[00:00.00] Unit 2 Psychology in Our Daily Life

[00:05.62]Part Two Listening-Centered Activities

[00:09.79]Listening 1

[00:11.66]Exercise 1

[00:13.39]Directions: Listen to the story and decide whether the following statements are true or false. Writer "T" for true and "F" for false.

[00:28.22]A potato farmer was sent to prison just at the time when he should have been digging the ground for planting the new crop of potatoes.

[00:41.47]He knew that his wife would not be strong enough to do the digging by herself,

[00:48.67]but that she could manage to do the planting;

[00:52.67]and he also knew that he did not have any friends or neighbors who would be willing to do the digging for him.

[01:02.60]So he wrote a letter to his wife which said,

[01:07.18]" Please do not dig the potato field. I hid the money and the gun there."

[01:15.85]Ten days later he got a letter from his wife. It said,

[01:23.05]" I think somebody is reading your letters before they go out of the prison.

[01:29.60]Some policemen arrived here two days ago and dug up the whole potato field.

[01:37.16]What shall I do now?"

[01:39.47]The prisoner wrote back at once,

[01:42.49]" Plant the potatoes, of course."

[01:46.13]Exercise 2

[01:45.13]Directions: Listen to the story again and note down what the husband said in his first letter and the wife's reply.

[01:58.23]Then work in groups to complete the two letters. Read them to the class.

[02:05.61]A potato farmer was sent to prison just at the time when he should have been digging the ground for planting the new crop of potatoes.

[02:19.22]He knew that his wife would not be strong enough to do the digging by herself,

[02:26.35]but that she could manage to do the planting;

[02:30.60]and he also knew that he did not have any friends or neighbors who would be willing to do the digging for him.

[02:40.03]So he wrote a letter to his wife which said,

[02:44.53]" Please do not dig the potato field. I hid the money and the gun there."

[02:52.99]Ten days later he got a letter from his wife. It said,

[03:00.26]" I think somebody is reading your letters before they go out of the prison.

[03:07.10]Some policemen arrived here two days ago and dug up the whole potato field.

[03:14.91]What shall I do now?"

[03:17.54]The prisoner wrote back at once,

[03:20.96]" Plant the potatoes, of course."

[03:24.81]Listening 2

[03:27.01]Exercise 1

[03:29.06]Directions: Listen to the passage and fill in the table with the information you get from the tape.

[03:37.52]The manager of a large office building received many complaints about the lift service in the building.

[03:46.23]He hired a group of engineers to study the situation.

[03:50.48]They suggested two solutions:

[03:53.79]1. adding more lifts of the same type;

[03:58.98]2. replacing the lifts with faster ones.

[04:03.66]The manager decided that both suggestions were too expensive.

[04:08.88]So he asked a psychologist to study the problem.

[04:13.34]The psychologist noticed that many people felt angry and impatient because they thought they had to wait too long for the lift.

[04:24.18]However,

[04:25.47]the psychologist found that they only had to wait a relatively short time.

[04:31.59]It occurred to him that the reason they felt angry and impatient was that they had nothing to do while they were waiting for the lifts.

[04:42.82]He suggested a simple,

[04:45.20]inexpensive solution to the manager.

[04:48.55]This was adopted and complaints stopped immediately.

[04:54.06]The solution was to place a large mirror next to the lifts.

[05:00.68]Exercise 2

[05:02.66]Directions: Listen to the passage again and then discuss in groups to find out:

[05:11.70]1)the reasons why complaints stopped immediately after the solution was adopted;

[05:19.83]2)other possible solutions to the problem.

[05:24.66]The manager of a large office building received many complaints about the lift service in the building.

[05:33.30]He hired a group of engineers to study the situation.

[05:37.76]They suggested two solutions:

[05:41.18]1.adding more lifts of the same type;

[05:46.00]2.replacing the lifts with faster ones.

[05:50.72]The manager decided that both suggestions were too expensive.

[05:55.65]So he asked a psychologist to study the problem.

[06:00.19]The psychologist noticed that many people felt angry and impatient because they thought they had to wait too long for the lift.

[06:11.20]However,

[06:12.46]the psychologist found that they only had to wait a relatively short time.

[06:18.73]It occurred to him that the reason they felt angry and impatient was that they had nothing to do while they were waiting for the lifts.

[06:29.35]He suggested a simple,

[06:31.76]inexpensive solution to the manager.

[06:35.18]This was adopted and complaints stoped immediately.

[06:40.76]The solution was to place a large mirror next to the lifts.