by Andy Puddicombe

a former Buddhist monk with a degree in Circus Arts.  He is the founder of Headspace, an award-winning digital health platform that provides guided meditation sessions for its users.  As both author and public speaker, Puddicombe is known for his simple, accessible and secular approach, which has led to over 1 million users of the Headspace platform.

First preview the vocabulary below.  Then do the exercise by first reading a single question and then listening for the answer.  When you hear the answer, pause the video and answer the question.  Then read the next question and do the same thing.  If you get the answer wrong, then go back to where the answer is given and listen again.

Vocabulary:

frantic:  too busy
reminiscing:  remembering
precious:  of high value
distracted:  having your attention go to something else
assumes:  thinks he has the right answer without all the evidence
meditation:  a practice of letting your mind be calm
whole deal:  everything
succession:  things happening one after the other
inundated:  flooded, having too many or too much
monk:  a person who devotes his life to understanding God
tragic:  resulting in something very bad
technique:  a way of doing something
impacts:  affects, changes
anxious:  worried
wobbly:  moving a little back and forth
restless:   not being able to relax
agitated:  disturbed, made uncomfortable
perspective:  the way you look at something
potential:  possibility

© 2014 Ambien Malecot

by Marco Tempest
a magician and performance artist from Zurich, Switzerland who combines video, computer graphics and other technology with his magic. He has a television series called “The Virtual Magician,” which has aired in some 49 markets worldwide.

First preview the vocabulary below.  Then do the exercise by first reading a single question and then listening for the answer.  When you hear the answer, pause the video and answer the question.  Then read the next question and do the same thing.  If you get the answer wrong, then go back to where the answer is given and listen again.

Vocabulary:

Victorian:  the period of British history from 1837 to 1901, the reign of Queen Victoria
illusionist:  a person who does what looks like magic
automaton:  robot
indistinguishable (from):  looking the same (as)
anticipate:  predict what’s going to happen
unpredictable:  surprising, unexpected
irrational:  not logical, not a result of good thinking
proximity:  nearness
abracadabra:  (a magical word)
pioneer:  one of the first people to do something
artificial intelligence:  a smart machine
code:  a set of rules that you must follow

© 2014 Ambien Malecot

by Louis Schwartzberg

an American director, producer, and cinematographer who is a pioneer in time-lapse cinematography. He has been filming time-lapse film non-stop for over three decades. He focuses on connections between humans and the subtleties of nature and environment.

First, preview the vocabulary below.  Then click the exercise below, read a question and then listen for the answer.  When you hear the answer, pause the video and answer the question.  Then read the next question and do the same thing.  If you get the answer wrong, then go back to where the answer is given and listen again.

Vocabulary:

intersection:  where things come together
curiosity:  wanting to know something
explore:  find out things we don’t know
portals:  entrances
the invisible:  things you can’t see
expands our horizons:  teaches us things we don’t know
transforms our perception:  makes us look at things differently
time lapse:  taking pictures over time so you can see movement
organisms:  living things
in motion:  moving
data:  information
imitate:  do the same thing
robotic:  machine
magnify:  make bigger
species:  kinds of animals
elastic:  able to stretch
patrol:  move around and look for problems
transform:  make totally different
© 2014 Ambien Malecot

by Henry Lin

a freshman (Sept. 2013) at Harvard University.  At the age of 17 he won an Intel Foundation Young Scientist Award for his mathematical models of distant galaxy clusters.

First preview the vocabulary below.  Then do the exercise by first reading a single question and then listening for the answer.  When you hear the answer, pause the video and answer the question.  Then read the next question and do the same thing.  If you get the answer wrong, then go back to where the answer is given and listen again.

Vocabulary:

clusters:  collections, groups
mutual:  shared
mysterious:  unknown, with secrets
massive:  very, very large
laboratories:  places where discoveries happen
mass:  weight, largeness
isolated:  all alone with no neighbors
systems:  collections of stars
scaled down:  smaller
emitting:  causing, producing
accelerating:  causing something to go faster and faster
rough draft:  a beginning of understanding
properties:  qualities
probing:  examining
matter: stuff
atoms: very small particles
collide:  hit each other
compounded:  made larger
affect:  change
structure:  shape
ingenuity:  creativity
© 2014 Ambien Malecot

by Michael Pollan (illustrations by Kerry Hyndman)

an American author, journalist, activist, and professor of journalism at the University of California Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.

First, preview the vocabulary below.  Then click the exercise below, read a question and then listen for the answer.  When you hear the answer, pause the video and answer the question.  Then read the next question and do the same thing.  If you get the answer wrong, then go back to where the answer is given and listen again.

Vocabulary:

nutrition:  the process of taking in food
nutrients:  food
consuming:  eating
calorie:  a unit of energy in food
diet:  the food you eat
corporation:  big business
vast amounts:  a lot
ingredients:  things you mix with other things
addictive:  forcing you into a habit
press our buttons:  make us feel good (idiom)
cravings:  food that we feel we must eat often
food industry:  all the companies that sell food
labor intensive:  requiring lots of work
spatter: hit with tiny drops of grease
it’s a pain:  it’s hard to do (idiom)
special occasion:  birthdays, anniversaries, graduations
© 2014 Ambien Malecot

by Ryan Holladay

an American artist and, with his brother Hays, co- founder of Bluebrain, a music and technology duo who create site-specific sound.

