Watch the episode again and fill in the gaps with the appropriate words and word combinations.

Some skeptics insist superstitions don’t work as a cure for irrational fears. “One of the things that’s interesting about superstitions is some people are so anxious to disprove them or to show that they are not superstitious that they go to clubs that meet on Friday the 13th. They are kind of dares, like daring the fates, like “I’m not superstitious, I can prove it.” One club meets on Friday the 13^th. The members fearlessly break mirrors, open umbrellas indoors and spill salt to prove their fearlessness.

“These people are actually superstitious in a way because when you are walking along a street and you see a ladder, even if you just think to yourself “So do I walk under or doI walk around it?“ – the very fact that you are thinking about it suggests that the superstition still has an impact on your life. To test people’s belief in superstition hidden cameras captured reactions when the pavement was blocked by a ladder. Pedestrians either had to walk under the ladder or step into the road.

It isn’t only Friday the 13^th that is considered unlucky. Any calendar day marked 13 is considered troublesome. Estimates suggest that days numbered 13 cost economies throughout the Western world billions of dollars a year. People cancel plane and train reservations, go out less in public. Commerce is reduced. But some people actually have good luck on this day. “Well, the number 13 is good luck for me. I was an insurance broker for 33 years, and I always sold more insurance on Friday the 13^th than on any other day.”

7 SPEAKING POINTS. How far do you agree with the following statements? Provide real-life examples.

1. Superstitions get people through their trouble spots.

2. Superstition is an integral part of the culture.

3. Sportsmen resort to lucky charm in order to better concentrate on their performance.

4. Though sceptics insist that superstitions don’t work are still fearfully involved.

5. It is fear that breeds superstitions.

6. ‘Friday begun and never be done’.

Date: 2015-01-29; view: 1499