Videoscripts

The seven plots (Unit 1) Plot 5 (Tragedy)

A: Don’t do it, Roger.
Plot 1 (The quest) B: Can’t you see, Liz? There’s no alternative. I can’t undo
A: Come with us. the things that I’ve done.
B: Where are you going? A: I’m sure if you explain they’ll understand.
C: To find the Sceptre of Thad. Join us. There’s nothing to B: Explain what? That I took their money? That I
keep you here. betrayed their trust? Do you really think they’ll
B: People are losing faith. They’re saying there is no understand?
sceptre. It’s only a legend. A: I’ll understand.
C: It exists. B: I know. I love you, Liz.
A: And we know where it is. A: Roger! No!!
C: Come with us.
B: I don’t know.
Plot 6 (Rebirth)
Before you say or do anything, I’d just like to explain a
Plot 2 (Overcoming the monster) few things. I woke up this morning. For the first time in
a long time, I woke up. And I opened my eyes and I could
A: I have to say – I’m a little disappointed.
see. I could see clearly. No, don’t say anything. Not yet.
B: Well, what did you expect? Please. Let me finish. And I realised that all those things I
A: A longer life. thought were so important – having an expensive house,
B: Maybe if you hadn’t started taking other people’s lives, an amazing job. It’s all just … stuff, you know? Completely
you could’ve had one. unimportant, irrelevant stuff. And I know I’ve said some
bad things. Because I’ve been angry, you know? And
A: And maybe if you’d been more careful, you wouldn’t
because I grew up believing in that stuff. Needing it. But
have given me the killer instinct. Anyway, who’s the today I can see. It’s not important to me anymore. You’re
killer now? important.

Plot 3 (Journey and return) Plot 7 (Rags to riches)

A: Penny. A: So this is it.
B: Michael! I thought that … B: Wow. It’s … incredible.
A: I know. A: Look over there. You see the park?
B: You never wrote and … B: Yeah. That’s where we used to play when we were kids.
A: Where are mum and dad? A: I remember looking up at this building and imagining
B: They’re in town. They think that … we all thought … what it would be like to be so high up. I never thought
Are you alright? I’d end up working here.
A: I am now. It’s good to be back. B: You deserve it. You worked your way up from nothing.
And now look at you. You could’ve ended up like me,
Plot 4 (Comedy or misunderstanding)
serving coffee in a diner.
A: He’s a wonderful guy. A: I want you to come and work for me.
B: Yes, he is, isn’t he? B: Me? Here? I don’t think so.
A: I mean, he’s rather temperamental. You do realise that, A: Come on. It’ll be like old times.
don’t you? And he’s an utterly useless dancer.
B: You’ve danced with him?
A: No. Well, maybe. Just once. I just thought I should
warn you before you become totally … you know.
B: Totally what? You don’t think I … He’s my brother.
A: What?! Oh. Oh.

