The Walking school Bus

In recent years there has been a significant decline in the number of school
children who walk to school ach day, compared with previous generations. In an
attempt to alter this trend, a healthy and environmentallyconscious movement
called the walking school bus has been developed and promoted in some school
districts. The main goal is to have students walk to school, under the guidance of
adults, and thus enjoy the benefits of physical activity.
On a walking school bus a “driver” (an adult) calls at specific stops along a set
route to collect “passengers” (children) and they walk together to school. At the
end of the school day, all of the walking school bus riders and drivers congregate
at a designated school location and begin the walking journey to each passenger’s
home simply reversing their earlier route. It has been suggested that , for safety
purposes, a driver should be at the front of the “bus” and a conductor should walk
at the rear. Families can depend on the consistency of the walking school bus ,
which operates on a regular timetable regardless of the weather.
The walking school bus concept originated in 1998 in St Alban’s, England, as a
result of parental concerns over speeding vehicles and children’s safety. The idea
spread through Britain and was adopted quickly in Australia, New Zealand and
Canada. Because of the social and physical benefits of the walking school bus , the
number of such programs has continued to grow in these locations. In the USA ,
however, walking school bus programs have not caught on as quickly. Hopefully
the number of such programs there will multiply as people recognize their
numerous advantages.
Perhaps the greatest advantage of a walking school bus is the health benefits of
regular physical exercise. With the rise of childhood obesity, this is a significant
factor. Studies show that approximately 14 % of young people are not physically
active, while approximately 10 % of children age 2 to 6, and 15 % of children aged
6 to 19 in the USA are considered overweight. The implementation of the walking
school bus may support efforts to reduce these substantial percentages.
The 15 to 20-minute walk each morning and afternoon also provides children with
the time to socialize before and after their school day. Sarah, a 2nd grader, was
asked whether or not she enjoys “riding the bus” each morning and afternoon and
she responded . “The best part about the bus is that I get to talk to my friends”.
Having the opportunity to chat with friends was enjoyed by those children
interviewed.
Furthermore, as increasing number of children participate in the walking bus
program, fewer parents are driving their children to and from school, which
improves the quality of the urban environment by reducing traffic congestion and
pollution in the area. The school authorities in Auckland, New Zealand, analyzed
traffic problems outside an elementary school before and after the implementation
of the walking bus and it is reported that there were on average 19 fewer cars
during drop off and pick up times.
Finally, the walking school bus helps create positive school image in the local
community. In addition to providing children with physical exercise, safety and
socialization, the image of young learners walking to and from school affects all
those who witness it. From dog walkers to car drivers, members of the entire
community enjoy watching “the bus” go by, and may be reminded of their own
personal school experiences. The program is now a feature in many cities and can
be seen as a part of a broader international movement to encourage childhood
health and improve the environment.

