Unit 1

Autism in u.S. Children on the rise

BEFORE LISTENING

1. Practice the pronunciation of the following words taken from the text which you are going to listen.

Autism, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to estimate, to suffer from the developmental disorder, likely, researchers, to compare, statistics, report figure, lead author, one possible reason, increase, to be due to smth, detection, particularly, among children, attention, explanation, rise, true, risk, to be ruled out, cause, concern, disease, impact, social interaction, scientists, medical conditions, extremely, to diagnose, careful, analysis, behavior, varying results, autism specialist, to explore, genetics, environment, to interact, to be worried.

2. Give Russian equivalents to the following English words and word combinations.

Autism among children, to rise, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to estimate, to suffer from the developmental disorder, researchers, to compare the statistics of a 2002 report into autism with figures for 2006, to give one possible reason for the increase, to be due to better detection, to have no simple explanation for the rise, a true increase in risk, to be ruled out, to be the cause of great concern, disease, to hold back learning, to have a negative impact on a child’s social interaction, scientists, to compare with other medical conditions, to diagnose, a careful analysis of a child’s behavior, to produce varying results, autism specialist, point, to better explore both the role of genetics and environment, to interact with each other.

WHILE LISTENING

3. Listen to the text “Autism in U.S. children on the rise” twice. First time make notes about the numbers, geographical, proper or personal names which you might hear. When you are listening to the text for the second time, try to catch the events and the order in which they are spoken about.

4. Agree or disagree to the following statements.

1. The rate of autism among kids in the US is increasing.

2. A report said there were 110 new cases of autism this year.

3. There is a greater chance for girls to be autistic than boys.

4. A researcher said a simple fact explained the increase in autism.

5. Autism can have a negative impact on a child’s learning.

6. There are several tests that make autism very easy to diagnose.

7. An autism expert said we needed to better understand genetics.

8. The expert was worried there was no explanation for the rise in autism.

5. Fill in the gaps using the following words.

Attention, estimates, possible, ruled, among, due, likely, figures, explore, analysis, cause, large, impact, produce, interact, other.

Autism in u.S. Children on the rise

Autism ____________ children in the USA is rising. This is according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It ____________ that 1 in 110 children in the United States suffers from the developmental disorder. It also says boys are four times more ____________ to suffer from autism than girls. Researchers compared the statistics of a 2002 report into autism with ____________ for 2006. Lead author of the report Dr Catherine Rice gave one ____________ reason for the increase. She said: “Some of the increases are ____________ to better detection, particularly among children who may not have come to our ____________ in the past.” She had no simple explanation for the rise and added that “a true increase in risk cannot be ____________ out”.

Autism has been the ____________ of great concern for many years now. The disease can hold back learning and have a negative ____________ on a child’s social interaction. Scientists understand very little about it compared with ____________ medical conditions. It is extremely difficult to diagnose because it means a careful ____________ of a child’s behaviour. Different tests on the same child can ____________ varying results. Autism specialist Geraldine Dawson said more money was needed to better understand autism. She explained: “The point is that we need to better ____________ both the role of genetics and environment, and how they may ____________ with each other.” She was worried that no one had answers for the ____________ increase in autism.

AFTER LISTENING

6. Answer the following questions.

1. What did you think when you read the headline?

2. What springs to mind when you hear the word ‘autism’?

3. What do you know about autism?

4. How great a difficulty do you think autism is?

5. How do you think governments can do more to educate people about things like autism?

6. Why don’t governments spend more money on autism research?

7. Why do you think boys are four times more likely to be autistic than girls?

8. Why do you think scientists cannot find answers to why autism is rising?

9. How do you think parents of autistic children can encourage social interaction?

10. How rewarding or difficult do you think it is to work with autistic kids?

11. Would you like to be a researcher and try to find a cure for autism?

12. Would you be good at helping children with learning and developmental problems?

13. Did you have any problems when you were a child?

14. What things did you learn from this article?

15. What would you like to know about autism?

16. What questions would you like to ask Geraldine Dawson?

7. Match the following synonyms from the text.

to estimate likely figures detection to rule out concern negative varying to explore 10)to interact

statistics to relate to ignore worry differing to guess to investigate probably harmful discovery

8. Match the following phrases from the text (sometimes more than one combination is possible).

Autism among 1 boys are four times more come to our a true increase in risk cannot be the cause of great hold back extremely difficult to produce varying how they may interact

attention diagnose results in 110 children learning ruled out children in the USA with each other likely to suffer concern

9. Write down different words you associate with learning. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

10. In pairs or groups discuss how children with autism can be helped. Rate these and share your ratings with your partner.

more money for research an autism awareness month lessons about autism in schools drugs

TV shows about famous autistic people special schools for kids with autism more websites about autism

11. Roleplay the dialogue between an autism specialist and a journalist, as a journalist try to find out more information about autism and how to prevent it and help children with this disease.

12. Search the Internet and find more information about autism. Talk about what you discover with your groupmates. If possible, try to make a presentation, because it will help you to present information in a way which contributes to better understanding and figures or different graphics which help to understand your report better. After presentations choose the best one.

13. Write a magazine article about autism. Include imaginary interviews with experts who want to make more people aware of it. Read what you wrote to your groupmates. Which article was best and why?

14. Write a letter to the expert on autism. Ask him/her three questions about the condition. Give him/her three suggestions on how to increase the amount of money spent on autism research. Read your letter to your groupmates. Your groupmates will answer your questions.

Unit 2

Children cost $50 a day

BEFORE LISTENING