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Aimee Mullins was born without fibular bones, and had both of her lower legs amputated (cut off) when she was an infant. She learned to walk on prosthetics (artificial devices), then to run -- competing at the national and international level as a champion sprinter, and setting world records at the 1996 Paralympics in Atlanta. At Georgetown, United States, where she double-majored in history and diplomacy, she became the first double amputee to compete in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division 1 track and field.

A. Pre-viewing
Before watching a video in which Aimee advocates for a new kind of thinking about prosthetics, familiarize yourself with the following entries:
  1. poetry – in the video, the word ‘poetry’ refers to something regarded as comparable to poetry in its beauty
  2. banal – boring, ordinary, and not original
  3. realm – an area of interest or activity
  4. film opus – a formal saying about film as a piece of art
  5. hit home – to really make sense
  6. aesthetic – describes an object or a work of art that shows great beauty
  7. gecko – a small lizard found in warm countries
  8. whimsy – something that is intended to be strange and humorous but in fact has little real meaning or value
  9. terrain – an area of land, when considering its natural features
  10. stilt – one of two long pieces of wood with supports for the feet that allow you to stand and walk high above the ground
  11. augmentation – the process of making improvement
  12. bionics – using artificial materials and methods to produce activity or movement in a person or animal
  13. prick – to make a very small hole or holes in the surface of something, sometimes in a way that causes pain

B. Comprehension
Click here to watch the video

Video ©TED.com
  1. Aimee believes that poetry can invite people to look, and look a little longer, and maybe even understand something which is ...
    fearful ugly obnoxious
  2. Aimee’s role as a half-woman, half-cheetah in the film “The Cremaster Cycle” serves as a …
    replication of human-ness.
    exemplar of aesthetic ideal.
    homage to her life as an athlete.
  3. “14 hours of prosthetic make-up to get into a creature that had articulated paws, claws and a tail that whipped around, like a gecko.”
    What does ‘articulate’ mean in the above context?
    ability to move around smoothly
    impressive sound made by the creature
    clear, distinct, and precise in relation to other parts
  4. “I went to a very fancy party. And a girl was there who has known me for years at my normal 5'8". Her mouth dropped open when she saw me, and she went, ‘But you're so tall!’”
    What does ‘drop open’ mean?
    open involuntarily
    curve down
    start talking
  5. Complete the sentence with the word that is used in the video.
    “…the conversation with society has changed profoundly in this last decade. It is no longer a conversation about overcoming _________…”
    disability deficiency discrepancy
  6. According to Aimee, which of the followings can stand as a symbol that its wearer has the power to create whatever they want to create?
    a prosthetic limb a glass leg a tall stilt
  1. Aimee believes that if we want to discover the full potential in our humanity, we need to celebrate our …… (you may select more than 1 option)
    ◯ identities
    ◯ creativities
    ◯ heartbreaking strengths
    ◯ glorious disabilities
    ◯ beautiful spirits
    ◯ collective humanity


C. Synonym
In the exercise below, three synonyms are provided for each bolded word in the following sentences taken from the talk. Watch the video again and observe how these words are used in a larger context. Select the synonym that best fits that context. Consult a dictionary when necessary.
  1. Poetry matters. Poetry is what elevates the banal and neglected object to a realm of art.
    advances lights up promotes
  2. This is where it really hit home for me -- that my legs could be wearable sculpture. And even at this point, I started to move away from the need to replicate human-ness as the only aesthetic ideal.
    represent copy picture
  3. The only purpose that these legs can serve, outside the context of the film, is to provoke the senses and ignite the imagination. So whimsy matters.
    aggravate annoy stimulate
  4. And that's when I knew -- that's when I knew that the conversation with society has changed profoundly in this last decade.
    completely sadly surely
  5. And what is exciting to me so much right now is that by combining cutting-edge technology -- robotics, bionics…
    forefront advanced spearhead

D. Using Vocabulary
Complete the following sentences using the words in the box. Use the correct grammatical form of the words.
  • elevate
  • replicate
  • articulate
  • provoke
  • homage
  • profoundly
  • cutting-edge
  • whimsy
  • prick
  • realm
  1. On this occasion we pay homage to him for his achievements.
  2. Her interests are in the realm of practical politics. She always debates about Sino-American relations with her professors.
  3. Computer viruses replicate themselves and are passed along from user to user.
  4. Personally I've always considered mime to be a lot of whimsy.
  5. We are all profoundly grateful for your help and encouragement.
  6. They were unable to articulate their emotions after the death of their beloved father.
  7. The prospect of increased prices has already provoked an outcry.
  8. The cutting-edge digital technology used in James Cameron's new film Avatar has left audiences 'breathless'.
  9. The good news elevated our spirits and we became positive about the misfortune in life.
  10. She pricked the balloon with a pin and it burst with a loud bang.

