Book
Level 6

601

unit 1

  1. Alyssa thought the new girl was very unapproachable because she sat alone with her head down and would not make eye contact with anyone.  
  2. Periodically, we go to the movies after class on Fridays, but we do not always go.  
  3. Zach and Greg had a misunderstanding about who would drive to the library, but eventually they agreed that Greg would drive them in his new car. 
  4. The new professor’s lectures were dynamic and exciting, and you never knew what kind of topic he would cover. 
  5. I could tell that little girl had a bad attitude in the grocery store because she sat with her arms crossed and refused to look at her mom. 

 

Communicating with body language, facial expressions, and eye contact 

There are many ways that we communicate with one another, and the world around us. 

Communication can be verbal, nonverbal, visual, and written. Communication may be formal or informal depending on your situation. Body language, facial expressions, and eye contact are really important to effective communication. Your body language, facial expressions, and eye contact can make you seem friendly or unapproachable, simply by how you present yourself physically. Let’s take a look at the different ways that these three things can impact communication.  

So, body language is the way in which we pose our bodies, and it can send nonverbal messages to those around us, especially during a conversation with someone. Your body language can reflect your attitude while talking with somebody too. For example, if you have your arms crossed tight in front of your chest and an unpleasant look on your face, it may signal to the person you are talking with that you are not very happy. 

Body language might cause a misunderstanding if a person is nervous or unsure while having a conversation with someone new. It’s easy to get nervous and cross your arms or use your hands a lot while you are uncomfortable. It’s important to think about how you are positioning your body when you are talking with others because you might be sending a message without ever realizing it.  

Now, let’s think about how we use our faces when we talk with other people. Facial expressions are the different reactions that you make with your face that can also send messages to those around us. We know that smiles, for example, tend to be a friendly gesture, while a frown or scowl are usually not so friendly. Or, if someone has raised eyebrows in a conversation, they might appear to be surprised or confused. Sometimes people make facial expressions while talking with other people without even noticing that they are doing so. It’s critical to pay attention to your facial expressions, especially if you are having an important conversation with someone.   

Finally, eye contact, or looking someone in the eye, is important in face-to-face conversations too. In the United States, it’s seen as respectful to maintain eye contact when talking with someone. When you speak with someone, it’s important to look them in the eye and show them that you are paying attention to what they are saying. However, there is a difference between eye contact and staring. While conversing, you want to look at the person directly in the eyes periodically, but also look off from time to time as to not stare directly at them the entire time. Avoiding eye contact with someone during a conversation could be seen as shyness, disrespect, or even avoidance.  

Overall, paying closer attention to your body language, facial expressions, and eye contact can help you have more dynamic conversations and better communication with others. You can use different physical gestures and facial expressions to help get your point across in a conversation and maintain good eye contact to keep the attention of the person that you are talking with. The way you use body language, facial expressions, and eye contact ultimately have an impact on your communication with other people.  

  1. Jenny tried not to disrupt the class when she arrived late. 
  2. Emily thought the menu offered an adequate number of choices for everyone in their groups’ dietary needs. 
  3. The flight attendant apologized for the lag that caused additional flights to be delayed. 
  4. The professor tried to emphasize the importance of the exam to his students, but only a few took him seriously. 
  5. Chris was very efficient at finishing his homework quickly so he could have time to spend with friends.  

Oliver: Hi Kayla! Thanks for meeting with me today. I’m excited to hear how things are going for you. Please, take a seat. 

Kayla: Hi, okay, thank you. 

Oliver: So, it looks like you have a pretty busy class schedule this semester. You’re taking a lot of science courses, I see. Are you liking the courses that you are taking right now? 

Kayla: Yeah, it’s been a busy semester and I like most of the courses, but they do take up a lot of my time. 

Oliver: I can see how they would be time consuming, but I am glad that you are liking them. Do you feel like you still have adequate time to do things that you want to do and connect with family and friends? 

Kayla: I don’t feel like I have a lot of time to myself right now and it’s hard to communicate with my family and friends back home because of the time difference. I sometimes try to call my family, but I try not to disrupt them late at night or early in the morning. 

Oliver: Time differences are hard and make communication challenging. I have a sister that lives in Europe, and we find it difficult to keep in touch on a regular basis. How do you mainly keep in touch with your family and friends that live far away? 

Kayla: Well, I like to be efficient with my time, so I always like to text my mom to see if she is available before I call and I also text family and friends a lot because it is easier than dealing with time zones and having to stay up late or get up early, but I do miss seeing their faces and hearing their voices more often. 

Oliver: Do you ever video chat with your family and friends? 

Kayla: I try to video chat with them every now and then. My mom always likes to emphasize that I don’t call enough, but I try to text her on a regular basis. It’s hard to video chat often because you need to be in a place with strong Wi-Fi or cell signal. When I try to video chat sometimes there is a lag if I’m not in a place with good Wi-Fi. 

Oliver: That makes sense. Have you ever thought about whether it might be helpful to schedule a weekly time to video chat or call with your family back home? 

Kayla: You know, I’ve never really thought about scheduling a time, but that might help me call them more often and could help with the time difference too. I feel like I am only used to scheduling school and work things. 

Oliver: Yes, it’s sometimes hard to think about scheduling personal time and especially scheduling time to keep in touch with loved ones. It can feel like your free time is getting taken away from you sometimes if everything is scheduled. But, if keeping in touch with your family and friends is important, sometimes you need to make a schedule to stay in touch, especially if you live far away. 

Kayla: I think I’ll try it. I do want to find more ways to stay in touch with my family and friends. I feel like right now I just text them or send them things on social media and I want to be able to see their faces and hear their voices more often. 

Oliver: It’s very nice to hear from and see our loved ones’ faces! It’s great that we have technology that can help us to connect and communicate to and from all around the world. Maybe one step you can take is to connect with a family member and schedule one video call for some time next week? 

Kayla: Yeah, I can do that. I’ll text my mom and see when a good time might be for her to video call next week. 

Oliver: Great! I look forward to hearing how you are keeping in touch with your family and friends in our meeting next month. Now, let’s talk about your grades… 

  1.  She attended the late night showing of the movie and then contacted her friend to pick her up.
  2. Claire announced that she would be moving at the end of the month.
  3. The girls played and danced all night long at the party.
  4. He wishes he would have traveled to more places when he studied abroad.
  5. The bus stops 5 times before it arrives at my university.
  6. Whenever it rains, her son begs to go outside and play.

unit 2

  1. Jessica is hesitant to invest in new types of currency because the market seems to fluctuate too often and makes her feel unstable. 
  2. With technology these days, it is feasible to keep in close touch with relatives living all around the world.
  3. The last class that Lauren enrolled in was a hybrid class that met in person only twice per week.
  4. At the beginning of the year, Kelly’s internet provider announced they will implement price changes to all high-speed internet plans.
  5. New internet companies will often offer a great price incentive to encourage people to switch to their product. 

Technology’s Evolution in Education 

Over the past few decades, technology has evolved immensely in education from K-12 classrooms to colleges and universities. These days, it’s feasible to acquire your entire education starting from kindergarten to college completely online if you desire. 

Today, we are going to take a closer look into some of the ways technology has evolved in education and how it has impacted learners and educators alike. We will talk about how teachers in K-12 classrooms have had to learn to lean on computer programs for part of their instruction and additionally, how college classes have changed and adapted with new technology.   

When we think about an elementary school, we might think about colorful classrooms with physical books and kids sitting on a large rug listening to their teacher read them a story, or kids completing worksheets with paper and pencil. This is still what a lot of elementary classrooms look like, but some do not look like this at all. Some elementary classrooms are held entirely in a virtual world on laptops and tablets. In the United States, the majority of school age kids attend school in person; however, a small number have opted for virtual learning options. Nonetheless, K-12 teachers that teach in-person classes at brick-and-mortar schools continue to need to adapt to more learning taking place on computers inside and outside of the classroom.  

In a typical school day, students, as young as kindergarteners will spend a significant amount of time on a tablet or laptop doing exercises and schoolwork on computer programs. Over the past couple of decades, computer learning programs have gained much popularity, especially for reading and math. As with most technology, there are benefits and drawbacks to computer programs being used in classroom instruction and educators have their own varying opinions accordingly. 

One benefit might include the ability for learners to receive individualized lessons that are measured by their specific abilities and level. Computer programs can track learners’ progress in real time and adjust lessons as needed. Whereas one drawback might be how computers could be a distraction for kids if they can click on different things other than their assigned work. Moreover, many schools use computer programs to track their students’ academic levels and progression and these programs offer important data and insight that administrators can dissect, or examine, together to help improve their students’ learning experiences.  

Many computer programs that are used in the classroom also provide incentives to encourage kids to keep working hard to advance in their subjects. Some incentives include unlocking different badges or icons that kids can collect as they improve and advance to new levels. These badges are similar to how a teacher might put a sticker on a child’s paper to commemorate their hard work. 

Most schools are required to have their students use specific computer programs for a certain amount of time during the school day too. Although, this can fluctuate depending on the students’ grade level and varies by school district. Parents also have more opportunities to see how their child is doing in school with the use of computer programs. Parents can check their child’s scores periodically online and see how their child is doing in addition to progress reports and conferences with teachers. Most children are comfortable using computers and tablets in the classroom and to do their homework. Less and less schoolwork is done by hand on physical paper and things like cursive handwriting teaching is absent at some schools altogether.  

As computer programs to help children learn subjects like math and reading, continue to evolve in K-12 education, teachers also need to continue to learn how the programs work and best ways to help their students use them and track their students’ progress. Technology moves rapidly; thus teachers and administrators need to move just as quickly to keep up with new programs and best practices. Think back to when you were a little kid in elementary school and think about how much has changed. I would imagine that a lot of things are quite different now.  

Now, let’s think about how colleges and universities have experienced changes with new technology. Similarly, to K-12 virtual schools, it is possible to acquire a college degree entirely online. Colleges and universities have had to adapt to the needs of their student populations and implement more choices for learning, whether that is completely online, in-person or a mix of both using hybrid or blending learning models. Video chat technology, as well as online class platform websites, have both been critical to fully online and hybrid learning.  

College courses that have online components that are either entirely virtual or hybrid/blended models, typically offer classes in either an asynchronous or synchronous format. Asynchronous classes offer instruction that is available whenever the students are available and want to complete the assignments, view lectures, or access materials. Asynchronous courses give students more flexibility and offer materials that include things like pre-recorded lectures and activities that students can complete in their own time. 

Synchronous classes, conversely, are not as flexible as asynchronous classes and require students to be available at specific times for live lectures, assignments, or discussion sessions. Synchronous classes might make use of video lectures that students are required to join and actively participate on specific dates and times. Synchronous classes require more structured participation from both the students and the instructor, whereas asynchronous classes require much less structured participation and more flexibility for both students and instructors.   

Hybrid or blended learning classes offer students some flexibility or an online course, but also an in-person component as well. Hybrid classes feature a mix of both online and in-person instruction. For example, some hybrid classes might meet once a week for a 3-hour class and then the remainder of the course work for the week is completed online with scheduled assignments to be submitted on the course website. Other hybrid classes might meet more frequently during the week or even on a bi-weekly or once a month basis. Online course sites and video chat technology are two things that make hybrid and fully online courses successful.  

Similar to K-12 schoolwork transitioning to be mainly computer based, much of college students’ work is completed and submitted online. Most papers, assignments, quizzes, and tests are completed online using course sites and other virtual programs.  Little work is required to be printed out or submitted as a hard copy these days with virtual submission options overwhelmingly favored. Instructors can access students’ submissions online through their course site and most have everything they need within the site to grade and provide feedback.  

Technology has changed the way K-12 and university students learn as well as how teachers and college professors and instructors teach. Computers and computer programs have infiltrated, or entered, nearly every level of education from kindergarten classrooms to university students term paper submissions. Video chat technology and online assignment submission course sites have revolutionized online learning and support for virtual submission for in-person courses. 

Technology and education innovation will continue to evolve and transform all levels of education from K-12 to college, and instructors, professors, teachers, and students will continue to evolve as well. What is really interesting to think about is whether virtual learning options will eventually become the majority over in-person classes or not? The technology and innovation have advanced sufficiently for virtual learning to be successful in multiple levels of education, but people and children alike still seem to favor and desire in-person connection over 100% virtual options. Time will tell as we watch technology continue to advance for virtual and hybrid learning options at all different levels of education. 

  1. Jim was startled by the new features in his car, like the automatic brakes, that stopped the car in traffic all by itself.
  2. She decided to return the large floor rug because it was disproportionate to rest of her furniture in the living room.
  3. Even with her fancy new navigation system in her car, Mary still frequently gets lost.
  4.  Tom decided to purchase a hybrid vehicle because it is much more efficient on gas than other non-hybrid vehicles he looked at.
  5. Julie was happy that she purchased the extra collision insurance that saved her a significant amount of money after the car crash.  

Max: Hey Jenny! I haven’t seen you in a while. How have you been?  

Jenny: Hi Max. I’ve been pretty good. Busy with work. How about you?  

Max: I am doing well, thank you. So, are you still thinking about buying a new car soon?  

Jenny: Yes, I am! I’m finding it hard to decide what kind of car I want to purchase. There are so many options out there and I don’t even know where to start.  

Max: Yeah, these days there are many different kinds of cars you can buy and car technology has changed so much too.  

Jenny: You’ve got that right! Some cars have so much new technology it’s overwhelming. My current car is pretty old and outdated and I’m excited to find something different with updated technology like a navigation system.  

Max: My car is newer and has quite a bit of the new technology features. Some of them are great, but some are honestly annoying. For example, my car is very fuel efficient, and gets great gas mileage, but it has things like automatic breaks that stop on their own and lane assist that will move you over without you doing so, if it feels it needs to. It’s a good safety feature, but it’s also kind of strange to not feel like you have complete control.  

Jenny: Wow, yes, my sister has a newer car with those features and she said it took a while for her to get used to it. I think that there are probably a lot of benefits to all the new technology in cars but also some drawbacks too. I think things like the automatic breaks and lane assist could be helpful to avoid a collision, but I also agree it’s strange to not feel like you have control. I also worry about how digital everything is and how it might be easier for a hacker to take over someone’s car. That would be scary!  