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Science fiction (Unit 1)
For over 100 years sci-fi writers have fuelled our fantasies
about the future with tales of time travel and life on
other planets.
When you turn to any fiction, to any novels, you’re after
three or four things really. You want to lose yourself, you
want to find out about yourself, and you want to explore
new worlds. Now, the newest worlds to explore, and
the greatest fantasy worlds, are worlds that don’t exist
anywhere but in the writer’s head. And that’s what you get
from science fiction.
Modern science fiction began with H. G. Wells. Born
in 1866 he began writing while working as a clerk in a
draper’s shop. His classic tales introduce some of the key
themes of sci-fi – time travel in The Time Machine and alien
invasion with The War of the Worlds.
‘It was now dusk. Wondering still more at all that I
had seen, I pushed on towards Primrose Hill. Far away,
through a gap in the trees, I saw the Martian giant from
which this howling proceeded. I was not terrified. I
watched him for some time. He appeared to be standing
and yelling for no reason that I could discover.’
It’s become part of modern mythology really. Those
Martians with their three-legged fighting machines and
their heat rays devastating Surrey and London. It’s a
very ironic sort of story to be producing at that time,
showing people here at the heart of Empire, in London, in
Surrey, in the Home Counties, experiencing an invasion
by a technologically superior civilisation. It was the sort
of thing which, as Wells pointed out in the book, had
happened to say the Tasmanians in Australia. They were
totally destroyed as a people by some mainly British
people who went there.
The science in that, if we were to look at it now, we could
pick holes in it, but the terror that the characters feel, the
thought that their world has been overturned, is something
we can very much identify with.
In The Time Machine, Wells’ hero travels forward 800,000
years to a time when society is divided between an effete
ruling class and a slavish race that rarely sees the light of day.
Wells was a committed socialist and what he said was, in
The Time Machine, look, if society keeps going on this way
with an upper class and a lower class you’re going to end
up with this fantastically effete and useless class who live
above ground and all these toiling cannibalistic ignorant
workers below ground and it’s a fantastic moral tale.
What he’s talking about there is the dangers of science,
the dangers of ignorance, and the fact that actually science
doesn’t have a conscience. Science will let that genie out
of the bottle. We’ll have the atom bomb, we’ll have death
Global Advanced eWorkbook   © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2012
machines. All these things H. G. Wells predicted and he
knew that science, once you start on a course, you make
discoveries and he was trying to urge people to have a
morality about exploration. It’s still relevant today.
Totality (Unit 2)
A: So, what do you think?
B: It’s amazing.
A: You’re bored.
B: No, I’m not.
A: Your face usually lights up when you say that something
is amazing.
B: How long will it last?
A: This is just ‘first contact’.
B: What’s that?
A: That’s the moment when the Moon first obscures the
Sun’s photosphere.
B: ‘Photosphere’. Wow. I’m impressed.
A: I read an article online. It was very illuminating.
B: What else did you learn?
A: Well, it’s all about being in the right place at the right
time. This one’s unique. Apparently we are in the ‘zone
of totality’.
B: Are you making this up?
A: No. The ‘zone of totality’ is the area from where it’s
possible to see a total eclipse. If you’re outside the zone,
you can only see a partial eclipse.
B: It’s strange. I’m beginning to see you in a totally
different light.
A: Is that good?
B: Yes. Very. I’m so used to seeing you stressed and
working all the time.
A: I know. I’ve been meaning to thank you. You’ve shown
me that there really is light at the end of the tunnel.
B: Really?
A: Totality rarely lasts for longer than a couple of minutes.
That’s –
B: – the period when the sun is completely covered.
A: That’s right. Very good.
B: I have a good teacher. Thank you for shedding so much
light on the subject. Is this it?
A: This is it. It’s going to get dark, but you mustn’t look
without protection. Even the smallest amount of light
from the sun can damage your eyes.
B: Wow. That’s amazing.
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Seeing things (Unit 2)
The human visual system is quite amazing, allowing us to
see objects near and far in rich colour and intricate detail.
But it does have its limitations. Our vision has evolved to
see what we need to see in order to survive. The weird
thing is, there’s a lot of stuff we miss.
You’ve probably had an experience like this. Trying to find
an empty seat on a crowded bus. Your eyes go to work
immediately, scanning the interior, focused on finding that
elusive seat. Right in front of you is a friend waving madly
but bizarrely you don’t notice her. That’s because seeing is
a complex process involving both the eyes and the brain.
Our eyes capture light mechanically, much like a camera.
Light enters the eyeball and hits cells on the back of the
retina creating a crude, blurry image like this. We can’t
do much with this picture until it’s been developed by
our brain. It takes the image from each eyeball and then
processes and combines them to produce a colourful,
detailed, smooth movie of the world around us.
When watching something active like basketball, our eyes
are delivering a huge amount of information to our brain.
Because there’s a limit to how much visual information the
brain can process, it tends to pay attention to one thing at
a time, and weirdly that can make us blind to everything
else. So to prove just how much our brains ignore, here is
an experiment. We film a basketball team practising and
then this happens. Surely no one would miss that? A group
of volunteers are brought together to watch this footage
without being told the aim of the experiment. They are
set a tough challenge. To count the number of times the
players in yellow pass the ball to each other whilst ignoring
the players in dark blue.
All you need to do is you will see there are three guys in
yellow here and they have a basketball …
Here goes. Will counting the number of passes so overload
their brains that they miss the gorilla? Time to discover
what they saw. Most of the volunteers counted the correct
number of basketball passes. But when we asked them if
they saw anything unusual only five of them put up their
hands. Incredibly, the majority did not spot the gorilla.
So let’s give them a chance to watch the same clip again
without worrying about counting the number of passes.
Will they see what they missed, or were blind to, the first
time?
When the gorilla appears, most of them cannot believe
their eyes. They were so focused on counting in the first
viewing that their brains didn’t register the gorilla at all.
It’s proof that we don’t always see what is right in front
of our eyes because our visual system can only process a
limited amount of information at a time. And in case you
think you are immune to this phenomenon, take another
look inside our bus. Did you see the gorilla the first time?