BLIND TO DETAILS
Having trouble coping with the complexity of modern life? If so, it could be that
your brain is stuck in the Stone Age, as Roger Highfield explains.
Look around and you could be forgiven for believing that you can see a vivid and
detailed picture of your surroundings. Indeed, you may even think that your eyes
never deceive you. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for your brain.
Scientists have gathered some remarkable evidence which shows that it is possible
to see something without observing it, in research that sheds new light on traffic
accidents that occur when a driver 'looked but failed to see", and other examples of
our limited observation skills.
The astonishing lack of attention we pay to our surroundings has been highlighted
by research conducted by Dr Daniel Simons, of the University of Illinois. In one
experiment, people who were walking across a college campus were asked by a
stranger for directions. During the resulting conversation, two men carrying a
wooden door passed between the stranger and the subject". After the door went by,
the subject was asked if they had been surprised by anything. Half of those tested
failed to notice that, as the door passed by, a shorter, darker man was in the
stranger's place. Sure enough, although the subjects had talked to the stranger for
10-15 seconds before the swap, Simons discovered that half of them were not
aware that, after the passing of the door, they had ended up speaking to another
person.
This phenomenon highlights how we see much less than we think we do. Dr
Simons came up with another demonstration based on a videotape of people
playing basketball. He played the tape to subjects and asked them to count the
passes made by one of the teams. Around half failed to spot a woman dressed in a
gorilla suit who walked slowly across the scene for nine seconds, even though the
'gorilla' had passed between the players and stopped the face the camera and thump
its chest. It shows, he says, that when people are really focused on something, they
can be 'blind' to other features in the background. However, if people were simply
asked to view the tape, they noticed the gorilla easily.
Two teams have since reported complementary studies that underline our limited
capacity to hold a visual scene in short-term memory (VSTM), such as a passing
gorilla, revealing how our 'visual notebook' is controlled by a tiny region of the
brain called the posterior partietal cortex, near the back of the head. The studies
were published in the journal Nature by Dr Edward Vogel of the University of
Oregon, Eugene, and by Professor Rene Marois of Vanderbilt University,
Nashville. Subjects are capable when it comes to remembering four or fewer
objects in a scene but are often mistaken describing displays containing more,
indicating that the storage capacity of our VSTM is about four.
"Although we have the impression we are taking in great deal of information from
a visual scene, we are actually very poor at describing it in detail once it is gone
from our sight" said Professor Marois. In the case of the door experiment, for
example, it seems that the visual short-term memory capacity of the subjects meant
that they did not retain enough details to spot that they were talking to a new
person. According to Professor Brian Butterworth, this visual memory may also be
linked to intelligence. In the same way that a computer with a large working
memory can tackle problems more quickly, people with greater capacity for
retaining images may be more logical and have better problem-solving skills. And
there may be a link with mathematical skills, notably substituting — the capacity
to instantly know the exact number of objects on a screen without the need to
count.
"there have been some arguments that limits on visual memory are related to the
number of items we can attend to at once as well as to limits on the number of
items we can count at a glance (typically both have capacity estimates of around
three or four)," added Dr Simons. "I'm not yet convinced that the link is direct or if
there are nay casual relationships between these processes, but three or four does
appear a lot in cognitive psychology." This research has more serious implications.
This memory limitation could contribute to traffic accidents, said Dr Vogel,
because of the need to maintain and monitor information about other cars,
pedestrians and cyclists. "While this hasn't been tested directly, it seems highly
plausible that racing drivers have higher VSTM capacity of four was probably not
much of a problem in the relatively slow-paced lives of our hunter-gatherer
ancestor. But the stressful pace of modern life, he says, is stretching out Stone Age
brains to the limit.
Matching
Look at the following claims (questions 1-5) and the list of people
Match each claim with the person who made it
You may use any letter more than once
List of people
A. Dr Daniel Simons
B. Dr Edward Vogel
C. Professor Rene Marois
D. Professor Brian Butterworth

1. People's brains are more challenged now than they used to be.
2. It's possible that people with good visual memories are also clear thinkers.
3. Concentration on one subject may prevent people from noticing other details
in a scene.
4. People tend to overestimate their ability to accurately remember visual
details.
5. People do not always notice significant change in visual details.
Summary with choice of possible answers
Complete the summary below using words from the box
According to recent research into traffic accidents, a person's ability to observe
what is going on around them can be quite (1) …. In one test, people were not
(2) .... that during a conversation with a stranger, someone else had taken the
stranger's place. In another test, people were so (3) ….. during a basketball game
they didn't notice someone dressed up in a gorilla suit in the background. Further
similar studies revealed how most people are only (4) …. of storing about four
objects from a scene in their short-term memory. It is also thought that a person
who has higher than average ability to recall visual scenes is likely to be(5) ….
when it comes to solving difficult problems. However, as the average person sees
and recalls four things only, this can make life in today's world seem rather (6) ….
Blind detailed visual stressful remarkable surprised
Sure focused large limited mistaken capable
Aware slow logical
WRITING
You should spend about 45 minutes on this task
As part of a class assignment, you have to write about the following topic.
Some people believe that television has brought many benefits to people 's lives.
Other believe that it has had a negative effect. Discuss both of these views and give
your own opinions..
You should write at least 250 words