Summarize Spoken Text Answers

Exercise 1

1) The speaker argues that although Western economies have expanded since the 1950’s, there has been no parallel growth in happiness. Surveys indicate that rich people generally say they are happier than poor people, but it appears that although individuals may become happier society as a whole does not. One possible answer is that people soon become accustomed to improvements and so do not appreciate them.

2) It is planned to move South Korea’s capital from Seoul to a central site by 2012, at a cost of $45 billion. Although Seoul is crowded and too near the border, critics claim that this scheme will be too expensive and take too long. Businesses are unlikely to move away from Seoul when the government does. Other countries have experienced severe problems with capital relocation.

Exercise 2

1) Insulin as a treatment for diabetes was not widely accepted for many months because doctors had become skeptical about the legitimacy of medical discoveries as reported in newspapers and by some less professional medical journals.

2) Video games can bring about a lot of ill effects. Children who play too much video games tend to lose interest in their studies when the games become a priority to them. Moreover, the games can be addictive. Children become antisocial because they hardly mix with people. In addition, children tend to spend too much money on these expensive games.