Ending Sounds

LISTEN & SPEAK

Overview:

This is a listening & speaking assignment

Instructions for how to record yourself in Canvas can be found here.  Look on page one, "Read & Speak".  This is just one way to record yourself.  You can choose a different way if you'd like, such as a media file upload. 

Directions:

Watch the video, read along and practice the ending sounds. Try to copy the teacher's mouth and sounds. Then record yourself reading one of the paragraphs (your choice). When you read, say the endings of the underlined words very clearly.

First, humans are conscious beings. When we look in the mirror, for example, we know we are seeing our own image. What about other animals? If you show a chimp his own reflection in a mirror, one might assume that he thinks he’s looking at another chimp. But is it true that he just doesn’t get it, or would the chimp understand that he’s looking at himself? Apparently he would. When some apes look into the mirror for the first time, their reaction is spontaneous: They examine their teeth. In some studies, researchers put paint on the faces of sleeping chimps. After waking, the chimps used a mirror to get the paint off. This shows awareness, or knowledge, of self. Dolphins and elephants have also demonstrated self-awareness: They look into mirrors to examine themselves after researchers place marks or objects on their heads.

Second, we’ve learned some intriguing things about the ability of animals to communicate, both with each other and with humans. Of course, most animals aren’t able to vocalize; that is, put voice to words. However, a growing number of animals raised in captivity have learned to communicate with humans through computers or gestures, sometimes learning thousands of words. While we could claim that this is just rote memorization and not true communication, studies have shown that certain apes can ask and answer questions they have never heard before and even create new “words.” For example, a gorilla named Koko saw a picture of a mask for the first time and called it an “eye hat.”

Finally, consider emotions. Are humans alone in feeling love, sadness, empathy, compassion? Consider the research gorilla who showed distress and stopped eating when her pet kitten died, or recall that elephant’s display grief when family members die. Like humans, can animals be socialized to help one another? And do animals lie and use deception to trick others? Do animals guess what others are thinking and then take advantage of that knowledge? At this point you can safely predict yes. Case in point: An elephant secretly learned how to open his cage at a zoo. After the humans had left for the night, the elephants opened all the other elephant cages, releasing his friends for midnight walks.