Prelearn vocab:
20 terms and expressions
Watch:
Work-Life Balance
Discuss:
Are you a generalist or a specialist? (Do you like to get really really good at one thing, or be good enough at lots of things?)
Do you know a person who is a specialist?
Match these verb / noun collocations
write
spear
sit
stay
live
plot
expand
drive
go into
in an ice cave
a fish
in a high rise office
an assassination
very fast down Fifth Avenue
a small business
politics
a novel
single
Grammar point: which of these verbs are transitive and which are intransitive?
This is the Audi R8; it's a highly efficient and compelling
car; its engine produces an astonishing 199 kW at 6,500 rpm, and a torque of
330 Nm at 4000 rpm.
Now part of the reason that it's so efficient, and part of
what makes us human beings comparatively inefficient, is that this car has only
one goal, and that goal is exceptionally clear: it has to go very fast
down tarmac roads.
As a general principle, no machine can be optimally
efficient at more than one thing.
A robot that has to both climb stairs, and make pancakes will be far less
efficient
than two distinct machines, each of which can focus exclusively on a single
task.
The more limited the goals, the higher ones chances efficiency.
Now, unlike the Audi sports car, our brains
are not designed or evolved to be maximally efficient at any one thing. This
amazing cognitive and emotional machine is a profound generalist it
comes moderately well equipped for a huge range of possible activities:
to write a novel, spearfish, bring up a child, drive very fast Fifth Avenue,
sit in a high-rise office writing reports, lie in a hut in New Guinea, marry,
plot an assassination, live in an ice cave, go into politics, stay single, or
expand a small business into the Asia market.
Now the price we pay for being generalists is that we'll be
less good at any one of the many activities we perform than someone who did
only one thing their whole life long.
We might not be the very best at inflating party balloons, the house will be a
bit dirty,
we might be a bit late for the meeting, we'll not be perfect, patient, and
interesting dinner companions, we'll mess up the public presentation again,
someone will probably be better than we are at helping a child to paint.
This might be quite depressing moments, perhaps late at
night as we look back across the day, but before we get too sad, we should
realize that our less than completely optimal performance is down to one
very understandable thing: that we've chosen breadth and variety over total
focus and narrow perfection, and that's a very wise choice. Focusing
on one thing to the exclusion of all others has its costs as anyone who's ever
spoken to an athlete who trains 10 hours a day tends to find out.
There's a cost to being the human equivalent to the
sports car.
Unfortunately, our society has set up an absurd idea:
that it will be possible to do many things and do them all completely well. That's
why we hear so much talk about an elusive thing called: "work-life
balance". Perfectly optimal career and a perfectly optimal home life.
This is a mad idea!
Work-life balance is impossible because everything
worth fighting for unbalances your life. We're not going to be at once the
ideal domestic chef, child carer, and CEO.
If we're strung out across multiple roles, all will suffer, but that's okay.
That you're doing too much and none of it without mistakes
isn't a sign that your life has gone wrong, it's a sign of a very wise and
understandable position: that you've opted for imperfect variety over
flawless focus.
Multiple choice questions:
1. According to the speaker. a human is less
efficient than a sports car because
A) humans have less clear goals than a sports car
B) sports cars are designed for speed
C) humans are not designed well
2. According to the speaker
A) humans should try to limit their goals in order
to be more efficient.
B) by limiting our focus, we increase our chances
of efficiency
C) optimal efficiency is a general principle in
designing machines
3. According ot the speaker, our brains
A) are moderately intelligent
B) tend to generalise
C) are good at many different things
4. According to the speaker, we
A) pay a price for focussing too much on one thing
B) can't be perfect at everything
C) can't be too general in our focus
5. The reason for our mistakes and failures is that
A) variety matters more than perfection
B) our narrow perfection
C) there's a cost to being the human equivalent of
a sports car
6. According to the speaker, work-life balance
A) is elusive
B) is worth fighting for
C) is impossible
7. According to the speaker, feeling that life is
chaotic
A) is a healthy sign
B) is a bad sign
C) is a sign that your life has gone wrong
Language
focus
What's the
scrambled word?
a
general piplerinc
a
single skta
a
wise coihce
an
absurd iead
an
elusive tnghi
multiple srleo
flawless ufocs
Follow each
verb with a likely object
explore a
_____________
investigate
a _____________
retrieve a _____________
complete a _____________
verify a _____________
supervise a
_____________
consider a _____________
sustain a _____________
Listen out for these adverb + adjective collocations:
H____ly efficient
c_______ly inefficient
e________ly clear
o______ly efficient
f__ l____ efficient
m_______ly efficient
m_______ly w___ equipped
l__ than c______ly o_______l performance
p_____ly optimal
Discussion
General questions - discuss what you heard.
