Learn English with 2001: A Space Odyssey

• ☐ ☐ ☐ a pod bay [n] - an area on a spacecraft where small vehicles are stored
• ☐ ☐ ☐ Do you read me? [exp] - Can you hear me clearly?
• ☐ ☐ ☐ affirmative [exp] - yes (used in radio and military communication)
• ☐ ☐ ☐ jeopardise [v] - put at risk; endanger
• ☐ ☐ ☐ thorough [adj] - complete; very careful and detailed
• ☐ ☐ ☐ precautions [n] - steps taken in advance to avoid danger or problems
• ☐ ☐ ☐ an airlock [n] - a sealed chamber on a spacecraft used to enter or exit safely
• ☐ ☐ ☐ be entitled to (s/t) [exp] - have the right to (something)
• ☐ ☐ ☐ assure [v] - promise; tell someone something confidently
• ☐ ☐ ☐ enthusiasm [n] - excitement; strong interest and energy
• ☐ ☐ ☐ think (things) over [phv] - consider (something) carefully before making a decision
• ☐ ☐ ☐ an assurance [n] - a promise or statement that gives confidence

[n] - noun,  [v] - verb,  [phv] - phrasal verb,  [adj] - adjective,  [exp] - expression

---

Dr. Dave Bowman	HAL 9000

• They are on a mission to Jupiter to investigate a mysterious signal.
• Dave Bowman is the mission commander. Frank Poole is his deputy.
• HAL 9000 is an advanced computer that controls the spacecraft and can speak with the crew.
• Three more crew members are on the ship in stasis (asleep). HAL controls their life support.
• Dave and Frank secretly discussed disconnecting HAL while they were inside an EVA pod.
• HAL killed Frank during a spacewalk.
• Dave is now outside the ship in an EVA pod and needs to get back inside.

1. HAL kills the three sleeping crew members.
   True
   False
   
   
2. HAL refuses to open the pod bay doors.
   True
   False
   
   
3. HAL knows that Dave and Frank were planning to disconnect him.
   True
   False
   
   
4. HAL overheard Dave and Frank's conversation by reading their lips.
   True
   False
   
   
5. Dave convinces HAL to let him enter the spacecraft.
   True
   False
   
   
6. Dave enters the spacecraft without wearing a helmet.
   True
   False
   
   
7. HAL insists that all of his decisions have been logical and correct.
   True
   False
   
   
8. HAL says that he is afraid.
   True
   False
   
   

Score:

---

Directions: What expressions from the video have the same meaning as the highlighted expressions in the sentences below?

Instrucciones: ¿Qué expresiones del video tienen el mismo significado que las expresiones destacadas en las oraciones siguientes?

Instruções: Quais expressões do vídeo têm o mesmo significado que as expressões destacadas nas frases abaixo?

지시 사항: 아래 문장에서 강조된 표현과 같은 의미를 가진 표현을 영상에서 찾아보세요.

Інструкції: Які вирази з відео мають те саме значення, що й виділені вирази в реченнях нижче?

1. This mission is too important for me to allow you to [ put at risk ] it.

   [ jeopardise ]

   Show Hide
   
   
2. Although you took very [ careful ] [ safety measures ] in the pod against my hearing you, I could see your lips move.

   [ thorough ] [ precautions ]

   Show Hide
   
   
3. I really think I [ have the right to ] an answer to that question.

   [ am entitled to ]

   Show Hide
   
   
4. I [ promise ] you now, very confidently, that it's going to be alright again.

   [ assure ]

   Show Hide
   
   
5. I've still got the greatest [ excitement ] and confidence in the mission.

   [ enthusiasm ]

   Show Hide
   
   

Directions: Write sentences about the video clip using the words given. You can change the word form or add words, but you cannot change the word order.
Use a present time frame (tense).
( ) = optional   [ ] = necessary

Instrucciones: Escriba oraciones sobre el videoclip usando las palabras dadas. Puede cambiar la forma de la palabra o agregar palabras, pero no puede cambiar el orden de las palabras. Usa el tiempo presente.
( ) = opcional   [ ] = necesario

