Shadowing Practice: 26 июля 2026 г. - Learn English Speaking with Video

Reviewer.

There's a man out there, somewhere, who looks a little bit like the actor Idris Elba, or at least he did 20 years ago.

I don't know anything else about him, except that he once saved my life by putting his own life in danger.

This man ran across four lanes of freeway traffic in the

middle of the night to bring me back to safety after a car accident that could have killed me.

And the whole thing left me really shaken up, obviously, but it also left me with this kind of burning, gnawing need to understand why he did it.

What forces within him caused him to make the choice that I owe my life to, to risk his own life to save the life of a stranger?

In other words, what are the causes of his or anybody else's capacity for altruism?

But first, let me tell you what happened.

That night, I was 19 years old and driving back to my home in Tacoma, Washington, down the Interstate 5 freeway, when a little dog darted out in front of my car.

And I did exactly what you're not supposed to do, which is swerve to avoid it.

And I discovered why you're not supposed to do that.

I hit the dog anyways, and that sent the car into a fishtail and then a spin across the freeway.

And so finally it wound up in the fast lane of the freeway, facing backward into oncoming traffic, and then the engine died.

And I was sure in that moment that I was about to die, too.

But I didn't, because of the actions of that one brave man, who must have made the decision within a fraction of a second of seeing my stranded car to pull over

and run across four lanes of freeway traffic in the dark, to save my life.

And then after he got my car working again

and got me back to safety and made sure I was going to be all right, he drove off again, never even told me his name.

And I'm pretty sure I forgot to say thank you.

So before I go any further, I really want to take a moment to stop and say thank you to that stranger.

I'm telling you all this because the events of that night changed the course of my life to some degree.

I became a psychology researcher, and I've devoted my work to understanding the human capacity to care for others.

Where does it come from, and how does it develop, and what are the extreme forms that it can take?

These questions are really important to understanding basic aspects of human social nature.

A lot of people, and this includes everybody from philosophers and economists to ordinary people, believe that human nature is fundamentally selfish,

that we're only ever really motivated by our own welfare.

But if that's true, why do some people, like the stranger who rescued me, do selfless things, like helping other people at enormous risk and cost to themselves?

Answering this question requires exploring the roots of extraordinary acts of altruism

and what might make people who engage in such acts different than other people.

But until very recently, very little work on this topic had been done.

The actions of the man who rescued me meet the most stringent definition of altruism, which is a voluntary, costly behavior motivated by the desire to help another individual.

So it's a selfless act intended to benefit only the other.

What could possibly explain an action like that?

One answer is compassion, obviously, which is a key driver of altruism.

But then the question becomes, why do some people seem to have more of it than others?

And the answer may be that the brains of highly altruistic people are different in fundamental ways.

But to figure out how, I actually started from the opposite end, with psychopaths.

A common approach to understanding basic aspects of human nature, like the desire to help other people, is to study people in whom that desire is missing,

and psychopaths are exactly such a group.

Psychopathy is a developmental disorder with strongly genetic origins,

and it results in a personality that's cold and uncaring and a tendency to engage in antisocial and sometimes very violent behavior.

Once my colleagues

and I at the National Institute of Mental Health conducted some of the first-ever brain imaging research with psychopathic adolescents.

And our findings, and the findings of other researchers now, have shown that people who were psychopathic pretty reliably exhibit three characteristics.

First, although they're not generally insensitive to other people's emotions, they are insensitive to signs that other people are in distress.

And in particular, they have difficulty recognizing fearful facial expressions with this one.

And fearful expressions convey urgent need and emotional distress, and they usually elicit compassion and a desire to help in people who see them.

So it makes sense that people who tend to lack compassion also tend to be insensitive to these cues.

The part of the brain that's the most important for recognizing fearful expressions is called the amygdala.

There are very rare cases of people who lack amygdalas completely, and they're profoundly impaired in recognizing fearful expressions.

