viernes, 23 de agosto de 2024

The Gates Foundation

Bill Gates talks to Professor Jim Al-Khalili about his life, his philanthropic work, vaccines, conspiracy theories and one of his hobbies, pickleball, on the BBC Radio-4 programme The Life Scientific

The interview is rather long (35:59), and has no script, so, it is recommended for C2 students, although they speak slowly and clearly and the vocabulary is not particularly difficult. Next you can find a list of some interesting words, which can be used as a rough listening guide for lower-level students: a [college] drop-out, a super-villain, his ethos, to take on [issues], child-mortality rates, to feed [that enthusiasm], malaria, diarrhea, pneumonia, to partner with [governments], a mind-blowing [successful advent], [to organise] the funding, goofy [things], Slow-Horses, to fit in [exercise], pickleball, a low-key [interest], billionaireland, community [work], a [company] board, Planned-Parenthood, voracious, your niche, a flair for [programming], noughts & crosses, entranced, a [computer] bug, a payroll [programme], a [school] schedule, [to minimize] the disruption, endearing [level of complexity], a grade, hardcore, to reach out to [somebody], a [growing] buzz, exponential [capability], a spreadsheet, to drop out [of university], a fond [memory], to linger on well-trodden ground, a managerial [role], a  mistep, work-centric, commitment, to jump in, empowerment, an evangelist, monomaniacal, to mellow [you out], to overturn, to drag on, to get through, to figure out, to devote [time to something], [to change] the narrative, measles, smallpox, bednets, the chair [of a company], to strike me as [strange], mindset, developing countries, malnourished, to wield [that power], Gavi, a high bar, TB, at the forefront, expertise on [vaccines], an outlandish [conspiracy theory], to cull [the world population], a shortcut, to step down, debt, a [political] upheaval, to deliver [better education], to bridge [the polarization], to pursue [my curiosity].

Melinda French Gates gave an interview to Time magazine two months ago, after she started to pursue her own philanthropic goals away from the Gates Foundation. The YouTube clip (5:05) with subtitles is suitable for C1 students.  You can listen to her below: