Q2e

SE Listening & Speaking 4: Audio Script Unit 2

Unit 2: Behavioral Science

LISTENING 1: A Perfect Mess
The Q Classroom
Activity A, D, pages 24–25
Activity B, Page 22
Announcer: A Perfect Mess is a new book that
Teacher: In Unit 2, we’re going to talk about
explores the benefits of being messy. Our
appearances. The Unit Question is “How does
reviewer, Henry Rubins, finds reasons in the
appearance affect our success?” Sophy, what
book to embrace his own habits of chaos.
do you think?
Henry Rubins: Finally, in A Perfect Mess by Eric
Sophy: Oh, in lots of ways. Our appearance
Abramson and David Freedman, I read the
influences what people think of us.
words I’ve been waiting for all my life:
Teacher: Can you give me an example?
Neatness is not a virtue. It’s OK to be a little
Sophy: Sure. The way you dress, for example. If
disorganized. As someone who is frequently
you dress well, people will think you’re more
criticized for being messy, I know now I’m not
successful or more competent. They’ll treat you
such a bad person after all.
more respectfully and that will help you
I’ve been messy since I was old enough to dress
succeed.
myself. As a child, I had the usual arguments
Teacher: Yuna, do you agree? Does dressing
with my mother about cleaning my room,
well help you be successful?
putting my clothes and books away, and making
Yuna: Yes, I agree. If you’re careful about your
my bed.
appearance, people think you care about
At college I was even worse. Books, papers, and
yourself.
dirty dishes were everywhere. Oh, part of it was
Teacher: OK, what else? Marcus, how about the
because I was lazy, but I also felt so stifled in a
appearance of other things, for example, your
neat, too-tidy room. I couldn’t even think. I
desk or your bedroom? Does that affect your
mean, I need a certain amount of chaos to feel
success?
comfortable.
Marcus: Well, it could. How people look at you
But it wasn’t until I got my first job that I found
is important. If they look at you and think
out how deep the world’s bias toward neatness
you’re disorganized or not in control of your
and order is. I mean, I didn’t know I would be
life, they’ll be less interested in working with
expected to have a neat desk in order to do my
you. That could affect your success.
job. But after reading A Perfect Mess, I see I
Teacher: Anything else? Any other ways that
have had it easy at work compared to other
appearance affects our success? Felix?
people.
Felix: I agree with everyone else that
The book mentions a woman who worked at a
appearances affect how other people react to
post office in Australia. She was fined more
you, but not everyone needs to be neat and
than two thousand dollars at work. Why?
well dressed and good-looking to be successful.
Because she had four personal items on her
Your appearance also involves your style, and
desk. The post office only allowed her to have
you can use that to help you fit into the group
you want to be in. For instance, if I want to be a three. Maybe it was an extra photo of her kids—
successful businessman, I would have a and for that she had to pay two thousand
completely different kind of look than if I want dollars? The police chief in a Pennsylvania town
to be a successful sports star. had it even worse. He was actually fired from

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Q2e SE Listening & Speaking 4: Audio Script Unit 2

