Allison Hunt: How to get (a new) hip

I enjoyed teaching this English listening lesson to an orthopedic surgeon in Istanbul.

Listen to the TED talk Allison Hunt: How to get (a new) hip for the answers to these questions:

1. What type of surgery does the speaker need?
2. Is she in pain before the surgery? 
3. How long is the wait?
4. How does she feel?
5. How much is the surgery?
6. What is the sign in the lobby?
7. Where does she volunteer?
8. Is she younger or older than the other volunteers?
9. Who does she want to talk to in the gift shop?
10. Does she complain about the pain?
11. What is the Canadian way to get in the front of the line?
12. What does she put on the chair in the doctor office?
13. How does she get in the front of the line?
14. After the surgery, does she continue to volunteer at the gift shop?
15. What does this say about the way Canadians cheat?

Here are the answers:

1. hip
2. yes
3. 28 months
4. desperate
5. free
6. "volunteers needed"
7. the hospital lobby's gift shop
8. younger
9. hospital staff
10. yes
11. Be polite and let the other person go first. Say "after you!"
12. volunteer vest
13. yes
14. volunteer
15. Cheat in a way that benefits society.

Find examples of these ideas and verbs in the interactive transcript:

• to find out → to discover something with effort
• to take something into your own hands → to act
• to cover the costs of something → to pay for something for someone
• to do something for free → to volunteer
• to give something for free → to donate
• to pay out of pocket → to pay for something fully with your own money
• to cut the line → to get in front of everyone else in line
• to wait in line
• to get to know → to become more familiar with

Discuss these questions:

1. What are the benefits of volunteering?
2. Where would you like to volunteer?
3. How do people cheat to get their way in your culture and society?
4. When would you take problems into your own hands? When would you act now rather than wait?