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Great expectations (Unit 3) D: I think there’s a lot of Dickens in Great Expectations. At
the time that he wrote it, his marriage had failed, and
A: I play the part of Philip Pirrip, better known to the
he was worried about his children. He probably based
world as Pip who is the main character and narrator of
the character of Pip on himself, and my character is
the story. The story starts when Pip is six years old, so I
probably based on Dickens’ own father.
don’t appear until later in the series.
D: I play the part of Magwitch. You can feel his presence
A: One of the good things about filming the book in
throughout the story. I don’t want to say too much
this way is that we can produce something that’s quite
because I don’t want to ruin the story for anyone who
faithful to the original book, which was published in a
hasn’t already seen it. But suffice to say that his story is
serial format. Having said that, there have been some
key to what happens to Pip.
excellent film adaptations. There’s David Lean’s 1946
B: I’ve played English parts before. I have a very good
version, and Ethan Hawke and Gwyneth Paltrow did a
voice coach who has helped me enormously. Dickens
version in the 90s. I don’t know who directed that.
wrote Great Expectations in 1860, so a lot of the
B: Alfonso Cuarón.
language is quite challenging, but I like a challenge.
A: Right. I didn’t know that.
D: It’s an old story but its themes are as current as ever –
B: So my character is Estella. And apart from being very
ambition … guilt.
beautiful and rich, she’s also cold and cruel, especially
C: Revenge.
to Pip.
B: Crime.
A: I’m passionately in love with her.
A: Loyalty.
B: But I warn him that I will never marry him. I have no
B: Love.
heart. Normally, heroines are too boring and perfect to
D: Class.
play, so it’s nice to get to play a character who has no
A: And growing up with great expectations.
heart.
A: But I don’t give up. I know that one day she’ll
marry me.
B: I live with Miss Havisham who is completely
responsible for my bad character!
C: I was a little shocked when they asked me to play the
part. She’s an old eccentric woman, which I am not.
Old, I mean. But it’s amazing what you can do with a
little make-up.
C: She’s one of Dickens’ greatest characters. I live in a
run-down mansion called Satis House where my fiancé
abandoned me just minutes before our wedding, years
ago. Nothing has been touched since that day. All the
clocks are stopped at twenty to nine. The wedding cake
is still on the table. And I wander around the house in a
ridiculous wedding dress, seeking revenge.
B: Miss Havisham doesn’t like men very much, which
explains why she brought me up to be so cruel to them.
She wants to take her revenge through me.
A: She’s alright though – deep down. Miss Havisham,
I mean.
C: Do you think so?

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The Great Wall (Unit 3)
Three hours north-east of Beijing at Jinshaling, one can
find one of China’s and the world’s greatest wonders.
It is the largest structure ever created by man, a potent
expression of the continuity and sophistication of China’s
ancient civilization. Work began on the Great Wall of
China around 220 BC. It was the creation of the first
emperor Chin Shi Huangdi.
The wall is a tremendous piece of military engineering.
It blends into the landscape, snaking through valleys and
over mountains for mile after mile. It would have been
extraordinarily difficult to build and shows the incredible
will and determination of the ancient Chinese civilisation.
To conceive of this and be able to construct such extensive
defences almost defies belief.
The Great Wall winds its way across China from the Gobi
desert in the north-west to the Bo Hi sea north-east of
Beijing, that’s a distance of over 4,000 miles. It’s said that
300,000 men were harnessed to make this wall and many
died, their bodies mixed into the clay of the bricks, the
very bricks that still make up much of the original wall.
For that reason it’s called the Wall of Tears, the longest
graveyard in the world.
The human sacrifice was great but so was the will of the
emperors that had it built and for centuries the wall was
all that stood between China and its most feared enemies:
barbarians, Mongols and nomadic tribesmen. The Great
Wall exceeds the expectations of those that visit it today
and more than fulfilled its purpose in antiquity. The scale
is epic, and to the barbarians on the other side it must have
seemed insurpassable.
In a rapidly changing China construction is again reaching
epic proportions. The Great Wall serves as a permanent
reminder of the sacrifice of which this nation is capable.
Global Advanced eWorkbook   © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2012
Coffee and cream (Unit 4)
A: Is there any cream?
B: Sorry?
A: That’s OK.
B: What?
A: Don’t be sorry.
B: I’m not sorry. It was a question. It wasn’t ‘Sorry’. It was