his job because of a messy desk. At least I’ve scientist who was known for having a very
never lost a job! messy office.
A Perfect Mess might help people like them, Next the book looks at our messy homes. The
and me. The book begins with a description of authors say a messy home isn’t so bad either. A
the National Association of Professional very neat home can be impersonal and cold, but
Organizers, or NAPO, conference. NAPO is a a home full of photos, personal items, and
professional organization I could never join. pieces of clothing strewn about shows others
Anyway, NAPO has thousands of members. who we truly are.
Thousands. These are people who have gone to Many people believe that an untidy house sets
graduate school in business, or education, or a bad example for children. Abramson and
even law, and now devote their lives to helping Freedman reassure us it’s not true. In fact,
the rest of us get organized. children may learn better in a messy space. The
The authors, Eric Abramson and David book gets support from research suggesting
Freedman, interview dozens of members of that a stimulating environment full of clutter,
NAPO. And they point out that not once in any movement, and noise may actually help
of the interviews does anyone answer the big children remember information. And it turns
question: What’s wrong with being messy? out that keeping your house too clean can
In fact, throughout the rest of the book, the actually be bad for children’s health. Dirt and
authors show us that being moderately messy germs help children build up protection against
can actually be good for us. A Perfect Mess diseases.
takes the reader on a tour of the various messy And the authors offered more evidence in favor
parts of our lives, starting with those messy of mess. It seems not only are messy people
desks. The book argues that a messy desk can often more successful than neat people, they
actually help you find things more easily tend to be more creative and open-minded.
because they’re right out in the open. Take, for example, the mystery writer, Agatha
And it can help people make connections Christie. The authors describe her disorganized
between ideas in new ways. approach to writing her 60-plus novels.
Here’s a great example. Leon Heppel was a Apparently, many times when she began
researcher at the National Institutes of Health writing a mystery, she had no idea how the
in Bethesda, Maryland, in the 1950s. One day, mystery would be solved. She wrote down her
he was working at his desk. He stumbled upon ideas in notebooks, but they were completely
letters written by two different scientists. The disorganized. To make matters worse, Christie
letters were in the piles of paper on his messy often lost her notebooks in the mess of her
desk. If the two letters had been neatly put work space and worked from several notebooks
away he would never have looked at them side at one time. One notebook contained ideas for
by side. But he did, and he suddenly recognized 17 novels!
an important connection between the two In spite of this mess, Christie’s books were, and
scientists’ research. This connection eventually still are, wildly popular and have sold more than
led to a winning discovery and a Nobel Prize. 2 billion copies in 45 languages. Clearly, an
The book mentions he wasn’t the only scientist inflexible approach to organizing her stories
like this. Albert Einstein was another great didn’t work well for the creative genius Agatha
Christie. As the authors Eric Abramson and

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Q2e SE Listening & Speaking 4: Audio Script Unit 2

David Freedman look into our messy lives, they suggestion one. If it’s a “never” item, throw it
show us how a little chaos can be good for us. away in the garbage immediately. So
They tell us that mess may help us relax, be remember: now, later, or never. This filing
more creative, learn better, or even make an system requires immediate action, though. This
important scientific discovery. A Perfect Mess is is the key point; do something immediately with
a fascinating look at the unexpected benefits of all papers and documents. OK? How would you
mess. I’d recommend it to anyone—except feel if you never had to sift through piles of
possibly my kids. papers again?
Ella Oskey: Great! Now, on to the third
LISTENING SKILL: Identifying details strategy: Do a little at a time. Instead of trying
Activity A, page 29 to change your whole life in one afternoon,
Ella Oskey: If you are one of the millions of work on it step by step. One day, organize a
people who just can’t stay on top of your mess, drawer. The next day, organize something else.
don’t worry, there is hope for you! Hi, and If you try to do too much at once, you might
welcome to this workshop, Getting it Together. feel frustrated. Making this change little by little
I’m Ella Oskey. I assume that you have come will not only ensure that you get organized, but
today because you feel like your life is too will also help you stay organized.
disorganized. If this is true, I have some
suggestions that will help you organize yourself, NOTE-TAKING SKILL: Taking notes using a T-
both at home and in the workplace. OK, let’s chart
get started. How many of you have spent hours Activity A, page 30
searching for an important document or paper? F: Sure, we all look better when we smile, but
How long did you look for your car keys before can our facial expressions really cause us to
leaving the house to come here today? succeed or fail? Many scientists believe that
Ella Oskey: The first strategy I suggest is simple: smiling can lead to more success in life, while
put everything in its place. In other words, put frowning can lead to more problems. Some
everything into the room or space it belongs in researchers discovered that people who smiled
after you use it. If it doesn’t have a place, make in school pictures were more likely to have
one. This is not a radical idea, folks! If you longer, happier marriages in the future than
always put your keys in the same box next to those who did not. In contrast, people who
the door every night, they will always be there didn’t smile in their class photos tended to get
in the morning. How many of you think you can divorced more often. Also, people who smiled
do that? in job interviews were more likely to get the
Ella Oskey: Great! Now, strategy number two is jobs than candidates who didn't smile. Smiling
just as simple: follow a filing and organization also reduces stress, some scientists say. In fact,
system. Every time you find a piece of paper, in one study, smiling while doing a stressful job
decide which of these three groups it belongs helped workers' brains and bodies recover from
in: now, later, or never. the stress more quickly afterward. On the other
If it is a “now” item, like a bill that needs to be hand, people who didn’t smile had faster
paid today, deal with it immediately. If it is a heartbeats long after they finished the stressful
“later” item, like a magazine you still want to job. Maybe this is why smiling can even cause
read, put it in its place, like I talked about in people to live longer. One research study

