Rebecca: and me, Rebecca Byrne. Hi.
Dima: Rebecca, can I begin by asking you a very very simple question? How would
you describe yourself?
Rebecca: Responds.
Dima: Sounds like a pretty accurate description to me | but its not your height,
weight, or built that were going to talk about today.
Rebecca: What then?
Dima: Your hair colour!
Rebecca: Responds + short
exchange with Dima.
Dima: today well be talking about how your natural looks | and in particular your
hair colour | can tell others what kind of person you are | or at least reveal
some of your qualities.
Rebecca: Responds
Dima: Yes, and I would like you to begin with the expression ginger whingeing.
6 Minute English bbclearningenglish.com 2009
Page 2 of 4
Rebecca: I havent heard it before but I guess it refers to an opinion that some of us who
are redheads, also known as ginger heads, complain about things more often
than others. There will be the phrase fiery temper. If you have a fiery temper,
you get very angry, or extremely excited quite easily. Well hear the term
scientific backing, which means that something has been proved or /confirm/ied
by a scientific study. And finally the verb to avoid, meaning to manage not to
do something, to stay away from something or someone.
Dima: So thats to avoid, scientific backing, fiery temper and ginger whingeing.
Rebecca: Yes, thats right. Listen now to our correspondent Matt McGrath, a redhead
himself. Hes talking about a recent study involving redheads | of course this is
just one of many studies, not textbook material, but I thought it was interesting.
As youre listening, try to catch todays key vocabulary, and also see if after
listening you can answer this question: during the study, who or what did the
group of redheads try to avoid?
Dima: Lets listen to find out:
Clip 1 019
We redheads are well known for our fiery tempers. Now it seems there is scientific backing
for our ginger whingeing as well. Scientists in the United States studied a group of 144 dental
patients, almost half of whom had red hair. They found that the red hair group were more
sensitive to pain and as a result were twice as likely to avoid visiting the dentist.
Rebecca: Matt McGrath says that redheads, including himself, are well known for their
fiery tempers. They have a reputation for complaining a lot, or as our reporter
put it, for their ginger whingeing. And, because it can sometimes hurt, they
even try to avoid visiting dentists! However, it looks like not all of this is down
to temper alone. There is a newly discovered scientific reason.
6 Minute English bbclearningenglish.com 2009
Page 3 of 4
Dima: In a moment well hear from Professor Daniel Sessler, one of the authors of the
study at the Cleveland Clinic in the United States. But before that Rebecca, I
need you to explain two more terms for us. One is anaesthetic requirement.
Rebecca: Someones anaesthetic requirement is how many painkillers they need before
surgery, such as dental treatment, can be performed on them.
Dima: And secondly, the word phenotype.
Rebecca: This is a scientific term. It describes how a certain quality of yours shows in
your physical appearance.
Dima: Thanks Rebecca. OK, now, armed with all this knowledge, shall we have a go
at this weeks question?
Rebecca: Responds
Dima: Imagine seeing a couple of people walking along the street. Do you think its
possible to tell which one in each pair is likely to be more sensitive to pain? Is
it
a) an older person as opposed to a younger person
b) a man as opposed to a woman, or
c) a red haired person as opposed to someone with a differently coloured hair?
What do you think Rebecca?
Rebecca: Guesses
Dima: Well check your answer in a minute but first, heres Professor Daniel Sessler
with his explanation:
6 Minute English bbclearningenglish.com 2009
Page 4 of 4
Clip 2 029
Red hair is the first phenotype for anaesthetic requirement in humans. And what I mean by
phenotype is external characteristic. So lets say youre walking down the street, and you see
somebody whos a little older and
a little younger | that tells you nothing
about their anaesthetic requirement. You see a man and a woman | that tells you nothing
about their anaesthetic requirement. But you see a redhead | aha! You know that person is
going to require 20% more general anaesthesia.
Dima: OK Rebecca, did you manage to hear the answer to this weeks question?
Rebecca: Well it sounds like the first two comparisons dont really tell you anything. A
woman can suffer from pain to no lesser extent than a man, and a younger
person, just as much as an older one. However, if youre a ginger head, youre
more sensitive to pain | which means that my earlier guess was right/wrong.
Dima: Responds | and of course you can find out more about this story by simply
following the links from our website, bbclearningenglish.com. You can also
find out what people in the Learning English team look like by clicking on
Meet the team.
Rebecca: Comments.
Dima: Im afraid thats all we have time for. Until next week.
Both: Goodbye!
