Unit 13

UNIT 13 WORD LIST aspect An aspect is one part or feature of something. I thought about the different aspects of owning two dogs. asset An asset is a skill or quality that is useful or valuable. The coach realized the boy's speed was an asset to the team. assignment An assignment is task that is given to you to do. He was given a difficult assignment but he felt he could succeed in doing it. awareness An awareness is knowledge or perception of a situation or fact. She has little awareness of what needs to be done. bud A bud is a part of a plant that turns into a flower or a leaf. Two weeks after planting the seed, a small bud appeared. coordinate To coordinate things is to make different parts work together. Each skating team had to coordinate their movements for the show. credit Credit is something good in your favour. His bank account is in credit, so he has money he can spend. disprove To disprove something means to show that it is not true. The scientist disproved the theory that the sun moved around the Earth. humanitarian If something is humanitarian, it is connected to helping people's lives. After the flood, several humanitarian organizations offered help. hypothesis A hypothesis is an idea about something that has not been proved yet. The teacher did an experiment to prove whether his hypothesis was right.

informative When something is informative, it provides a lot of information. The travel guide had a lot of informative facts about the region. optic When something is optic, it relates to the eyes or light. Her blindness was caused by a problem with her optic nerve. premise A premise is an idea on which something is based. The premise of the movie that Bobbi and I watched was unrealistic. rack A rack is an object with shelves that holds things. He stored his tools on a rack. Renaissance The Renaissance was a period between the 14th and 17th centuries. Leonardo da Vinci was a popular artist of the Renaissance. spatial When something is spatial, it relates to the position and size of things. He was asked where the books were located to test his spatial awareness. specify To specify is to describe something clearly. The poster didn't specify where the concert was taking place. tie If you tie two things together, you fasten them with rope, string, etc. The dog is used to being tied up. undertake To undertake a particular task is to take on the responsibility of doing it. We undertook to make sure everybody was well informed of current progress. wax Wax is a substance that is slightly shiny and melts when heated. The candles are made of wax.

A Day Without Sight On Friday afternoon, Sam's teacher had a special assignment. "Next week, we'll be studying humanitarian efforts around the world since the time of the Renaissance, including those to help the blind," she said. "Over the weekend, I want each of you to undertake the difficult task of wearing a blindfold for an entire day. The premise of this experiment is that it will help you understand what it's like to be blind," she said. Sam was a skeptic. He really didn't think the assignment would be too challenging. On Saturday morning. Sam took a piece of cloth and tied it around his head to cover his eyes. Then he went into the kitchen for breakfast. He heard the voices of his parents and brothers, but couldn't specify where each voice was coming from. He thought about how important hearing is for blind people. "Could you pass me the newspaper, please?" he asked. Just then, he remembered he couldn't see the words on the page. He wondered if newspapers were ever made for the blind. After finishing breakfast, his brothers asked him to play soccer. As he followed them, he accidentally walked into the bike rack. He also found that he couldn't play soccer. He wouldn't be able to coordinate his actions without being able to see. Without his optic senses, he had no spatial awareness. Furthermore he couldn't easily do normal activities because he had to make sure he was safe first. He sat on the lawn. Suddenly, he realized that, although he couldn't see, his other senses worked perfectly fine. In fact, he began to realize new and different aspects of common objects. For example, he took a flower bud and felt it with his finger. He realized for the first time that it seemed to be covered with wax. His hypothesis about being blind was disproved. The informative experiment had an strong effect on him. It showed him sight was an asset that should be appreciated and taught him to appreciate and give credit to the talents of blind people.