by Greg Gage

a neuroscientist and engineer who is passionate about helping students understand how our brains and our neurons work, because as he said, “We still know very little about how the brain works, and we need to start inspiring kids early to want to know more.

First preview the vocabulary below.  Then do the exercise by first reading a single question and then listening for the answer.  When you hear the answer, pause the video and answer the question.  Then read the next question and do the same thing.  If you get the answer wrong, then go back to where the answer is given and listen again.

Vocabulary:

organ: important part of the body
complex: complicated, not simple
access: interact with
neurological disorder: problem with the brain, mental illness
affordable: inexpensive
DIY: do it yourself
demonstration: showing something
electrodes: pads that read and send electricity
neurons:  brain cells
motor cortex: part of the brain that controls movement
spinal chord: nerve in the backbone
free will: ability to choose
weird: strange

© 2014 Ambien Malecot

Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, gives a convincing argument of why we all should start doing something to protect ourselves from an epidemic.  Listen and judge for yourself.

Preview the vocabulary below, and then do the exercise by first reading a single question and then listening for the answer.  When you hear the answer, pause the video and answer the question.  Then read the next question and do the same thing.

Vocabulary:

hunker down: stay underground
global: worldwide
catastrophe: action that kills many people
virus: microscopic life that can kill
missiles: rockets that can deliver bombs
microbes: very small life forms
deterents: things that stop something from happening
epidemic: a widespread disease
polio: a childhood disease that causes muscle weakness
eradication: destruction, thorough killing
Medecins Sans Frontiers: Doctors Without Borders
diagnostics: tools to find out about the disease
plasma: the liquid part of blood
devastating: destroying, killing
contagious: able to pass from one person to another
urban areas: cities
infectious: able to make people sick
vaccines: treatments that prevent people from getting a disease
pathogen: microorganism that kills
reserves: regular people who are all ready to fight
expertise: expert knowledge
logistics: moving things to where they’re needed
simulations: actions that are like the real thing
equity: quality of being fair and equal

by Tanniar Leba

an immigrant who came to Canada in 2004 to start a new life in this country.

First, preview the vocabulary below.  Then click the exercise below, read a question and then listen for the answer.  When you hear the answer, pause the video and answer the question.  Then read the next question and do the same thing.  If you get the answer wrong, then go back to where the answer is given and listen again.

Vocabulary:

originally:  at the beginning
refugee:  someone who had to leave their country to be safe
landed:  came to the country
challenging:  difficult to do
housing:  a place to live
shelters:  cheap housing where many people live together
employment:  a job, work
welfare:  money from the government for people with no jobs
orientation session:  introduction talk
volunteer:  work for no money but for the experience
position:  job
opening:  job with no worker yet
background:  history, preparation
give back:  help other people
rights:  the things you have the legal power to do
responsibilities:  the things you should do
patient:  able to wait
benefit:  get help
talent:  skill, easy ability

© 2014 Ambien Malecot

by Salman Khan
the founder and faculty of the Khan Academy (www.khanacademy.org), a not-for-profit organization with the mission of providing a free world-class education to anyone, anywhere.  He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, an M.Eng and B.S. in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT, and a B.S. in mathematics from MIT.

First preview the vocabulary below.  Then do the exercise by first reading a single question and then listening for the answer.  When you hear the answer, pause the video and answer the question.  Then read the next question and do the same thing.  If you get the answer wrong, then go back to where the answer is given and listen again.

Vocabulary:

montage:  series of pictures
blow your mind:  give you great joy
remotely:  from a distance
feedback:  saying what’s good and what’s bad
profound:  important
automated version:  recorded video
notion:  idea
concept:  idea
viewership:  people who watch
dawned on me:  was realized or understand by me
supplement:  addition to a person’s learning
home schoolers:  students who are educated at home
one size fits all:  every student does the same thing
humanize:  make more gentle and kind
primitive:  simple
paradigm:  model, pattern
analogous to:  similar to
unicycle:  a one-wheeled bicycle
mastery:  being able to do something well
gutted:  threw away, got rid of
proficient:  able to do it
data:  Information
diagnose:  figure out, find out
grandiose:  including everything
self-paced learning:  learning at the speed of each student
gifted:  smart, intelligent
remediate:  learn things you should have already learned
peer:  student
merit badges:  indications of success
leaderboards:  lists of the top students
collaboration:  working together
radical:  so very different

© 2014 Ambien Malecot

by Nick Noorani

a well-known authority on the successful integration of immigrants in Canada.  He’s originally from Mumbai, India.  His book, Arrival Survival Canada, is a best seller among immigrants to this country.

First, preview the vocabulary below.  Then click the exercise below, read a question and then listen for the answer.  When you hear the answer, pause the video and answer the question.  Then read the next question and do the same thing.  If you get the answer wrong, then go back to where the answer is given and listen again.

