B2 - Lesson 13
Part 1 : Video Lesson & Transcript
Part : Listening & Reading comprehension
Part 3 : Use of English
Part 4 : Grammar lesson
Part 5 : Writing an essay & corrections
Part 6 : Speaking, interaction, & explanations.
INSTRUCTIONS
Please make sure you unfold each content for each part of the lesson. Merci de déplier chaque contenu pour chaque partie de cette leçon.
LINKS TO GRAMMAR BOOKS :
PART 1 : VIDEO BASED LESSON & TRANSCRIPT
See instructions beneath the video.
VIDEO : CLICK ON THE PICTURE
Can you outsmart the slippery slope fallacy ?
Can you outsmart the slippery slope fallacy ?
It's 1954. Vietnamese nationalists are on the verge of securing an independent Vietnam under communist leader Ho Chi Minh. U.S. President Eisenhower claims that by virtue of the "falling domino principle," communist control of Vietnam would lead to the global spread of authoritarian communist regimes. Can you spot the problem with this argument? Elizabeth Cox explores the slippery slope fallacy. [Directed by TOGETHER, narrated by Jack Cutmore-Scott, music by Massassauga].
VIDEO : EXERCISE
INSTRUCTIONS TO WORK ON THE VIDEO :
1) Listen to the video without reading the text / transcript
2) Then Listen to the video again reading the transcript as you listen.
3) Then listen to the video again without reading the transcript.
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
It’s April 1954, and Vietnamese nationalists are on the verge of victory against French forces fighting for control of Vietnam. Their victory could lead to an independent Vietnam under communist leader Ho Chi Minh. The United States President, Dwight D. Eisenhower, is holding a press conference to comment on these developments.
Now, Mr. President, let’s take a deep breath, shall we? It’s a big leap—or, one might say, a long slide— from communist governance of Vietnam to the global spread of authoritarian communist regimes. It’s as if we were to say you were clothed, now you’re in your underwear, so soon everyone in the world will be completely naked.
Don’t worry, I may have that power, but I promise not to use it. Now, as I was saying, this kind of argument, where one step, let’s call it A, kicks off a string of events that inevitably culminates in an extreme scenario, let’s call it Z, is known as a slippery slope. Many such arguments focus on catastrophe, but the slope to an extreme positive outcome can be just as slippery. The trouble with this kind of argument is that, in presenting Z is the inevitable outcome of A, it almost always overstates the likelihood that Z will happen if A happens. Why? Allow me to trouble you with some math.
Let’s assume for the sake of argument that, taken individually, each step between A and Z is independent from the others and very likely— 99%. So the probability that A causes B, that B causes C, that C causes D, and so on, is each 99%. Even so, each additional step adds an opportunity to alter the outcome, and A is only 78% likely to lead to Z— far from an inevitability. If there’s a 95% likelihood of each step, the chance that A leads to Z plummets to about 28%. If there’s a 90% likelihood at each step— still very likely by most standards— the chance that A leads to Z is only 7%. And if 24 of the 25 steps between A and Z are 99% likely, and one is 50% likely, the chance that A leads to Z goes down from 78% to 39%.
Back to your situation. I won’t deny you have reason to be concerned. You’re warily watching as powerful authoritarian communist regimes in the Soviet Union and China try to spread their form of governance. But let’s take a look at the chain of events you suggest: You say that the countries surrounding Vietnam would all soon fall under communist rule; that this would result in a loss of essential trade with these countries for others; that with no non-communist nations left to trade with, Japan would be pressured towards communism and that this, in turn, would threaten Australia and New Zealand. Your ultimate fear, if I may presume, is that this will in turn threaten the United States. Is this a possibility? Sure. Where I take issue is with your comparison to dominos. These complex real-world events are not, in fact, like dominoes, where when the first one falls, it becomes a certainty that the last will fall. For any one of these events, a number of possible outcomes could result, each affecting the other events in different ways. The possibilities are not a chain, they’re a web.
It’s 1975, and after 20 years of conflict, and several million lives lost, North Vietnamese forces have taken control of the capital of South Vietnam. The war is over, and all of Vietnam is under communist control. Communist regimes have come to power in neighboring Laos and Cambodia, where the regime will be responsible for the deaths of an estimated quarter of all Cambodians.
And this is the trouble with slippery slope arguments. They focus exclusively on extreme outcomes, assigning those outcomes a degree of certainty or inevitability that rarely corresponds to reality. They divert attention from other, more likely possibilities, foreclosing discussions that might be more productive. And that’s when they’re made in good faith. Slippery slope arguments can also be intentionally structured to take advantage of people’s fears— whatever your position on an issue, it’s easy to come up with an extreme outcome that suits your aims. Best to avoid them entirely, eh?