First preview the vocabulary below.  Then do the exercise by first reading a single question and then listening for the answer.  When you hear the answer, pause the video and answer the question.  Then read the next question and do the same thing.  If you get the answer wrong, then go back to where the answer is given and listen again.

Vocabulary:

familiar:  like you’ve seen it before
convey:  show you
specifically:  only
intersect:  come together
composition:  piece of music
gallery:  a store that displays art
dialog:  close relationship
exclusively:  only
mobile app:  a computer program for your smart phone
GPS:  technology that locates your position on earth
traverses:  crosses
landscape:  park
seemlessly:  smoothly
trajectory:  walking direction
perimeter:  border, boundary
intrinsic:  a necessary part of
currently:  these present days, now
bells and whistles:  fancy technology

© 2014 Ambien Malecot

by Maya Penn

a young American entrepreneur whose company “Maya’s Ideas” creates eco-friendly clothing and accessories.  She is also a philanthropist, environmental activist, artist and animator.

First preview the vocabulary below.  Then do the exercise by first reading a single question and then listening for the answer.  When you hear the answer, pause the video and answer the question.  Then read the next question and do the same thing.  If you get the answer wrong, then go back to where the answer is given and listen again.

Vocabulary:

animator:  a person who creates a movie with drawings
defining moment:  a time when you decide what you want to do in the future
virus:  a tiny computer program that messes up your computer
creatures:  animals and insects
spark:  to get (something) started quickly
movement:  action that is taken by a lot of people at the same time
eco-friendly:  not harming the environment
branding:  getting your company brand known
marketing:  selling your product to your customers
negative impact:  hurting the environment
toxic:  poisonous, harmful
inhales:  breathes in
sustainable future:  a future that is in balance and can continue forever
compromising: going against
diverse:  with lots of differences

© 2014 Ambien Malecot

by Apollo Robbins.

an American sleight-of-hand artist, security consultant and deception specialist.  He is considered the best in the world at what he does.  In his Las Vegas shows he takes things from people’s jackets, pants, purses, wrists, fingers and necks and then returns them at the end.  People don’t notice what he does.

First preview the vocabulary below.  Then do the exercise by first reading a single question and then listening for the answer.  When you hear the answer, pause the video and answer the question.  Then read the next question and do the same thing.  If you get the answer wrong, then go back to where the answer is given and listen again.

Vocabulary:

pickpocket:  a person who takes things from other people’s pockets.
attention:  when your eyes and mind are on the same thing.
predicting:  saying what something will be in the future.
misdirection:  looking at the wrong thing.
icon:  little picture that identifies a computer program (app).
perceptions:  things that you see or hear and understand
process:  think about
data:  information

© 2014 Ambien Malecot

by Suzana Herculano-Houzel

Associate Professor at the Federal University of Rio De Janeiro.  She is the author of six books on  the neuroscience of everyday life.  Suzana also appears on TV as the host of Neurologica.

First preview the vocabulary below.  Then do the exercise by first reading a single question and then listening for the answer.  When you hear the answer, pause the video and answer the question.  Then read the next question and do the same thing.  If you get the answer wrong, then go back to where the answer is given and listen again.

Vocabulary:

mammalian:  of mammals, the kind of animal that includes dogs, horses and humans
neurons:  brain cells
proportional:  equal
cognitive ability:  brain power
cerebral cortex:  the front part of the brain
complex:  complicated, not simple
vexing:  annoying
calories:  units of food energy
evolution:  the slow changing of an animal species
more modest:  smaller
literature:  written things about a topic
dissolving:  disappearing in tiny pieces in water
nuclei:  the center parts of cells [singular = nucleus]
agitate:  shake
homogeneous:  being the same throughout the mixture
rodents:  animals such as rats or mice
primates:  animals such as monkeys, apes and humans
calculate:  find the answer using math
generic: typical
function of:  result of
raw:  uncooked
limitation:  anything that limits something else
feeding:  eating
feasible:  practical or possible
liability:  negative thing
asset:  positive thing
© 2014 Ambien Malecot

by Arthur Benjamin

professor of math at Harvey Mudd College and entertainer using the title “Mathemagician,”  where he performs mental calculations, memorizations and other math magic.

First preview the vocabulary below.  Then do the exercise by first reading a single question and then listening for the answer.  When you hear the answer, pause the video and answer the question.  Then read the next question and do the same thing.  If you get the answer wrong, then go back to where the answer is given and listen again.

Vocabulary:

essentially:  basically
calculation:  adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing
application:  making use of math in the real world
inspiration:  getting surprising answers
patterns:  numbers that repeat
motivated:  making students want to learn
and so on:  and it continues
square:  multiply a number by the same number
consecutive:  one followed by the next
rectangle:  a long square
sum:  the result of adding things together
generate:  make
ratio:  the relationship between 2 numbers

More info on Leonardo Fibonacci:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fibonacci

Arthur Benjamin’s website:  https://www.math.hmc.edu/~benjamin/

© 2014 Ambien Malecot