Max: That would be very scary! These days there are also self-driving cars that are kind of strange to think about too. I guess you could say that new cars do have a lot of technology that is beneficial to keep drivers less distracted on the road. For  instance, my car will beep at me if I accidently swerve out of the lane. At first, I thought it was annoying, but now it’s more helpful than annoying.  

Jenny: Yeah, and things like back-up cameras and the lane changing assist are definitely major benefits too. These young drivers are lucky now-a-days with all of the new features they get to have compared to decades ago.  

Max: True! So, are you thinking about getting an electric vehicle? For me, electric cars are just too expensive right now to even think about purchasing one, but the technology they feature is impressive.  

Jenny: I’m not sure. I think there are some good things and not so good things about electric cars and the price is one of the most not so good things. I don’t think I can afford an electric car right now because it’s not just the price of the car itself, but I would also need to pay to install the charging equipment into my house. I am thinking about maybe going with a hybrid vehicle that has some capabilities of gas-only and also electric too. 

Max: Hybrid cars do seem to be an okay option right now. Especially if you are trying to have a better vehicle for the environment and start transitioning to electric, but still have the option of gas. I think most new hybrid vehicles have all of the new technology too which would be nice.  

Jenny: Yes, the few models I’ve looked at so far seem to have all of the new technology that is offered in gas-only cars, if you get an upgraded model. I took the base model of a hybrid car for a test drive and it seemed mediocre, at best. I don’t think there was anything too special about it. I’m not sure I want to go with a hybrid model though because I just don’t know if it’s worth it yet. I want to make a better choice for the environment, but I also need to think about my spending budget and I feel like the new technology in hybrid cars might make maintenance more expensive.  

Max: Lots of things to think about for sure! I guess you will need to go to some places and see what you like or do some more research online. For me, the benefits of electric cars right now are still disproportionate to their cost and maintenance.  

Jenny: I am going to go visit some dealerships and test drive some cars to get a feel for what I like and learn more about cost and maintenance too. I’ll let you know what   I eventually decide on! 

1- Stress on first syllable  

  • money  
  • system  
  • family  
  • power  
  • problem  
  • different  
  • public  
  • likely 
  • special  
  • footprint  
  • classroom  
  • keyboard  
  • sunburn  

2- Stress on second syllable 

  • create 
  • apply  
  • explain  
  • return  
  • receive  
  • control  
  • assume  
  • collect  
  • bad-tempered  
  • fast-paced  
  • long-distance 

overpopulated 

Hailey: Do you own a robot cleaning vacuum? I purchased one a few years ago and I am amazed with how well it works!  

Ben: No, I do not have one but I have been contemplating getting one because I have heard great things about them from friends and family. What do you like most about your it? 

Hailey: As you know, it’s well-known that I have pets so I really like how it picks up pet hair from my dog and cats. Also, it vacuums up so much dirt too that I never realized was really there before.  

Ben: Hum, well I do not have any pets but I am certain that there is a lot of dirt in my house that it could pick up! 

Hailey: Yeah, and also, it’s great because you can set it to run automatically whenever you want. So not only am I saving time compared to a traditional vacuum, I don’t even have to start or stop it.  

Ben: But does it ever get stuck? I have heard from some people that there’s occasionally lose control and get stuck under the couch or on a rug.  

Hailey: It sometimes does get stuck and you have to help it. But for the most part, it works well on its own. 

unit 3

On the fifteenth day of the fifth month this year, I will turn fifty years old. I’m excited to honor living on this planet, we call earth, for half a century. All of this excitement makes me happy to celebrate these last five decades with my closest family and friends. To tell you the truth, I never used to like celebrating birthdays, but now as I age, I can say that each birthday is a blessing. Truthfully, it is a great honor to be able to have a celebration each year to commemorate one more trip around the sun.

Even if you live in a big city, you can still see a significant amount of biodiversity if you look hard enough. Although urban areas tend to have higher rates of pollution than rural areas, parks and green spaces provide areas for plant life and animals to flourish. Dedicated green spaces in big cities, like land that is set aside for big parks and recreation areas can not only help provide places for vegetation and animals, but it can also help mitigate the impacts of climate change. 

 

Urban Green Spaces & the Environment 

In cities and urban spaces, it can be hard to find a place to relax outside and see lush vegetation and biodiversity. Urban areas tend to have higher rates of pollution than rural areas; however, great strides have been taken over the past several years to create urban green spaces that not only help provide a place for plants and animals to live, humans to play, but also help mitigate the impacts of climate change. Urban green spaces can have a positive impact on the environment, and today we are going to look into the different forms and shapes that they can take and how they can have a positive impact.  

Urban green spaces can take many different shapes and forms. They can be a large park that is situated between tall skyscraper buildings, or a plant wall that climbs up the side of a building. Let’s define urban green spaces before we move forward. According to Lee, Jordan, and Horsley (2015), urban green spaces are seen as any, “green space, public open space, or park in an urban setting.” Urban planners use urban green spaces to fulfill many different roles such as a social and recreational space for people and also economic and environmental reasons.  

Urban green spaces provide space for plants and animals in cities and a place for people to spend time outdoors as well. Intentional park space that is dedicated in urban settings to be a green space provide a place for people to get exercise and socialize with others in an open-air setting. There are many different types of urban green spaces that help encourage people to get active such as walking, running, and biking trails, outdoor fitness parks with free equipment, and parks that provide regular outdoor fitness classes for free or at a low cost. Moreover, evidence has shown that urban green spaces help increase physical activity and that people are more likely to adhere to their exercise routine if a green space is available to them (Green Space Benefit, 2021).  

What is more, there is much discussion on the positive impacts that urban green spaces can have on people’s health. Urban green spaces are thought to help improve people’s mental wellbeing by providing more places where individuals can relax, soak up vitamin D and fresh air. Additionally, health benefits include improved cardiovascular and respiratory health from reduced pollution and more areas to encourage cardiovascular activity. Urban green spaces can also help reduce stress and anxiety and improve mood.  

Furthermore, urban green spaces provide environmental benefits by helping to counter urban heat created by the density of buildings in a small area, offsetting greenhouse gas emissions with the introduction of vegetation and trees to urban areas and providing a place for storm water to run off (Lee, Jordan, Horsley, 2015). Urban green spaces also improve air quality, enhance biodiversity in an area, and reduce noise. In addition, they help reduce energy costs of cooling buildings and absorb carbon dioxide. Thus, urban green spaces are not just a beautiful park or walking trail, they are spaces that are working hard to help plant life, animals, and the environment.  

So, if urban green spaces are so great in many ways, do we need to worry about their existence in our society or do they have a strong hold? Nevertheless, like any urban planning project, there are challenges and threats to urban green spaces existence. For instance, it can be expensive to fund large urban green space projects and even after they are finished, routine maintenance is needed for upkeep. Public spending budgets in different areas vary and priorities across different areas also change from place to place. Additionally, some green spaces that might be available in urban areas could have restrictions for its usage.    

Overall, urban green spaces can really be viewed as a public good in the benefits that they provide to the environment, people’s health, and biodiversity. Not only do they provide a space for community building and outdoor exercise and recreation, they also help to mitigate the impacts of climate change and improve people’s health. We need more urban green spaces in our cities, and we need to revamp spaces that might need improvements so more people, plants, animals and our environment can soak up the benefits. 

Yesterday, I received a petition signed by 200 people asking the City Council to consider the potential options for installing solar panels on public buildings. I do think it is important to ponder using more renewable energy sources for the sake of our environment. However, alternative options, like solar panels, might be difficult to fund and maintain over a long period of time. That said, I do have some hope because when we first revamped our city-wide recycle program, it was embraced with open arms and the community was happy with our improvements. 

Jessica: Hey Tim! Do you have some time to discuss the urban green space project we’ve been working on?  

Tim: Hi Jessica, yes, I do have some time. Let’s dig in.  

Jessica: Okay great! Well, where we left off was talking about the living wall on the side of the building and whether or not it would be cost effective. What do you think? 

Tim: Did you receive the report back on how the living plant wall would be funded? I think if the plants and supplies are donated, we could make it work in our budget. 

Jessica: Yes, I did get the report back and unfortunately, the living plant wall would not be covered in the donated funds. So, we would have to pay for it with the project’s budget. I, personally, think it is too expensive to install the living wall on the entire side of the building.  

Tim: Okay, yes, I agree if we do not have the donated funds, it is too expensive. I was hoping we would be able to have the plants donated because a living wall on the building would attract more animals, especially insects. One of my personal goals with this project is to attract more animals to our planned urban green spaces.  

Jessica: Yeah, I agree it would be nice to be able to attract more animals. Overall, I think this project should create an urban green space that is cost effective and useful for many people. 

Tim: Yes, I also agree that creating a space that is widely used and also cost effective is our biggest priority. So, if we cannot create the living wall up the entire side of the building, do you think we should try to create a smaller version on a different building in the park itself?  

Jessica: We could probably create a smaller one on one of the buildings in the park area. I wish we had a little more space to work with because I wanted to include a fitness trail along the water. Remember that the biggest thing that was included in the petition for more park space in this area included the need for outdoor fitness spaces.  

Tim: I think we can work with this area, irrespective of size and function, we can still do a lot with landscaping and adding vegetation. I think we can include a walking trail if we use crushed shells or pebbles as an alternative to pavement.  

Jessica: That’s a good idea. I am a little worried about the cost of the project, especially with the restrictions of how we can use the donated funds. Additionally, I want to use renewable resources for construction and in the space itself. Do you think we could purchase a couple of solar panels for the bathroom building?  

Tim: I think a few solar panels are a great potential renewable energy source that we could use, and I also think we might be able to use some of the donated money for them too. I would like to make sure we have ample places where people can recycle as well.  

Jessica: Great point! The city’s improved recycling program has really taken off and I want our green space to encourage recycling too. 

Tim: Okay, so right now we know that we cannot do the full-scale living plant wall that we wanted to do on the side of the building near the park. But we think solar panels are possible to fit within the budget and a smaller version of the living wall on the side of a building in the park area.  

Jessica: Yes, and we also know that we want to include a fitness trail that uses crushed shells or pebbles as an alternative to pavement. If we want this space to be used by a wide variety of people, what else can we include?  

Tim: We could consider putting in some pavilions for people to gather and a play area for kids.  

Jessica: I agree! I also think some free outdoor fitness equipment and an area for people to bring their dogs could be helpful additions. 

(Please read the words below with the underlined parts stressed the most.) 

1 – The affix itself receives the stress. 

  • semicircle 
  • Chinese  
  • referee  
  • engineer 
  • unique  

 2 – The word stress remains the same with the addition of the affix. 

  • unavoidable  
  • refusal  
  • specialist  
  • dislike 
  • resource 

3- Stress stays on the root word but shifts to a different syllable. 

  • revision  
  • erosion  
  • relation
  • association
  • geographic 

unit 4

Despite the company’s extensive surveillance methods put into place, such as routine inspection of files and password authentication measures, they still suffered a significant data breach. Many files were impacted in this violation of stolen sensitive information of their clients. Some of this guarded information included highly confidential files that clients intended to be kept private and protected. In an effort to protect their clients’ privacy, the firm is not releasing any additional details of the situation at this time. 

  1. Hannah is a great swimmer. She knows several different swimming strokes and excels in each one. Hannah is also a very talented singer. She was in a community choir for a while and was asked to sing many solos. Another talent Hannah has is art. She likes to paint and draw and her artwork is beautiful. Hannah can also play multiple musical instruments and is a very talented musician. Additionally, Hannah is a very talented cook and likes to cook a variety of meals from many different types of cuisines.
  2. Artificial intelligence seems to be in many places these days. Take out your smart phone, for example, and a virtual assistant is ready to answer your questions. Take a trip to the grocery store and you can probably use an artificial intelligence powered self-checkout station to pay for your groceries. Open up your favorite streaming app and an artificial intelligence algorithm, or system, has a suggestion of entertainment lined up for you to watch. Ask a smart speaker to play a song for you and it will answer you using artificial intelligence.
  3. I recently decided to declutter my phone and delete several unused applications. I probably had 50 apps on my phone and routinely used only about 10. I deleted apps about the weather. I also removed apps that were for journaling. I decided to keep a fitness app that I like to use to track workouts, but I deleted an app for a silly game I used to like to play. I kept some social media apps but decided to remove travel apps that I no longer used. I can’t believe how many apps are out there these days.
  4. I visited Marco Island in Florida last year and there were so many seashells. Sanibel Island in Florida also had a lot of very unique shells when I visited a few years ago. My brother visited Miami Beach a couple of months ago and found some great scallop shells. My parents went to the Florida Keys last year and they saw hundreds of unique seashells on the white sand beaches. My friend Jennifer recently visited Cocoa Beach on Florida’s east coast and saw tons of brightly colored shells along the Atlantic Ocean shore. I need to visit more Florida beaches to keep expanding my seashell collection. 

Business & Personal Data 

When you hear the phrase “personal data” what kinds of things come to mind? Maybe, you think about your privacy because this data is personal after all. Maybe, you think about how this data might be sensitive and contain information that you do not want other people to know about. You might also think about how this type of data is confidential and something that you try to keep secret or private. Businesses are thinking about your personal data too.    

Businesses can profit off of peoples’ personal data in many ways. When people search and click on things online there are businesses tracking their behavior. For instance, it is no coincidence that after you search for a new mattress using an online search engine, you might start to see ads elsewhere online advertising new mattresses to you. Businesses use the information, or your data, from your online actions to track and offer you advertisements that they think might interest you. Your personal data and online actions are constantly being tracked by websites and data tracking companies.  

Your personal data also lives online with different accounts you create with various websites, email platforms, social media, and more. When you give your personal data and information to an online entity, you are trusting them to protect your data and use it within the stated user agreement guidelines. In a perfect world, our personal data would stay safe and protected no matter where we share it and companies would never break their agreements. However, as I’m sure you know, we do not live in a perfect world, and companies break their agreements and also occasionally are the victims of an outside data breech from a hacker or other malicious intruder.  

When personal data is stolen in data breeches, intruders might gain access to sensitive personal information such as addresses, phone numbers, date of birth, email, and other confidential information. Businesses put a lot of effort into surveillance practices to keep users’ personal data safe, but some data breeches still happen. If your personal data is compromised, it’s a good idea to take some immediate steps to protect yourself as best as possible.  