E. Antonyms
You can expand your vocabulary by learning antonyms. Antonyms are words that have opposite meanings. Knowing antonyms can increase your comprehension of English and allow you to express yourself with greater clarity.
  1. Match each word in the left column to its antonym on the right. Consult a dictionary when necessary.
  1. Select the most appropriate answer to complete the following sentences.
  1. Production has at all of the company's factories because of the pay dispute.
  2. The problem of stress is certainly not to people who work but to all human beings.
  3. We have tried to come up with a new approach.
  4. I don't think he has any notion of the of the situation as he is still making fun of the matter.
  5. The United States has begun drawing up a military plan designed to topple and upset the North Korean Government to war with them.
  6. Everyone deserves to enjoy the delight and of Halloween.
  7. She was taken into hospital last week when her condition suddenly . She might not survive the night.
  8. This is a piece of art work so the adjudicators are not impressed.
  9. His mother's death when he was aged six had a very effect on him.
  10. He would have to find work to his income so he could support his family.

TED - Aimee Mullins: It's not fair having 12 pairs of legs

http://www.ted.com/talks/aimee_mullins_prosthetic_aesthetics.html
(05:15 - 09:51)

Poetry matters. Poetry is what elevates the banal and neglected object to a realm of art. It can transform the thing that might have made people fearful into something that invites them to look, and look a little longer, and maybe even understand.
I learned this firsthand with my next adventure. The artist Matthew Barney, in his film opus called the "The Cremaster Cycle." This is where it really hit home for me -- that my legs could be wearable sculpture. And even at this point, I started to move away from the need to replicate human-ness as the only aesthetic ideal. So we made what people lovingly referred to as glass legs even though they're actually optically clear polyurethane, a.k.a. bowling ball material. Heavy! Then we made these legs that are cast in soil with a potato root system growing in them, and beetroots out the top, and a very lovely brass toe. That's a good close-up of that one. Then another character was a half-woman, half-cheetah -- a little homage to my life as an athlete. 14 hours of prosthetic make-up to get into a creature that had articulated paws, claws and a tail that whipped around, like a gecko. (Laughter) And then another pair of legs we collaborated on were these -- look like jellyfish legs, also polyurethane. And the only purpose that these legs can serve, outside the context of the film, is to provoke the senses and ignite the imagination. So whimsy matters.
Today, I have over a dozen pair of prosthetic legs that various people have made for me, and with them I have different negotiations of the terrain under my feet, and I can change my height -- I have a variable of five different heights. (Laughter) Today, I'm 6'1". And I had these legs made a little over a year ago at Dorset Orthopedic in England and when I brought them home to Manhattan, my first night out on the town, I went to a very fancy party. And a girl was there who has known me for years at my normal 5'8". Her mouth dropped open when she saw me, and she went, "But you're so tall!" And I said, "I know. Isn't it fun?" I mean, it's a little bit like wearing stilts on stilts, but I have an entirely new relationship to door jams that I never expected I would ever have. And I was having fun with it. And she looked at me,and she said, "But, Aimee, that's not fair." (Laughter) (Applause) And the incredible thing was she really meant it. It's not fair that you can change your height, as you want it.
And that's when I knew -- that's when I knew that the conversation with society has changed profoundly in this last decade. It is no longer a conversation about overcoming deficiency.It's a conversation about augmentation. It's a conversation about potential. A prosthetic limb doesn't represent the need to replace loss anymore. It can stand as a symbol that the wearer has the power to create whatever it is that they want to create in that space. So people that society once considered to be disabled can now become the architects of their own identities and indeed continue to change those identities by designing their bodies from a place of empowerment. And what is exciting to me so much right now is that by combining cutting-edge technology -- robotics, bionics -- with the age-old poetry, we are moving closer to understanding our collective humanity. I think that if we want to discover the full potential in our humanity, we need to celebrate those heartbreaking strengths and those glorious disabilities that we all have. I think of Shakespeare's Shylock: "If you prick us, do we not bleed, and if you tickle us, do we not laugh?" It is our humanity, and all the potential within it, that makes us beautiful. Thank you. (Applause)

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