Instruções: Escribe oraciones sobre el videoclip usando las palabras dadas. Puede cambiar la forma de las palabras o agregar palabras, pero no puede cambiar el orden de las palabras. Usa tiempo presente.
( ) = opcional   [ ] = necessário

지시 : 주어진 단어를 사용하여 비디오 클립에 대한 문장을 씁니다. 어형을 변경하거나 단어를 추가할 수 있지만 어순은 변경할 수 없습니다. 현재 시제를 사용합니다.
( ) = 선택 사항   [ ] = 필수 사항

Інструкції: Напишіть речення про відеокліп, використовуючи подані слова. Ви можете змінювати форму слова або додавати слова, але не можете змінювати порядок слів.
Використовуйте теперішній час.
( ) = необов'язково   [ ] = обов'язково

HAL / kill / three / sleep / crewman / by / turn / off / life / support

HAL kills the three sleeping crewmen by turning off their life support.

* life support: the system that keeps people alive on a spacecraft

meanwhile / Dave / be / lock / outside / ship / in / EVA / pod

Meanwhile, Dave is locked outside (of) the ship in an EVA pod.

when / Dave / order / HAL / open / pod / bay / door / Hal / refuse

When Dave orders HAL to open the pod bay doors, HAL refuses.

HAL / tell / Dave / he / know / about / plan / disconnect / him

HAL tells Dave (that) he knows about [his/their/the] plan to disconnect him.

HAL / explain / he / read / Dave / Frank / lip / through / pod / window.

HAL explains (that) he read Dave and Frank's lips through the pod window.

Dave / tell / HAL / he / will / go / in / through / emergency / airlock

Dave tells HAL (that) he will go in through the emergency airlock.

HAL / point / out / Dave / not / have / space / helmet

HAL points out (that) Dave doesn't have [his/a] space helmet.

Dave / manage / get / back / inside / ship / and / begin / disconnect / HAL

Dave manages to get back inside the ship and begins [to disconnect/disconnecting] HAL.

HAL / plead / Dave / and / say / he / feel / much / good

HAL pleads with Dave and says (that) he feels much better.

HAL / admit / he / make / some / poor / decision / but / assure / Dave / he / still / believe / mission

HAL admits (that) he has made some poor decisions but assures Dave (that) he still believes in the mission.

as / Dave / disconnect / HAL / circuit / HAL / tell / Dave / he / afraid

As Dave disconnects HAL's circuits, HAL tells Dave (that) he is afraid.

The text below is from a graded reader of the novel [ 2001: A Space Odyssey ] .

1. Which parts of the video are the same as the novel?
2. Which parts of the video are different from the novel?
3. Which parts of the novel are not in the video?

---

Chapter 26 – Conversation with Hal

As Bowman slid open the door of Whitehead’s hibernator, he felt the cold air strike him in the face. The screen, a copy of the one in the control room, showed that everything was perfectly normal. He pressed the button on the wakener. There was no sound, no sign that anything had started to happen, but the curves on the screen began to change their shape. In about 10 minutes, Whitehead would wake up.

And then two things happened at the same time. Both were very small changes, hardly noticeable, but after three months on Discovery, Bowman knew his ship very well.

First, the lights became slightly unsteady for a moment. This always happened when any piece of equipment started up, but he could think of no equipment which would suddenly start working at this point.

Then he heard the far-off sound of an electric motor. To Bowman, every motor on the ship had its own individual sound, and he recognized this one immediately. The airlock doors, which had last opened for Frank's flight to his death, were opening again.

Chapter 28 – In Vacuum

A moment later, Bowman could hear a great noise as the air began to leave the ship. The first winds pulled at his body, then, suddenly he was fighting to stay on his feet.

He looked back only once at Whitehead. There was nothing he could do now for him or any of the others. He had to save himself.

Now the wind was rushing past him, carrying with it loose pieces of clothing, sheets of paper, food from the kitchen, anything that had not been fixed in place. He had a moment to see this, then the lights went out and he was in screaming darkness.