And whereas healthy adults and children usually show big spikes in amygdala activity when they look at fearful expressions,

psychopaths and amygdalas are underreactive to these expressions.

Sometimes they don't react at all, which may be why they have trouble detecting these cues.

Finally, psychopaths and amygdalas are smaller than average, by about 18 or 20 percent.

So, all of these findings are reliable and robust, and they're very interesting.

But remember that my main interest is not understanding why people don't care about others, it's understanding why they do.

So the real question is, could extraordinary altruism, which is the opposite of psychopathy in terms of compassion and a desire to help other people,

emerge from a brain that is also the opposite of psychopathy, a sort of anti-psychopathic brain,

better able to recognize other people's fear, an amygdala that's more reactive to this expression and maybe larger than average as well.

As my research has now shown, all three things are true.

And we discover this by testing a population of truly extraordinary altruists.

These are people who have given one of their own kidneys to a complete stranger.

So these are people who have volunteered to undergo major surgery

so that one of their own healthy kidneys can be removed

and transplanted into a very ill stranger that they've never met and may never meet.

Why would anybody do this?

That's a very common question.

And the answer may be that the brains of these extraordinary altruists have certain special characteristics.

They are better at recognizing other people's fear.

They're literally better at detecting when somebody else is in distress.

This may be in part because their amygdala is more reactive to these expressions.

And remember, this is the same part of the brain that we found was underreactive in people who were psychopathic.

And finally, their amygdalas are larger than average as well, by about 8 percent. So together, what these data suggests is the existence of something like a

caring continuum in the world that's anchored at the one end by people who were highly psychopathic

and at the other by people who were very compassionate and driven to acts of extreme altruism.

But I should add that what makes extraordinary altruists so different is not just that they're more compassionate than average.

They are.

But what's even more unusual about them is that they're compassionate and altruistic, not just towards people who are in their own innermost circle of friends and family.

Right?

Because to have compassion for people that you love and identify with is not extraordinary.

Truly extraordinary altruist, compassion extends way beyond that circle, even beyond their wider circle of acquaintances, to people who are outside their social circle altogether.

Total strangers, just like the man who rescued me.

And I've had the opportunity now to ask a lot of altruistic kidney donors how it is

that they managed to generate such a wide circle of compassion that they were willing to give a complete stranger their kidney.

And I found it's a really difficult question for them to answer.

I say, you know, how is it that you're willing to do this thing when so many other people don't?

You're one of fewer than 2,000 Americans who's ever given a kidney to a stranger.

What is it that makes you so special?

And what do they say?

They say, nothing.

There's nothing special about me.

I'm just the same as everybody else.

And I think that's actually a really telling answer, because it suggests that the circles of these altruists don't look like this.

They look more like this.

They have no center.

These altruists literally don't think of themselves as being at the center of anything, as being better or more inherently important than anybody else.

When I asked one altruist why donating her kidney made sense to her, she said, because it's not about me.

Another said, I'm not different, I'm not unique.

100

Your study here is going to find out that I'm just the same as you.

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I think the best description for this amazing lack of self-centeredness is humility, which is that quality that,

102

in the words of St. Augustine, makes men as angels. And why is that?

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It's because if there's no center of your circle, there can be no inner rings or outer rings, nobody who's more or less worthy of your care and compassion than anybody else.

104

And I think that this is what really distinguishes extraordinary altruists from the average person.

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But I also think that this is a view of the world that's attainable by many and maybe even most people.

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And I think this because at the societal level, expansions of altruism and compassion are already happening everywhere.

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The psychologists Steven Pinker and others have shown that all around the world, people are becoming less and less accepting of suffering in ever-widening circles of others,

108

which has led to declines in all kinds of cruelty and violence, from animal abuse to domestic violence to capital punishment.

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And it's led to increases in all kinds of altruism.

110

A hundred years ago, people would have thought it was ludicrous how normal

111

and ordinary it is for people to donate their blood and bone marrow to complete strangers today.

