a space scientist and cofounder of Planet Labs, an American earth imaging private company based in San Francisco. He was a scientist at NASA Ames Research Center where he helped to formulate the Small Spacecraft Office.
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iconic: famous, well-known galvanized: made people excited fragile: easily broken or destroyed static: not moving, still scalable: able to increase production ultra: very very resolution: quality of the image humanitarian: helping people mission: reason, goal launched: put into space capability: ability to do lots of things bonded: held together democratizing: making democratic founders: people who create a company passionate: serious and excited glints: shines brightly for a moment data set: amount of information rotates: spins, turns scan: take a picture of crop yield: amount of food grown deforestation: cutting down forests universal access: ability for everyone to get
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.
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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
Negotiating with someone means bargaining or trading to get what you want while at the same time giving the other person what he wants. This may sound easy, but unless you follow a few rules, things will not go very well for you, and you’ll give more than you get. Think of negotiating as a game that you can win because you have learned the rules. Using these rules, you have a better chance of getting what you want. Here they are:
Rule 1:
Before you start the process, do some research online to find out what a reasonable price for the item is. If you are selling, you want to start your negotiation at a price above that; if you’re buying, you want to start at a price below that. Let me explain by using an example. You want to sell your used smartphone. If you determine that a used smart phone is worth $200, then you want to ask $250 for it. Someone would love to buy it from you for $150. If you asked for only $200, which is the real price you’re willing to sell it for, the other person would still only offer you $150, knowing that you would come down a little to meet his offer. You would then probably sell it for around $175, which is not what you want. You need to give yourself some “wiggle room” and ask for more than you’re willing to take.
Rule 2:
Get the other person to tell you his opening price first. This gives you an advantage because you now know his starting position before he knows yours. If his number is $50 lower than you want, then counter his offer with a price that’s $50 higher than you want. He says, “I’ll give you $150 for the phone.” You look dissatisfied, and after pausing for five seconds, you say, “I can’t do that. I’ll give it to you for $250.” Looking dissatisfied is a major part of negotiating. The more dissatisfied you look, the higher the other person will make his second offer.
Rule 3:
When the other person comes up in his counter offer, you come down by the same amount. Continuing with our example, he now says, “Well, I could come up another $25. How about $175?” You counter by looking disappointed again, and then say, “I could come down to $225, but that’s as low as I’m willing to go. By saying this last part, you’re telling him that the negotiations are getting tougher, and you’re not going to come down much more. If he’s not an experienced negotiator, he may agree to pay your price of $225. However, if he understands that the negotiation isn’t finished yet, he’ll suggest “splitting the difference.” He’ll say, “I’ll tell you what. Let’s split the difference, and we’ll both be happy.” At that point you can agree to sell the phone at $200.
Rule 4:
If he doesn’t seem willing to split the difference, then you can offer a little something extra to make him feel like he’s getting a good deal. You could say, “I’d be willing to throw in the phone case if you’ll agree to $200.” Often, this is enough to seal the deal.
Rule 5:
If there’s a long silence in the negotiation, do not say anything. The first person who speaks is the person who’s willing to make a concession and meet the other person’s price.
Rule 6:
The last rule is that you can’t seem desperate to make a deal. You must always look like you’re willing to walk away with no deal. Sometimes if you’re not happy with the price, walking away is the only thing you can do.
So there are the six simple rules that you can use the next time you negotiate with someone. Of course, practice makes perfect, so go out into the world and practice this process until you get good at it. Being a good negotiator will save you or make you lots of money in a short time.
Click on the audio recording below to hear the above lesson.
Vocabulary:
bargaining: the process of agreeing on a price. process: the steps you take to do something reasonable: correct for both buying and selling item: the thing that is being sold. determine: decide through research wiggle room: room to move up or down advantage: opportunity for success that the other person doesn’t have counter: say your price in response to his price dissatisfied: not happy tougher: harder splitting the difference: going half way between his price and yours throw in: include seal: successfully conclude concession: a thing that is given up desperate: having an urgent need deal: agreement
Pronunciation Exercise: Listen and repeat the vocabulary above on the audio file below.
an American businessman who serves as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Idealab, a company that creates companies. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the California Institute of Technology.
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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.
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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
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.
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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
by Marco Tempest
a Swiss magician who lives in New York City. He is known for his multimedia magic and use of interactive technology and computer graphics in his presentations.He stars in the eight part television series “The Virtual Magician,” which has been broadcast in over 50 countries.
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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.
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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
by Marco Tempest
a magician and performance artist from Zurich, Switzerland who combines video, computer graphics and other technology with his magic. He has a television series called “The Virtual Magician,” which has aired in some 49 markets worldwide.
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Victorian: the period of British history from 1837 to 1901, the reign of Queen Victoria illusionist: a person who does what looks like magic automaton: robot indistinguishable (from): looking the same (as) anticipate: predict what’s going to happen unpredictable: surprising, unexpected irrational: not logical, not a result of good thinking proximity: nearness abracadabra: (a magical word) pioneer: one of the first people to do something artificial intelligence: a smart machine code: a set of rules that you must follow
an American director, producer, and cinematographer who is a pioneer in time-lapse cinematography. He has been filming time-lapse film non-stop for over three decades. He focuses on connections between humans and the subtleties of nature and environment.
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