Ze Frank: Are you human?

难度级别：★★★

燕山大学 刘立军 宋葳 编写

◆INTRODUCTION

Have you ever wondered: Am I a human being? Ze Frank suggests a series of simple questions that will determine this. Please relax and follow the prompts. Let's begin …

◆BEFORE VIEWING

TASK 1: VOCABULARY PREVIEW

1. prompt n. a word or words said to an actor, to remind them what to say next when they have forgotten （给演员的）提词，提示

2. booger = bogey n. ( also bogy) (both British English) (North Amercian English booger) (informal) a piece of dried mucus from inside your nose （干结的）鼻屎

3. weird adj. very strange or unusual and difficult to explain 奇异的；不寻常的；怪诞的 strange 例如：
○a weird dream离奇的梦
○She's a really weird girl. 她真是个古怪的女孩。
○He's got some weird ideas. 他有些怪念头。
○It's really weird seeing yourself on television. 看到自己上了电视感觉怪怪的。
○the weird and wonderful creatures that live beneath the sea奇异美丽的海底生物

4. lowercase v. 用小写字体书写

5. aggression n. a violent attack or threats by one person against another person or by one country against another country 侵犯；挑衅；侵略。例如：
○unprovoked military aggression无端军事侵犯

6. shitty adj. unpleasant; very bad 令人厌恶的；非常糟糕的

7. smash up: to destroy sth deliberately （蓄意）捣毁，破坏。例如：
?Youths had broken into the bar and smashed the place up. 一群年轻人闯进酒吧，把里面砸了个乱七八糟。

8. thigh n. the top part of the leg between the knee and the hip 大腿；股

9. nagging adj. continuing for a long time and difficult to cure or remove 纠缠不休的；难以摆脱的。例如：
?a nagging pain/doubt 难以消除的疼痛 / 怀疑

10. fraud n. a person who pretends to have qualities, abilities, etc. that they do not really have in order to cheat other people 骗子；行骗的人。例如：
○He's nothing but a liar and a fraud. 他只不过是个撒谎者和骗子。
○She felt a fraud accepting their sympathy (= because she was not really sad). 她接受他们的同情时感到自己是在骗人。

11. badge n. (British English) a small piece of metal or plastic, with a design or words on it, that a person wears to show that they belong to an organization, support sth., have achieved sth., have a particular rank, etc. 徽章；奖章。例如：
○She wore a badge saying ‘Vote for Coates ’. 她戴着一枚徽章，上面写着“投科茨一票”。
○All employees have to wear name badges. 所有员工均须佩戴名牌。

12. marvel at 惊叹

13. asshole = arsehole n. a stupid or unpleasant person 笨蛋；讨厌鬼。例如：
○What an arsehole! 真蠢得出奇！

14. futile adj. having no purpose because there is no chance of success 徒然的；徒劳的；无效的
pointless 例如：
○a futile attempt/exercise/gesture徒然的尝试 / 练习 / 手势
○Their efforts to revive him were futile. 他们努力使他苏醒，但失败了。
○It would be futile to protest. 抗议也无用。
○My appeal proved futile. 我的呼吁白费了。

15. blissful adj. extremely happy; showing happiness 极乐的；幸福的。例如：
○We spent three blissful weeks away from work. 我们无忧无虑地度了三个星期的假。
○a blissful smile欣喜的笑容
○We preferred to remain in blissful ignorance of (= not to know) what was going on. 我们乐得对正在发生的事情一无所知。

16. remembrance n. the act or process of remembering an event in the past or a person who is dead 纪念；记忆；回忆。例如：
○(formal) He smiled at the remembrance of their first kiss. 他想起了他们的初吻，露出了微笑。
○A service was held in remembrance of local soldiers killed in the war. 为当地阵亡的战士举行了纪念仪式。
○a remembrance service纪念仪式

17. regardless adv. paying no attention, even if the situation is bad or there are difficulties 不顾；不加理会。例如：
○The weather was terrible but we carried on regardless. 天气非常恶劣，但我们并不理会，照常进行。

TASK 2: TOPIC PREVIEW
Work in pairs and discuss the following question.

What does it mean to be a human?


◆VIEWING

TASK 3:
Read the table. Then watch the video and complete the table with the words you hear.

		Answer
Topic	Are you human?
Introduction	This is the ___________________, a test to see if you are a human. Please raise your hand if something applies to you. Are we agreed? Yes? Then let's begin.
Body	eaten a ______________________ long past your childhood?	It's okay, it's safe here.
	made ________________________ when you remembered something embarrassing?
	purposely lowercased the first letter of a text in order to come across as sad or _________________________?	Okay.
	ended a text with a period as a sign of _______________?	Okay. Period.
	laughed or smiled when someone said something shitty to you and then spent ___________________________ wondering why you reacted that way?	Yes.
	seemed to _______________________________ a thousand times as you walked from the check-in to the gate?	Yes.
	put on a pair of pants and then much later realized that there was a loose ________________ smashed up against your thigh?	Good.
	tried to ____________________________________ so many times that it locked their account?	Mmm.
	had a nagging feeling that one day you will be discovered as a ___________________?	Yes, it's safe here.
	hoped that there was some ___________________ you hadn't discovered yet that you were just naturally great at?	Mmm.
	_____________________________, and then found yourself looking for an "undo" button in real life?
	misplaced your TED badge and then immediately started __________________ what a three-day Vancouver vacation might look like?
	marveled at how someone you thought was so ___________ could suddenly become so beautiful?
	stared at your phone smiling like an __________ while texting with someone?
	_____________________ texted that person the phrase "I'm staring at the phone smiling like an idiot"?
	been tempted to, and then gave in to the  _____________ of looking through someone else's phone?
	had a ____________________ with yourself and then suddenly realized you're a real asshole to yourself?
	Has your phone ever ____________________ in the middle of an argument, and it sort of felt like the phone was breaking up with both of you?
	thought that working on an issue between you was futile because it should just be easier than this, or this ________________ happen just naturally?
	realized that very little, __________________, just happens naturally?
	woken up blissfully and suddenly been flooded by the awful ______________________ that someone had left you?
	lost the ability to __________________ without a person that no longer was in your life?
	looked back on that event with the sad smile of autumn and the realization that futures will happen __________________?
Conclusion	________________________. You have now completed the test. You are all human.