‘Sorry?’.
A: Ah. You didn’t hear me.
B: Yes. I heard you perfectly. It was you who didn’t hear me.
A: So why did you say sorry?
B: I don’t know. Maybe it was because I wanted you to
repeat what you’d said so you could hear how banal the
question was.
A: Is there any cream?
B: Or maybe I was trying to buy time. So I could have
time to think of an appropriate answer.
A: So have you had enough time?
B: Ah! I remember now. I was trying to work out what the
real question was.
A: Sorry? That’s ‘sorry’ as in I don’t know what you’re
talking about.
B: Is there any cream? Let’s see … Are you asking me if
I can get you some cream? Or are you asking me why
there isn’t any cream? Or maybe you’re subtly reminding
me to buy some cream tomorrow because I’m sure you
won’t be the one standing in line at the checkout. No. I
think you’re just trying to make me feel guilty.
A: That explains it.
B: Good.
A: That explains why it always takes you so long to answer
my questions. It’s because you’re thinking of every
possible interpretation of my questions and every
possible answer you can give me. Is there any cream?
B: You know there isn’t any cream.
A: How could I possibly know that?
B: Because if there was any cream I would’ve given you some
because I know how much you like cream in your coffee.
A: So do I interpret the fact that there isn’t any cream as some
kind of punishment? You didn’t get cream to hurt me.
B: Ok. Yes. If that makes you feel better.
A: Not really. Life must be pretty cold on Venus ... I’m sorry.
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Straight 8 (Unit 4)
A: How did we meet? That’s a good one.
B: I’ll tell you how I met her. She ran over me.
I was sitting in the park having my lunch, I stepped up
off the bench – wham!
A: He ended up on the floor … bashed himself quite badly
and I felt really bad.
B: I milked it a little bit, I must admit. I looked at her and
she looked at me, and I thought, oh.
It shouldn’t happen but you know it does – it did.
A: I’d say there wasn’t a lot of choice really.
B: The problem is we didn’t talk about it.
A: I think it’s better to be lonely on your own than lonely
in a relationship.
His music seemed to be so important that I
couldn’t compete.
B: I never felt as clever as her. You know, she had so
many books.
A: He couldn’t get his head around me wanting to keep
studying and keep doing exams.
B: And it started to get to be a real thing for me, actually.
A: He just has records out on the floor all the time. Like
how many records do you need?
B: I mean, what’s the point of hardback? You know. There
are plenty of books in softback.
Of course it’s a good thing. In hindsight it’s very clear to
see that we shouldn’t be together.
A: Do you know what? It’s absolutely fine. It was all for
the best.
B: Yeah and I’m grateful in a way because now I can do
things I never used to do before.
A: You know, my career was really important to me and it
was just better that we went our separate ways.
B: She’s got a good job and she’ll get promotion and
she’ll be off, you know, and good luck to her, I mean
that’s great.
A: But, you know, it’s fine. It’s cool. We’re friends and I see
him, he’s having a great life and he’s doing his thing and
I think I would have just held him back.
B: She should be with somebody that understands her.
She should be with somebody that relates to her.
A: We were just going in different directions and it
was fine.
B: We just didn’t move together so … as simple as that.
A: That’s just the way it goes.
Portrait of a hero (Unit 5)
A: How do you want me to sit?
B: Like you are is fine.
A: Do you want me to smile?
B: No. Just look natural. I think people want to see the
real you.
A: The real me … OK.
B: Um … Maybe if you talk. I don’t know. Tell me how it
feels to be a hero.
B: That’s good.
A: I wouldn’t call myself a hero.
B: Why not?
A: Anybody would’ve done what I did.
B: Humility. Isn’t that one of the qualities you need to be a
hero? And courage.
A: When you’re in an extreme situation, you act
instinctively.
B: Can you turn so I can have a few profile shots?
A: ‘Shots’. That’s appropriate. Do you want my good side?
B: A lot of people would’ve given up. You stood
your ground.
A: When someone’s shooting at you your options
are limited.
B: You saved lives. You’re a peacemaker.
A: Maybe.
B: Can I see your other side?
A: My not-so-good side?
A: It all depends how you look at it … and which side
you’re on. One person’s peacemaker is another person’s
warmonger. There are a lot of people who think that
what I did was bad. People died. Real people. Maybe in
the future …
B: Can you face the back?
A: Really?
B: I’m sorry. You were saying …
A: Maybe someday they’ll see things differently. Or their
children will. Or their children’s children. That’s all I
want. To stop being thought of as the enemy.
B: That’s great. Thank you.
A: I’m not a very good model. Sorry.
B: You were perfect. I think we captured the real you.

