Embarrassed? Blame Your Brain Cultural References

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Remember when you could pick your nose in public or run outside in your underpants without a second thought? These days, you flood with embarrassment if your dad sings in front of your friends or you drop a tray in the cafeteria.

*Embarrassment is when you feel silly or ashamed for something you or somebody else does.

Multiple Choice

What does embarrassment mean?

• Embarrassment is when you feel that nobody wants you to be a part of their group.

• Embarrassment is when feel silly or ashamed for something you or somebody else does.

​No big surprise—teens in these Cyberball experiments feel sad and rejected. The surprising part? Rejection activates the same brain systems that physical pain triggers. Brain scans show that rejection fires up the “Ow!” part of our brain that makes pain upsetting. Without this pain-response system, we would recognize physical pain, but it wouldn’t bother us. This physical pain system also responds to many kinds of social pain, like thinking about a breakup or being called boring.

*Rejection is when you feel like nobody wants you to be part of their group.

Multiple Choice

What does rejection mean?

• Rejection is when you feel like nobody wants you to be a part of their group.

• Rejection is when you feel silly or ashamed for something you or someone else does.

In the English language just like in all languages we have some idioms which mean that the words don't always mean what they say. Here are some definitions of each word or phrase that may be confusing.

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• fitting in (paragraph 3): being accepted by others and feeling like part of the group

• tackle a challenge (paragraph 4): try something hard (not something about a sport)

• broken hearted (paragraph 5): very sad

• tug-of-war (paragraph 10): a game in which two sides pull a rope in opposite directions

• potty break (paragraph 14): a silly name for going to the bathroom

​Cultural References

Drag and Drop

broken hearted​

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potty break​

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tug-of-war​

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fitting in​ ​

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tackle a challenge​

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Drag these tiles and drop them in the correct blank above

This means that someone is very sad.

This is a silly name for going to the bathroom.

two sides pull a rope in the opposite direction

accepted by others, feeling like part of a group

trying something hard

Multiple Choice

Hurt feelings means-

• a silly name for going to the bathroom

• feeling sad because of the way you are treated

• very sad