The Hum

The Hum

Before viewing:

Is the missing word “noise” or “sound”? Is there any way to tell?

 “It‘s 11 o’clock in the morning, and I’m suddenly aware of this buzzing, pulsating ____, a bit like a distant drill or angle grinder. But it’s not just a ____. It feels like my inner ear is vibrating.”

This was journalist Linda Geddes’s first experience of the Hum – a mysterious _____ that has been plaguing residents of the English city of Bristol for decades. Similar reports of inexplicable, low-frequency ____s can be found in everywhere from Kokomo in Indiana to Vancouver in Canada. It disrupts sleep and destroys concentration; some find the phenomenon so annoying that they feel that it is driving them slowly insane.

Is it the secret _____ of military signals? The buzz of power lines? Or the distant call of ocean waves? As Geddes finds in the video above, the Hum may hold a very personal meaning.

Watch the program.

Who are the following people?

Write 'S' if they are skeptical about "the hum" or "B" if they believe in it.

Linda 
James
Glen

Jake

Andy
Tim
David Deming

1. Why is it unlikely that there is a single source to the sound heard in Bristol?
2. What does Glen believe is the source of the hum?
3. Why does Time disagree with Glen?

Language

pulsating
inner ear
barely perceptible
ticking over
come under suspicion
to put your money somewhere
background noise
to pinpoint
omnipresent
the standard narrative
an explosion of interest
crucial
tinnitus
a string of
curious to know
to zone out
at a loss
acoustician
correlation
somatosound
hyperacuses
arousal
to filter out
to firmly believe
noise cancelling headphones
grinding
low frequencies
geoscientist
mobile
antenna
empathise
to latch onto
ditto
ubiquitous
run down (adj)

Discuss:

What do you think is going on?

Kahoot quiz:

16 True or False Questions

Check text:

“It‘s 11 o’clock in the morning, and I’m suddenly aware of this buzzing, pulsating noise, a bit like a distant drill or angle grinder. But it’s not just a noise. It feels like my inner ear is vibrating.”

This was journalist Linda Geddes’s first experience of the Hum – a mysterious sound that has been plaguing residents of the English city of Bristol for decades. Similar reports of inexplicable, low-frequency sounds can be found in everywhere from Kokomo in Indiana to Vancouver in Canada. It disrupts sleep and destroys concentration; some find the phenomenon so annoying that they feel that it is driving them slowly insane.

Is it the secret sound of military signals? The buzz of power lines? Or the distant call of ocean waves? As Geddes finds in the video below, the Hum may hold a very personal meaning.

Watch:

The Hum - you tube

The hum

Modal verbs used:

he couldn't hear it.

If you had to put your money anywhere, where would it be?

to see if I could send to anyone

I can't find a direction of the sound...