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Law and order (Unit 5)
In the Kenyan port of Mombasa, a Greek warship is being
prepared for its latest mission, to protect an aid boat on its
way to Mogadishu in Somalia. It’s one of several EU navy
vessels patrolling the eastern coast of Africa in the battle
against piracy. As the commander makes his final checks,
he knows he is unlikely to come across any pirates during
this trip.
We have high seas, heavy rain. Sometimes, gale force
winds. So the pirates with their small vessels, the skiffs and
the dhows, they cannot operate in the Indian Ocean. In
order for them to operate the conditions have to get much
better and that’s going to happen from September on.
But when the monsoon season ends piracy, will resume. At
Mombasa’s Shimo La Tewa prison more than 100 Somali
men are awaiting trial accused of trying to hijack ships
over the past eighteen months. If found guilty, they could
face up to twenty years in prison. Yet despite the threat of
such long sentences, and the dangers on the high sea, the
men appear undeterred. In fact there are now more boats
being held in Somalia, and more seamen, than at any time
over the past three years.
Well, it is serious and it has a huge impact on countries in
this region, but there is also a record number of pirates in
custody. There are currently 540 pirates in custody in 12
countries around the world. And also we believe between
100 and 200 have been lost at sea, either drowned or killed
by navies or just lost. So there are a lot of young men who
sail from Somalia and haven’t come back again.
Several guns, rocket launchers and bags of ammunition
have been recovered by patrols in recent months, evidence
that will be used against the Somali men awaiting trial.
And this is where they will be tried, a recently-refurbished
courthouse paid for by the UN. But the Kenyan
government knows there will be no end to piracy in
Somalia unless a political solution is found.
The solution is law and order in Somalia and the solution
is governance, a functional state in Somalia which allows
the country to take charge of its own responsibility.
The EU is currently spending hundreds of millions of
Euros a year on naval patrols in the region, more than
its aid allocation to Somalia, but so long as the country
is politically unstable and piracy profitable, sinking this
maritime scourge for good remains a distant prospect.
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A golden opportunity (Unit 6)
Right. Yes. Um. Thank you for coming today. My name is
Terence Leacliff and the title of my presentation … What?
Can you hear me at the back? Ah. OK. I think there’s a
microphone here …
Yes. Thank you all for coming today. Whoah. Sorry.
Testing testing 123. Right. Yes? So, thank you again to
everyone in the room for coming today and the hundreds
… maybe thousands of you watching on the live stream.
My name is Terence Leacliff and the title of my presentation
is ‘A Golden Opportunity’. I’d like to start by telling you a
story. I was looking on the internet for … advice on how
to start a presentation. And one piece of advice was to start
with a story. So I’ve just done that. And another was to start
with a joke. And I’ve just done that too. And another said
‘Try using a quote’ which I’ve also just done. But I’d really
like to start by showing you a short video.
Right. Yes. Ah right. Is Sue here?
Hello. This is Sue, the technician, everybody. Thanks, Sue.
So while we wait for the video, maybe I can tell you about
… what I want to talk to you today about, which is …
New technology.
In the future, people will look back at this period in history
as the golden age of new technology. As someone once said
‘We’re changing the world with technology,’ which I think
says it all … actually.
Sue? Maybe we could leave the video for now. Could we
have a look at the slide show? Thanks.
Here we go. So there’s … there’s my desktop. A bit messy,
I’m afraid. So if we just open the program … here we go.
And here’s the title of my presentation – ‘A Golden
Opportunity’ – and next there’s … the quote: ‘We’re
changing the world with technology.’
All I really wanted to say with the quote was that without
new technology we wouldn’t be here today. Literally.
And what I find really fascinating is imagining what will
come next.
Ah. OK. So I’ve prepared some bullet points. I’ve called these
the five golden rules to follow in order to maximise growth
through the use of new technology. And number 1 is …
OK. So now we’re watching the video. Thanks, Sue.
Maybe we can watch that later. Hang on. I’ll just stop
the video.
Ah. Um. Right. Is Sue still here? I think I pressed
something I didn’t need to.
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Bukhara (Unit 6)
Along the silk route in present-day Uzbekistan lies our
wonder. A place where trade was the main focus of human
endeavour. Although Bukhara is a city famed for the
beauty of its ancient architecture, the identity of the city
came from the way it was planned and actually used rather
than the architecture itself.
There’s been a city on this site for at least 2,500 years,
a central trading point on the silk route, famous for its
bazaars. What makes Bukhara so special are the city’s
trading domes. They were constructed in the 1570s and
80s and they make Bukhara the greatest commercial centre
of the region. Looking more like mosques than places
of business, the domes raise commerce to the level of
religion. There’s a whole series of these great structures
in Bukhara, and each of them relates to a specific trade.
Here jewellers originally had their spaces, another one for
money changers, another one for hat makers. A wonderful
architectural space with the 16th century dome marking the
hub of trade and still doing exactly what it was built to do.
Everywhere you find people performing the same tasks
as their ancestors did hundreds of years ago. Silk weavers
still work in one of the domes. Trade is the lifeblood of
the people of Bukhara. It’s never too early to start either.
The young in Bukhara are well-seasoned traders as well.
Working between the domes, these children are ready to
capitalise on any passing trade, always eager to make a sale.
Trade is alive and well in Bukhara. It is exactly what people
have been doing here for hundreds of years. The only
break with this tradition was during the Soviet era of the
20th century. The great trading halls were abandoned for
years under the Soviets but are now fully operational once
more. Trade is in the blood of the people here. And trade is
what they have always known best in Bukhara.
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A full mind (Unit 7)
A: What was that?
B: What?
A: Listen. I thought I heard something.
B: I don’t hear anything. You’re imagining things.
A: Do you mind if I turn the light on?
B: Yes, I do mind. Some of us are trying to sleep? Besides,
I was having a really exciting dream.
A: What were you dreaming about?
B: Mind your own business.
A: You’re so lucky. You can sleep through anything.
B: You make it sound as if there’s a party going on next
door. You could sleep if you put your mind to it. Do you
want something to drink?
A: What did you have in mind?
B: Herbal tea?
A: Great minds think alike.
B: Fools seldom differ.
A: I’ll do it. It’ll do me good to do something. It’ll take my
mind off things.
B: What things?
A: Nothing. I can’t get what Jill said out of my mind.
B: You’re not still thinking about that, are you?
A: I must have been out of my mind to invite her.
B: So why did you?
A: It never crossed my mind that she’d say … what she
said. Mind you, I did ask for it.
B: What you did was unforgiveable.
A: I know. I was taken off guard. My mind went blank.
B: Never mind. I thought you were going to make
some tea.
A: I’ve changed my mind.
B: Try and get some sleep then.
A: How?
