Unit 1

The world of our senses

1. With what do we see and hear?

2. How do we know whether a dish is

delicious? How do we know that a flower

has a pleasant smell?

3. What do we do when we want to know

whether the water in the basin is hot or

cold?

We do with the sense

see eyes sight

hear

taste

smell

touch/feel

ears hearing

tongue/taste buds taste

nose smell

hands/feet/skin touch

A person who cannot see is _____ and

someone who cannot hear is _____.

blind

deaf

What would happen if you lost one or

two of your senses?

Read the passage on page 1 and

answer.

1. Do you know how blind people can

read?

They can read by touching raised dots

which represent numbers and letters.

This system is called _______.Braille

2. How do the deaf communicate with

each other?

They use body language or sign

language.

However, even if we have good

senses, they can still confuse us.

Look at the following pictures

and try to answer the

questions.

What do you see in the picture?

What can you see in this picture?

Do you see a vase or two faces?

If you look at the white part, you

can see a vase. If you look at the

black part, you can see two faces.

Which is longer?

Actually the two lines are of the same length.

How can you find out whether the two

lines are of the same length?

We can use a ruler to measure the two

lines. Or you can use two pieces of paper

to cover both ends of the two lines.

Are these lines straight?

How can you prove that the two lines

are straight?

You can place a ruler next to the line.

You can also use a ruler to draw more

straight lines which run parallel to the

two lines.

Are these pillars

round or quadrate?

Move or not?

Count the black dots.

Is the woman real or in the jigsaw?

Why are people misled by their own eyes?

Because the background or other lines

confuse the eyes. Also, what we expect to

see can change what we see. Actually it’s

more the brain that is confused than the

eyes.

1. Do you use one of your senses more than the

others? Give an example.

In the dark, the sense of hearing and the sense

of touch become more sensitive because we

can’t see anything. When we listen to our

favourite music, we may close our eyes and

just listen with our ears.

2. Some people cannot remember something

until they have seen it. Other people only

need to hear something once or twice

before they can remember it. Which sense

helps you learn best? How does it help

you?

3. Do you know of any people who have

made great achievements even if you

have lost the ability to use one of their

senses? What did they achieve?

There are quite a few people who have

made great achievements even when

they have lost one of their senses. For

example, Beethoven, the great German

composer.

Fill in the blanks with words

relative to senses.

When he got there, he _______ that

there was a dark hole. He ______ into

it, but could ___ nothing. He

_______with his ears, he could ____

nothing, either.

noticed

looked

see listened

hear

He ________ it for a long time. He

______ something strange. He

__________ the side of the hole. It ___

hot. Suddenly some noises were _____

from the hole. It ________ like someone

was cooking inside.

watched

sensed

felt/touched felt

heard

sounded

What do you see

in this picture?

Tree and birds

or a woman’s

face?

Enjoy the pictures.

What do you

see?

flowers or a

woman’s face?

Which hand is drawing picture?

Find information about some

famous people who are disabled yet

they made great contributions to

the world.