the important details of the crime, PROFESSOR: they can also be confused by the nature of the questions asked them by the police. For example, if the police officer asks: What kind of weapon was the suspect carrying: .this suggests to the eyewitness that the suspect was carrying a weapon.

The eyewitness might become convinced that the suspect was carrying a knife, even if that were not the case. PROFESSOR: The human brain is a complex machine that has a life of its own underneath our conscious understanding of it. If you're ever a witness to a crime, remember that what you saw, what you tell the police and what actually happened might be three different things! However, don't worry. All that's expected of you is to tell the truth.

Undercover reporters
COOL HUNTER: As the song says, "breaking up is hard to do". But, believe it or not, breaking up is an important time in any relationship. A thoughtful, mature break up leaves you feeling optimistic about the future, while an angry or tearful end leaves only negativity and regret. So, if you want to dump your boyfriend or girlfriend, how do you do it? The first thing to do is decide where you're going to do it. COOL HUNTER: It has to be face to face, a phone call, text message or "Dear John"" letter are cowardly ways out, and it should be somewhere private. Secondly, don't be fake. Classic break up phrases such as "It's not you, it's me", or, "It just wasn't meant to be", make you sound shallow. And don't tell him or her that you can still be friends or you just want to take a break if you never want to see them again! That just gives them false hope. COOL HUNTER: Instead, tell the truth. Tell him or her you want to break up, and tell them why. Be fair, but not cruel. Use the words "think", "feel"" and "honesty"" a lot to show him or her that you're sincere about your feelings and this really is the end. For example "The reason I'm breaking up with you is because you're not dependable enough. COOL HUNTER: I honestly feel our relationship isn't working out. I think we should break up". And once you've broken the news, beware of the "aftermath"! You don't know how your ex is going to react, so be ready for anything; anger, tears, screaming, or maybe just a cold, blank face. Just be sure not to comfort them or change your mind: if you really have decided it's time to break up, then be strong and do it.

COOL HUNTER: If you're not sure what you want, then you shouldn't yet be talking about breaking up! An end of a relationship needs closure. Both you and your ex should get things off your chests. Just make sure it's not hurtful or nasty. And then? COOL HUNTER: Leave. Don't hang around. You've made the break it's time to start a new part of your life. And sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind, so get out of there! After you've broken up with someone, it's important to cheer yourself up. COOL HUNTER: Hang out with your friends. Have fun. Buy yourself something nice. But don't contact your ex for at least two or three weeks and definitely do not jump right into a new relationship. "Rebound"" relationships are never a good idea. COOL HUNTER: In the end, if one person in the relationship wants out, breaking up is often the best thing for both people. How you end it is an important part of the recovery process. Try to make it as painless as possible.

Feeling down?
COOL HUNTER: Stress is bad for your health. I know, cos I used to get stressed a lot. I couldn't sleep, didn't eat regularly, my immune system would suffer and I'd become ill. I'd also get these aches and pains in certain parts of my body, especially my neck and my back. My doctor told me these pains were psychosomatic. COOL HUNTER: In other words, the problem wasn't in my body, it was in my mind. He said if I didn't let my stress out, it would just build up and up and up and because the stress wasn't released, it was attacking the weakest parts of my body - my neck and my back - and this caused terrible pain. So, how do you get rid of stress, and avoid psychosomatic pain? Firstly, talking about it helps a lot. Talk to your partner or a good friend, or join a support group so you can share your problems with others. COOL HUNTER:

Believe me, a problem shared is a problem halved. If you're worried about work, take a break! Everyone needs to recharge their batteries now and again, and your mind and your emotions are just as important as your body. Get away from it all for a few days! And one more thing, be nice to yourself. COOL HUNTER: Retail therapy is an underrated cure; go on, buy those new shoes you've been wanting for months. Do nice things, like going out to the movies and eating good food. And remember, one of the biggest stressors in your life is yourself.

What did doctor says?

NEW AGER: If you wanted to learn to meditate a hundred years ago, you'd have to climb up a mountain, find a holy man and ask him to be your guru. But these days, it's much simpler. There are books, DVDs and websites to walk you through the basics. And it would be well worth your time. The long term benefits of meditating daily include a drop in cholesterol levels, improved blood pressureand lowered levels of cortisol and lactatetwo chemicals associated with stress. NEW AGER: It can also lead to greater creativity, emotional stability and improved memory and concentration. To meditate, find a quiet place where you won't be interrupted. Sit down on the floor. Begin by listening to your breathingin and out. This helps clear the clutter and jumble from your mind. NEW AGER: Let your mind empty as if it were a jug pouring out water. Let the outside sounds of the street: that barking dog that drives you crazy or your noisy neighbors fade away. Now, you're completely calm and centered. Sit like this as long as you like, as long as it takes. You might even fall asleep, but that's okay! NEW AGER: One possible effect of meditation is that you feel as if you're floating outside of your own body. Sometimes you'll smile with contentment. You may even cry; but don't worry, it's just you letting go of your emotions. Then, at some point, you'll just naturally wake up. You'll feel happy, relaxed calm without a care in the world. NEW AGER:

Namaste.