112

Is it possible that 100 years from now, people will think that donating a kidney to a stranger is just as normal

113

and ordinary as we think donating blood and bone marrow is today?

114

Maybe.

115

So what's at the root of all these amazing changes?

116

In part, it seems to be increases in wealth and standards of living.

117

As societies become wealthier and better off, people seem to turn their focus of attention outward.

118

And as a result, all kinds of altruism toward strangers increases from volunteering to charitable donations and even altruistic kindy donations.

119

But all of these changes also yield a sort of strange and paradoxical result, which is that even as the world is becoming a better and more humane place,

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which it is, there's a very common perception that it's becoming worse and more cruel, which it's not.

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And I don't know exactly why this is, but I think it may be that we now just know so much more about the suffering of strangers in distant places.

122

And so we now care a lot more about the suffering of those distant strangers.

123

But what's clear is that the kinds of changes we're seeing show

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that the roots of altruism and compassion are just as much a part of human nature as cruelty and violence, maybe even more so.

125

And while some people do seem to be inherently more sensitive to the suffering of distant others,

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I really believe that the ability to remove oneself from the center of the circle

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and expand the circle of compassion outward to include even strangers is within reach for almost everyone.

128

Thank you.

📺 Zelfde Kanaal

27 июля 2026 г.

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Woordenschat en spreektips bij deze les

Deze video bevat 128 zinnen en 2042 woorden om na te spreken. Het gesproken deel duurt 12:13. De spreker praat in een natuurlijk tempo van ongeveer 167 woorden per minuut, dicht bij een alledaags gesprek. 82% van de woorden hoort bij de 3.000 meest gebruikte Engelse woorden; de rest kun je beter vooraf bekijken.

Belangrijke woorden in deze video

15 minder gangbare woorden uit de video, met uitspraak en betekenis:

compassion /kəmˈpæʃ.ən/ (zelfstandig naamwoord) — medelijden, deernis. Deep awareness of the suffering of others that people have to the point of them being motivated to relieve such states.
extraordinary /ɪksˈtɹɔːrdɪn(ə)ɹi/ (bijvoeglijk naamwoord) — buitengewoon. Out of the ordinary; exceptional; unusual.
kidney /ˈkɪdni/ (zelfstandig naamwoord) — nier. An organ in the body that filters the blood, producing urine.
stranger /ˈstɹeɪnd͡ʒɚ/ (zelfstandig naamwoord) — vreemde, vreemdeling. A person whom one does not know; a person who is neither a friend nor an acquaintance.
fearful /ˈfɪəfəl/ (bijvoeglijk naamwoord) — angstig, bang. Frightening; causing fear.
suffer /ˈsʌfɚ/ (werkwoord) — lijden. To undergo hardship.
rescue /ˈɹɛs.kjuː/ (werkwoord) — bevrijden, redden. To save from any violence, danger or evil.
ordinary /ˈɔɹdɪnɛɹi/ (bijvoeglijk naamwoord) — gewoon, alledaags. Having regular jurisdiction; now only used in certain phrases.
distress /dɪˈstɹɛs/ (zelfstandig naamwoord) — druk, stress. Physical or emotional discomfort, suffering, or alarm, particularly of a more acute nature.
bone /boʊn/ (zelfstandig naamwoord) — been. A composite material consisting largely of calcium phosphate and collagen and making up the skeleton of most vertebrates.
aspect /ˈæspɛkt/ (zelfstandig naamwoord) — aspect. Any specific feature, part, or element of something.
volunteer /ˌvɑlənˈtɪɹ/ (zelfstandig naamwoord) — vrijwilliger, vrijwilligster. One who enters into, or offers themselves for, any service of their own free will, especially when done without pay.
detect /dɪˈtɛkt/ (werkwoord) — detecteren. To discover or find by careful search, examination, or probing.
donation /doʊˈneɪʃən/ (zelfstandig naamwoord) — schenking. A voluntary gift or contribution for a specific cause.
characteristic /ˌkæɹ(ə)ktəˈɹɪstɪk/ (zelfstandig naamwoord) — trekje, karakteristiek. A distinguishing feature of a person or thing, a part of mental or physical behavior.