B: Just relax. Empty your mind.
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The dilemma (Unit 7)
Neuroscientists around the globe are trying to unlock the
secrets of the brain, and are moving ever closer to that goal.
At the Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience
in Berlin, researchers are working on a new area of
neurology – computer aided neuroscience. Their research
combines experimentation, data analysis, computer
simulation, and theory construction. Physicists, biologists,
and computer scientists work in close cooperation with
one another. The ultimate aim of neurophysicist John
Dylan Haynes and his colleagues is to be able to read
our minds. To do this, his team are developing ever more
complex experiments. The question they’re trying to
answer is: can brain activity reveal whether a person has
already seen a certain room? The test subject is presented
with four virtual houses before being put through an MRI
scanner. While in the scanner the subject is shown the four
virtual houses he or she has already seen and four new
ones. Special software can not only recognise individual
brain patterns but can also link them with others.
Information exchange is monitored in around 30,000
different parts of the brain. The scientists themselves were
blown away by the results. For 9/10 test subjects they were
able to say exactly which house they had seen and which
one they had not. Such technology could form the basis
for the lie detector of the future – crime scenes converted
into 3-D images and then shown to the suspect. Using
an MRI scanner, scientists could say with certainty if the
suspect had visited the scene before.
The scientists are aware of the many different uses to
which their research could be put.
Our work does of course present an ethical dilemma. On
the one hand we could read the intentions of someone,
for example, who would like to be able to control an
artificial limb using the power of their thoughts alone.
Imagine someone who has lost some of their motor skills
or ability to communicate as a result of nerve damage and
who would like to be able to move their prosthetic arm.
We would of course love to be able to help that person.
We wouldn’t want to refuse that patient the help that our
research could provide. Yet on the other hand our work
could be implemented for controversial purposes such as
aiding lie detectors.
Even though scientists are revealing more and more of the
brain’s secrets, there are new revelations being made all the
time. Such revelations hold unseen opportunities as well as
dangers.
Their research increases our insight into the human mind,
but it also makes for a society in which minds can be read.
Global Advanced eWorkbook   © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2012
In session (Unit 8)
A: The meeting is now in session. I call on the outgoing
president to make the opening statement.
B: Thank you. As you all know, over the past year we
have been concentrating our efforts on weather
manipulation with extremely positive results. Although
work still needs to be done, we are confident that
weather will be a key tool in controlling future
conflicts and also continue to play an important role in
population control. At the same time we have continued
to encourage rumours of global warming.
A: Certain world leaders are said to be working on a new
trust and understanding strategy. Could you reassure us
that this is not true?
B: This might be an appropriate moment to welcome the
world leaders who are listening to this debate through
our interpreters. Thank you for joining us. I would like
to stress to you all that it is essential for your people
to feel fear. Without fear there is no control. Without
control there is no order. Fear and mistrust must
continue. No other strategies will be permitted.
A: Can the president tell us if there are plans to release
any more leaks?
B: I think we are all agreed that fear and paranoia are
the two human emotions that are easiest for us to
manipulate. We shall continue to leak information
through the usual channels and continue with our social
networking project.
A: When will we be in a position to create a single identity
for all humans?
B: We are getting closer all the time but making seven
billion people think as one is a challenge even for us.
A: I would like to congratulate the president on halting
the space program.
B: Thank you. Yes. I am happy to report that we have
finally achieved our goal of closing down all existing
space programs, so I think we can safely say that
there is no risk of our presence being detected in the
foreseeable future, unless of course a space tourist gets
lost on a lunar vacation.
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The bigger picture (Unit 8) In Canada scientists played video tape shot from a car
window to volunteers and asked them if they thought
Traffic queues, the curse of modern day life. Everyone the next lane was going faster or slower. Over 75% of
hates them, the boredom, the frustration, and whenever volunteers thought it was going faster, even when it wasn’t.
you’re in a queue why is it that the other lanes seem to So there’s some weird psychology going on. We tend to
be moving faster? It’s a holiday weekend. The family think things are worse than they really are. There’ll be
are hitting the road. Just one snag, everyone else has the times when the car was overtaking other cars but our mum
same idea. Yet when you seem to be stuck in the slowest hasn’t really noticed her good fortune. Sensibly she was
lane, switching to another can be really dangerous. Weird concentrating on driving, not looking at the other lanes,
Science investigates the nature of queues, on the road and and because we humans are so determined to learn from
in our minds. mistakes we forget when things go smoothly, we remember
the bad calls.
Let’s start in a supermarket. So far so good, but now you’ve
got a big decision. This is where a speedy shopping trip So it’s wider awareness that can make queues less of a pain.
can come unhinged. Which checkout queue are you going Keeping a safe braking distance, avoids quick braking and
to join? the danger of coming to a halt, making the jam worse. And
remember, it’s not as bad as it seems. Most of the problem
Once you’ve committed, the nagging doubts begin. Will
is in your mind.
this be a fast lane or have you, as usual, picked the slowest
moving lane? Apparently you chose the slow one. And that
lady ahead of you has got the wrong kind of milk. The
neighbouring checkouts all seem to be moving faster than
yours. You may despair, but, are you assessing the situation
objectively? No. The problem is your observational bias.
Due to the basic realities of your height and limited field
of vision in a busy shop you’re unable to get the bigger
picture. You’re comparing your queue with the ones on
either side, not the entire bank of checkouts.
Probability dictates that you have a one in three chance
of being in the slowest queue of the three, but in fact your
chance of being slowest overall is nearer one in twenty.
The tension makes it feel like a bad decision, but there’s no
reason that you won’t pick the fastest queue on your next
visit. How does this work on the motorway? Our family
are in the emotional pressure cooker of gridlock, one of
those mysterious jams that seem to occur for no reason at
all.
The drivers are overreacting in the pressure of a queue.
They brake hard, slow down fast, even stop, so the jam
ripples back as more cars join it. Even though cars are
accelerating away from the front of the jam, they’re being
replaced by even more cars braking at the back, so the
queue gets longer. Everyone is really fed up now. Mum just
can’t understand why she’s having such a slow trip. Her
observational bias kicks in. When she’s in slow moving
traffic there’s plenty of time to monitor the other lanes.