If you find yourself a victim of a data breech you should be notified by the company first and foremost with the steps they’re taking to remedy the situation. On your own, however, you can start gathering information about the breech and notify your financial institutions on your own to protect yourself. Another important step you can take is changing your passwords to accounts and other online entities. If you can, freeze any credit cards and initiate a fraud alert with your accounts so they can be on the lookout for suspicious activity. Ultimately, your personal data needs to be protected by you. Don’t share passwords with others and be selective about where you are willing to provide your personal data online.    

Businesses have an interesting relationship with peoples’ personal data because they can profit from it, but it is correspondingly in their best interest to protect it and keep users safe and customers happy. We live in a world where big data, including peoples’ personal data, drives sales, advertisements, and companies’ success. As your personal data lives in many places online, it is important to keep your guard up, or be alert, to the ways that you can keep it safe. 

  1. Sam broke her arm.
    She broke it as a result of falling down the stairs.
    Accordingly, her parents had to take her to the emergency room.
    On that account, she was lucky because it was only a small fracture.
    That being so, they did not have to spend a very long time in the emergency room.
    Since leaving the emergency room in a small cast, Sam is hopeful she will recover quickly.

  2. We received 10 inches of rain last night.
    As a result, the backyard is completely flooded.
    On the account, the backward needs to dry out before we host a party there.
    Accordingly, I think we need to consider canceling the party.
    That being so, you should call the people that you invited and let them know the change in plans.

  3. I am looking for a new job in the tech industry.
    As a result, I have been searching many job sites online looking for opportunities.
    On one job site, I have since found a few postings to apply to.
    On that account, after I refresh my resume, I am going to apply to the jobs I found.
    So, hopefully I will be able to find a new position in the tech industry soon.

  1. A large corporation might not think about the impact that they have on the environment if they are making high enough profits. 
  2. After the business trade, the new company acquired all of the old company’s assets which included office spaces and company vehicles.
  3. The launch of the new app will require an expenditure of funds from all departments of the business. 
  4. If we want to increase our profit next quarter, we might want to consider moving our data storage over to a less expensive provider.
  5. She spent years working for a non-profit whose mission was to improve the lives of inner-city youth in the downtown area through innovative after school technology programs. 

Tara Hey Kevin, I’m glad I caught you! Where do you want to go shopping for those gifts that we need this weekend for the birthday party?  

Kevin Hmm, I haven’t really thought about it too much. We could go to the mall early Saturday? It’s probably going to be pretty busy though.  

Tara Yeah, we could go to the mall, but I would rather shop small and support a local business in our community.  

Kevin Did you have any place in mind? I like supporting local businesses too. 

Tara Well, if we went down and took a walk along the main street district downtown, there are several locally owned small businesses that we can check out that are not a part of a large corporation. 

Kevin Okay, great. That sounds like a plan to me. I like seeing local businesses thriving and making a profit with their goods and services. I think it helps and impacts the community in a positive way too when you support a small business.  

Tara Yeah, I know it’s challenging for small businesses to compete with larger corporations that have huge budgets for expenditures that are necessary to help the business succeed. I do think, though, that things like social media and reviews help small businesses compete with larger ones. I also like to know that I’m making an impact directly on the lives of the business owners.   

Kevin I know what you mean. I also feel like larger businesses have more assets and resources usually at their disposal than small businesses and ultimately these assets help them meet their bottom line and make higher profits. But yes, social media helps smaller businesses spread the word and reviews are kind of like free advertising in a way.  

Tara True! Provided they are positive reviews; I think they can help draw more people to try out a small business even if they are less familiar with it than a well-known name of a big corporation.  

Kevin I like to read reviews of places before I try them out and if somewhere has good reviews, I am definitely more likely to shop or eat there. I also try to leave reviews myself, especially for small businesses. I think this also benefits and impacts shoppers in general too.  

Tara I feel like these days you can get a lot of perks and rewards for leaving reviews too. I have seen small businesses with signs at their check-out for a percentage off your next purchase if you leave a review.  

Kevin  It’s a good idea for them to offer incentives like that because it will help them get their name out there and hopefully keep their customers happy too. 

Tara Well, if we find a great small business downtown to buy our birthday gifts, we should plan on leaving them a nice review. I also know there are a few non-profits downtown on main street that have a small retail shop of items that benefit their missions. We could also consider seeing what they have to offer. 

Kevin Great idea! Let’s plan on checking out some small businesses and a few non-profits downtown and I am sure that we can find some great gifts! 

  1. The kids are at the movies.

  2. Why aren’t you coming to the show tonight?

  3. He bought a used car for his son on his 16th birthday.

  4. Technology makes communicating with loved ones easier.

  5. My computer is broken, so I couldn’t finish the assignment.

  6. I want to work for a business that gives back to the community.

  7. I prefer to shop online because it is easier than going to the store in person.

  8. Alexa enjoys supporting small businesses because she herself is an artist and sells her art locally. 

(Read with the underlined words stressed in the sentence.) 

Self-driving cars are becoming more and more of a reality in bigger cities. I was recently on vacation and saw an electric powered self-driving shuttle on the streets. This free, self-driving shuttle was used to transport tourists from their hotels to the downtown shopping district. No one was driving the shuttle. It was completely automatic and drove itself. I thought about riding in it, but I am still a little hesitant to trust this new technology. 

unit 5

My parents just retired, and they are beginning the process of building a new house. They recently showed me the blueprint for the house which included the design plan for the placement of all the rooms in the house. Their new house will be a one-story, ranch style home that has no stairs and is all on one level. Their previous home had two stories and a basement, so they are excited to no longer have to climb stairs daily.  

My mom showed me an additional diagram that included the exterior design plan of the outside of the house. Their outdoor porch will feature a lot of symmetry with columns that are symmetrical in size and color framing the door and porch area. She went back and forth with the architecture and designer as they showed her one sketch after another of their drawings for the front of the house. Eventually, they agreed on the symmetrical placement of the columns as well as the color. 

The new semester starts in a few days, but I was able to meet my architecture instructor last night. I attended a school mixer and I recognized him from his bio picture on the online course site. I walked over and introduced myself to him. He shook my hand warmly and introduced himself and told me he was excited to be teaching this new course. Then he asked me what type of architecture interested me. He seemed really nice and I am excited to take his course. 

  1. Henry: I have an important midterm exam tomorrow and I am not prepared for it! I didn’t have much time to study because my mom got sick a few weeks ago and I’ve had to take care of her. I wish I had more time to study for the exam because right now I’m worried about it. I honestly don’t think I will pass it and I am wondering if it is even worth taking it. Do you think I should ask the professor if I can take it at a later date? 

  2. Jessica: I am so excited about this new project! We are weeks ahead of our projected timeline and I think we will finish early. This has been one of the best design projects that I have ever worked on because I have been able to use all of my skills and incorporate my own sketches into the design. I was also able to work with a new architect to design and build some of the structures within the project. I think it will be a great addition to my portfolio. 

  3. Allen: I really need to get a new job. I am feeling so underappreciated and overqualified at my current job. I took this job right out of college to stay in the area where I lived because I liked the area and I still do. I want to find a new job here in the area I live that is more challenging and aligned with my background and skills. Every day at work, I just can’t wait to go home. I want a job that I feel passionate and excited about. The job market right now, however, is pretty depressing and there doesn’t seem to be many promising positions for me to apply. 

 

Let’s dive right into our next topic, green architecture. Have you ever heard of this phrase before? Today we are going to unpack exactly what green architecture is, where it comes from, and give a few examples.  

Architecture has a long history and can be traced back to when humans stopped living in caves and started to build and design new structures. Humans have a lengthy history of unique exterior and interior designs spanning across thousands of years of human existence. Structures like the Egyptian pyramids and England’s Stonehedge have captivated modern day architects, scientists, archeologists, and anthropologists to marvel in ancient humans’ abilities to design such complex structures. With the help of new technology and materials, humans continue to find ways to create increasingly innovative buildings and structures and are starting to think more and more about the purpose behind them and the impacts that buildings have on the environment.  

Green architecture is generally thought to be a product of the 1970s increasing oil prices that ignited a push for substantial research into ways to improve energy efficiency and to look for more renewable and cleaner energy sources. Moreover, Frank Lloyd Wright is thought of by many as the father of green architecture with his focus on sustainable architecture. In 1989 the American Institute of Architects formed the Committee on the Environment and published guidelines such as the Environmental Resource Guide and created the first local green building program that was introduced in Austin, Texas in 1992 (US EPA, 2016). Accordingly, the Environmental Protection Agency in the US has continued to research and produce buildings and practices that center around the mission of protecting human health and the environment.  

So, what is green architecture? Green architecture, or green construction, is the aim of designing buildings and structures that in their design, construction, and operation seek to reduce or eliminate negative impacts on the environment and/or create positive impacts. Green architecture seeks to create buildings that can help improve our overall quality of life and that of the environment. At the heart of green architecture blueprints, diagrams, and sketches, you will find renewable resources and sustainable materials leading the way.  

Nowadays, green architecture can be seen in action all across the globe. The Netherlands is famous for what is considered by some to be the world’s greenest office building and it is known as “a computer with a roof”. Its architectural design features innovative symmetry of solar panels that cover the roof and faces of the building. The building itself is also considered to be net energy positive which means that it actually produces a greater amount of energy than it uses (Construct, 2021). The building also uses collected rainwater for irrigation and to flush toilets. The Toronto Tree Tower is another extraordinary green architecture feat designed by architect Chris Precht. This residential skyscraper is made from wood and features large balconies with sprouting trees and plants and is seen as an exemplar for future urban green architecture builds (Cambell, 2022). I think it would be quite intriguing to live in a large skyscraper made of wood with plenty of plants and trees all around you while still being in the middle of an urban city.  

Another great general example of green architecture is green roofing where plants are incorporated into the roofs of buildings. Green roofing helps to reduce water runoff, is more energy efficient, helps improve air quality, can serve as a habitat for animals like birds and insects, and tends to last longer with the protection from UV rays in comparison to more traditional roofs. Green roofing also helps to reduce sound pollution and promote biodiversity. Nonetheless, there are some drawbacks to green roofing such as increased weight load put on the roof and the need for increased structural support of the roof in comparison to traditional roofs. Additionally, green roofing does require extra maintenance to tend to the plants with watering and weeding. Despite the few drawbacks, I think green roofing is a very clever idea and something that I would consider with a future home build and design.  

So, what does this mean for the world of architecture moving forward? Can we expect that all future builds and architects will be excited to make their plans as environmentally friendly as possible and align with green architecture values? While we cannot expect everyone to move forward with sustainable, green, and earth friendly projects, it is clear to see that green architecture is making waves all around the world and that people care more and more about innovative ways to help protect the environment. I think green architecture is here to stay and will continue to find extraordinary ways to make buildings and structures work with the environment and help positively impact our planet.

There are many ways to salvage materials from old buildings and use them in new construction builds. For instance, old brick that might be falling apart on a forgotten building could be repurposed into an accent wall or new fireplace structure. When we reuse materials, it can 4 benefit both the environment and the overall budget of a new build. I am trying to use innovation to help us find new techniques to construct buildings that prioritize conservation and promote less waste. In addition, I am looking for sustainable options that can be easily maintained over time and that help reach the highest levels of efficiency. 

(Andrew is the interviewer and Macy is the interviewee.) 

Andrew Hi Macy, thank you for coming in today for this interview. Please have a seat. 

Macy Thank you for the opportunity! I’m really looking forward to learning more about the position. 

Andrew Great, well let’s get started. My name is Andrew Mclane and I am one of the senior architects here at this firm and I’ve worked here for 5 years. Why don’t you tell me a little bit about yourself.  

Macy Sure. My name is Macy Adams and I just graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in architecture last May. I did an internship with a local architecture firm over the summer and I have a lot of experience with interior design too. I am really interested in green architecture that focuses on keeping the environment at the heart of design and construction.  

Andrew That’s great to hear and as I’m sure you know that green architecture is one of our focuses here. Tell me more about your bachelor’s degree and the different projects that you worked on. 

Macy Sure, like I mentioned green architecture has been a passion of mine and I was lucky to have many opportunities to be exposed to new innovation techniques to make building and design more environmentally friendly while I completed my Bachelor’s. One project that I really enjoyed working on was a renovation project of an old farmhouse to turn it into a play center and large outdoor park for the surrounding community. On this project I worked hard to salvage as much as I could from the old structure to use in the new design and build. I was able to use a lot of old metal and some brick for the new exterior and even incorporated an old weathervane into the new design.   

Andrew That sounds like a very interesting project! Did you use any forms of sustainable energy on the final structure? 

Macy Yes, I ended up securing a grant to install solar panels that are relatively easy to maintain and will help with the overall energy efficiency of the park long term.  

Andrew That’s great. I love to hear about sustainable and greener energy options being used in projects and promoting conservation efforts across our municipal parks and recreation areas. What types of projects do you prefer to work on? For instance, do you like large corporate builds or smaller more local ones? 

Macy That’s a good question. I would say that I like a mix. It’s fun to work on smaller projects because you typically have more freedom and creativity with your plans and blueprints for the project. However, smaller projects usually have smaller budgets and that can limit what you are able to do even if you have the freedom. So, I also enjoy working on larger projects that have a bigger budget even if it means less creative freedom. Above all, though, I enjoy working on projects that are environmentally friendly as much as possible.  

Andrew I understand that. We work with a mix of larger firms and smaller organizations, so it’s a good balance of large-scale projects and smaller locally organized projects. Okay, tell me about a time when a project did not go as planned and how you handled it.  

Macy Sure, last summer one of my internship projects was going very well until we ran into some supply-chain issues and some of our materials that we needed to complete the project were either not going to arrive on schedule or would be too expensive for our budget. It was really disappointing because we were designing a new music bandshell for an outdoor park along the river and we wanted to finish it in time for late summer concerts to take place. We decided to reevaluate our design plan and ended up changing our plans to use different materials all together that were more readily available. The overall exterior design did not change too much, but it was not what we originally planned. I think for me, I tried to remember the ultimate goal of the project was to create an outdoor music bandshell that would withstand the outdoor elements for years to come was the most important thing and changing the design did not hinder that goal, despite it being different than what we wanted originally.  

Andrew That’s a good example. Sometimes things just do not go as planned. Resources and materials might become scarce or too expensive and I think it is important to remember the overall goal of your project first and foremost. Well, to go over some general details about the position. It’s a full-time, Monday through Friday position with occasional weekends depending on the projects you are working on. It is also a hybrid position where you can work at home and in the office depending on what you are working on and the needs of the project. And obviously you would also be out on-site with projects as well. Do you have any questions for me?  

