Activity 2

Activity 2
Listening Comprehension and Gap Fill
a. Listen to Part 1 of the Why Factorprogramme about Identity (00:10 – 03:53) and
answer the questions. While you listen, make notes.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03nzsw2

1) What questions does Mike Williams ask at the beginning of the programme?
2) How does Sarah Jones define herself? How have her multiple identities affected her
personality and occupation?
3) How does the writer and philosopher answer the question of who we are?

b. Read the excerpt below quite quickly before you listen to Part 2 (03:54 – 05:21). Note
down the missing words as you hear them for each gap.
When I .................... my own identity I start off with father, ............... , son, brother. .................
what I see in myself. But I don’t think anybody looking at me would start there. They
would start up with ..............., male and …............ their way through it that way.
To what extent do other people’s .................... of us change us?
“It seems .............. that our sense of self isn’t something that comes entirely from within.
And of course, we’re ............... by the way other people see us. And that’s one of
the .................. things in creating our sense of identity. I think it’s a kind of two-
way .................. that’s ongoing. And our sense of who we are is always a .................... in part
to how other people see us. And so there’s this ................ to and fro between as it were
the gaze of the other and our ….......... of our self which goes to form our identity.”
Dr Aiden Gregg, Associate Professor within Psychology at the University of
Southampton:
“One of the problems that you have with many ............... such as identity is that they have
a ...................... of meanings and it’s difficult to ............... them .............. . If you …...............
different people, you’d get different ....................... as to what identity is. The self concept is
simply the ................... of beliefs people have about themselves. And that …............ form
everything from the belief that you have ten ........ to the belief that are ..................... . Some
of the beliefs you have about yourself matter a lot to you and some don’t matter so
much.
c. Listen to Chibundu Onuzo talking to Mike Williams in Part 3 (05:40 – 09:17). While you
listen, make notes in one of the ways you have learnt during your Academic
English classes. The questions below can come in handy.
1) What does Chibundu Onuzo do? (What is she? Who is she?)
2) How did her identity change when she moved to England?
3) How does Mike Williams define Chibundu Onuzo's identity?
4) Do you remember how the words existential and embrace are used in the clip?
d. Listen to Part 4 (09:17 – 13:06), then share your reaction around the class pointing out
statements you find interesting or disputable. Answer the questions below.
1) In what way does Sarah Jones demonstrate her numerous identities?
2) What things have been important to shaping her identity?
e. Read through the excerpt below. Match the words in bold with the definitions (1-6).
1) essential/crucial
2) incomprehensible/puzzling
3) criticism
4) to come to accept/to live with
5) aspect/feature
6) motivation
There can be many pieces to the puzzle that is our identity. And we can hold different
identities too, even identities which conflict with each other.
“Human beings are remarkably good at holding completely contradictory ideas in their
heads at the same time if they have a strong enough incentive to do so. ...To give
perhaps a very common example. There are people who are convinced Roman Catholics
who are also homosexual and who believe both aspects of their identity are vital to
them. Now from the outside it seems remarkable that they can hold those two things
together given that their religion is so very clear in its condemnation of homosexuality.
And yet people find ways to accommodate these differences. So I think the point about
logical contradictions is that you know philosophers may find them completely bizarre
and unfathomable and intolerable but human beings are pretty good at being able to
live with contradictions unless they’re really, really forced to confront the conflicts
between them.”
Good news – we can be messy and contradictory and we can choose when to display
these facets of us, when to show one face, when to show another.

f. Listen to Part 5 (14:22 – 15:59). The questions below help you make the most of the
ideas expressed in this part.
1) What is the central message professor Aiden Gregg tries to get across?
2) What does Chibundu Onuzu think of her identity? What does she find slightly
unsettling when she comes back home?
3) According to Chibundu, what factors can have a big impact on people's perception of
selves?
g. Skim the text before you listen to Part 6(16:00 – 17:34). While you listen, fill in the
missing words/phrases.
The ….................. of identity is something that does change over ................................. .
In Western cultures, at least for .................................. years, people have had the task
of ................................... their own identities.
............................, people’s station in life was relatively fixed and .............................. they
couldn't readily …................. different identities on the basis of the ...............................roles
they ................................... .
But since the .............................. and the ............................. .......................... societies (have)
become more ............................ . People can ............................................... at work. At the same
time many of the old ways ................................. to define their identity ......................................,
for example on the basis of ............................................... have somewhat .................. into
abeyance.
So the task for a modern man and woman is to ................................ their identity from
the ................................. find …..................... .
Our identities are immensely .................................................... . By them
we ........................................................ , through them we ...................................... . I find
it ............................................................... existing without a sense of myself. But
that’s .................................... . You? You may be ....................................... .
When we think about our identity as ….........................., it’s the wrong word really. That’s not
really what we mean.
Our identity as individuals can be more ................., it can change. It
doesn’t ................................... that we’re literally ........................... from moment to moment. So
really I think the identity of a person is, if you like, something which brings the ….............
life and sense of self together but in ...................... and changing way.