Vocabulary:

founder:  the person who starts an organization or business
author:  writer
resources:  the things that are necessary
guide:  source of information
flip burgers:  have a low paying job
faced with:  have something in front of you
my take:  my understanding
gleaned from:  learned from
qualified:  able to do the job
invaluable:  very expensive
value:  importance
brushing up: practicing, learning (idiom)
skills: abilities
embrace:  take into your heart
resume:  information about yourself that helps you get a job
take a deep breath:  relax (idiom)
positive:  hopeful for a better future
been there:  I’ve had that same experience (idiom)
sociable:  friendly
network:  large group of people you know and who they know
negativity:  hopelessness
risks:  things that you’re afraid to do
play safe:  not take any risks (idiom)
volunteering:  working for no money

© 2014 Ambien Malecot

by Michael Norton
a social science researcher and associate professor at the Harvard Business School.  His research was featured in the New York Times Magazine Year in Ideas issues of 2007 and 2009.

First preview the vocabulary below.  Then do the exercise by first reading a single question and then listening for the answer.  When you hear the answer, pause the video and answer the question.  Then read the next question and do the same thing.  If you get the answer wrong, then go back to where the answer is given and listen again.

Vocabulary:

experiment:  a test to see if something is true
ruined:  broken and not repairable
debt:   owing money
bug:  ask repeatedly
fantasizing:  creating a story in your head
extort:  get money to not share a secret
antisocial:  not liking to be with other people
prosocial:  doing things for other people
affluent:  having lots of everything
correlated:  related
charity:  organizations that help people
dominate:  have the most wins
league:  a group of teams that play together
benefit:  do good things for

© 2014 Ambien Malecot

by Andy Puddicombe

a former Buddhist monk with a degree in Circus Arts.  He is the founder of Headspace, an award-winning digital health platform that provides guided meditation sessions for its users.  As both author and public speaker, Puddicombe is known for his simple, accessible and secular approach, which has led to over 1 million users of the Headspace platform.

First preview the vocabulary below.  Then do the exercise by first reading a single question and then listening for the answer.  When you hear the answer, pause the video and answer the question.  Then read the next question and do the same thing.  If you get the answer wrong, then go back to where the answer is given and listen again.

Vocabulary:

frantic:  too busy
reminiscing:  remembering
precious:  of high value
distracted:  having your attention go to something else
assumes:  thinks he has the right answer without all the evidence
meditation:  a practice of letting your mind be calm
whole deal:  everything
succession:  things happening one after the other
inundated:  flooded, having too many or too much
monk:  a person who devotes his life to understanding God
tragic:  resulting in something very bad
technique:  a way of doing something
impacts:  affects, changes
anxious:  worried
wobbly:  moving a little back and forth
restless:   not being able to relax
agitated:  disturbed, made uncomfortable
perspective:  the way you look at something
potential:  possibility

© 2014 Ambien Malecot

by Henry Lin

a freshman (Sept. 2013) at Harvard University.  At the age of 17 he won an Intel Foundation Young Scientist Award for his mathematical models of distant galaxy clusters.

First preview the vocabulary below.  Then do the exercise by first reading a single question and then listening for the answer.  When you hear the answer, pause the video and answer the question.  Then read the next question and do the same thing.  If you get the answer wrong, then go back to where the answer is given and listen again.

Vocabulary:

clusters:  collections, groups
mutual:  shared
mysterious:  unknown, with secrets
massive:  very, very large
laboratories:  places where discoveries happen
mass:  weight, largeness
isolated:  all alone with no neighbors
systems:  collections of stars
scaled down:  smaller
emitting:  causing, producing
accelerating:  causing something to go faster and faster
rough draft:  a beginning of understanding
properties:  qualities
probing:  examining
matter: stuff
atoms: very small particles
collide:  hit each other
compounded:  made larger
affect:  change
structure:  shape
ingenuity:  creativity
© 2014 Ambien Malecot

Aimee Mullins learned to walk on artificial legs and then run.  She broke records at the Paralympic Games in 1996.   She is a model, actor, and supporter of women and sports.

First preview the vocabulary below.  Then do the exercise by first reading a single question and then listening for the answer.  When you hear the answer, pause the video and answer the question.  Then read the next question and do the same thing.  If you get the answer wrong, then go back to where the answer is given and listen again.

Vocabulary:

curious:  wanting to know
influences:  teaches indirectly
unruly:  without order, too excited
disabled:  unable to do normal things like walking
potential:  possibilities
attendees:  people who attend a conference
decade:  a period of ten years
form:  the shape of something
function:  what something does
aesthetics:  the beauty of something
numerous:  a large number, many
prosthetic:  an artificial body part
stunning:  very beautiful
transform:  change
polyurethane: a kind of plastic
door jams:  the top of doors
profoundly: very much
augmentation:  becoming better than normal

© 2014 Ambien Malecot