Macy Just one question, what do you like most about working here for this particular firm?  

Andrew Great question. I think for me, I like the opportunity to do architecture work that keeps the environment in mind first and foremost. It is easy to want to build things without thinking about the impact on our world and climate and I like that this company thinks about the needs of our environment. I also really like the work life balance we have here. We work hard, but you also have a great benefits package and are encouraged to take time off to spend with your loved ones and decompress and refresh in the ways that work best for you. Any other questions?  

Macy No, thank you, I think that’s it for now. 

Andrew Okay, well once again thank you for your time and coming in today. We have a few more interviews this week and we will be making our final decision early next week. You should hear something next week and if you do not, please feel free to reach out.  

Macy Okay, thank you for your time and this opportunity. I look forward to hearing from you next week.  

(Please read the sentences with steady rhythm and stress on the underlined words.) 

Tom: I bought a car on Friday last week. It was a very last-minute decision.  

Jill: Really? What kind of car did you buy? I thought you were going to wait a while before buying anything new.  

Tom: Yeah, I was planning on waiting originally, but then I found the perfect car at a dealership near me. I bought a mid-sized SUV.  

Jill: Nice! I guess if the right one came along it’s a good thing you went and bought it because I’ve heard that mid-sized SUVs are difficult to find these days. 

(Please read the word and then its echo (by row) with the same speed to emphasize rhythm.) 

 

(Please read the underlined syllables with stress.) 

  1.  Rick The weather’s been so lovely lately!
    Leslie Yes, it has been! I love the warmer weather for a change.
    Rick Yeah, I can finally go for a run outside and not freeze to death.
    Leslie I can finally go for a walk at lunch time too without a heavy coat.

  2. Cindy I’m going to the store to buy milk, eggs, bananas, and lettuce. Do you need anything else?
    Gene Yeah, actually, could you also buy some coffee while you’re there?
    Cindy Sure, I’ll add it to my list.
    Gene Thanks! Oh, and some peanut butter too please.

  3. Tyler If I finish all my work, I think I can go to the concert tonight.
    Kelly Okay. I looked at tickets and there are still some available.
    Tyler That’s great! I’ll let you know in a few hours if I can go.
    Kelly Sounds good. If you are able to go, I’ll buy the tickets. 

unit 6

Max: Did you see the new hours online for the Museum of Fine Arts? Notably, the extended hours for Tuesday evening?  

Virginia: I did see that! Similarly, the Museum of History added an extended evening hours for Wednesday, I think.    

Max: Unless they offer an admission discount, however, I don’t think they will get many more visitors during the evening hours. What do you think?   

Virginia: I agree. I hope they drop the price for evening admission, otherwise, I don’t think people will really respond. 

Number 1:
Rex: Hey, did you see the new exhibit showcasing ancient Egypt in the history museum? It is significantly larger than the one they had last year.  

Alexa: No, I haven’t seen it yet, although I was wanting to take a trip to the history museum soon with my son. What was your favorite part?  

Rex: I really liked the section on ancient tools and artwork. Additionally, they had a very neat display of notably old jewelry.  

Alexa: Interesting! I will have to schedule a time to go soon before the exhibit ends. 

Number 2:
Abby: Above all, I think that we should try to start the new project on the first of the month so our invoices are easy to file.  

Jim: Okay, I’m fine with that. However, some items for the new project have already been approved for purchase and I’m not sure if they have been purchased yet or not?  

Abby: Oh, good point. Alternatively, I suppose we could get started with it a week or so sooner especially since some of those items are already approved and we can purchase them now.   

Jim: Apart from the painting materials, I don’t think anything else has been submitted for approval. Nevertheless, it might be better to get things purchased because we will receive them quicker.  

Number 3:
Carly: We decided to cancel the event due to the bad weather heading our way later this week. Do you think we should reschedule a date now, or wait a while? 

Allison: Oh no, that’s not great news but I understand. First, I think we should think about if the event vendors will all be available on a similar date and second, if the venue space will be available? 

Carly: Good questions! Generally, the vendors have appeared to be pretty flexible and available at similar times, whereas, the venue space might pose an issue for us to reschedule.   

Allison: Okay, well let’s start with the venue space first and see what dates they have available, and next we can talk with the vendors. 

 

  1. I went to a notably excellent Picasso exhibit in the new art museum downtown this weekend and it was spectacular. Subsequently, the building that now houses the new museum used to be an art studio and some of the art from previous artists was still around. For instance, a mural painted by a local artist covers the entire back wall of the building. I think it was a wise decision to keep a lot of the old art because it gives the building character. In the same way, a new restaurant downtown kept some stunning artwork on its interior walls inside when they bought an old building, and it really adds to the atmosphere.

  2. If we don’t plan to leave before traffic hits on Friday afternoon, I’m afraid that we will miss our flight. Consequently, the airport will be busier too after rush-hour traffic starts, so we should make sure we leave well before 3:00pm. Although we do not have any luggage to check, therefore it should not take us too long to get to our gate. Yet, you never know how long the line for security will be, therefore we should still try to get there early.

  3. Today is the last day to submit proposals for the city park renovations. Nevertheless, I wonder if they will still accept a proposal tomorrow if someone has a legitimate reason for the late submission. Otherwise, it is probably the best idea to submit your proposals today and not risk the chance of missing the deadline. Similarly, the county is also currently accepting proposals for their latest renovation ideas as well as summer concert series proposals.    

I just visited the Dali Museum in the Grand Central District and it was phenomenal. I recently took an art history class from the local community college and it helped me to identify more of the symbolism in Dali’s paintings and understand subtle messages. I also learned more about different appropriation attempts that have been made to copy Dali’s work and sell it as the original. However, if you are a true Dali fan, you would never be fooled due to his excellent brushwork techniques. The next art museum I visit, I would like to see more mixed media artwork that uses multiple materials in one piece of artwork. I enjoy viewing artwork that plays around with texture and appearances. 

As a creative person, I have always been interested in art and learning about art history. While I was a child in school, most of my K-12 education offered art classes of some form. I remember having an art period in elementary school, dedicated art classes in middle school, and some offerings for art classes in high school. Nowadays, with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) being such a high priority in K-12 education, funding for things like art can be hard to obtain. Today, I am going to discuss the question of whether or not art classes should be a priority in K-12 education? I will highlight a few points in favor of prioritizing art classes and some drawbacks. Let’s get started.  

First, in support of art classes, I think it’s important to think about how children naturally enjoy learning through being creative. Kids enjoy things like drawing and imagining stories, and structured art classes can help to encourage their creativity and foster new skills in a playful setting. Art classes also help children develop motor skills, decision making, and risk taking. Moreover, kids can learn the importance of practice, collaboration, and the impact of small changes through art classes. Additionally, time spent in art classes can help children develop higher-ordered thinking skills and experiment with unique ways to communicate their thoughts and ideas. Finally, art encourages self-expression and can help children build confidence, creativity, and their own identities.  

Nonetheless, to change gears and shift to talk about the drawbacks of prioritizing art classes, I think it’s important to discuss the cost. In comparison to most other classes that K-12 kids take, like reading, writing, and math, art classes require many supplies and they can be costly. From paper and pencils to paints and canvases, art classes require materials for the teacher to demonstrate and for each of the students to create. Additionally, many materials from art classes cannot be reused by future students, as items like books can be reused by many classes. Thus, there needs to be a strong funding source in order for art classes to be successful.  

To wrap up, I personally think that art classes are worth the investment and should be a priority in K-12 education. To summarize, art classes can help children in a number of ways including encouraging creativity and self-expression, developing motor skills, decision making, and higher ordered thinking skills. Nevertheless, art classes are expensive with the greater number of supplies needed in comparison to other classes. However, I think that the benefits of art classes overall make them a worthwhile investment of funds.

Today we are going to continue our exploration of genres and time periods of art and dive right into Pop Art. Loved by some, criticized by others, Pop Art is generally thought to have begun in the 1950s and had its peak around 1960 (Rise Art, 2020). Love it or hate it, we are going to discuss Pop Art’s beginnings and background, some popular Pop Art styles, and techniques, and conclude with places to view pop art.  

 Before we move forward, let’s discuss the background and historical beginnings of Pop Art. As I mentioned previously, Pop Art got its start in the 1950s in the United States and England and emerged as an art movement that took inspiration from popular and commercial culture. Pop Art initiated as a movement of rebellion against traditional forms of art. Many of the first Pop Art artists felt that traditional art displayed in museums or taught in schools failed to represent the real world. Accordingly, Pop Art artists turned to popular culture for their inspiration. As a result, Pop Art was frequently viewed as “anti-art” for its refusal to fit into the confines of the standards for traditional art during its beginnings (Rise Art, 2020).  

Let’s shift gears and discuss some of Pop Art’s most widely known artists. Some of Pop Art’s biggest names include Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, and Robert Rauschenberg. Each of these artists had their own unique Pop Art style and motivations for creating art. Andy Warhol, known as a superstar of Pop Art, is most famous for his legendary Cambell’s Soup Cans and Gold Marilyn Monroe, and he was one of the first artists during this time in incorporate video as an artwork (Lansroth, 2015). Roy Lichtenstein’s work during the Pop Art movement was heavily inspired by comic strips and often met with criticism for a lack of originality. Nevertheless, Lichtenstein built his inspired body of work focusing on mass-produced images, artists individual feelings, and consumerism (Lansroth, 2015). In continuation, Robert Rauschenberg is known for using mixed media and blending materials into his artwork that combined commercial printing and transferring images onto canvas. Rauschenberg is also well-known for capturing visual noise onto his artwork (Lansroth, 2015).  

  So, what kinds of elements can help us identify Pop Art? Typically, Pop Art uses popular, consumer symbols that are easily identifiable. Many pieces of Pop Art highlight everyday household items, like Andy Warhol’s famous 1962 Cambell’s Soup Cans. Other popular elements in Pop Art include renditions of famous celebrities such as James Rosenquist’s Pop Art piece in Marilyn Monroe (Rise Art, 2020). Pop Art also took risks to include branded and commercial symbolism into works of art, something that traditional art previously avoided.  

Moreover, Pop Art tends to use very bold colors and heavily leans on the primary colors of red, blue, and yellow using bright colors to represent vibrant popular culture. Often times, Pop Art seemed to mimic commercial screen printing, ads, and billboards as Pop Artists incorporated popular culture into their artwork (Rise Art, 2020). Mixed media and collage techniques creating unique textures were popular with Pop Art, as well as a mixture of painting and photography. Pop Art blurred the lines between art modalities to the point where analyzing a piece of Pop Art needed to look far beyond discerning brushwork alone.   

Appropriation took on a new meaning in Pop Art with the rise of consumer culture and mass media outlets. Pop Art often borrowed and altered images and objects from mass popular culture. Much of Pop Art used strange combinations of objects and imagery with underlying symbolism of political, religious, or cultural topics and debates. Furthermore, Pop Art made art more accessible to the general population and not just for the wealthy elite. With its focus on well-known cultural images and themes, it was an artform that felt accessible to everyone. Some even say that Pop Art was the “art for the people” (Rise Art, 2020).  

Where can you view some of this art for the people? Well, nowadays with the internet, you can search for any major Pop Art artists work and see much of their portfolio online. However, if you would like to view iconic Pop Art artists’ work in-person, there are several places you visit. Most notable are the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh; the Museum of Modern Art in New York City; the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, the Art Institute of Chicago; and The Broad in Los Angeles. I highly recommend visiting one of these museums if you are interested in getting up close and personal with iconic Pop Art pieces.  

In sum, Pop Art was a movement from the 1950s that stretched the definition of art and made art more accessible to the masses. Pop Art artists drew inspiration from popular culture and pushed the limits of mixed media in their pieces of work. So, is Pop Art still alive and relevant today? The short answer to this question is yes. There are many contemporary Pop Artists that continue to keep the Pop Art movement alive and prospering today.

I enjoy visiting large art museums because they typically house multiple styles and genres of artwork. I like seeing iconic and well-known works of art, but I also like to see work from lesser-known and up incoming artists. Surreal art that depicts fantasy and dreamworlds intrigue me and I enjoy investigating the foreground to find different bizarre elements. Oftentimes, I think futuristic art that includes concepts depicting the future is similar to art that depicts fantasy worlds. Additionally, I find myself attracted to monochrome color palettes that focus on tones of a sole color. 

Claire Hey James! Did you finish your project for Mr. Mcoy’s class?  

James Hi! No, I haven’t finished yet. I’m getting close to being done, but I have some more work to do on the foreground still and I also need to decide if I want to add any futuristic elements or not. Have you finished?   

Claire Yes, I finished mine, last night. I was hoping you had finished yours too so we could check out a new art museum this weekend. I decided to keep my piece pretty monochrome and in a pink hue. I also wanted mine to be quite surreal, so I did incorporate several futuristic elements.   

James Nice! I initially wanted to keep my project more realistic and less surreal, but the more I started working on it the more I feel like I’m leaning towards adding some futuristic elements. I’ll have to sit with it for a while longer this weekend and hopefully finish it. Interesting that you chose to keep your piece monochrome and pink! I tend to shy away from monochrome because I think it sometimes bleeds together a little too much for me.  

Claire Yeah, I actually like monochrome, and especially focusing on an unusual color for a piece or artwork. Nonetheless, even monochrome artwork can have varying consistencies of one color that range from being translucent and easy to see through to opaque and hazy. 

 James That’s true, you can still play around with the consistencies. So, what museum were you thinking about visiting?  

Claire There’s a new smaller art museum downtown that just opened and it has a traveling exhibit of iconic Pop Art that I would really like to go see. Have you seen a lot of Pop Art in-person before?  

James No, I haven’t. Although, the last time I was in Minneapolis, I visited the Walker Art Center and they had an exhibit with some iconic work from Any Warhol, like the famous Cambells Soup Cans piece and some other ones, but besides that, I have not seen any other exhibits in person of Pop Art. I would definitely be  interested in going sometime though.  

Claire That’s cool. I’ve heard that the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis does have some pretty neat Pop Art displays. Additionally, I’m interested in checking out the sculpture garden down off of 15th St. I think there are over 50 outdoor sculptures to see, and the grounds are beautiful to walk as well.  

James That sounds very neat. I also enjoy visiting sculpture gardens. I’ve never had the opportunity to try much sculpture work, but I would like to in the future. Have you visited any of the more classical art museums downtown?  