◆AFTER VIEWING

TASK 4:
Work in group and discuss the following question.

What does the speaker want to tell us? Do you agree or disagree?

SUGGESTED ANSWERS

◆BEFORE VIEWING

TASK 2:

With the fast development of modern society, our living condition is becoming worse and worse, and many people begin to come up with some questions. Why are we human beings the dominator of the Nature? What's the difference between human beings and animals? What does it mean to be human?

As a human being, I consider the emotions we own as the most different thing compared to animals. It consists of familial affection, friendship and love. Of course, animals have them, too, but human’s are more complicated. In your whole life, you will have lots of family members and friends, and you will fall in love with someone. You can grapple with these relationships at the same time. No emotions, not humans.

Responsibility is the product of emotions. From you born to your death, responsibility never disappears for your family, friends and lover. Nowadays, we regard the responsibility a person has for the society as important. We already haven't evaluated a person based on his wealth but his donation to the society we live in. What's more, poor living condition warns human beings to be responsible for the Nature.

As a result, human beings are not the dominator of the world any more. We are only human!

◆VIEWING

TASK 3:
1. human test
2. booger
3. a small, weird sound
4. disappointed
5. aggression
6. the rest of the day
7. lose your airplane ticket
8. sock
9. guess someone else's password
10. fraud
11. ability
12. broken something in real life
13. imagining
14. ordinary
15. idiot
16. subsequently
17. temptation
18. conversation
19. run out of battery
20. is supposed to
21. in the long run
22. remembrance
23. imagine a future
24. regardless
25. Congratulations

◆AFTER VIEWING

TASK 4:

Mr. Ze Frank tells us that humans do similar actions and feel similar emotions. I agree with him. Frank uses humor and pathos when he asks his long questionnaire. He asks questions that are supposed to make you laugh, like have you ever used a period at the end of a text to establish your anger or thought that one day you would find something that you were naturally great at. I like how he encourages his audience to participate in his questionnaire. For most of the questions I would answer yes, so I guess I'm human too. I think that this discussion clarified that most humans feel similar in similar situations and that even if we feel extremely different sometimes. We are all the same.


ATTACHMENT: Ze Frank: Are you human?

0:11
(Music) This is the human test, a test to see if you are a human. Please raise your hand if something applies to you. Are we agreed? Yes? Then let's begin.
0:28
Have you ever eaten a booger long past your childhood? (Laughter) It's okay, it's safe here.
0:39
Have you ever made a small, weird sound when you remembered something embarrassing?
0:48
Have you ever purposely lowercased the first letter of a text in order to come across as sad or disappointed? (Laughter) Okay.
1:01
Have you ever ended a text with a period as a sign of aggression? Okay. Period.
1:10
Have you ever laughed or smiled when someone said something shitty to you and then spent the rest of the day wondering why you reacted that way? Yes.
1:23
Have you ever seemed to lose your airplane ticket a thousand times as you walked from the check-in to the gate? Yes.
1:33
Have you ever put on a pair of pants and then much later realized that there was a loose sock smashed up against your thigh? (Laughter) Good.
1:44
Have you ever tried to guess someone else's password so many times that it locked their account? Mmm.
1:53
Have you ever had a nagging feeling that one day you will be discovered as a fraud? Yes, it's safe here.
2:04
Have you ever hoped that there was some ability you hadn't discovered yet that you were just naturally great at? Mmm.
2:14
Have you ever broken something in real life, and then found yourself looking for an "undo" button in real life?
2:24
Have you ever misplaced your TED badge and then immediately started imagining what a three-day Vancouver vacation might look like?
2:34
Have you ever marveled at how someone you thought was so ordinary could suddenly become so beautiful?
2:43
Have you ever stared at your phone smiling like an idiot while texting with someone? Have you ever subsequently texted that person the phrase "I'm staring at the phone smiling like an idiot"?
3:00
Have you ever been tempted to, and then gave in to the temptation, of looking through someone else's phone?
3:08
Have you ever had a conversation with yourself and then suddenly realized you're a real asshole to yourself?
3:15
(Laughter)
3:17
Has your phone ever run out of battery in the middle of an argument, and it sort of felt like the phone was breaking up with both of you?
3:28
Have you ever thought that working on an issue between you was futile because it should just be easier than this, or this is supposed to happen just naturally? Have you ever realized that very little, in the long run, just happens naturally?
3:46
Have you ever woken up blissfully and suddenly been flooded by the awful remembrance that someone had left you?
3:56
Have you ever lost the ability to imagine a future without a person that no longer was in your life? Have you ever looked back on that event with the sad smile of autumn and the realization that futures will happen regardless?
4:15
Congratulations. You have now completed the test. You are all human.
4:23
(Applause)