A Curious Science

The Warehouse MadridAdvanced Course

A

• Ordinary people and their lives• Study of dishonest or anti-social behavior• One group more likely to push boundaries– Women van drivers

• Secretly monitored a supermarket’s “ten items or fewer”

• Some cunningly placed their items in groups of ten and paid for each group separately

• More women than men break the speed limit

B• Most people unaware of the reasons for behaving as they

do• Mind Exercise– Imagine the mindset of a typical university professor– Imagine the mindset of a typical football hooligan

• The group that thought of the professor got 14% more answers correct

• Body Exercise– Old, wrinkled, grey– Words unrelated to old age– Recorded the time it took them to walk down the long hallway

C

• Two cows in a field• Moo• I was going to say that• Different animals different noises• Some words funnier than others• K sound or hard “c”• Funny• Facial phenomenon

A big difference

USING THAN• A great deal more than• Considerably better than• Far smaller than

USING AS• Nowhere near as scary as• Twice as hard as• Not nearly as big as

A small difference

USING THAN• Slightly more willing than • Slightly bigger than• Slightly less comfortable

than

USING AS• Almost as difficult as• Nearly as beautiful as• Not quite as clever as

No difference

USING THAN• No longer than• Not any more expensive

than

USING AS• Just as helpful as

#4

1. Teenagers are way more selfish than elderly people.2. Eating at home is loads less fun than eating in a

restaurant.3. Going to work is way more tiring than going to

school.4. Being married is a tiny bit better for your self than

being single.5. Having a bath is miles more relaxing than having a

shower.

crawl

A hedge

Chicken wire

glamorously

patrol

A stuffed toy

A pebble

Wind up

#5 CFriend Martina2 rabbitsHabit of taking them everywhereAfternoon at friend’s housePeople looking for rabbitsChicken wire over bookcasesFirst time I met hereLong coat high heels and popping out of sweater were the two rabbits

Guy on the trainStarts at one endPatrols all the way upTo the front of the trainUntil he finds the perfect seatI guess that’s what he’s looking forDoes the same thing every dayTrying to find best seat

#5CCouple Get on at King’s LynnAll the way to Liverpool StreetExtraordinary eyebrows painted onToy animalsGet them out, line them upThe toys could look out of the window

DaughterCollects pebblesHoles in pocketsHelp her with her coatIt’s so heavyCollects them with her friendsWeek, on different color socks every morning

#5C1. Martina had to protect her books from the rabbits.2. When the speaker first met Martina, the rabbits came out

of her sweater.3. Natalie talked about the man who always gets on at the

back end of the train.4. He always walks up and down looking for the perfect seat.5. The couple on the train used to line up their toy animals at

the window. The other passengers always ignored them.6. Keith thinks his little girls collects pebbles so that she and

her friends can compare them.7. She prefers to wear odd socks.

Different Meanings, Same Word

• Train (noun) a medium of transport• Train (verb) to learn a skill

• I commute on the train to work every day. • She wants to train to be a psychologist.

Different Meanings, Same Word

• Fine (adj)• Fine (adj)

• The weather’s fine today.• I’m feeling fine now.

Different Meanings, Same Word

• Odd (peculiar)• Odd (not matching)

• She wanted to put on odd socks every day.• It was odd that he didn’t phone.• He’s an odd character.

Different Meanings, Same Word

• sweet (pleasant)• sweet (sugary)

• My niece, Olivia is so sweet. She always tells me she loves me on the phone.

• That watermelon was too sweet for my taste.

Different Meanings, Same Word

• Top (highest point or part in distance or quality)

• Top (most successful)

• He’s the top salesman in his company. His name is Dwight Schrute.

• The tops of the trees are hard to see from down here.

#7

1. We had heavy snow here at the weekend.2. I find flat shoes much more comfortable than

heels.3. I’d prefer a plain carpet to a patterned one.4. Where are you going for your summer break?5. She has been made branch manager of a big

insurance company.6. The kitten was so sweet that we had to buy it.

Unusual habits

• Food• Routines• Superstitions• Clothing• Pets• travelling

• My best friend…• My sister…• My coworker…• A friend of mine…• My mother…• I…• My partner…