Claire I’ve been to a few that have pieces by Leonardo DaVinci, Pablo Picasso, and Van Gogh. One of the major art museums downtown recently had a really great Frida Kahlo exhibit that was pretty inspiring.  

James Actually, I was able to see that exhibit for its last weekend a couple of months ago. I agree it was very moving. Have you ever had the chance to visit any art museums in Europe? 

Claire No, I haven’t. However, there are many on my list to visit. In particular, I would like to visit the Louvre Museum in Paris, and the Vatican Museums in Rome. Have you ever been? 

James A few years ago, I took a trip to Amsterdam, and I visited the Van Gogh Museum. It was spectacular, notably there were many pieces from Van Gogh that I had never seen before. Aside from that, I have not visited any other museums in Europe. I have many on my list too. 

Today/ I’d like to talk to you/ about our new art gallery /located at 1098 E River Drive./ For those of you who don’t know/ our art gallery is open/ to the public every day/ from 12:00-5:00pm./We have new artists’ work / on display for viewing / and additional art available/ for purchase. /Our gallery / has 10 residential artists / and a few visiting artists / each month. Furthermore,/ we offer field trip incentives /to local elementary schools,/ but we encourage you to schedule a time to visit / in advance. 

Pause at each slash / 

  1. I was wondering / if I could make a reservation / for next Sunday? The group would be / 10 adults / and 5 children. / We do not need / any special accommodation / but we would prefer / an indoor table. 
     
  2. She always stays / at the Windsor Place Hotel / on West 6th Street / because it’s close to the airport. / I’ve never seen her stay / anywhere else / besides this hotel.

  3. My friend / recently started a recycling program / in her neighborhood / and it has been very successful / so far. One of her goals / for the project / is to convince 50% / of all residents / to participate.

  4. The university student center / is starting a new weekly ritual/ where they will offer free movies on the lawn / every Friday night. If you want to know / what movie will be played, / you can check their website / for a list. 

The Mona Lisa / is a very famous painting / by Leonardo da Vinci. / Art historians / believe the painting /was completed /in between 1503-1519. / It is currently / on display / in Paris /in the Lourve Museum. / However, / due to its popularity / and value, / sometimes there is a replica / on display/ in its place. / As a general viewer/ you most likely will never know / if you are seeing the authentic piece / or a replica. / Museum curators / do this / to protect valuable artwork/ and to clean / and preserve artwork / from time to time.

unit 7

  1. To form water, a chemical reaction takes place between the hydrogen and oxygen molecules.

  2. Have you ever thought about how water can be both beneficial and detrimental at the same time?

  3. Molecules are so miniscule that a tiny droplet of water contains billions of water molecules.

  4. Not drinking enough water in a day can make a person feel lethargic and tired.

  5. Water, or H2O, consists of two hydrogen and one oxygen molecule. 

  1. Welcome everyone! My name is Kyle, and I’m here today to tell you about a great new product that is going to revolutionize your online teaching abilities. Our new software includes the latest and greatest updates to make online teaching easy and accessible to all types of learners. It’s easy to install, affordable, and incredibly user friendly. So, sit back and relax as I tell you more about this amazing product and how you can get yours today.
  2. On behalf of all of the botanical faculty and staff here at the university, it is my honor to accept this award celebrating our unique hydro gardens. When we initially had the idea to start a hydro garden project here, we faced some criticism and apprehension towards whether or not it would be a successful pursuit. Suffice it to say, I think we can now say that it was and is a very successful endeavor! I have thoroughly enjoyed experimenting with growing all different kinds of fruits and vegetables in our hydro garden. Most notably, growing massive amounts of luscious strawberries has been a highlight for me.

  3. Hi everyone, thank you for attending this session on the rainwater cycle, run off, and its impact on the surrounding community. Today, I’m going to share some general information about the rainwater cycle and talk about where we see most runoff happening in our community. We’ll also discuss the impact of that runoff and the different things that we might consider implementing to help get the most out of our natural water cycle. Above all, this session today is to give you information, and what you choose to do with that information is entirely up to you. 

  1. Kim: Hey Mario! What do you think about the lab homework?

    Mario: Hey, I think it’s quite a lot of homework and I’m not sure we’ll have enough time to complete the steps that we need to do in the lab tomorrow. What about you?

    Kim: Yeah, I think it might be hard to complete in the lab too, but I don’t think it’s an unfair amount of homework.

    Mario: I don’t know. I think it’s a lot to expect us to finish the experiment and detailed write up for the lab report within 2 days. I’m a little frustrated with the deadline. 

  2. Dakota: Hey, how was the organic chemistry conference that you want to last week?

    Lexie: It was really great! I attended several engaging sessions and was able to do some networking too.

    Dakota: That’s great! What was your favorite session?

    Lexie: Notably, I enjoyed the session on the synthesis and reactions of alcohols. I’m hoping to do more studies of my own on different reactions of alcohols. The speakers were engaging too and had very impressive credentials.

    Dakota: That sounds pretty interesting. How was the venue?

    Lexie: The venue was very nice. The rooms had the latest technology for presentations and breakfast and lunch were catered each day. Overall, it was a very nice experience.  

Informative speech, speaker’s point of view is upbeat and positive towards the topic.  

H2O: Essential and Lifegiving, yet Deadly and Destructive  

Water, or H2O, we all know what it is, and we all need it. However, it’s rather intriguing that water can be a lifeforce, yet also incredibly destructive and deadly. Water is essential and lifegiving to all organisms, big and small across our entire planet. Without water, life as we know it might not exist. Nevertheless, water can demolish homes, destroy landscapes, and have detrimental consequences. During our time today, we are going to discuss the chemical properties of water, the benefits and lifegiving nature of water, and the destructive side of water.  

At its molecular level, a water molecule consists of 2 hydrogen atoms bonded to 1 oxygen atom. Molecules are the smallest unit of a chemical compound that can participate in a chemical reaction. Molecules are so miniscule that a tiny droplet of water contains billions of water molecules. Water is often referred to as a “universal solvent” because it is able to dissolve more substances than any other liquid. This is partly what makes water so important to every living organism on earth. Since it can dissolve so many substances, it carries along valuable nutrients, minerals, and chemicals wherever it goes through the air, ground, and even through our bodies.  

Water exists in 3 physical forms, liquid, gas, and solid. We see and use water in its liquid form very often. Our drinking water is in liquid form, along with water in rivers, lakes, and oceans. Water vapor in the clouds is in the form of a gas, and snow and ice are water’s solid form. On a daily basis, we probably encounter water in all three of these forms without necessarily noticing. When we are outside, water vapor lingers in the clouds and atmosphere. When you take a sip of a cool, iced beverage, you are experiencing water in two physical forms, both liquid and solid. In all of its forms, there are billions of water molecules bouncing around.  

We need water to survive and so does our planet. Humans need water to sustain life and the average human can survive without water for about 3 days. Without water, the body starts to shut down and become lethargic. Water truly gives us life. Humans and animals alike need and benefit from water. We get water not only from drinking but also from the food that we eat. Food like fruits and vegetables can contain substantial amounts of water. For instance, melons, strawberries, cucumbers, and broccoli have very high amounts of water. So, when we eat these types of food, we not only get the nutrients that they provide, but we also absorb water. Water is essential for bodily functions such as temperature regulation, absorbing nutrients, removing waste, and overall health.    

Moreover, plants require water for survival. Plants need water for photosynthesis to help convert energy from the sun into their own food. During photosynthesis, plants use both carbon dioxide that they pull from the air and hydrogen from water that they absorb with their root systems, and they emit oxygen as a byproduct. Humans and animals need this oxygen to breathe, and water is a big component of producing it. Water connects us all, humans, plants, and animals and is essential to our longevity.  

Nonetheless, water can be destructive too. It is possible to consume too much water and when this occurs, the kidneys have a difficult time trying to get rid of the excessive water. Additionally, the amount of sodium in the blood can become diluted and this life-threatening condition is called hyponatremia. Water can also cause people and other living animals to drown and die. Excessive water in the form of heavy rainfall can cause catastrophic damage and ruin homes, crops, and peoples’ livelihood. Natural disasters involving water, like hurricanes, flooding, tsunamis, blizzards, and severe thunderstorms can all have deadly consequences. Hurricanes can dump exponential amounts of rain, cause deadly storm surges, and demolish entire cities. Flooding can ruin people’s homes or sweep them away all together. Tsunamis can obliterate entire towns. Blizzards can drop compounding amounts of snow and ice potentially causing detrimental outcomes. Finally severe thunderstorms can bring heavy rainfall, hail, and lightning. Water, a precious, needed resource, is seemingly at the center of each of these natural disasters that have the potential to cause unthinkable damage.  

Furthermore, water is not very friendly to most of our human-created, innovative products. Electronics and water typically do not mix very well and if you pour water on your computer or smart phone, the outcome is not usually too great. In fact, technology companies have gone to great lengths to find ways to waterproof their items. Water can damage fabric items, such as clothing, bedding, and furniture. Water is damaging to vehicles. Unless an item was made specifically to be used with water, you can bet it probably does not do well with getting wet. I find it very ironic that water can be so beneficial and useful, yet so destructive at the same time.  

All of this to say, water is a very powerful resource. We need water, and our planet needs water. Nevertheless, water can be dangerous and deadly. Humans, animals, and plants need water to sustain life. We need water for our bodies to sustain normal bodily functions and plants need water to undergo photosynthesis. Water will destroy many of our human made things and natural disasters centering around water can bring terrible devastation and deadly outcomes. In conclusion, water is a force to be reckoned with. 

DNA testing and databases are a really interesting phenomena that can help reunite family members but could also help convict criminals. An individual’s DNA is a hypersensitive thing, but many people willingly submit their DNA to online databases in search of learning more about their heritage and finding family members. You can learn a lot about your genetics by submitting your DNA for analysis with several online DNA database companies. However, if you want a comprehensive analysis of your genome that shows if you have any genes that have undergone mutation, you will need to do more than a basic online DNA database. Nonetheless, data from DNA database companies have proved to be helpful for scientific forensics to help solve cold cases

Kim Hi guys! Have you had a chance to work on our latest biology assignment on DNA databases?  

Tonia I just got started with mine. I’m looking at it through a forensics lens. How about you, Randy?  

Randy  I just started mine too. I’m focusing more on the ancestry and family reunification side, what about you Kim?  

Kim I was torn between focusing on forensics use and ancestry and genetics. I think for me, a DNA database is such an interesting phenomenon because so much hypersensitive information is being stored in one place. I think they can be great tools for finding more out about your heritage but also as a tool to help solve cold cases.  

Tonia Very true! So, which did you choose to focus on after all?  

Kim I ended up choosing to do my project on how DNA databases are used to help people learn more about their heritage. Since I never knew my father, I am really interested in learning more about that side of my family. I’m not all that interested in meeting or finding long lost relatives, but I would like to know more about my heritage and ancestry.  

Randy Yeah, I similarly have an interest in learning more about my heritage, and I have a family member who never knew her father, like you, Kim. However, she is very interested in finding and meeting potential relatives using a DNA database. So that’s part of the reason I went this route.   

Tonia Well, for me, I have a pretty good idea of my family’s ancestry on both sides, and I’m pretty interested in forensics in general. I’ve heard a few stories on the news in the past couple of years talking about major break throughs in cold cases by using DNA found in an online database. I think it’s so interesting that a cold case that once was thought to never be solved can get clues from online DNA data.  

Randy It is interesting, but it’s a tricky situation too don’t you think? I mean, on the one hand, it’s great to be able to solve cold cases, but on the other hand, is it in some way a violation of privacy? These people probably aren’t necessarily giving their data to a database trying to convict themselves.  

Kim Yeah, I think it’s a very fine line of using hypersensitive data and information like DNA to help with forensics, but at the end of the day, I think that for the greater good of society and humanity, it should be allowed to be used to solve crimes.  

Tonia It is a challenging concept and there are definitely some ethical concerns. Nonetheless, I agree with Kim that ultimately it is beneficial for the greater good of society to be able to use the DNA in databases to solve crimes.  

Randy But sometimes there are mistakes and maybe the DNA sample associated with someone online is not their DNA and was uploaded in an error. People could be wrongfully be convicted for crimes that they did not commit, right? 

Kim Of course, that’s an unfortunate possibility.  

Tonia I think you have to approach it by what is going to make the biggest difference in improving society and also take into account errors. If that was the case, Randy, I would hope that they would verify the DNA of the person to the sample before any decisions are made. But you are right, I’m sure errors do occur across all online DNA databases.  

Randy Without a doubt it’s a very interesting idea and as forensics technology and practices continue to improve, I’m certain that using DNA databases to help solve crimes will as well.  

Kim That’s for sure! So, Randy, is your family member actively trying out an online DNA database company to try and find relatives? 

Randy She just started with one company and she is going to see how it goes before she decides if she wants to try more than one. She’s really interested in learning more about her genetics and specifically if any of her family members have experienced any major illnesses or diseases that might be passed down. I think she   wants to try to start a family in the future and she wants to know if there are any significant genetic mutations that she might pass along.  

Tonia Has she considered getting a genome sequencing test done?  

Randy She has looked into it, but they can be quite expensive. She isn’t wanting to have a family for another few years so she wants to start with an online DNA kit first and then go from there.  

Kim I’ve also heard that genome sequencing tests can be quite costly. I hope she gets some answers from the online DNA kit.  

Randy I do too! Okay, well nice to see you both, but I’ve got to run to my next class. Talk soon!  

Kim Bye!  

Tonia See you later!  

Amanda: Do you like the new instructor in our biology class?   

Sam:  Yes, I do. He seems really nice. Do you like him?  

Amanda:  Yes, I like himtoo. He prefers to do a lot of lecturing, doesn’t he?  

Sam:  Yeah, I could tell after the third class that he would mostly be lecturing. 

  • What country are you from?  
  • Do you like your classes this semester?  
  • How many textbooks did you buy this semester?  
  • It’s raining a lot lately, isn’t it?  
  • Please leave it on my doorstep.  
  • What a beautiful week it’s been!  
  • You like chicken, don’t you?  
  • We should study together more often.  
  • We’ve met before, haven’t we? 

Jessica: May I borrow your notes from yesterday’s physics class?  

Marie: Sure thing. I can bring them to our class this evening. Does that work for you?  

