Listening exercise
A Moment of Science:
(1) Where "Yum" Comes From
Click here to listen:
http://amos.indiana.edu/library/yum.ram

Vocabulary:
sweet tooth
try as you might...
to avoid Ving
to stimulate
the sense of
sweetness
candy
ice cream
soda
to feel good about s.o.
to refer to
sweetie
sugar
honey
to relate to
ancient kings
chocolate
food of the gods
to take comfort
human beings
to inherited our
predilection
tastes
across millions of years
evolutionary
to be written directly into our genes
craving
unhealthy
dietary habits
rotten teeth
ironically

to exude
a form of
fructose
at a certain phase in
maturation
ripe
bitter
to go over the top (= to have gone too far)
sourness
to rules
chemical balance that
to translate to sweetness
at the critical peak, and
thus
cue
to ensure
nutrition
to benefit
to pluck
to increases the chances of
to spread
mature seeds
to acts as a
trigger
to grab
to become hard-wired into
human genetic makeup
rotten
to go a little crazy
to happen to be

Listening comprehension questions:
1. a. What are some expressions related to sweetness that we use in English to refer to people we love? b. Are there any equivalent expressions like this in Chinese? What are they?
2. Why does it seem humans have developed a taste for sweet things?
3. What advantages does the human desire to seek out sweetness give humans and plants?
4. What disadvantage has our craving for sweetness brought with it?
5. Do you think a. culture and/or b. habit may have something to do with our craving for sweetness? Explain.
Image source

(2) Tips for Predicting Baseball Scores
Click here to listen:
http://amos.indiana.edu/library/ballscores.ram

Vocabulary:
sports fan
to lose sleep
to wonder
jetlag
to affect
performance
favorite
team
You're not the only one.
scientist
to analyze
major league baseball
to find a link between A and B
home field
advantage
to discover
visiting team
eastward
..., say, ...
L.A.
New York
to score
runs
point spread
findings
to support
 to be harder on
to be tuned to
what are called
circadian rhythms
to determine
natural cycles
slightly
exposure
factors
daylight
temperature
local time zone
to be thrown out of whack
to take s.o./s.t. time
to readjust
to head
internal clock
to compress
to work against
to bode well
die-hard
Dodgers
fan
to participate
office pool

Listening comprehension questions:
1. Which is probably easier on your internal clock, flying from Taipei to L.A., or from L.A. to Taipei? Why?
2. What are some of the factors that fine-tune your body to the local time zone?
3. Explain the last sentence of this audio file: "While none of this bodes well if you're a die-hard Dodgers fan, it may be worth remembering the next time you participate in the office pool."
 Image source

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