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discovered that if baseball players were smiling Hachiro Nagatomi: Well, they weren’t sure
on their cards, they lived almost seven years about “Cool Biz” at first. They came to work
longer than players who weren’t smiling. So, with their ties in their pockets. But, slowly
remember to smile! enthusiasm grew. Government leaders were
interviewed without ties and suit jackets, and
LISTENING 2: The Changing Business Dress Code large companies required their workers to wear
Activity A, C, D, pages 31–32 casual clothing even when they were meeting
Radio talk show host: My guests today are business partners. Now people really seem to
Andrew Park, from OPK Marketing in the United like this trend. Also, this cycle of casual clothing
States, Hachiro Nagatomi, a consultant with in the summer and winter has allowed
Professional Consultants Abroad in Japan, and companies to save money by turning down the
Nawaf Al Salem of Best Foot Forward Consulting air conditioning in the summer and the heat in
in Saudi Arabia. Thank you for being with us the winter. This is also better for the
today. environment. So, the campaign for more casual
Andrew Park: Glad to be here. business dress during specific times of the year
Nawaf Al Salem: Thank you. has continued because people are more
Hachiro Nagatomi: It’s my pleasure. comfortable, companies save money, and it’s
Radio talk show host: This program is part of better for the environment. It’s a win, win, win
our series about business dress codes around situation.
the world. Hachiro, let me start with you. For Radio talk show host: Okay, let’s look at
the last few years in Japan, you’ve begun to business dress in the United States. Many
have a more relaxed attitude toward the people have the idea that American business
clothing you wear at work, right? clothing is really casual, especially on Friday,
Hachiro Nagatomi: Yes, that’s right. After which became known as casual Friday. But,
decades of Japanese businesspeople wearing Andrew, you’ve found that this isn’t always the
only conservative, dark-colored suits to the case, right?
office, we have seen the trend of business Andrew Park: Exactly. For many years,
casual catch on. In 2005, the government everyone used to look forward to getting to
started the “Cool Biz” campaign that wear what they wanted to on casual Friday.
encouraged employees to ditch their suits and Most workers thought it was great, and for a
ties and formal skirts and blouses, and wear while morale improved in many places. You
more comfortable, cooler clothes in the office know how it is with anything new. In the
during the hot summer months. It’s become the beginning there’s a lot of enthusiasm for an
norm to see men wearing open-necked shirts idea. Even employers liked the change. They
and cotton slacks in the summer. Women might thought of casual Fridays as a kind of reward to
wear a blouse with a long skirt. Similarly, the give their employees at the end of a long work
“Warm Biz” campaign encouraged workers to week. Dressing down on Friday would provide a
dress in more casual layers, like sweaters, in the bridge between the high-pressure work week
winter when it is colder. and the weekend. They thought that if
Radio talk show host: So, what did workers employees felt comfortable on Friday, it would
think of the new policies? increase productivity. But they found that this
wasn’t true. In fact, the opposite was true.