Jessica: Yes, that would be great. How do you feel like our physics class is going so far?  

Marie: For the most part, I think it’s been pretty good. I like the professor, but the work load has been challenging. What do you think about it so far?  

Jessica: I like the professor too, but I also agree that the workload has been a lot. I feel like it’s the class where I receive the most homework. 

unit 8

Jenny: Hey Alex, do you still want to get together tomorrow night and study?  

Alex: Yeah, tomorrow still works for me. How about we make a plan for 6:00pm? 

Jenny: Okay, 6:00pm works for me. Did you get a chance to read the chapter yet?  

Alex: No, I’m still finishing it. I tried to finish it last night, but I didn’t get to sleep until late.   

Maria: Can I ask you a favor?  

Tim: Sure, what is it?  

Maria: Could you help me get permission to have an end of semester party in the Rec Hall?  

Tim: Yes, I can help you with that. I think we’d have to first ask permission from the lead staff member.   

Roxy: I got so angry with her that I dropped my phone and it did a lot of damage!  

Steve: Oh no, that’s too bad. Were you able to get it fixed?  

Roxy: Not yet. I was supposed to go on a trip this weekend though, so I need to get it fixed soon.  

Steve: Hopefully you’ll get it fixed and you can have a restful trip. 

  1. Meditation is a tenet of Buddhism and so is spiritual and physical labor. 

  2. When we visited the island after the storm, food was in such scarcity that people were foraging for food.

  3. Social media seems to always be changing and in a state of perpetual motion.

  4. Spending hours playing video games seems to be quite pervasive among kids and some young adults.

  5. I was under the assumption that all teenagers learned how to drive when they turned 16. 

Language is an integral part of culture and some would say our most important system of symbols. It impacts all parts of society from the official language of a country to the different dialects in cities, regions, and among differing socioeconomic classes. Language both unites us and separates us. We can see language in all parts of our lives. We hear it streaming online, on the radio, TV, and in movies. We see it on street signs, store fronts, and billboards. We read it in emails, social medial posts, advertisements, and magazines. Most obviously, we use to communicate. We talk with loved ones and we talk with strangers. We use language from the moment we get up in the morning to the moment we go to bed at night. Not all languages seem to be treated equal in society. Some seem to hold more value than others and can open more doors. Nevertheless, language is and will continue to be a perpetual system of symbols that are continuing to evolve in culture and society. 

Growing up in the United States, birthdays were always important to my family and we celebrated in substantial ways. For as long as I can remember, my mother would go to great lengths to assure that my siblings and I had memorable birthdays. I can recall her making our favorite foods for breakfast and dinner each year on our birthdays and making each of us an extravagant birthday cake. She would let us sleep in and bring us breakfast in bed, which made us feel especially special. My mom also would purchase treats for us to bring to school for our entire class. I noticed that some families did this, while others did not. In our family, my siblings and I looked forward to bringing something special for our classmates each year on our birthdays. Looking back now as an adult, I am happy that my mom always celebrated our birthdays so fiercely. It has made me enjoy continuing to revel in my birthday each year and celebrate another trip around the sun. I have friends whose parents did not have the same affinity for birthdays as mine, and many of them despise their birthday and want it to pass as quickly as possible. I find it rather intriguing that people can feel so differently towards their birthdays and I wonder how much of it might be attributed to their upbringing. As for me, I will always delight in celebrating another year of life. 

Food and culture as so intertwined it is hard to see sometimes which has a greater influence over the other. Food is influenced by culture, but culture is also influenced by food. For instance, culture influences food in a variety of ways. Notably, rituals, traditions, and religions often dictate certain food to eat, or not eat for religious events, certain times of the years, or during particular festivals. For example, people that practice Judaism might only eat food that is deemed Kosher. Whereas, people that practice Catholicism might refrain from eating meat on the Fridays during Lent or give up other foods during Lent all together. Practitioners of Islam might refrain from eating pork and other foods or alcohol. In these ways, culture and specifically, religion dictate the food that many people eat. Nevertheless, food can also influence culture. Traditional cuisines are often passed down from one generation to the next, and when people from one culture move to a new place, they will naturally bring their eating habits and traditional cuisines with them as cooking traditional foods is a way to help maintain and express their culture regardless of where they live. When you have a mixing of cultures in a place, oftentimes food traditions and cuisines start to mix and mingle as well. One place where you can see this in action is at food trucks in large urban areas with lots of cultural diversity. Many food truck owners will mix and match food from different cultures to create entirely new food items, like Korean tacos or Philley cheesesteak wontons. The roots of food and culture run deep and will continue to impact one another through traditions and movement. 

Conflict Theory  

Welcome back to our series on sociology. Today, we’re going to dive into an overview of conflict theory, one of the main theories in sociology. We’ll discuss the three basic assumptions of conflict theory and look at some examples. Conflict theory originates from the ideas of Karl Marx and his theory that attributes changes in society to conflict between dominant and subordinate groups, or, in other words, groups that hold more societal power than others.  

There are three basic assumptions of conflict theory. They are as follows: humans are self-interested, there is a division of resources, and conflicts exist between different socioeconomic classes. The central tenets of this theory can help us understand and explain different types of conflicts that societies have encountered over time.  

Regarding the first tenet, humans are self-interested, it’s relatively easy to grasp that in general, humans seem to put their needs first and be pretty interested in sustaining themselves. We can see this already blossoming in children from a young age. Parents need to teach their children to share and the value of helping others. Most kids naturally want to keep their toys to themselves and put their interests first. We are taught to value the needs of others, but fundamentally it seems like our inherent desire is to put ourselves first, and maybe this stems from a survival need. Over time, humans have adapted and thrived in societies, but not without costs. Through conflict and wars, humans have prevailed by putting their needs first and being self-interested.  

In continuation, societies operate in a perpetual state of scarcity of resources is the second tenet. This makes sense because if you think about both historical societies and societies now, one thing that they have in common is that resources were and are currently never in a state of calm and permeant overabundance. Resources are always changing, especially natural resources that are dependent on so many factors like the weather, climate change, and human impact. Economies impact the state of resources and so do cultural needs. Certain societies and cultures place value on different resources and each society does not necessarily have the same access to resources. Moreover, ownership and societal greed play a substantial factor in the state and access of resources. Societies and nations that hold more power or wealth can often hoard resources from less powerful societies and nations.  

This brings us to the 3rd tenant, that conflict is both unavoidable and pervasive among different social groups and socioeconomic classes. Wealth, power, and access or lack of access to resources breeds conflict across different social groups and socioeconomic classes. As we referenced earlier, humans are self-interested and resources are in a state of constant change, which causes conflict among different social groups. Groups that have power and wealth will often hoard that power and resources for their self-interested selves. Nation states can do this and so can individual members of society.  

The three assumptions of conflict theory feed off of one another and are intertwined in many ways. Humans’ self-interest impacts the division of resources and in turn influences conflict between socioeconomic groups. People can also start to develop negative attitudes towards members of other socioeconomic groups due to the competition over division of resources. Competition over resources does not only refer to physical resources like water, food and fuel, but also less tangible things like love interests, relationship partners and space for leisure activities. Under the assumptions of conflict theory, inequalities in power and resources are in every aspect of society and those who have power will automatically try to keep it. This, in turn, creates a greater conflict for those with less power to secure resources. Ultimately, conflict theory ascertains that society will always be at odds because conflict is inherent and ingrained into our everyday lives and the systems that run our society.   

Based on the empirical evidence gathered from our field observations, we can see a strong correlation between daily grocery shopping and living in a larger city. The geographical location where participants lived seemed to catalyze the frequency of their grocery shopping visits. We saw a great deal of coherence between participants that lived in smaller cities doing their grocery shopping on a weekly basis due to the long distance they had to drive to get to stores. For participants in smaller areas, grocery stores going out of business seemed to be somewhat of an existential threat. Nevertheless, the validity of our data collection and methodology was not the strongest because we had several participants move from their place of residence mid-way through our study. 

Pamela Hey guys, have you started your sociology research project yet?   

Craig Hey! Not yet, I’m deciding on the type of empirical research I want to conduct still.  

Max I just got started. I decided to do a combination of focus groups and individual interviews. I’m researching parents and their kids’ feelings towards social media use. 

Pamela Interesting, Max! Why did you decide to do both?  

Max I felt like doing both focus groups and personal interviews would help increase the validity of my research. I will ultimately collect more data to analyze too.  

Craig That’s true, but it will also be a substantial amount of additional work. And if it’s the same people in the focus groups and personal interviews, you have to hope that there will be coherence between their responses in the interview and focus groups.  

Max Yeah, I thought about both of those things and I’m going to try to schedule the interviews all one day and then the focus groups the following day to keep the information fresh in their minds.  

Pamela Well, I hope it goes well! I decided to stick to surveys. I’m traveling a lot over the next month, and I wanted to do something that allowed me to conduct my research virtually. I’m hoping that a really interesting survey will help me to catalyze high numbers of responses. My research is focused on income gaps between men and women in the finance industry. Craig, what kind of methodology are you going to use?  

Craig I’ve been deciding between observations and focus groups and I think I might be like Max and do both. But I know it will be more time consuming so I’m struggling to decide if it’s worth doing both. Anyway, my research focus is on the existential threat that climate change plays on people’s physical well-being in cities where pollution is high and what people think about it.  

Max Super interesting! I’m excited to hear how your project goes. What are you going to do to observe people?  

Craig I think I’m going to sit on park benches around a bustling downtown area and take note of how people interact. I’m going to see who’s wearing masks or other things like that and I might do some off hand questioning of strangers to help guide my focus group discussions. Max, since you’re involving kids in your research did you have to undergo special research precautions for approval?  

Max Yes, I did and it was quite an ordeal. I worked with Professor Banks to apply for approval from the IRB ethics research board and we had to submit multiple drafts with all of the information that I would be asking the kids and how I would protect and keep their information safe.  

Pamela I did a research project that involved teenagers last summer and it was a headache to receive approval too. 

Max I remember that, Pam. I actually talked with Professor Banks about your experience and we used it to help us write our initial proposal. Alright, well I have   to get to my next class. I hope everyone gets a nice start on their projects!  

Pamela Thanks, you too!  

Craig See you around! 

I really want to (wanna) go to the movies tomorrow, but I think I have to work.  

I don’t know (dunno) where we should talk my parents when they visit.  

Most of (Mosta) the time I feel behind in my studies.  

I’ll decide this week if I want to (wanna) sign-up for more classes.  

He could have (coulda) called me, but he didn’t. 

  1. Most of the people in our research study are under the age of 50.

  2. We need you to take of our plants while we are away visiting friends.

  3. I can’t believe she canceled on us again. We should have never relied on her.

  4. I don’t know when our study will conclude, but I’ll be happy when it’s over.

  5. I kind of want to try a different approach with our next round of focus group participants.

  6. A lot of people don’t like the new company policies and I want to understand their perspectives.

  7. I’d like to know more about the study results and which qualitative methods were used.

  8. If had known that we would have had such a great turn out, we could have increased the survey population size.

  9. They sort of looked at the results and then decided that they wanted to start over.

  10. Can you please give me the latest results from the employee exit surveys? 

We’ve got one more week to finish this macro-sociology research project before the funding ends. Can you give me the latest numbers from the mass survey polls? Additionally, I think I’ll need you to do one more survey push with an email to our entire database of participants. We also might want to think about trying to do some final interviews with participants that we haven’t had a touch point with. Most of the participants we’ve met with at least once, but I think there are a few remaining that we can conduct a one-on-one interview with. If we had more time, we could have tried to do some focus groups, however I don’t think we we’ll be able to. We’ve got to work as quickly as we can to make the most of the last week before the funding runs out. 

unit 9

This study revisits the notion of overextending oneself in the workplace and its impact on work-life balance. On the whole, individuals who overexerted themselves at work reported higher numbers of stress and unsurprisingly higher numbers of dissatisfaction with their work-life balance. Additionally, workers who did not overwork themselves seemed to outperform many of their overloaded colleagues and reported lower stress rates and higher work-life balance satisfaction. Nonetheless, these results might misidentify some workers who truly enjoy long hours and feel satisfied even with little work-life balance. 

  1. The literature review findings discussed misleading claims from one study that failed to safeguard ethical research practices.

  2. The new product is an attempt to overcompensate for the unsuccessful launch of the initial product.

  3. This job candidate outperformed all other applicants on the aptitude test and even discovered a spelling error on our application.

  4. Philosophers throughout history have continued to redefine ethics and uncover nuances never discussed before.

  5. Undoubtably, this study has many flaws and one mistake resurfaced from lack of ensuring ethical research practices.

  6. The professor’s first edition ethics textbook has outlasted many rewritten rivals and continues to be staple in introductory philosophy classes.

  7. She decided to disable the production of the collection of essays after misinformation spread about the author’s background that could unfairly impact sales.

  8. The university had to restructure their undergraduate program offerings after an unexpected change in philanthropic funding.

  1. She prides herself on being a highly moral and virtuous person.

  2. Once we learned that one of her family members recently passed away, we realized there was ample justification for her out of character behavior.

  3. The married couple finally found a house that suited their needs and took the first step to negotiate a deal.

  4. Before he could begin his research study, he needed to evaluate all the stakeholder’s interests first.

  5. After the accident, we searched for a rational explanation for the chain of events that took place. 

Joey What do you want to do tomorrow afternoon? The weather looks like it’s gonna be nice.  

Kate It does! I saw that it’s supposed to be sunny all day. Maybe we oughtta go for a bike ride in the park?  

Joey A bike ride could be fun. Is your sister going to be in town still? I forgot, is she leaving ➚ Saturday or ➘ Sunday?  

Kate She hasn’t decided yet. If she ➚ leaves on Sunday, we could invite her to ➘ join us.  

Joey Okay, sounds good. We shouldav made dinner reservations near the park, but I didn’t think about it.  

Kate Do you think we could pack a picnic for us to bring instead? I betcha could pick up some fresh produce from the farmers market tomorrow morning.  

Joey I could probably do that. What would we need?  

Kate Let’s see. I would want some ➚ apples, mixed greens, salad dressing, tomatoes, sour dough bread, and ➘ grapes. Then I think I have enough at home to put something together.  

Joey Alright, great. I’ll plan on stopping at the farmers market tomorrow morning. Didja air up our bike tires the last time we rode?  

Kate I dunno. I can’t remember if I ➚ did or ➘ not. 

