Transcript

Good morning, everybody. Today I’m going to talk about one of the most terrible wars of the twentieth century. Although it took place mainly in Europe, it involved countries from all over the world. I’m talking, of course, about the First World War, from 1914 to 1918, which resulted in the death of about ten million military personnel. Despite the enormous human cost, the war did have some positive consequences. In fact, it was precisely because of the nature and scale of the horrors of the battlefield that many important medical advances were made, as new equipment and techniques had to be developed quickly to cope with the huge number of injuries.

As I said, the scale of the First World War was huge. New weapons were used that were designed to kill on an industrial scale, such as machine guns, tanks and poison gases. These produced brutal results: many deaths and about twice as many injuries. Those injured suffered very severe wounds and this pushed the medical establishment to build on recent discoveries and to come up with solutions for the new problems faced by doctors. I’m going to tell you about a few of these.

You probably know that X-rays were discovered in 1895, and were developed for limited medical use in the following year. But their use became much more widespread during the war, when they helped detect fragments of bombs and bullets buried in tissue. They allowed doctors to extract these elements, which would otherwise have caused serious infections. Stretchers for carrying injured people had also been in use before the war, but the development of rescuing the wounded from the battlefield, by sending in stretcher-bearers to bring them back as quickly as possible, was completely new. The modern concept of a paramedic, who is able to apply first aid in the field, also comes from this time.

Blood transfusion was in its early days at the time of the Great War. It was done person-to-person, that is, with a tube transferring blood from one person to another. This was extremely impractical and carried a very high risk. The rigours of the war demanded a better solution and by 1917 indirect transfusion had been developed. It was possible to store blood on ice for up to 26 days and deal much better with battle injuries. For many, this was the most significant medical breakthrough of the war.

Professor: Right…Let’s go back to note taking and begin with the basis before the lecture has even started. What should you do when you walk into the room? Get a good seat at the front (1) if you can where are you can hear clearly and avoid distractions.

Student: Yes!

Professor: …Though obviously others would have had the same idea, so it’ll be best to come a bit early. So when the lecture’s on the way and you’re busy jotting things down. What should you try to ensure?

Student: That you’re getting all the main points?

Professor: And what if you don’t catch something? Something you know must be important.

Student: Uhm…I’ll leave a space (2) then I could check it later, perhaps by asking a question at the end and filling in it afterwards

Professor: that’s an excellent way to deal with it. Yes…And there’s something else I’d like to mention here, talking about going through notes afterwards. It’s absolutely vital what you write is legible for one particular reason: It saves time (3). You will waste many hours during the course if your revision is held up because you can’t read what you’ve written. Ok. What else can we do to make listening and note taking more efficient?

Student: well..I always listen out for signpost words(4)….uhm…

Professor: …Sorry…. What are they?

Student: They are the ones lectures use to say where they are going. A bit like the sign posts at the road junctions, I suppose. Things like “the first reason is”, “however”, “to sum up” and so on.

Professor: Yes. They can tell you when something important is coming and help you to organize your notes too.

Tutor:     So. Sharon and Xiao Li, in your presentation last week you were talking about the digital divide - the gap between those who can effectively use communication tools such as the Internet, and those who can't. And you compared the situation here in Northern Ireland with South-East China. Right, so I asked you to do some sell evaluation, watching the video of your presentation and thinking about the three main criteria you're assessed by - content, structure and technique. What do you think was the strongest feature of the presentation, when you watched it? Sharon?

Sharon:    Well. I was surprised actually, because l felt quite nervous but when I watched the video, it didn't show as much as I expected.

Tutor:     So which of the criteria would that come under?

Sharon:    Er, confidence?

Tutor:     That’s not actually one of the criteria as such Xiao Li?

Xiao Li:    Technique? It's body language and eye contact, isn't it. Well, I didn't think I looked all that confident, but I think, that our technique was generally good like the way we designed and used the PowerPoint slides.

Tutor:     Mmm. So you both feel happiest about that side of the presentation? OK, now on the negative side, what would you change if you could do it again?

Xiao Li:    Well, at first I'd thought that the introduction was going to be the problem but actually I think that was OK. We defined our terms and identified key issues. It was more towards the end, the conclusion wasn't too bad but the problem was the questions, we hadn’t really expected there'd be any so we hadn't thought about them that much.

Tutor:     Uhuh OK. Anything else?

Sharon:    Well, like Xiao Li says, I thought the conclusion was OK, but when I watched us on the video I thought the section on solutions seemed rather weak.

Tutor:     Mmm. Can you think why?

Sharon:    Well, we explained what people are doing about the digital divide in China and Northern Ireland but I suppose we didn't really evaluate any of the projects or ideas, it was just a list. And that was what people were asking us about at the end mostly.

Library Reception: and I almost forgot. The membership fee is $20, which is refundable if you no longer stay a member.

Student: There you are. Do I sign at the bottom here?

Library Reception: Yes, that’s right. You can borrow books now if you wish on though your membership card will not be ready until next week. If you borrow today, you can get your card when you return the first books. That’s if you want to take some now.

Student: I think I will. But I’ll have a look around first.

Library Reception: OK. Take your time

JANE       It's going to be different from school, isn't it!

TIM          Yeah, particularly the lectures. Have you got any special strategy for listening to lectures?

JANE       Well I'm going to use a cassette recorder and record them all.

TIM          What! Are you allowed to?

JANE       Sure. Lots of people do it nowadays. It means you can listen to the lectures all over again later, and make really good notes.

