11Th Form Listening Text #2:

from “Experience: a head injury made me a musical prodigy” by Derek Amato, The Guardian, 2012

It was fairly typical of me to imagine I could dive into the shallow end of a swimming pool and emerge unscathed – at 39, I still had a pretty devil-may-care attitude to life. I'd imagined rolling as I hit the water, barely breaking the surface. But as my head hit the tiles, I knew I'd miscalculated badly, and that the injury was serious. I shot up out of the water like a rocket, hands over my ears, convinced they were bleeding. My friends ran over to drag me out, but I was unable to stand, and although I could see they were talking to me, I couldn't hear a word.

I'd been having a pool party while visiting my mother, and once out of the emergency room, I stayed with her for the next few days. I was diagnosed with serious concussion, and was told my 35% hearing loss would remain, and gradually worsen over time, as would my memory. My eyes were black and my whole body ached like I'd been beaten up. My vision seemed blurry, too. I could see blobs moving in my peripheral vision, and had a strange sense of agitation. My fingers wouldn't stop moving and even when I concentrated I found it difficult to stop them. But by the fifth day, I felt well enough to leave my mother's and started packing to go home.

In the early evening, I went over to my friend Rick's house to say goodbye. Rick is a musician and lives in an apartment full of instruments. We were just sitting around, talking, when I felt an intense, utterly compelling need to touch his piano. I just moved over and started playing – there was no transition, it was all at once, like I'd been doing it all my life.

I'd played guitar in a couple of little rock bands when I was young but I'd never progressed beyond that on any instrument. Yet here I was, producing a fluid melody I'd never heard before. Rick stared, open-mouthed. "Derek," he said, "What's going on?" I had no answer. I just wanted to keep playing.

The "blobs" had resolved into moving black and white blocks in my mind, that seemed to flow from left to right in a wave pattern. My fingers simply followed the movement of the squares. I realised the music had been writing itself in my unconscious ever since the accident – now, at last, I was simply letting it out into the world. The sense of release was incredible, and I kept playing for hours.

Six years on, the moving shapes are still going, and I can hear the music in my head 24 hours a day. I've been analysed by neurologists, and my condition has been diagnosed as acquired savant syndrome. There are others like me who, following a head injury, develop a striking ability never before hinted at – but I'm the world's only documented acquired musical savant. I'm told the shapes I see are a form of synaesthesia – a union of the senses that allows me to literally "see" the music I'm composing.

acquired savant syndrome: Синдром приобретенного ученого

savant: ученый

True/False

1. It was typical for the author to imagine he could do dangerous things without getting hurt.

2. The author hit his head and was seriously injured because of how he badly miscalculated.

3. The accident occurred during a pool party.

4. After he was helped by his friends, the author could not see anything.

5. The author states that could not stop moving his legs after the injury.

6. Before the accident, the author played the drums in a couple of little rock bands.

7. The author had never progressed on any instruments before the injury.

8. The author has been hearing music in his head for six years.

9. There are many documented acquired musical savants.

10. The author is able to “see” the music he is composing.

Multiple Choice

11. At the beginning of the story, the author is how old?

1. 29

2. 39

3. 49

4. 59

12. The author is injured after:

1. being beaten up

2. slipping in a bathtub

3. diving into a swimming pool

4. diving into a river

13. With whom did the author stay once he left the emergency room?

1. His girlfriend

2. His friend Rick

3. His children

4. His mother

14. The author was told that what would happen to his hearing loss?

1. It would get better over time.

2. It would get worse over time.

3. It would stay the same over time.

4. No one knew what would happen.

15. Which is NOT caused by author’s injury?

1. his eyes were black

2. his vision seemed blurry

3. his legs would not stop moving

4. body aches

16. The author’s friend, Rick, is a

1. musician

2. doctor

3. engineer

4. scientist

17. What instrument does the author begin to play after the accident?

1. guitar

2. piano

3. drums

4. accordion

18. How does the author describe the way he began to play his friend’s instrument?

1. It was like he had been playing all his life.

2. He played with difficulty, but he enjoyed it.

3. He did not want to, so it was boring.

4. He played badly, so he only played for a few minutes.

19. When the author begins to play music, he experiences a sense of:

1. exhaustion

2. pain

3. release

4. agitation

20. According to the author, there are other people who have had head injuries and who:

1. are in pain for many years after.

2. developed great musical skills.

3. cannot stop moving their fingers.

4. developed an ability they did not have before.

Listening Texts Answer Document:

Listening Text #1: from “Don't Fear That Expired Food” by Dan Charles, NPR, 2012

True/False:

1. False

2. True

3. False

4. False

5. True

6. True

7. False

8. False

9. True

10. False

Multiple Choice:

11. D

12. A

13. B

14. A

15. C

16. D

17. B

18. C

19. C

20. D

Listening Text #2: from “Experience: a head injury made me a musical prodigy” by Derek Amato, The Guardian, 2012

True/False:

1. True

2. True

3. True

4. False

5. False

6. False

7. True

8. True

9. False

10. True

Multiple Choice:

11. B

12. C

13. D

14. B

15. C

16. A

17. B

18. A

19. C

20. D