PART 2 : COMPREHENSION
- Listen to the video and answer all questions below without reading the transcript /text of the video.
- Then read the transcript of the video and check your answers, before looking at the corrections.
LISTENING & READING COMPREHENSION
Questions: According to the video, are the following statements true or false?Explain Why?
- In 1954 Vietnam is winning the war
- Eisenhower is afraid that Vietnam will become communist
- It is a math problem more than a political problem
- The probaility of it happening is very high
- Eisenhower is right to fear the future
- Things happened as Einsenhower predicted
- Slippery slope can be used to lie
ANSWERS
- True. France is losing
- True.
- True. It is a question of probability
- False. It is very low because there are many steps
- True. It CAN happen.
- False. He is correct for the first part (vietnam becoming and surrounding countries becoming communist) but the rest (it stopped there and most of the countries got out of communism)
- True. They play on the fears of the people
PART 3 : USE OF ENGLISH
USE OF ENGLISH
Look at this sentence from the video:
“Last year, the US resettled fewer refugees than at any time since the program began in 1980”
Why does the speaker use “fewer” instead of “less”?
Less/Fewer
If we want to say that there is a smaller quantity of something than the quantity of something else, we can use less or fewer. We use less with uncountable nouns, such as lemonade. We use fewer with countable nouns, such as bottle.
Compare:
“ John drinks less lemonade than me.”
“ John drank fewer bottles of lemonade than me.”
Exercise: complete the gaps in the sentences with “less” or “fewer”
1.I have …..........hair than Jonathan.
2.There are.............................people here than last Summer
3.You should drink...............................wine.
4.You wouldn't be so fat if you ate........................food.
5.…........................men wear hats now than in the 1950s.
6.I saw................................live music this year.
7. I went to …......................concerts in the 1960s.
CORRECTIONS
Exercise.
- Less
- Fewer
- Less
- Less
- Fewer
- Less
- Fewer
TRADUCTION
Traduire les phrases suivantes en anglais, issues du texte, puis retrouver ces phrases dans le texte en anglais:
1.
2.
PART 4 : GRAMMAR
LESSON
Conditional : would
We use would conditional to talk about unreal situation
If I was / were stronger, I would help you carry the piano.
here : Iam not strong so I don't help carry the piano
If + past simple (condition)
would +inf (result)
EXERCISES
1. If the weather _____ (to be) nice, they would play football.
2. If we went to a good restaurant, we _______ (to have) a better dinner.
3. If John _______ (to learn) more words, he would write a better test.
4. If the boys took the bus to school, they ________ (to arrive) on time.
5. If they waited for another 10 minutes, they _________(to see) the pop star.
6. Your salad would taste better, if you ___________ (to buy) fresh green vegetables.
7. If Alex _________ (to ask) me, I would email the documents.
8. Peggy _________ (to understand) him, if he spoke more slowly.
9. If he _____________ (try) harder, he would reach his goals.
10. I ___________ (go) to school by bus if I hadn't a driving licence and a car.
CORRECTIONS
- was
- would have
- learned
- would arrive
- would see
- bought
- asked
- would understand
- tried
- would go
PART 5 : WRITING
VOCABULARY
claims (v) to present something as a fact . the noun is claim
kick off (v) starts, causes, is the beginning of (from football kick the ball to the game)
likelyhood (n) chances of that happening
plummet (v) goes down a lot
threaten (v) put smoething in danger
WRITING
Peseshet is a doctor and a teacher. The video describes a typical day of her life.
Now it is you turn. Write a text :
- Present yourself.
- Describe your profession.
- Tell what you did to get this job.
- Describe a typical day of your life : what usually happens when you are at work?
CORRECTION
You can book a one to one class with a teacher who will correct your writing exercise. One to one classes can be online, with a video call, anytime of the day.
This gives you full flexibility for your timetable.
Please send us an email at afterschool at afterschoollyon.com.
PART 6 : SPEAKING
SPEAKING
You can book a one to one class with a teacher for the speaking. One to one classes can be online, with a video call, anytime of the day.
This gives you full flexibility for your timetable.
Please send us an email at afterschool at afterschoollyon.com.
Our online classes range from A1 to C2 levels, including specific class contents and online video classes. They are designed to improve communication of spoken and written English with learner-centred lessons which help build students’ confidence, accuracy and fluency.
Our online learning classes offer an extensive level of flexibility for individual students, with comprehensive syllabus and content.
