2 TECNOLOGÍAS DE ÚLTIMA MILLA MÁS USADAS PARA SERVICIO DE ACCESO A
2.5 COMPARATIVO DE LAS TECNOLOGÍAS DE ÚLTIMA MILLA
Exercise 3 page 42
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Check understanding of the film’s plot by asking the following questions:Which brother has been genetically engineered? (Anton) What problems does Vincent have? (He has several
disabilities, including a heart defect.)
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Students discuss the first question in pairs.•
For the first part of question 2, write the following sentence on the board: Parents have the right to geneticallyengineer their children. Give students a few minutes to
discuss the statement. Then elicit arguments in favour of and against the statement and hold a class vote.
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Finally, discuss the second part of question 2 as a class. Some possible answers might be that parents will be denying their children advantages that other children have; they will be exposing their children to a greater possibility of ill health; they will be exposing society to problems that may come from less-than-perfect children. Extra activity: Further discussionIn groups, students discuss the following questions:
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What are the pros and cons of screening embryos for conditions such as depression and a tendency to addiction?•
Do you think there will be laws forcing people to havegenetically engineered children in the future? Why / why not?
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Would you genetically engineer a child if this gave them abetter chance in life?
V insight Verbs and nouns with the same form
Many English words can be both a verb and a noun, and students should keep a record of them and example sentences to show the words in context.
Exercise 4 page 42
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Give students time to find the highlighted words and read them in context before they do the exercise.•
Check answers as a class, making sure that students understand when the words are used as verbs and when they are used as nouns.•
Give students a few minutes to find other examples of verbs and nouns with the same form in the article. There are numerous examples, so you could ask students to concentrate just on the first two paragraphs.1a screen (noun: the flat surface at the front of a television, computer or other electronic device, on which you see pictures or information)
1b screen (verb: to examine people in order to find out if they have a particular disease or illness)
2a mind (noun: the part of a person that makes them able to be aware of things, to think and to feel)
2b mind (verb: to not care or not be concerned about something)
3a cause (verb: to make something happen, especially something bad or unpleasant)
3b cause (noun: an organization or idea that people support or fight for)
4a shift (noun: a change in position or direction)
4b shift (verb: to move, or move something, from one position or place to another)
5a burden (verb: to give somebody a duty, responsibility, etc. that causes worry, difficulty or hard work)
5b burden (noun: a duty, responsibility, etc. that causes worry, difficulty or hard work)
6a engineer (noun: a person whose job involves designing and building engines, machines, roads, bridges, etc.)
6b engineer (verb: to arrange for something to happen or take place, especially when this is done secretly in order to give yourself an advantage)
There are numerous other examples in the article, including defect, report, chance, smile, start, risk, profile,
advance, lead, drop and work.
Extra activity: Fast finishers
On the board, write some examples from the article of verbs and nouns with the same form. Fast finishers choose a few of the words and write gapped sentences for them. They then swap their sentences with a partner.
V insight Noun suffixes: -ness, -ity, -ion
We use the suffixes -ness, -ity and -ion to make nouns from adjectives (or verbs). Sometimes the root of the adjective changes. The nouns formed often describe states, emotions or abstract concepts.
Exercise 5 page 44
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Write three headings on the board: -ness, -ity and -ion. Then say happy and point to -ness to elicit the noun happiness. Write happiness under the -ness heading. Continue with the following adjectives, writing the noun under the relevant heading: possible (possibility), impressed (impression),responsible (responsibility), sad (sadness), informative
(information).
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Students then work individually to complete the text. Do not check answers yet.Exercise 6 page 44
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Ask volunteers to write their answers for exercise 5 under the correct headings on the board.•
Give students a few minutes to check their answers in the article and then ask if anyone wants to change any of the answers on the board.•
Check answers as a class.-ion: depression (4), aggression (5), addiction (8),
imperfections (9)
-ness: baldness (2), deafness (6), short-sightedness (7) -ity: obesity (1), disability (3)
Additional vocabulary
The following words are from the article Gattaca:
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defect (n) /ˈdiːfekt/ a fault in something or in the way it has been made which means that it is not perfect•
underclass (n) /ˈʌndəklɑːs/ a social class that is very poor and has no status•
trait (n) /treɪt/ a particular quality in your personality•
scrutiny (n) /ˈskruːtəni/ careful examination•
unreserved (adj) /ˌʌnrɪˈzɜːvd/ complete and without any doubts•
commodity (n) /kəˈmɒdəti/ a product or a raw material that can be bought and soldExercise 7 page 44
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Go through the opinions with the class, pointing out that they are all quotes from the article. You can ask further questions for each opinion to encourage debate: 1 Do you think we are under pressure to be perfect? How?Do you think this pressure is greater now than it was in the past? Why / why not?
2 How does genetic engineering make a child into a
‘commodity’?
3 Do you think that genetic engineering could make us all
the same? Why / why not?
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Students discuss the opinions in groups. Circulate and monitor, helping with vocabulary if necessary.Alternative exercise
You could organize a debate on the discussion questions in exercise 7.
Divide the class into three groups and give each group a different opinion. One half of each group proposes one of the opinions as a motion and the other half opposes it. Give students five minutes to prepare their arguments.
Each group then debates the motion in front of the class. Hold a vote to decide the winners of the debate.
Vocabulary bank: Phrases with mind page 137 1 1 b 2 c 3 j 4 a 5 g
6 f 7 h 8 i 9 d 10 e
2 1 go out of their minds 2 change my mind 3 give me a piece of her mind 4 make up my mind 5 have something on your mind 6 cross your mind 7 take her mind off 8 Keep in mind
9 slip my mind 10 be in two minds
3 Students’ own answers
Learning outcome
Ask students: What have you learned today? What can you
do now? and elicit answers: I can understand an article about genetic engineering. I can use verbs and nouns with the same form. I can use the suffixes -ity, -ion and -ness to make nouns from adjectives. I can discuss the ethics of genetic engineering.