THINKING for yourself

Warming up Skimming Digging Interpreting Critical thinking Unfamiliar words Language in use Talking point

Warming up

1. Listen and underline any words or expressions which are different from what you hear. Think about it! Here are some tips for students who want to increase their thinking power. The more carefully you think about something, the less interesting it becomes. (more) A university student can learn a lot from TV programmes as well as from teachers. (other student) If you take a break when you get stuck on a difficult passage in a book, it may be more difficult to understand when you come back to it. (easier) More

Warming up

Don’t believe anything your teacher says. Be prepared to check the facts. (everything) Read your lecture notes again within 24 days. (hours) Otherwise they may not make sense to you anymore. If you have any good ideas while you are in the bath, get out and write them down. Otherwise you will forget them. (bed) It’s important to believe in your own ideas as much as anybody else’s. (more than)

Warming up

2. Work in pairs and discuss the advice. Decide which tips you agree with, and which you don’t.Shorter points on the tips: 1st one: The first seems true to me. If you just look at an ant for a moment, it is of little interest, but if you start thinking about how they live, what they do and so on, it gets fascinating, and it’s like that with most things. 2nd one: Though perhaps there is a difference. You are more likely to learn subject knowledge from your teacher and other types of knowledge from friends who have had different experiences of life. 3rd one: There is no point in just reading and rereading. You need to go and give your mind a break, and then try More again when you feel fresh.

Warming up 4th one: I think that depends on the sort of thing the teacher says. If a teacher gives you facts about the subject, they are not likely to be wrong; but you can question opinions. 5th one: This is very good advice. I wish I took it more often. Some of my notes are like a strange foreign language! 6th one: Even better keep a notebook with you all the time. You can put it by the bath as long as you are careful not to get it wet, as well as beside your bed. It is better than getting up and looking around for pen and paper. 7th one: Maybe, but there have been plenty of wiser and cleverer people than me so probably I should listen to their opinions first.

Warming up

Watch the video and answer some questions.1. What do you think of the teachers in the movie, especially Mr. Keating, the one who teaches poetry? Do you like him ? Why or why not? 2. How do you understand the saying “Believing everything in books is worse than having no books at all”?

Warming up

Look at the title of the passage and answer the questions.1 What is “thinking for yourself”?The main meaning is not simply adopting the opinions of others, bu

t taking the time and effort to form your own opinion, to be an independent thinker.

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2 Is it important to think for yourself?It is of great importance to think for yourself; you couldn’t just simply accept the views of others. But we should also listen to the wiser people, as they tend to advise us according to their deeper experience.

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3 How do you learn to think for yourself?One way is, on any question, to try to think about different points of view. This means you do not just accept an idea but test it against others and only adopt it if it seems the best one to you.

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Warming up

4 Is it possible to teach someone to think for themselves? Yes, it is possible but not easy. It has to be a process. I think it comes slowly when students, with the encouragement of teachers, learn to challenge themselves in a stimulating environment. One day they will find themselves actually thinking for themselves. If the teacher praises them for this, it will strengthen the habit.

Skimming Task

◇ Browse the passage within 8 minutes to get a rough idea about it. ◇Choose the best answer to the questions on page 4.1 Why does the writer believe thinking for oneself is not popular? (a) Because it takes too much time. (b) Because institutions don’t like it. (c) Because it doesn’t lead to progress. (d) Because only a few people are able to do it. More Answer: (b)

Skimming

2 How often are people interested in what other people think according to the writer? (a) Always. (b) Often. (c) Hardly ever. (d) Never.Answer: (c)More

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3 Who first made the writer realize that thinking for oneself is important? (a) The manager of an oil company. (b) The writer’s parents. (c) The writer’s maths teacher. (d) The writer’s friend Sarah.Answer: (c)More

Skimming

4 How did the writer feel when she was asked to write “the sum of a number”? (a) Pleased, because it was an easy question to answer. (b) Bored, because she wasn’t interested in maths. (c) Worried, because she was the only one who didn’t know the answer. (d) Confused, because she didn’t understand the question. Answer: (d)More

Skimming

5 What did the writer do in the end? (a) She copied what someone else wrote. (b) She suddenly realized the meaning of the question. (c) She felt too frightened to write an answer. (d) She asked the teacher to explain. Answer: (a)

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Skimming

6 What does the writer think of the maths teacher? (a) She was the best teacher she ever had. (b) She was the worst teacher she ever had. (c) She taught her an important lesson. (d) She valued the intelligence of her pupils. Answer: (c)