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Making employees more comfortable actually tied with a head rope, called an agal, to hold
caused productivity to fall. this scarf in place. Saudi Arabian women wear
Radio talk show host: Hmm. So, Andrew, do the abaya, a long, black robe. They also wear a
you think casual Friday was a bad idea? veil or a head scarf.
Andrew Park: Well, of course, it varies from one Radio talk show host: It’s interesting that Saudi
workplace to the next. Certainly, some Arabian business dress is not only quite formal,
employees really enjoy a more casual dress it’s also traditional.
code. One survey we conducted showed Nawaf Al Salem: Well, it’s true that we Saudi
workers like casual Friday because they save people value our traditions, but these kinds of
money on clothes, and they like not having to robes are also practical because they’re cooler
worry about what to wear. But in some in our hot climate. However, it’s not necessary
companies, casual dress has had a negative for foreigners who are doing business in Saudi
effect. Maybe not so much on the work the Arabia to also wear traditional clothes. Usually, I
employees do, but on the way customers and advise foreign businessmen to wear a dark suit
clients see them. Let’s face it—clients don’t with leather shoes. Businesswomen from other
always feel that casual clothes are appropriate countries should wear long, loose-fitting
in a business setting. They’re looking for a sign dresses. Also, although it’s not necessary, many
that people are professional, like they know Saudi Arabian businesspeople appreciate it
what they’re doing. when foreign women wear a headscarf as a sign
And investors might be more cautious around of respect for our culture.
casually dressed professionals. I recently heard Radio talk show host: So, what I hear from all
an anecdote about a CEO who had a meeting our guests today is that what we wear at work
with a possible investor. The CEO turned up in a really does matter, and visiting businesspeople
T-shirt and jeans. The investor had been very would be smart to consider what the locals
interested in the company’s products—really wear to work before they pack their suitcases.
cool video games—but decided against putting Andrew Park: I completely agree. I think what
up any money. Who wants to give their money we wear does matter. Because what we wear is
to someone who looks like they could be not only about looks; it says something about
hanging out at the mall? who we are. For example, in the United States,
Radio talk show host: OK, so business casual for some people, a casual look is associated
may be on the way out in the United States with a certain careless approach to other things.
because it’s led to a fall in productivity and a Nawaf Al Salem: I agree. To many people in
lack of confidence from clients and investors. Saudi Arabia, a sloppy look indicates careless
Nawaf, how about in Saudi Arabia? Is business work, not just a style of dress. It’s a matter of
casual the norm? attitude. As Andrew said, the way we dress tells
Nawaf Al Salem: Actually, it’s not. In fact, people who we are.
business dress in Saudi Arabia has remained Hachiro Nagatomi: In Japan, however, casual
quite conservative. Saudi businessmen wear business clothing shows people you care about
traditional clothing to work. You’ll see them your company’s financial well-being and you
wearing a thawb, a long white robe, leather care about the environment.
sandals, and a ghutrah, or headscarf, which is Radio talk show host: OK. That’s all the time we
have, so we’ll leave it there. I’d like to thank my

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Q2e SE Listening & Speaking 4: Audio Script Unit 2

guests, who always look professional no matter B: Does that mean it’s better to work on it
what day of the week or time of the year it is. step by step?
Thanks for listening. A: Yes, it does.
B: I see.
PRONUNCIATION: Unstressed Syllables
Example, page 39
appearances
Activity A, B, page 39
1. pleasure
2. forgotten
3. successful
4. habit
5. business
6. allow
7. cautious
8. professional

SPEAKING SKILL: Confirming understanding
Activity A, page 40
1. A: Did you hear that starting next month,
there won’t be a “casual Friday”
anymore?
B: What? So you mean that they are
getting rid of casual Friday completely?
A: Yes, the email said no more casual
Fridays.
B: Oh.
2. A: More and more customers are looking
for a sign of professionalism.
B: Are you saying they prefer less casual
dress?
A: Yeah, that’s right.
B: Got it.
3. A: If my desk is too organized, I can’t be
creative.
B: If I understand you, you need to be
messy to work well?
A: Yeah, I need a little mess.
B: OK.
4. A: Most people can’t get organized all at
once.

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