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Some other time (Unit 9) D: Of course. What can I get you?
A: It was really nice seeing you again, Jenny.
A: Can I get you anything?
B: Yes. I hope our paths cross again some other time.
B: Yes. I’d like a …
A: Some other time. I hope so. Bye.
A: Jenny?

B: John! How are you? Urban farming (Unit 9)

A: ‘Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world,
she walks into mine.’
B: I’m sorry?
A: It’s a line from the movie Casablanca. Humphrey
Bogart? Ingrid Bergman? The name of this bar?
B: Oh right.
Chelsea in London. This may not look like an obvious
place to keep farm animals, but the roof here is home to
Mathilda and Nervous Wreck. There’s not much room to
roam and their shelter is made from leftover wood, but life
here is a big improvement on their previous existence as
battery hens.

A: It’s such a coincidence meeting you again. I was just
thinking about you yesterday.
B: Really?
A: Really. I was walking past the building where we met.
Do you remember?
B: In the elevator. How could I forget? ‘Hi’, ‘Hello’. That
was a long time ago.
A: I can’t believe I acted like such an idiot. I’ve often
wondered what might have happened if …
B: We were both very young.
A: It wasn’t so long ago.
B: I’d rather we didn’t talk about it. Do you mind?
A: No, of course not. If that’s what you want. It’s just that
… well I was hoping that … maybe we could have …
C: Hello, darling.
B: Hi. You’re late.
C: Punctuality is not a strong point of mine. You
It was a small little thing that I could do in order to rescue
three chickens and have a supply of eggs and it has made
me happier having that connection with … I think it’s nice
to live with animals and children, and it’s nice to live in a
group with other species. It makes life more interesting.
Julia is one of a new breed of urban dwellers who are
rearing their own animals. The British Hen Welfare
Trust says the number of hens it re-homes has doubled
in recent years. In 2007 it re-homed 29,000 hens. Last
year that went up to more than 60,000. The number of
people keeping bees is also growing. In 2008 the British
Beekeepers Association had 12,500 members. This year
that’s risen to nearly 19,000. Among them are Garban
Shanks and Peter Maclean. They have three hives in their
garden in south London.
I think it is certainly nice knowing where your food has
come from and it’s also quite rewarding to have to look
after something and care for something and put some
effort in and then get the reward from it.

know that. Because they are low maintenance. You only have to

look after them once a week so in terms of having a
B: Ben, this is an old friend of mine – John. John – this is
pet, I suppose, you know, you really don’t require much
Ben, my husband. attention at all.
A: You’re married. Great.
This year they’re aiming for 150 jars of honey they’ll sell
B: Did you … ?
at local fairs.
A: No, I never met the right person.
And although caring for chickens is relatively easy to
C: Do you work here?
master, these things are a bit more complicated.
A: Sort of. Yes. Do you like it?
The big rise in interest in urban beekeeping means there’s
C: I read about it online. It’s the place that everyone’s
a huge demand for courses like this. The advice here
talking about. though is to do the right training to ensure the bees are
D: John? There’s a journalist here who would like to speak happy and that you don’t get hurt.
to the owner. Can you come?
A: Sure.

C: Oh. You own the place? I’m impressed.

A: Yes. I’m sort of married to my work. Well, it was nice

meeting you, Ben. ‘I think this is the beginning of a

beautiful friendship’. Don’t worry. It’s another line from
Casablanca. Could you take their order, please?

