First Listening
Please listen to a short passage carefully and prepare to answer some questions.
This writer describes ways names can make a difference. When one woman used her middle name, she felt better and her professional achievement improved. A magazine refused to print the writer’s name because it suited a baseball player more than an art expert. At a party, another woman was uncomfortable: the man she wanted the writer to introduce her to was the same one she had refused to blind date because of his name. The writer thinks we often assign name prejudices to people. One of his friends described working with some four-year-olds, and exchanging two boys' personalities because of their names. One classroom study showed teachers gave lower grades to essays written by boys with certain names than to the very same essays with only the names changed. Similarly, girls’ popularity can relate to their names. So the writer suggests if your name doesn’t suit you, you can change your name.
Second Listening
Listen to the tape again. Then answer the following questions with your own experiences.
1. What are some of the ways names can make a difference?
2. In what way can teachers be guilty of name prejudice?
3. What does the writer suggest you do if your name does not suit you?