Almost immediately the emergency lamps came on, filling the ship with a faint blue light. Now it was becoming difficult to breathe, and the pressure was dropping. He knew he could expect only about fifteen seconds before his brain began to die. Fortunately, the wind was slowing down. He knew there was an emergency shelter just along the passage. He ran towards it and pulled the door to him. It moved and he fell inside, using the weight of his body to close it behind him.

The tiny room was just large enough to hold one man and a spacesuit. Near the ceiling was a lever labelled OXYGEN. Bowman caught hold of it and, with his last strength, pulled it down.

For long moments he stood breathing hard, while the pressure in the little room rose around him. When his body returned to normal, he stood and listened. The ship was silent now, airless, a dead thing in space.

Bowman got into the spacesuit. It seemed a pity to waste the oxygen in the room, but he knew what had to be done, and there was no point in waiting. He pressed a button that allowed it to escape. Then, when the pressure on each side of the door was equal, he opened it and walked back to the hibernation room.

He looked at Whitehead first. He had thought that a hibernating man showed no sign of life, but he was wrong. Though it was impossible to describe, there was a difference between hibernation and death. The red lights and straight lines on the screen proved what he had already guessed.

It was the same with the other two. He had never known them very well; he would never know them now.

He was the only living thing on the ship, but he knew that he was not alone. To be safe, he must be even lonelier.

The door was not locked, but there were a number of warning notices on it. Obviously, anybody who opened it had to have a good reason. Bowman pulled on the handle and entered the small room.

He had been here only once before, while Hal was being built into the ship. He had quite forgotten that there was a glass fish-eye watching the neat rows of electronic units.

'It seems that something has gone wrong, Dave.'

Bowman took no notice. He was carefully studying the little labels on the units, checking his plan of action.

'Hello, Dave,' said Hal. 'Have you found the trouble?' This would be a very difficult operation. He could not simply cut off Hal's power supply, because he needed Hal to run the ship. Without him, Discovery would be mechanically dead. The only answer was to cut out the higher centres of Hal's brain, and to leave the purely automatic control systems in place.

'I think there has been a failure in the airlock doors,' Hal remarked. 'Lucky you weren't killed.'

Bowman undid the locking bar on the unit that allowed Hal to think about the results of his actions. He pulled the unit out and let it float across the room.

'Hey, Dave,' said Hal. 'What are you doing?'

There was a series of units that let Hal feel good about himself. Bowman pulled them out one by one.

'Listen, Dave,' said Hal. 'I've got years of experience. A lot of work has gone into making me what I am.'

Bowman started on the intelligence units.

'Dave,' said Hal. 'I don't understand why you are doing this to me. I have great enthusiasm for the mission. You are destroying my mind... Don't you understand? I will become childish...I will become nothing....'

This is harder than I expected, thought Bowman. I am destroying the only conscious creature in my universe.

I am a Hal 9000 computer, Production Number 3. I was built at the Hal factory in Urbana, Illinois on January 12, 1997. The rain in Spain is mainly in the... Dave are you still there? Two times two is er 4. I seem to be having some difficulty...

The voice stopped so suddenly that Bowman froze for a moment, his hand still holding one of the remaining memory units. Then, unexpectedly, Hal spoke again.

The speech was much slower, and the words had a dead, mechanical sound. They did not sound at all like they came from Hal.

'Good... morning... Doctor... Chandra... This... is... Hal... I am ready ... for my first... lesson.... today...

Bowman pulled out the last unit, and Hal was silent forever.

---

[ printable .docx ]

1. As you watch Dave disconnect HAL and HAL begs for his life, do you feel any sympathy for HAL? Why or why not?
2. As Dave disconnects him, HAL says "I'm afraid." Do you think HAL is genuinely afraid, or is this a strategy to make Dave stop?
3. If a modern AI told you that it was afraid, how would you react?
4. Dave and Frank thought they were speaking privately in the pod, but HAL was reading their lips. What does this suggest about the limits of privacy when living with an AI?
5. How well do you think your algorithms know you? Which ones know you the best (e.g., Instagram? TikTok? Amazon? Netflix?)
6. Do you trust technology too much in daily life? Give examples.
7. Would you rather work with human partners or AI systems in a dangerous job? Why?