Answer — Exercise 5
1 - Talking my language·Outcomes Intermediate - Student's Book
Question
Read the article and check your ideas from Exercise 4.
Answer
- 72 → it was said that the Italian priest Cardinal Giuseppe Mezzofanti studied 72 languages.
- two weeks → one story suggested he picked up Ukrainian in just two weeks after meeting a visitor from Ukraine.
- a parrot → some people said that even though the Cardinal had a good accent and accurate grammar, he was basically just a parrot, who never said anything interesting.
- globalisation → globalisation will lead to a growing number of hyperglots, according to the writer Michael Erard.
- translator: Hungarian translator Kato Lomb worked with 16 languages.
- genes → super-talented people often have natural advantages that they are born with, so for instance, top athletes may have genes that allow them to get the most from training.
- 10,000 → it has been argued that the difference between a top performer and someone who’s just ‘very good’ is that the performer has practised for 10,000 hours instead of 6,000.
- mistakes → hyperglots are never afraid to make mistakes or appear stupid and so never give up.