Intro
1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.
2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.
Are you the kind of person who likes to understand how something works? Do you spend your free time putting objects, liquids or foods together to find out what will happen? Maybe you tried building a robot or rocket. Or perhaps you tried turning your little brother into a frog. Science is fun for you, and you enjoy learning through experiments.
In movies, science experiments make monsters or terrible things happen. We have Frankenstein and Godzilla because of science. But good things come from science, too, and not just in movies. Because people use science to study the world, we can treat sick people and clean dirty water. People who build robots as children sometimes grow up to be great scientists.
Do Jeff and Rafael conduct science experiments? Find out in today’s English lesson.
Dialog
1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.
2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.
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Rafael: Jeff, check out this new science experiment I’m working on.
Jeff: Oh, yeah? What’s that? I used to do those.
Rafael: I’m making a miniature robot that can basically lift a pencil for you. Doesn’t that sound so cool?
Jeff: Yeah, but look. I can do it myself.
Rafael: That’s true. You can do it yourself, but it’s really fun to conduct an experiment and try to make something new.
Jeff: You know, man, I used to do that when I was a kid. But I grew out of that. That’s kid stuff.
Rafael: What kind of hypotheses did you have when you were a kid?
Jeff: I don’t know. To see if I could hit the neighbor kid with a snowball from 100 yards away.
Rafael: You probably have to regulate the amount of force that the snowball gets thrown with, right?
Jeff: I did that. It only took me two or three tries. It worked out nicely, if I remember.
Rafael: And you may feel like you have outgrown it, but if you keep conducting experiments, it keeps your mind nice and sharp.
Jeff: You know what? You have a point there.
Rafael: It can be time-consuming, and there are a lot of variables, but at the end of the day, I don’t know other people who can make robots that pick up pencils for you.
Jeff: Or hit the neighbor kid from a half block away with a snowball.
Rafael: Maybe you and I can work on a robot that can do both.
Jeff: Hey! Good idea.
Grammar Point
Go Super to learn "Gerunds vs. Infinitives" from this lesson
Quizzes
Lesson MP3
The iTEP® test
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Discussion
Rafael is working on a science experiment. He’s trying to build a robot that can pick up a pencil. Jeff reminds Rafael that he can pick up his own pencil, but that doesn’t stop Rafael from sharing his excitement for the project. Besides, as he points out, working on science experiments helps keep your brain working at its best.
At first, Jeff says he’s outgrown science experiments and seems to think that Rafael is behaving like a child. But as they talk, he remembers how much fun he had trying his own experiments as a boy. By the end of their conversation, it seems that Rafael has convinced Jeff that they should work together. Who knows what could happen?
Do you enjoy science experiments? If you could make anything, what would it be?
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