READING. Task 2. Read the text and do the task. Cool Jobs: Doing real science in virtual worlds. For many years, Wim Veling used VR to help patients overcome phobias, or fears. As a psychiatrist, he treats patients with mental-health disorders. Veling works at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. A person with a fear of heights, for instance, might wear a VR headset and practice standing on top of a virtual building. When that person feels comfortable with a low-rise building, he or she can move to a higher one, Veling explains. This technique is called exposure therapy. It involves exposing people to frightening situations without putting them in true danger. Veling also treats patients with other mental-health disorders. These include depression and anxiety. Such patients can have problems with nervousness, irritability, sleeping and concentrating. "It can be very difficult to relax if you are feeling depressed or anxious," he notes. Some people with these disorders try therapy with animals to help them feel calm. One form, known as dolphin therapy, has patients swim with the marine mammals. But there can be drawbacks to this. Dolphins are big, strong animals. So swimming with them can be dangerous. Some people, of course, cannot swim. They may even be afraid of immersing themselves in open waters. Veling needed evidence that the video actually helped people. So he started a small experiment to see if virtually swimming with dolphins helped his patients relax. To test this, he had his patients watch the video through a VR headset. At the same time, Veling watched them for signs of stress. He counts how fast his patients' hearts beat. He also measures whether they're tensing their muscles and how much they sweat. A rapid heartbeat, muscle tension and sweating are signs that someone is not very relaxed, he says. He cannot say with certainty that the VR sessions are helpful. He's still gathering data. But he does hope to have some answers soon. Veling plans to make the dolphin immersion video available to the public in the next year so that anyone with a VR headset can try it at home. He hopes it will be a new way for people to relax. Mark the sentences with TRUE or FALSE. 1. Wim Veling treats patients with mental-health disorders. 2. Exposure therapy helps patients overcome phobias, or fears. 3. Veling doesn't treat patients with depression and anxiety. 4. Dolphin therapy can be dangerous because dolphins are big and strong animals. Answer the questions based on the text. 5. Why did Wim Veling choose dolphins as the subject of his VR video? 6. What are three ways that Veling measures whether his patients are relaxed?

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