TIM          I couldn't do that. I like to take notes as I'm listening. I usually find I get all the important points. Reading is different of course. My approach is to skim the book first to see what's important and what isn't. It saves hours of time.

JANE       But what if you miss something?

TIM          You don't mean you're going to read every word, do you?

JANE       Well, that's what I usually do.

TIM          Well, that's up to you, but I think you're crazy!

JANE       What's your first lecture on, anyway?

TIM          Oh, it's a lecture on the French Revolution.

JANE       The French Revolution! How boring!

TIM          It's not boring at all! It was an amazing period of history. It changed everything in Europe. So what's your first lecture about?

JANE       It's about animal behavior. It sounds really interesting.

TIM          Look, I was on my way to the library. I'm going to get some of these books out and start reading for the first essay I've got to write.

JANE       And what have you got to write about?

TIM          Well, you'll never believe it, I think our professor must have a sense of humor.  He's given us the title "Why study history?"

JANE       That's a good one. When you find the answer, let me know!

TIM          I'm going to enjoy writing it. Have you been given any writing assignments yet?

JANE       Yes, I've got to write about animal language.

TIM         Hmm! That sounds a challenge. I suppose you'll be off to the zoo to do field research.

Teacher: Good afternoon. So we’re fast approaching exam season and I can already see a lot of tired faces here in front of me. Well, today we are lucky enough to have Professor Manson from the University of Denton talk to us about how sleep can help us pass those all-important exams. So without any further ado, I’d like you to give a big round of applause and stay wide awake for Professor Denton.

Professor: Good afternoon. Looking around this room now takes me back to when I was your age and life seemed to be a never-ending chain of exams and assignments. At that time, organisation was not my forte and too often I found myself up all hours of the night before an exam cramming every last piece of information I could in an attempt to remember something. Does that sound familiar to any of you? Can I just see a show of hands how many of you this term have had no more than 3 or 4 hours' sleep before an exam? OK, so that’s a clear majority and it has to be said that last-minute revision can do wonders for the short-term memory, but what is, in fact, even more beneficial is a good night’s sleep.

So, I’d like to explain to you now, especially you all-night crammers, the link between sleep and memory and how a good night’s kip can improve your exam results. Now, could everyone take a minute to work out, on average, how many hours' sleep they get every night. Can I see a show of hands for more than 10 hours? OK, none of you, how about between 8 and 10 hours? A handful of you. OK, so what about between 6 and 8 hours? Right, that’s a popular option. And any of you fewer than 6 hours? Mmm … OK, so you’re the guys we most need to worry about.

According to the National Sleep Foundation in Washington, newborn babies need anything between 14 and 17 hours' sleep and this amount gradually decreases the older we get until as adults we need around 7 or 8 hours sleep, but … you’ll be interested to know that the 14 to 17 age group should be aiming for 8 to 10 hours' sleep a night. So you can already see that most of us are not getting enough sleep, and this is something we need to think about.

Sleep is essential. The human body simply can’t survive without it. End of story. While we’re asleep, the body checks that all our vital functions such as growth, circulatory systems and our immune system are in good working order. And while we’re snoring away, our brains are very active restructuring information we’ve collected during the day and consolidating memories.

So let me explain memory consolidation. Memory consolidation is what happens when information is moved from our short-term memory to our long-term memory with the help of a major part of the brain called the hippocampus. This is it folks … this is the BIG moment when all of those facts and figures that you have crammed into your short-term memory are processed and consolidated in your long-term memory.

However, as you’re probably aware, we don’t always remember everything. One reason we remember certain things better than others relates to the environment or conditions we were in when we originally made the memories. What experts have discovered is, the more emotions that are activated when we make a memory, the more likely we are to consolidate that memory. So, for example, the more interesting or fun you find a biology lesson, the more chance there is of you remembering information from it … OK, teachers? And not only that … we actually need to review information again and again after certain periods of time to help the consolidation process, which is why well-planned exam revision timetables are far more effective in the long term than short-term cramming the night before.

Interviewer:    So how many bears can we find today and are any of them in danger of extinction?

Alison:    Well I'll answer your first question first. There are eight species of bear in all; among them the American Black Bear and the Brown Bear - from which evolved the newest species of bear - the Polar Bear.

Interviewer:    So how old is the Polar Bear?

Alison:    Oh, he's a relative newcomer - just 20,000 years old.

Interviewer:    And could you tell us a little about them? Which is the largest bear, for instance?

Alison:    Well, the largest bear existing today is either the Polar Bear or the Brown Bear.

Interviewer:    Right ... Don't we know?

Alison:    Well, it depends which criteria you use. The Polar Bear is the heaviest; the male weighs up to 1,500 pounds but his narrow body actually makes him look smaller than the much more robust Brown Bear.

Interviewer:    So the Brown Bear appears the biggest.

Alison:    Yes.

Interviewer:    And the smallest?

Alison:    Well, the Sun Bear is the smallest of the eight species. They only weigh between 60 and 145 pounds.

Interviewer:    That makes him a comparative junior!

Alison:    Yes. And then next we have the so-called Giant Panda ... but that's a small bear too, comparatively speaking.

Interviewer:    And are all bears meat eaters?

Alison:    No, not at all. In fact the Giant Panda is almost entirely herbivorous living on a diet of 30 types of bamboo.

Interviewer:    Oh, yes of course. Pandas are famous for that.

Alison:    And another interesting bear is the Sloth Bear which eats insects, particularly termites. He can turn his mouth into a tube and suck the insects out of their nests.