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In rehearsal (Unit 10) Sam: I guess you wouldn’t know. I bet you’ve never
stepped outside of this neighbourhood in your
Director:  K. Let’s go from the top. Ayesha. Can you read
O
entire life, have you?
the stage directions?
Director: That’s good. Go on.
Ayesha: OK. Let’s see … Act One, Scene One. The time
Harold: Maybe I’ve got all I need here.
is today. The sun rises on a city street. We are
Ayesha: Sam looks up at Nicole’s window. Harold follows
looking at the façade of a red-brick apartment
Sam’s look.
building. Constructed in the early 1900s, the
Sam: How is Nicole?
building has seen better days. There are shop
Harold: Why have you come back, Sam?
fronts at street level on either side of the main
Sam: I just wanted to see the old neighbourhood. It
entrance to the building. Above the shops we can
hasn’t changed much.
see the windows of apartments. To the left we can
Harold: You’re wrong, Sam. A lot has changed. So if I were
see Nicole, a young woman in her early thirties,
you, I’d just keep on walking. And will you do one
hanging washing from a second floor window. She
thing for me, Sam?
sees Harold, a man a few years her senior, walking
Sam: What’s that?
down the street. She looks down as he opens up
Harold: When you’ve been walking for about a year, take
the grocer’s shop where he works. She shouts
a left.
to him.
Ayesha: Nicole appears at her window. She calls out
Nicole: Morning, Harold!
to Harold.
Harold: Why, good morning, Miss Nicole. How are
Nicole: Harold! I forgot to ask you if …
you today?
Ayesha: Nicole sees Sam and can’t believe her eyes.
Nicole: I’m just fine, Harold. But this heat is too much. I
Sam: Hi, Nicole. Long time no see.
could hardly sleep at all last night. And the AC is
Director: Let’s hold it there. Very good, everyone.
on the blink.
Harold: They say it’ll change today. I sure do hope so.

Nicole: Here’s hoping.

Ayesha: Nicole disappears back into her apartment. Ha

… Harold, sorry, becomes aware of someone

approaching. Sam enters stage left.
Director: That’s your cue. Do you want to read your line?

Sam: Hello Harold. Long time no see.

Director: OK. Let’s try that again. Remember. You’ve been

away for four years. You haven’t had any contact

with anyone since you disappeared. Harold was
your best friend. You expect him to be happy to
see you. So … from your entrance. And …
Sam: Hello Harold. Long time no see.

Harold: Sam! What are you doing here?

Sam: Well, Harold, you know what they say.

Harold: No. What do they say?

Sam: If you walk long enough in one direction, you’ll

eventually reach the place you started from.

Harold: Is that what they say?

Sam: It’s a round world, Harold.

Harold: Is that right?

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Videoscripts
Cherries from Chile (Unit 10) I am operating a production line which helps me a lot. The
money helps my family and thanks to that I have my own
A bowl of cherries in the middle of winter. These days house and I can pay for it because of my work.
we’re getting more and more used to the idea that we can
The next step is getting the cherries to the port, a
have whatever fresh food we want whenever we want it.
relatively short distance covered by lorry. But then the
But at what cost? These cherries, for instance, have come
part of the process which is at the centre of environmental
all the way from Chile. And some environmentalists are
concerns. Most cherries are shipped in containers which
now saying that it’s crazy for us to transport food like this
must be refrigerated for the length of the voyage. No
halfway across the world. And so I’ve been to Chile to find
matter how green the growing and processing of food
out how fruit from their orchards arrives in our homes.
like cherries, nothing can change the fact that this place is
Another country, another climate. At this time of year some 7,500 miles away from Europe. It takes about three
the cherry orchards of Chile are bathed in mid-summer weeks for the ships, which also carry copper, paper and
sunshine. For this developing economy, fresh fruit is a other commodities, to travel through the Panama Canal
major export and while they know that the food miles and across the Atlantic.
debate is raging in Britain, here all of this is viewed as a
For some that’s enough to say we shouldn’t buy produce
simple matter of supply and demand.
from places like this, but it is clear that if we make that
Chilean cherries are ripe during the Christmas period. environmental choice, the consequences for the people
Does the housewife or does the consumer in the UK not here could be disastrous.
want to receive these cherries?
Well evidently they do, but because they do doesn’t
necessarily mean it’s right that we do it.
This industry generates a lot of jobs. There has to
be a balance between caring for the environment,
social responsibility, and economic growth. We are a
developing country.
Southern Hemisphere countries like Chile can send us
summer produce in the middle of our winter. The orchards
tucked beneath the foothills of the Andes have the ideal
climate, soil and water supply. They also have plenty of
affordable labour.
The other good news here is they are producing and
picking a product which is in huge demand. Last year
in the UK alone for example we spent something like
£65 million on cherries. That number is going up all
the time. And here that means essential jobs and much-
needed revenue.
Despite that, some environmentalists insist that British
consumers should at least hesitate before buying produce
which has to be shipped thousands of miles.
As consumers and as citizens we ought to go into the shop
and think about buying fresh in-season locally grown food
first. If we want to indulge ourselves, the cherries on the
cake, perhaps occasionally. But our staples should be near
to where we live.
So how do Chilean cherries get to us? Well first they
are brought by truck to processing plants like this. It’s
estimated that half a million workers in this country are
employed in the fresh fruit business and if we turn our
backs on their produce these are the jobs on the line. For
people here the work has been hugely beneficial.

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