Listening exercise
Chicago Public Radio
This American Life: Testosterone

Download the following MP3 file:
https://ceiba.ntu.edu.tw/course/f8304a/listening/TALtestosterone.mp3
Use earphones!
Source page: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/220/testosterone
To use the source file directly, go to the above page and click on the "Full Episode" link.
Begin the file at the 3:44 minute point and play until the 15:10 point.
(This is a streaming link and cannot be downloaded.)

Vocabulary:
testosterone
to affect
to react to
on a daily basis
to give instructions
to follow
to bring us to
a while back
to convince
an entire program
and I have to say
to "buy" (= accept) something
article
GQ (Gentlemen's Quarterly) magazine
because of medical reasons
to stop producing
to live without
to catch a problem
incredible
ambition
sense of humor
inflection in one's voice
quality of one's speech
to be without
a lot of the hormone (= testosterone)
introduction of
to return
to find things offensive about
personality
to be disconnected
then
to be nice to be without them
to envy
the desire to judge
to approach people with
humility
to display (a characteristic)
to grow up in a culture
to divide the soul from the body
singleness
uniqueness
nothing can touch that
to go through an experience
small amounts
a bodily chemical
to remove
to reintroduce
to change everything
to know as
one's self
to violate the sanctity of
understanding
who you are
to exist
independent of any other forces in the universe
humbling
terrifying
when it comes to
this stuff
what to believe
to be caught between thinking that
body chemistry
to determine so much about
personalities
to want to believe that
Act One
Life at zero
hormone of desire
sexual desire
desire, period
in this act
interview
anonymously
no content
in your mind
to behave
to be awake
literally
to sit in bed
to stare at the wall
with neither x nor y
interest
disinterest
at a time
if you'd had a camera
you'd have thought
comatose
to buy groceries
to watch TV
much less		 to taste good
to be blessed with
lack of desire
loaf of Wonder Bread
mayonnaise
and that will be your day (= that's all that will happen to you on this day)
on weekends
New York
Philly (= Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
to get away with something
needless to say
absolutely
to be deprived of
Spocklike (like Mr. Spock in Star Trek)
incredibly rational
nonsensical
unable
to distinguish between
what is worth noting (= paying attention to)
describe your thoughts
on your morning walk
in this state
quiet
I would see...
a brick in a wall
pigeon
the most literal possible understanding of the world
to walk down the street
to tick things off (= to mark things off on a list)
simple observations
grocery list
a thought that comes to you
all the time
talk about that
odd-sounding
judgment
passion
exact opposite
with complete dispassion
objectivity
absolutely everything
mundane sight
in the world
weed in the sidewalk
surgery scars on people's knees
bolts in hubcaps
to have purpose
staggering
core thought
to be left with
you could just as easily
to settle on
monstrous
disgusting
adjective
brain
what was left of your personality
the issue of God
to come into the equation
in a way
not in the "afternoon talk show" sense
to be more humane
actually
aping (to ape = to imitate)
superficial
to see s.o. as they really are
omniscient sense
to see through the skin of things
conclusion
bugs
cracks in the sidewalk
automatic
flat
long
boring
state to be in
weirdly pleasant
a certain appeal
Rip Van Winkle existence
tricky
to get inside a mindset
to have its allure
burden
painful
There you go! (= That's just what I mean!)

Listening comprehension questions:
1. What major changes did the magazine writer note in himself during the time he had a very low level of testosterone?
2. What philosophical question did this raise for the speaker?
3. What, does the speaker say, happens to the mind when you don't have a normal level of testosterone in your body?
4. What happened to the speaker's attitude toward food?
5. a. People without testosterone are unable to distinguish between what two things? b. What did the speaker think about all the things he saw?
6. How did not having testosterone bring the speaker "closer to God"?
7. Why did the speaker say that not having testosterone has "a certain appeal", "had its allure" and was "weirdly pleasant"?
8. Can you relate the speaker's experience to anything you've learned about any major religion?

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