Activity 2

Listening Comprehension and Gap Fill

b. Read the excerpt below quite quickly before you listen to Part 2 (03:54 – 05:21).
Note down the missing words as you hear them for each gap.
When I .consider................... my own identity I start off with father, ............... , son,
brother. ................. what I see in myself. But I don’t think anybody looking at me
would start there. They would start up with ..............., male and …............ their way
through it that way.
To what extent do other people’s perception.................... of us change us?
“It seems .............. that our sense of self isn’t something that comes entirely from
within. And of course, we’re ............... by the way other people see us. And that’s one
of the .................. things in creating our sense of identity. I think it’s a kind of two-
way .................. that’s ongoing. And our sense of who we are is always
a .................... in part to how other people see us. And so there’s this ................ to and
fro between as it were the gaze of the other and our ….......... of our self which goes
to form our identity.”
Dr Aiden Gregg, Associate Professor within Psychology at the University of
Southampton:
“One of the problems that you have with many ............... such as identity is that they
have a ...................... of meanings and it’s difficult to ............... them .............. . If you
…............... different people, you’d get different ....................... as to what identity is.
The self concept is simply the ................... of beliefs people have about themselves.
And that …............ form everything from the belief that you have ten ........ to the
belief that are ..................... . Some of the beliefs you have about yourself matter a lot
to you and some don’t matter so much.
c. Listen to Chibundu Onuzo talking to Mike Williams in Part 3 (05:40 – 09:17).
While you listen, make notes in one of the ways you have learnt during your
Academic English classes. The questions below can come in handy.
1) What does Chibundu Onuzo do? (What is she? Who is she?)
2) How did her identity change when she moved to England?
3) How does Mike Williams define Chibundu Onuzo's identity?
4) Do you remember how the words existential and embrace are used in the clip?
d. Listen to Part 4 (09:17 – 13:06), then share your reaction around the class pointing
out statements you find interesting or disputable. Answer the questions below.
1) In what way does Sarah Jones demonstrate her numerous identities?
2) What things have been important to shaping her identity?
e. Read through the excerpt below. Match the words in bold with the definitions (1-
6).
1) essential/crucial
2) incomprehensible/puzzling
3) criticism
4) to come to accept/to live with
5) aspect/feature
6) motivation
There can be many pieces to the puzzle that is our identity. And we can hold different
identities too, even identities which conflict with each other.
“Human beings are remarkably good at holding completely contradictory ideas in
their heads at the same time if they have a strong enough incentive to do so. ...To
give perhaps a very common example. There are people who are convinced Roman
Catholics who are also homosexual and who believe both aspects of their identity are
vital to them. Now from the outside it seems remarkable that they can hold those two
things together given that their religion is so very clear in its condemnation of
homosexuality. And yet people find ways to accommodate these differences. So I
think the point about logical contradictions is that you know philosophers may find
them completely bizarre and unfathomable and intolerable but human beings are
pretty good at being able to live with contradictions unless they’re really, really
forced to confront the conflicts between them.”
Good news – we can be messy and contradictory and we can choose when to display
these facets of us, when to show one face, when to show another.

f. Listen to Part 5 (14:22 – 15:59). The questions below help you make the most of
the ideas expressed in this part.
1) What is the central message professor Aiden Gregg tries to get across?
2) What does Chibundu Onuzu think of her identity? What does she find slightly
unsettling when she comes back home?
3) According to Chibundu, what factors can have a big impact on people's perception
of selves?
g. Skim the text before you listen to Part 6 (16:00 – 17:34). While you listen, fill in
the missing words/phrases.
The ….................. of identity is something that does change
over ................................. .
In Western cultures, at least for .................................. years, people have had the task
of ................................... their own identities.
............................, people’s station in life was relatively fixed and ..............................
they couldn't readily …................. different identities on the basis of
the ...............................roles they ................................... .
But since the .............................. and the ............................. .......................... societies
(have) become more ............................ . People can ............................................... at
work. At the same time many of the old ways ................................. to define their
identity ......................................, for example on the basis
of ............................................... have somewhat .................. into abeyance.
So the task for a modern man and woman is to ................................ their identity
from the ................................. find …..................... .
Our identities are immensely .................................................... . By them
we ........................................................ , through them we ...................................... . I
find it ............................................................... existing without a sense of myself. But
that’s .................................... . You? You may be ....................................... .
When we think about our identity as ….........................., it’s the wrong word really.
That’s not really what we mean.
Our identity as individuals can be more ................., it can change. It
doesn’t ................................... that we’re literally ........................... from moment to
moment. So really I think the identity of a person is, if you like, something which
brings the …............. life and sense of self together but in ...................... and changing
way.

Post Listening
Task 1.
Look at the words/phrases/phrasal verbs below. Do they look familiar? Can you
explain their meanings? Do you remember how they are used in the programme?
Some of these words are used in a different form. If necessary, look them up in the
dictionary. Check how they are used in the sentences from the program. You may
want to make up your sentences with this vocabulary.

to bump into
to embrace
to encompass
to pin sth down
to condemn
facility
identical
facet
alienating/alienated
shape-shifting
to shut sth down
train of thought
bizarre
to fathom (unfathomable)
to fall into abeyance