ESL Voices

1.  Word Inference

1. paradox noun. a statement or proposition that, despite sound (or apparently sound) reasoning from acceptable premises, leads to a conclusion that seems senseless, logically unacceptable, or self-contradictory : contradiction.
2. template noun. figurative something that serves as a model for others to copy : the plant was to serve as the template for change throughout the company.
3. evaluated (pt.)  verb. form an idea of the amount, number, or value of; assess, appraise,
4. relatively adverb. in relation, comparison, or proportion to something else : it is perfectly simple, relatively speaking, to store a full catalog entry on magnetic tape.
5. disciplines noun. a branch of knowledge, typically one studied in higher education : sociology is a fairly new discipline.
6. inertia noun. a tendency to do nothing or to remain unchanged : the bureaucratic inertia of government.
7. speculate Verb. to Form a theory or conjecture about a subject without firm evidence.
8. consequence noun.  a result or effect of an action or condition : many have been laid off from work as a consequence of the administration’s policies.
9. proliferation noun. rapid growth or increase in numbers stress levels are high, forcing upon them a proliferation of ailments.
10. The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer at the end of the 14th century. The tales (mostly in verse, leastly in prose) are told as part of a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims as they travel together on a journey from Southwark to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. The prize for this contest is a free meal at the Tabard Inn at Southwark on their return.  Wikipedia
11. ludicrous adjective.  so foolish, unreasonable, or out of place as to be amusing; ridiculous : it’s ludicrous that I have been fined | every night he wore a ludicrous outfit. .
12. accessible adjective (of an object, service, or facility) able to be easily obtained or used : making learning opportunities more accessible to adults.
13. factual adjective. concerned with what is actually the case rather than interpretations of or reactions to it : a mixture of comment and factual information.
14. inevitable adjective. certain to happen; unavoidable : war was inevitable.
15. collaboration noun. the action of working with someone to produce or create something : he wrote on art and architecture in collaboration with John Betjeman.
16. preponderance noun.the quality or fact of being greater in number, quantity, or importance : the preponderance of women among older people | forests with a preponderance of Apache pine.
17. rational adjective. (of a person) able to think clearly, sensibly, and logically : Andrea’s upset—she’s not being very rational.
18. adroit adjective. clever or skillful in using the hands or mind : he was adroit at tax avoidance.
19. cosmopolitanism adjective. familiar with and at ease in many different countries and cultures : his knowledge of French, Italian, and Spanish made him genuinely cosmopolitan.
20. emergence noun. the process of coming into being, or of becoming important or prominent : the emergence of the environmental movement | Japan’s emergence as a modern state.
21. aptly adverb. appropriate or suitable in the circumstances : an apt description of her nature.
22. presumptions noun. an idea that is taken to be true, and often used as the basis for other ideas, although it is not known for certain : underlying presumptions about human nature.

2.   Word-Recognition

1. A paradox of American higher education is this
2. The expectations of leading universities do much to define
3. what secondary schools teach…
4. Think social networking, gay marriage, stem cells or the rise of China.
5. My predecessor as Harvard president, Derek Bok, famously compared the difficulty of reforming a curriculum with the difficulty of moving a cemetery.
6. It may be that inertia is appropriate. Part of universities’ function is to keep alive man’s greatest creations…
7. Education will be more about how to process and use information and less about imparting it.
8. For most people, school is the last time they will be evaluated on individual effort.
9. New technologies will profoundly alter the way knowledge is conveyed.
10. Similarly, it makes sense for students to watch video of the clearest calculus teacher or the most lucid analyst of the Revolutionary Wa …
11. Not everyone learns most effectively in the same way.
12. The world is much more open, and events abroad affect the lives of Americans more than ever before.
13. English’s emergence as the global language, along with the rapid progress in machine translation and the fragmentation of languages spoken around the world…
14. …the widespread use of the e-book, or the coming home to roost of debt problems around the industrialized world…

B. Reading Comprehension

3. Fill-ins

Correct words in sequence:

universities, define, the newest thinking, inertia, process, imparting, printing press, The Canterbury Tales, college transcripts,Nobel Prize, cosmopolitanism, international, language study, analysis, “Moneyball”, rule of thumb.

III. Post Reading Tasks

Students’ choice.

IV. Listening Activity

Pre-Listening

Title of Video Clip: Dr. Lawrence  Summers at Schools  of  Tomorrow Conference

pre-eminence noun. surpassing all others; very distinguished in some way : the world’s preeminent expert on asbestos.

proliferate verb. increase rapidly in numbers; multiply : the science-fiction magazines which proliferated in the 1920s.

While-listening Tasks

F-Albert  Einstein, T,   F- Moscow,  T, T, F- Economy, T,  T,  F- His Blackberry phone.

Post-listening Tasks

Students’ choice.

C. Post-Listening Tasks

Students’ choice.