Golden mean ethics is a concept that stems from Aristotle and refers to the “mean” or average that falls between two extremes, is where you will be acting in a moral manner. In the case of ethics, these extremes are excess and deficiency. When we find balance in between two extremes, we find our moral compass to help us know how to act in an ethical way. Let’s think about some examples. Say we’re debating the two extremes of indecisiveness and impulsiveness. What do you think is the mean or average between these two extremes? Are you ➚ indecisive or ➘ impulsive? On the one hand, we have indecisiveness where someone cannot make a decision easily and frequently. On the other hand, we have impulsiveness, where someone quickly makes decisions with little thought. We ought to be able to find a middle ground and balance between the two extremes. I think self-control is a good average and meeting place between the two extremes because having self-control means someone has the ability to be decisive in a controlled manner. 

Doing the “Right Thing” 

In a world full of choices, is it easy to “do the right thing”? What is the right thing? How can we know when our actions and decisions are ethical or justified? These might seem like somewhat straightforward questions, but if we dig a little deeper, we may find that ethical dilemmas are not always black and white. Moreover, does our behavior towards doing the right thing change when no one is watching? We’re going to discuss ethical dilemmas that make you question what the right thing is to do and what factors impact our decisions.  

  To begin, let’s think about what an ethical dilemma really is. We encounter ethical dilemmas when we find ourselves in circumstances and situations that pose a difficult choice to be made between two or more options that conflict with our personal morals or values. These circumstances and situations are an everyday reality and a normal part of our personal and professional lives. We can anticipate and prepare for how we might respond to different ethical dilemmas, and how we think others might respond. Nevertheless, knowing the right thing to do and actually doing the right thing can be two completely different notions.  

There are steps that you can take to help you do the right thing and make an ethical decision. First, take time to study and understand the situation. Ask questions or do your own research to better understand the ethical dilemma. Next, identify what values or morals are involved on all sides of the dilemma and identify which values and morals impact your position. Then, pinpoint what stakeholders will be impacted by your decision. Who will be impacted if you decide one way or the other? Finally, once you decide your position and stance, use the information that you’ve learned which helped you make your decision as justification for your stance in an effective and respectful way to inform your position. You can use your values and morals, along with evidence from your research on the dilemma as a rational explanation. An important thing to note is that something that might seem so certain for one person, may be the total opposite for another. Ultimately, we, as human beings, have different values and morals that impact our decisions and outside sources such as culture and religion play a substantial role in someone’s ethical morals and values.  

Let’s think about some examples of ethical dilemmas. Imagine that you are an employee at a large company that designs a tangible product that people use in a physical way, and you discover a flaw in the product after it has gone through production and is already out on the shelves for consumers to purchase. What is the ethical response to this dilemma? You could either notify your superiors of the defect, even though it would mean pulling the product from the shelves and losing substantial profits but protecting consumers from its flaws. Or you could keep this discovery to yourself, let the faulty product stay on the shelves, and hope that the flaws do not cause anyone harm. In this case, the stakeholders benefiting are different for each of the potential choices. If you choose to tell your superiors of the flaw and the product gets pulled off the shelves, the customers are important stakeholders because they will be protected from the flawed product. Additionally, the company is important stakeholders to keep their reputation clean from selling faulty products, but they would be losing profits. If you choose not to tell anyone, the company will potentially receive higher profits, but customers could be negatively impacted by the faulty product. This ethical dilemma ultimately hinges on peoples’ safety or making profits.  

What about situations where you are drawn to tell a white lie, or a lie that does not necessarily hurt someone, but is indeed untruthful? Have you ever encountered a situation with a small child where a white lie would be beneficial for the specific situation and cause no harm, but would still be a lie? Is it ethical to lie to a child as long as you are not hurting them in that instance? White lies are a conundrum because they often benefit the person listening and can be empathetic and told out of compassion. Say, for example, your neighbor is dying of terminal cancer, and you know that he is not going to make it and a child in your life is concerned about your neighbor and wants to know what’s going on with them. Instead of frightening the child with the reality that your neighbor is dying, you could tell them that he is not feeling well right now. This is not necessarily untrue, but it is a bit of a white lie; however, the child will not have to bear the burden of knowing that their neighbor has cancer. Nonetheless, some might argue that the opposite response is more ethical and that white lies perpetuate already difficult situations. Someone might think that the more ethical response is to be completely honest with the child and tell them the severity of their neighbor’s diagnosis, and this might help the child come to terms with the reality of the situation more than a white lie to ease their discomfort.  

One more example that we can look at is the questionable use of company technology. Nowadays, many people complete the majority of their work from a company issued technology device like a computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone. In theory, employees are supposed to use their company issued devices for only company related work. However, it is very easy to say, check your personal email, or look something up online that is not work-related on a company issued device. Some employers are less strict than others about employees using work technology for personal use, provided they still accomplish all of their necessary work for the company. Nonetheless, this is an ethical dilemma and individuals might have their own perspectives on whether or not it is right or wrong to use company technology for personal use. What is more, it might depend on the nature of the personal use. For instance, if someone is checking their personal email quickly during the day and it is not impacting their work for the company, that might be seen as okay. However, if someone is online shopping for lengthy amounts of time on a work computer instead of completing their work tasks, that might not be so acceptable.  

Ultimately, everyone has their own rationale and justification for their reactions and stance on any ethical dilemma. Even so, cultures and societies have their own overarching influence and stance on values, morals, and ethics that impact how we view what is the “right thing to do”. Many ethical dilemmas are not black and white and have significant gray areas where you need to decide where your own personal ethics fall. In sum, when you are faced with a difficult ethical dilemma, take some time to understand the different choices and sides, identify what values and morals are related to the situation and how your own values and morals align, determine the stakeholders who are impacted by the situation, and use these thought processes to help you make your decision.  

It was apparent that the lawyer was not concerned that his client was bribed with $5,000 to cover up the whereabouts of his son the night that the crime occurred. Although his client accepted the money on his own volition, it is clear that he felt an obligation to protect his son. After talking with family and friends, neither the lawyer’s client nor his son was said to be very virtuous people. Witnesses recounted stories of their questionable actions and behaviors in the past, which did not sit well with members of the jury. The judge adjourned the court for the day with a closing euphemism about his feelings towards the lawyer’s client and his son.

Professor Reed Welcome to office hours! What can I do for you today, Jessica?  

Jessica Hi Professor Reed. I was hoping that you could provide me with some guidance on my research methods for our final project for your ethics class. 

Professor Reed Okay, sure. Let’s talk about your research study. What did you decide to focus on?  

Jessica I chose to take a deeper look into how people make decisions either on their own volition or out of obligation, and how this impacts their feelings towards making an ethical choice.  

Professor Reed Interesting focus, have you chosen your participants?  

Jessica Right now, I am thinking about using my high school students that I teach basketball to on the weekends as participants for my study. I think teenagers have an interesting perspective on right and wrong because they are still figuring out who they want to be in this world.  

Professor Reed Provided you can get informed consent from each of them and their legal guardians, and we complete the IRB process for any other requirements  for using teenagers as research subjects, I think they will be a great participant group for your project.  

Jessica Yes, I know most of their parents and I briefly mentioned the idea to them previously and most of them seemed fine with it. I’m planning on drafting official consent forms later this week. For my project, I was initially thinking about doing a mixed methods research study and including both interviews and focus groups, but I’m not sure if I want to do focus groups or not.  

Professor Reed I think a mixed methods approach could work well for this research study. Why are you feeling apprehensive towards focus groups?  

Jessica Well, I think that teenagers are already at an age where they encounter a substantial amount of societal pressure to act a certain way and have opinions on things solely based on popular forms of thinking. I worry that in focus groups some might feel coerced or pressured to respond in a particular way because of whoever is in the group with them. Nevertheless, at the same time, I think that focus groups are a great space for participants to feed off of one another and inspire meaningful discussion.  

Professor Reed I think that’s a valid concern to think that your teenage participants might feel swayed one way or another depending on who is in their focus group. You also could get someone acting overly virtuous in a focus group to impress the others and then give you a totally different response in a personal interview.   

Jessica Yeah, that was another concern of mine. Teenagers often are performing for one another, and I think individual interviews are a better route. Another concern that I have is I worry that some parents might bribe their teenagers to participate even if the teenager doesn’t want to. I think I need to make it very clear that this is an entirely voluntary research study.  

Professor Reed Finding participants for research studies in general is very difficult, and finding participants that genuinely want to participate on their own volution is even more challenging. Which, interestingly enough, ties in well with your research focus. If you skipped focus groups, what do you think about including a survey instead? You could perform all your interviews first and then give a survey to everyone at the same time to avoid your participants talking about the survey before they’ve all taken it.  

Jessica I did consider including a survey, and I think I will replace my focus group aspect with a survey instead. So, the focus of my interviews will be to dig deep into participants’ personal examples of times that they made decisions on their own volition versus out of obligation and their feelings toward the ethical nature of their decisions. Whereas my surveys can have more of a general focus of the types of decisions that are made by one’s own will versus obligation and the ethical ramifications of these decisions. 

Professor Reed I think that you are on the right track! One thing I would suggest for your interviews is to make use of euphemisms if you are addressing anything that might be disturbing or too harsh for these teenagers to address explicitly. Get started with the consent forms and initial requirements of the IRB research process and the work on your interview questions and survey. Feel free to drop by my office during office hours or email me with any questions that arise.

  1. These are delicious sandwiches and I think I’d like to have another one. 

  2. When Emily met Alex, she asked her what classes she was taking this semester.

  3. She asked for a second chance to take the final exam.

  4. I need to figure out how I’m going to finish this project tonight.

  5. There’s a chance Allison might come over right after she finishes school. 

All too often, we get easily caught up in the busyness of our daily lives and we forget to slow down and really experience our day-to-day actions. Have you ever driven somewhere and realized that you don’t remember anything about the drive? Sometimes, we are so used to driving or traveling the same route that we do not pay any attention to how we get somewhere. Practicing mindfulness can help us slow down and pay more attention to our everyday tasks and happenings. Mindfulness encourages us to pay closer attention and be aware of things happening in the present moment. You can practice mindfulness doing the routine things in your life like brushing your teeth, driving your daily commute, doing the dishes, or cleaning your house. Being more mindful can help you notice your feelings and emotions and help you make better choices. It can also help reduce stress and anxiety, and help you feel more connected to your surroundings. 

unit 10

Recent discoveries from an archeological excavation project partnership between two universities in Greece found evidence to magnify the influence ancient Greek philosophers had on modern Greek society. With the development of a new ancient philosophy program at the two universities, undergraduate students have the opportunity to collaborate with other students and professors from the partner university to strengthen archeological research in the area. The professors who initially started to visualize what they hoped for this program are being recognized with an award from the local ancient Greek philosophy society to amplify the success of their leadership. 

  1. Soon after graduating, she will commence her apprenticeship and increase her involvement in field work.

  2. The company wanted to diversify its investments, so it decided to loosen some of its stricter policies and form partnerships with new organizations.

  3. In order to stabilize the greenhouse project, the researchers needed to intensify the watering schedule and humidity in the enclosure.

  4. It’s important to differentiate between the two analyses because one investigated romantic relationships in teenagers and the other looked at friendships.

  5. The greater the engagement that the scientists saw happening between their two subjects, led them to believe that they should continue to simplify the methodology. 

  1. I was intrigued to learn about the doctrine of Philosophical Necessity and research different sets of beliefs during the advanced Philosophy course I took over the summer.

  2. I did not have any evidence, but I had an intuitive feeling that she was not telling the truth.

  3. We made an arbitrary decision and admitted the first and last 5 students on the lengthy waitlist.

  4. Speaking candidly, I’m not sure that she should have ever joined the advanced hiking class because she is very inexperienced.

  5. The graduate student’s research interests included epistemology, philosophy, psychology, and sociology. 

Passage 1 
Unlike fear, phobias have little to do with actual danger and are instead an extreme and irrational fear towards a particular situation, object, or activity. Many people experience phobias, and many know that their fears associated with phobias are not warranted, but they still feel deep feelings or fear. Some common phobias include claustrophobia, fear of being in tight spaces; arachnophobia, fear of spiders; brontophobia, fear of thunder; and acrophobia, fear of heights.  

Passage 2 
Desensitization, or exposure therapy, can help people overcome phobias by gradual exposure to circumstances that parallel what they fear. Through multiple exposures, their fear can start to decrease as they build confidence towards facing the phobia. Desensitization can also include therapy to help the person talk about their phobia, learn how to change their thought patterns, and find a new way to respond to triggering situations. 

Thomas Wow! What a great play. I’m so glad that we could all get together and come see it. Who knew that a play about philosophy and the Victorian era could be so exciting?!  

Christine Me too! Yes, it was such a great show. I don’t feel like I’ve ever seen anything like it before and I knew very little about the Victorian era. What was everyone’s favorite part?  

Ashley I think for me, I liked the costumes design. The extravagant dresses from the Victorian age were simply stunning. The excessively flouncy corset dresses and detailed head pieces were captivating. As a costume design student, myself, its really interesting to see what they can come up with and different ways to make the same garment versatile. What did you enjoy the most, Thomas?  

Thomas Well, as you both know, I am interested in screen writing so I’d have to say the script and dialogue were most interesting to me. The male lead was so funny and has such chemistry with the female lead. I’m working on character development right now for my next screen play and I took a lot of mental notes. What about you Christine?  

Christine Well, I’m very interested in set design, so although I really did like the costumes and the dialogue, I think for me the best part was the intricate set designs. I was in awe of how many different sets they had and how easily they moved them in and out.  The final scene with the willow tree was breathtaking!  

Ashley That scene was awesome! The willow tree had such symbolism throughout the entire play. It was the perfect final scene.  

Thomas Yeah it was a great ending. The library scene was neat too. I wonder if any of those books are actually real books or decoys?  

Christine They’re probably all decoys and placeholders to look like real books, but real books are heavy, and they try to design sets to be a light as possible so it’s easy to move them quickly.   

Ashley That makes sense. Well, I had a great time! We need to go see something together again sometime soon! 

Thomas For sure! 

Christine Yes, definitely! 