Phrasal verbs die je zult horen

drive off (werkwoord) — verjagen. To force to leave or go away.
figure out (werkwoord) — uitvogelen, er achter komen. To come to understand; to discover or find a solution; to deduce.
find out (werkwoord) — ontdekken, onderzoeken. To discover, as by asking or investigating.

Uitspraak om op te letten

De spreker gebruikt 29 samentrekkingen en verkorte vormen, zoals don't, I'm, they're. Spreek ze kort uit, zoals je ze hoort.

De “th”-klanken: worthy /ˈwɝ.ði/, wealthy /ˈwɛl.θi/, altogether /ɔl.tuˈɡɛð.ɚ/, psychopathic /ˌsaɪkoʊˈpæθɪk/, psychopath /ˈsaɪkəʊpæθ/
De klanken “sh” en “zh”: compassion /kəmˈpæʃ.ən/, compassionate /kəmˈpæʃənət/, donation /doʊˈneɪʃən/, unusual /ʌnˈjuːʒ(u)əl/, punishment /ˈpʌnɪʃmənt/
Lange woorden — let op de klemtoon: extraordinary /ɪksˈtɹɔːrdɪn(ə)ɹi/, ordinary /ˈɔɹdɪnɛɹi/, compassionate /kəmˈpæʃənət/, characteristic /ˌkæɹ(ə)ktəˈɹɪstɪk/, inherently /ɪnˈhɛɹəntli/

Zo oefen je met deze video

Luister de hele video één keer zonder te spreken en noteer de woorden die je niet kent.
Begin op 0,75× snelheid, spreek zin voor zin na en ga terug naar normale snelheid zodra het makkelijk gaat.
Neem jezelf op en vergelijk met het origineel; let daarbij op woorden als compassion, extraordinary, kidney.

Grammatica in deze video

De structuren die de spreker het meest gebruikt, met de exacte woorden uit de video:

Structuur	In de video
Betrekkelijke bijzinnen who / which + zin — extra informatie over een persoon of ding	people who engage · man who rescued · obviously, which is
Present perfect have/has + voltooid deelwoord — iets uit het verleden dat nu nog telt	I've devoted · have shown · has now shown
Lijdende vorm be + voltooid deelwoord — het gaat om wat er gebeurt, niet om wie het doet	had been done · is called · can be removed

Wat is de Shadowing-techniek?

Shadowing is een wetenschappelijk onderbouwde taalleermethode die oorspronkelijk is ontwikkeld voor professionele tolkentraining en gepopulariseerd door polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. De methode is eenvoudig maar krachtig: je luistert naar native Engelse audio en herhaalt het onmiddellijk hardop — als een schaduw die de spreker volgt met slechts 1–2 seconden vertraging. In tegenstelling tot passief luisteren of grammaticadrills, dwingt shadowing je hersenen en mondspieren om echte spraakpatronen tegelijkertijd te verwerken en te reproduceren. Onderzoek toont aan dat het de uitspraaknauwkeurigheid, intonatie, ritme, verbonden spraak, luisterbegrip en spreekvaardigheid aanzienlijk verbetert — waardoor het een van de meest effectieve methoden is voor IELTS Speaking-voorbereiding en echte Engelse communicatie.

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Woordenschat en spreektips bij deze les

Belangrijke woorden in deze video

Phrasal verbs die je zult horen

Uitspraak om op te letten

Zo oefen je met deze video

Grammatica in deze video

Wat is de Shadowing-techniek?

Shadowing Practice: 26 июля 2026 г. - Learn English Speaking with Video

27 июля 2026 г.