1. Why is a human less efficient than a sports car?
2. What's easiest way to increase efficiency?
3. What is the brain designed to do?
4. What is the price we pay for being generalists?
5. Why do we sometimes feel depressed at the end of the day?
6. What is the cost of focusing on one thing to the exclusion of all others?
7. Why is work-life balance impossible?
Unfortunately
highly
so
exceptionally
optimally
completely
exclusively
moderately
probably
without mistakes
maximally
perfectly
less
at once
only
very
very
well
Listen and add the adverbs where
you hear them
This is the Audi R8; it's a (1)
________ efficient and compelling car; its engine produces an
astonishing 199 kW at 6,500 rpm, and a torque of 330 Nm at 4000 rpm.
Now part of the reason that it's (2)
_______ efficient, and part of what makes us human beings
comparatively inefficient, is that this car has (3) ________
one goal, and that goal is (4) __________ clear: it has to go (5)
_________ fast down tarmac roads.
As a general principle, no machine can be (6)
___________ efficient at more than one thing. A robot that has to both
climb stairs and make pancakes will be far less efficient than two distinct
machines, each of which can focus (7) __________ on a single
task. The more limited the goals, the higher one’s chances efficiency.
Now, unlike the Audi sports car, our brains
are not designed or evolved to be (8) __________ efficient at
any one thing. This amazing cognitive and emotional machine is a profound
generalist; it comes (9) ___________ well equipped for a huge
range of possible activities: to write a novel, spearfish, bring up a child,
drive very fast Fifth Avenue, sit in a high-rise office writing reports, lie in
a hut in New Guinea, marry, plot an assassination, live in an ice cave, go into
politics, stay single, or expand a small business into the Asia market.
Now the price we pay for being generalists is
that we'll be (10) _________ good at any one of the many
activities we perform than someone who did only one thing their whole life
long. We might not be the (11) _________ best at inflating
party balloons, the house will be a bit dirty, we might be a bit late for the
meeting, we'll not be perfect, patient, and interesting dinner companions,
we'll mess up the public presentation again, someone will (12)
__________ be better than we are at helping a child to paint.
This might be quite depressing moments,
perhaps late at night as we look back across the day, but before we get too
sad, we should realize that our less than (13) _________
optimal performance is down to one very understandable thing: that we've chosen
breadth and variety over total focus and narrow perfection, and that's a very
wise choice. Focusing on one thing to the exclusion of all others has its costs
as anyone who's ever spoken to an athlete who trains 10 hours a day tends to
find out.
There's a cost to being the human equivalent
to the sports car.
(14) ___________, our society has set up an absurd idea: that it will
be possible to do many things and do them all completely (15) _________.
That's why we hear so much talk about an elusive thing called: "work-life
balance". A (16) ________ optimal career and a perfectly
optimal home life.
This is a mad idea!
Work-life balance is impossible because
everything worth fighting for unbalances your life. We're not going to be (17)
_________ the ideal domestic chef, child carer, and CEO. If we're
strung out across multiple roles, all will suffer, but that's okay.
That you're doing too much and none of it (18)
___________ isn't a sign that your life has gone wrong, it's a sign of
a very wise and understandable position: that you've opted for imperfect
variety over flawless focus.
- briskly
- gradually
- hastily
- hurriedly
- immediately
- instantly
- promptly
- quickly
- rapidly
- slowly
- speedily
- swiftly
- audibly
- deafeningly
- ear-splittingly
- faintly
- loudly
- noiselessly
- noisily
- quietly
- silently
- softly
- soundlessly
- thunderously
- daily
- eventually
- finally
- frequently
- generally
- hourly
- rarely
- regularly
- seldom
- soon
She spoke
She wept
She walked
She laughed
She stumbled
She squeezed
my hand
She stood up
She looked
around
She
whispered
1.
accidentally
2.
awkwardly
3.
blindly
4.
crazily
5.
cruelly
6.
defiantly
7.
deliberately
8.
doubtfully
9.
dramatically
10.
excitedly
11.
mysteriously
12.
nervously
13.
seriously
14.
solemnly
15.
unexpectedly
16.
wildly
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