Passage 1
Artificial intelligence, or AI, is starting to be used in cognitive psychology research. AI is an up and incoming field that studies the simulation of human intelligence processes by machines and computer systems. The field of AI spans broad and wide researching things like natural language processing, speech recognition, machine vision, problem-solving, and decision making, and much more.  Some studies are looking into training artificial intelligence to recognize emotions, feelings, and form a response like another human would. Moreover, AI has the potential to play an integral role in psychology in ways such as machines recognizing temperature changes in a patient, facial recognition to confirms someone’s identity, abilities to analyze facial expressions and eye blinking, or even an AI equipped robot to take care of an elderly person and keep them company. Nevertheless, there are many hurdles for AI to overcome in psychology and other research fields, and many are not comfortable with the rapid development pace of AI. Ultimately, time will tell how willing humans are to embrace AI in their day-to-day medical and psychological practices. 

Passage 2
Have you ever wondered how your phone or computer is able to make suggestions for you on what application to open at a certain time, or when to set an alarm? Most of our devices these days have machine learning capacity and are constantly tracking what we do and trying to learn how to make our lives more efficient. Machine learning is a subset of Artificial Intelligence that employs mathematical models to help computers that power AI to learn independently based on their prior experience. When AI employs machine learning, it interprets data (often what you do with your device) and recognizes patterns, or what you are routinely doing over and over again. It then takes this data and tries to strategically and logically learn from it and provides suggestions for things like what to do or open next, or suggested directions to a place at a certain time. Machine learning can be helpful and useful for human users to increase efficiency and save time. Nonetheless, machine learning can get things wrong and make suggestions that are not helpful to users. In time, we will see how machine learning and AI continue to develop and integrate in our everyday lives. 

Passage 1
Dreams have been a popular topic of scientific inquiry for decades, yet we continue to lack a great answer for why people dream. There are many theories like dreams might help us process memories, better understand our emotions, help us express our desires, or practice facing fears and challenges. When we dream, we are experiencing emotions, thoughts, and images while we sleep, and dreams can be incredibly intense, confusing, or even boring. Our dreams can be happy and joyful, or scary and sad, and sometimes make no sense at all. Above all, one thing that many scientists do agree on, however, is that nearly every person appears to dream every time they sleep whether they remember their dreams or not upon waking. 

Passage 2
False memories are distorted recollections or fabricated memories of an event. These memories could be completely imagined and entirely untrue, or they could have some portions of factual elements that contain distorted information. We tend to think about the concept of memory as something similar to a video recorder that captures everything accurately and documents our memories with clarity and precision. However, our memories are very susceptible to fallacy and even if someone feels absolutely certain and in full confidence that their memory is accurate, there is no guarantee. Ultimately, false memories can be trivial and simple, like thinking that you locked the back gate when you did not, or much more serious and consequential like misrepresenting details from a witnessed crime.

Passage 1: Pre-Socratic Philosopher: Pythagoras 

Ancient Greek philosophy can be separated into three relatively distinct time periods, Pre-Socratic, Socratic, and Post-Socratic (National Geographic Society, 2022). The Pre-Socratic period ranged from the 5th to 6th century BCE and brought about a new way of thinking about and studying human society. Influential Pre-Socratic philosophers include: The Milesians, Xenophanes of Colophon and Heraclitus of Ephesus, Parmenides of Elea, and Pythagoras (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2019). Pre-Socratic philosophers fundamentally believed that human beings came from one single substance, such as water or air and mainly studied natural phenomena. Their epistemology and doctrine centered on the emphasis of rational natural principles and a rejection of supernatural explanations (Famous Scientists, 2014). Moreover, philosophers from this period viewed the world as an ordered arrangement that could be explained and understood through rational investigation. 

One of the most well-known philosophers from the Pre-Socratic period of Ancient Greek philosophy is Pythagoras. Most notably known for creating the Pythagorean Theorem, Pythagoras was a mathematician. Beyond his many mathematical discoveries, some of which persist to be used today, Pythagoras philosophized about the soul and its afterlife. He believed that that soul would live on after the body’s death and would go to heaven and/or reincarnate in the bodies of other humans or animals (Famous Scientists, 2014). He also believed that the essence of the soul was most closely related to knowledge and thus, reaching pure knowledge was most effectively executed through numbers. In sum, the three major tenets to his philosophical beliefs were the power of numbers, living a simple life, and expressing kindness to others and animals (Famous Scientists, 2014).  

Passage 2: Socratic Philosophers: Socrates, Plato, Aristotle 

The Socratic period of Ancient Greek philosophy is possibly the most widely known of the three periods of Ancient Greek philosophy, Pre-Socratic, Socratic, and Post-Socratic. Philosophers from this time are very well-known and highly recognized by the average adult. Most notable philosophers from the Socratic period include Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.  

Much of what we know about Socrates comes from intuitive writings from his student Plato because Socrates recorded little of his life or work in writing (National Geographic Society, 2022). Socrates is remembered for his unique way of teaching and asking tough, thought-provoking questions. He structured his teachings differently than philosophers before him and relied less on arbitrary lecturing and more on questioning and challenging his students to tackle their underlying assumptions (National Geographic Society, 2022).  This technique of challenging students to question their underlying assumptions still lives on in law schools nowadays.   

His student Plato followed in his footsteps to become a well-regarded philosopher and studied ethics, virtue, justice, and human behavior. Plato believed candidly that the human soul had three basic elements: reason, spirit, and appetite (Arnold, 2020). He also taught that high-virtue, right moral action, well-being, and happiness were the essence of living an ethical life (Arnold, 2020). Plato’s student Aristotle carried on Plato’s interest in ethics but started to branch out to study other sciences such as physics, astronomy, and biology. Moreover, Aristotle is credited by many to have founded the study of logic.  

Is being kind and nice the same thing? On the surface, kindness and niceness appear to be very similar. However, kindness generally refers to doing something that is helpful to others or comes from a place of wanting to do good. Whereas niceness is more of doing something that is agreeable or pleasing, but not necessarily out of an effort to be helpful or benevolent. Being a kind person could imply that you are someone who looks out for the interests of others and takes actions to be helpful and do good. Contrarily, being a nice person could imply that you are agreeable and take actions that are pleasing for other people.  Kindness and niceness are alike, but kindness seems to be more genuine and less focused on the external appearance of niceness. 

People are all unique and have different personalities and character traits. Have you ever thought about how we acquire our personalities? Do you think people are born with a certain personality already, or is it dependent on environment and circumstance? Although it may be impossible to ever really know, it is an interesting concept to digest. As children, our surrounding environments play a large role in how we grow and develop. Parents, family members, and caretakers all make an impact on the people we become. However, siblings that are raised in the same environment can grow up to have incredibly similar or outstandingly different personalities. Maybe it’s possible that there’s a dual impact from our surrounding environments, but also innate characteristics that come from birth. 

What gives your life meaning and purpose? How do you find your purpose in life? These might seem like very philosophical questions, but there are some steps that you can take to help you find purpose in your life. Cultivating positive thoughts, high self-esteem, and self-confidence can help you put your best foot forward on finding meaning in life and your purpose. Having an optimistic attitude towards your life even when failures or hard times bring you down can help you push through and find the good things waiting for you. Finding your purpose can start with setting goals, aims and a direction for your life, but in a way that is flexible and understanding of lives inherent curveballs. Ultimately, finding your life’s purpose and meaning can be a life-long journey. 

After years of therapy, my life partner and I have developed mutual reciprocity, we always look out for each other and our best interests as a couple. The congruence of our relationship over the past 10 years has helped us develop a deep bond with one another and our family and friends. When we first started dating, we felt the pulls from society to conceal any hardships that we might be facing and keep them to ourselves. But as time went by, we realized that hiding any conflicts that we were facing did not help us grow as a couple and it started to wedge a subliminal divide between us without us being fully aware. It’s difficult because there is always a pull to conform to society’s dating rules, but at the end of the day, you need to do what is best for you and your relationships, first and foremost. 

Professor Reed Well, let me ask you this then, Chelsea. What makes us feel compelled to conform to society’s rules when no one is watching us?  

Chelsea Uh, I don’t know. I think that as cliché as it might sound it’s our inner voice or consciousness that’s always there even in a subliminal way telling us that we need to follow the rules or something bad will happen. What do you think Jessica?  

Jessica I think it’s normal to feel like you need to conform to society’s rules and conceal any wrongdoings or things that are not seen as normal in society. I feel like we are raised in a world where there are always rules. There are rules when you go to preschool all the way to college. Yes, you start to get more freedom, but there are always societal rules governing how we should act even if they’re not necessarily written down.  

Professor Reed That’s a good point Jessica. Every society and culture have their own set of beliefs and unspoken rules that we grow up learning to follow in congruence with one another in an effort to blend into our society. Furthermore, if we conform and follow the unspoken rules, we usually find that we share reciprocity with others and we mutually benefit from following societies rules alongside other rule followers so to speak.  

Chelsea Yeah, that’s true, but I wonder how people’s thought process and reasoning correspond to their actions and feeling societal pressures to act in a certain way. At the end of the day, we all have our own different motivations for how we act.  

Jessica Yeah, I mean when I’m tired after a long day of walking around campus, I don’t want to walk all the way to the stop light to cross the road where I legally should, at the crosswalk, so I’ll jaywalk and cross the road where its easiest for me. My motivation is that I’m tired and if no one is around to catch me, I’ll do it.  

Professor Reed And how do you usually feel after you do something like that, Jessica?  

Jessica If no one else is watching, I feel fine and if I do it often enough it almost becomes normal and something that I don’t even feel like is wrong.  I guess I just wonder how we as humans have developed to associate repeatedly breaking a rule as being okay as long as we are not getting in trouble. It’s like our memory helps us rationalize our actions. If I didn’t get caught, I feel fine and I’m more likely to do it again.  

Chelsea Well I think this too also really depends on what you’re doing and how severe the consequences are. Like if you’re caught jaywalking, Jessica, you’ll get a warning or maybe a fine by campus police. However, if you were caught shoplifting something from the campus bookstore you might face more extreme consequences and then your internal motivation is much more adept to follow the rules.  

Professor Reed Context is everything. Our thinking and reasoning can change drastically depending on our mood, external contexts, past experiences, and internal motivations. Which is also a testament to avoid assuming that you think you know why someone is behaving in any given way. You don’t know what happened to them in their past or even right before the moment of their behavior.  

Jessica Yeah, I mean we all come from different backgrounds and have unique external and internal motivations behind what we do. To go back to your question, Professor Reed, I think that part of what compels me to follow society’s rules even when no one is watching is the way I was raised. I was brought up in a very strict family setting of rule followers. We had a lot of rules in our house and there were consequences if you broke the rules. So, it’s always in the back of my mind to follow the rules even if there’s no consequences when no one is around. Which is kind of funny because it’s like my mind just convinces me that I need to behave anyway, except for skipping the sidewalk apparently!  

Chelsea And I was raised in a very relaxed household where we didn’t have many rules so I feel like my inner voice is always a little late to the party. For me, I think I started to care more about following the rules when I got a full-time job and realized that I needed to conform to the norms to be successful. My motivation changed to wanting to do what I needed to do in order to be successful.  

Professor Reed Again, we can circle back to how context is everything, when you started working this new job you felt a deeper sense to follow standards and norms for your own success and that motivated you unlike before. Nevertheless, your background plays a huge role in your thinking patterns,    motivations, and habits. Alright ladies, I need to get to my next lecture. I look forward to reading your papers!  

Examples of Commonly Dropped Syllables  

Word  

Dropped Syllables  

Example sentence  

every 

EV-ree 

Every day I walk to the park and back.  

favorite 

FAV-rit 

My favorite coffee shop just started selling smoothies too.   

basically  

BA-sic-ly 

The new position is basically the same, just a new title.  

different   

DIFF-rent 

I don’t think the classes are all that different.  

business   

BIZ-niss 

 

My sister decided to start her own business, and so far, things have been going well.  

interest 

IN-trist 

 

After a while, she started to lose interest and quit asking.  

desperate   

DES-prit 

 

She was desperate, so she decided to take the job anyway.  

memory       

MEM-ry 

 

I feel like my memory often fails me the older I get.  

several       

SEV-rul 

 

We’re lucky she decided to accept our offer because I heard she had several other interests.  

separate     

 

SEP-rit 

We should keep the samples separate after they are collected from the lake.  

conference    

CON-frins 

 

I’m attending a philosophy conference at the end of the month.  

Wednesday   

WENS-day 

I think Wednesday is the worst day of the week.  

miserable    

MIZ-ra-bul 

After I returned from my trip, I felt miserable.  

temperature     

TEM-pra-cher 

Summers have been brutal around here with a record-breaking temperature of 106 degrees F.  

probably    

PROB-ly 

 

We should probably check the weather forecast before we book our trip for next weekend.  

comfortable      

COMF-ter-bul 

 

I wasn’t very comfortable breaking the sad news to my family in public.  

mystery 

 

 

MYS-try 

 

Whatever happened to the lost book will always be a mystery. 

  1. I was really comfortable (COMF-ter-ble) until my cat knocked over the glass of water onto my bed.

  2. (EV-ree ) Every time I see my (FAV-rit) favorite movie, it takes me back to my best childhood memories.

  3. I realized that we were not so different (DIFF-rent) after all, when I found out that she also took ballet growing up.

  4. I wanted to bring an array of (SEV-rul) several different (DIFF-rent) (VEG-tables) vegetables to the picnic.

  5. After my long hike, I was (DES-prit) desperate for a cold (BEV-rage) beverage.

  6. It’s a complete mystery (MYS-try) to me how my memory (MEM-ry) can remember all the song lyrics from my (FAV-rit) favorite songs of my youth.

  7. If the temperature (TEM-pra-cher) is in the 90s again, I’m probably (PROB-ly) staying home.

  8. She received an outpour of (IN-trist) interest in her new business (BIZ-ness) after the article was published. 

I’m heading to a conference (CON-frins) next (WENS-day) Wednesday in Seattle. I really hope that it doesn’t rain the entire time that I’m there because that would be (MIZ-ra–bul) miserable. I’ll (PROB-ly) probably stay in a hotel downtown close to the convention center where I will be comfortable (COMF-ter–bul) walking to and from the (CON-frins) conference each day. I know (SEV-rul) several people attending and also presenting. Breakfast and lunch will be catered for every (EV-ree ) day. Last year, they had an excellent assortment of BEV-rages beverages and (CHOC-lit) chocolate desserts. In the evening (EV-ning) of the last day, I am hoping to meet up with some family (FAM-ly) of mine that live nearby.