‫המכללה האקדמית אשקלון‬
‫‪LD‬‬
‫לשימוש פנימי ולצורכי לימוד בלבד‬
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART 1 - READING STRATEGIES
page
o
Student obligations and grading guidelines
3
o
Overview of the Structure of an Academic Article
7
o
Reading Techniques
8
o
Recognizing the Structure of an Article
10
o
Computer, Networks and Education
11
o
A Guide to Reading and Analyzing Academic Articles
15
o
Word Formation
17
o
Integrate or Disintegrate? That Is the Question
26
o
References
28
o
Seeing the Forest for the Trees
30
o
The Real Odessa File
34
o
Connecting Ideas
39
o
Connectors
40
o
Listing and Sequencing
41
o
Legalize? No, Deglamorize
42
o
Cause and Effect
47
o
Assimilation Versus Pluralism
49
o
Fixing a World that Fosters Fat
52
o
General Idea and Supporting Detail
55
o
Lying as America’s Pastime
57
o
Plagues, Man & History
60
o
Living with the Virus
62
o
Were You Influenced?
67
o
Comparison and Contrast
69
o
The Evil that Two Men Did
69
o
Emotional Smarts Key to Navigating Life Challenges
73
o
Inference
75
o
A Summary of Patterns of Organization
77
o
Sentence Structure
79
o
US Court Upholding Law Allowing Assisted Suicide
86
o
Vocabulary - Word Learning Strategies
91
o
Making Meaning
93
o
Avoiding War Over Natural Resources
98
o
Word Lists of Synonyms
105
o
Word Lists by Categories
107
o
Active and Passive
117
1
Academic Articles for Study – PART 2
o
Two Countries, Intertwined
121 (Main idea + supporting detail)
o
Designing Babies
126 (connectors)
o
Drugs and Crime
133
o
Mob Rule
139 (listing)
o
Avoiding War over Natural Resources
148
o
Bicultural Competence
155
o
Bilingual Children’s Mother Tongue
162
o
Remediation Training Improves Reading Ability…
169 (structure of an article)
o
Will We Follow the Sheep
174 (Main idea + supporting detail)
o
An Ounce of Prevention
180
o
The Economics of Smoking
183 (comparison & contrast)
o
The Next Petroleum
191 (vocabulary – UP/DOWN)
o
The Duel of the Diamonds
198
2
STUDENT OBLIGATIONS
ATTENDANCE
Attendance is required at all classes. No more than 2 absences per semester are allowed.
A student with numerous absences will not be given an internal grade (which constitutes 60% of the
final grade) or may not be allowed to continue his English course that year/semester.
GROUND RULES
Lateness for class is unacceptable no matter what the reason may be. Students will not be allowed
to enter the classroom after the first 10 minutes of the lesson. Therefore, they will be considered
absent.
Other unacceptable behavior patterns:
1) early departures from lessons
2) cellular phones may not be switched on during lessons
3) food and drink during a lesson
4) switching class from one to another because of a student’s changing needs.
Once a student has signed up for a particular course with a specific instructor, he may not
attend a lesson given at a different hour even if the instructor is the same. All of the class
hours must suit the student. Otherwise, he should not be enrolled in that particular course.
CLASS ASSIGNMENTS
Homework will be assigned regularly and must be completed for the next lesson. If you were ill or in
the army reserves and could not attend the lesson, you are expected to contact someone from your
group in order to complete your homework assignment. Hand in the completed assignment
immediately upon your return to class.
TESTS
If a student knows he will not be able to take a scheduled test, it is his responsibility to inform his
instructor so that appropriate measures can be taken.
If a student has missed a test, it is his obligation to inform the instructor and explain his absence.
STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS
All students with special needs (e.g. extra time, use of a tape, new immigrants up to 5 years in Israel,
over 40’s) must provide documentation from Bar Ilan to validate their needs within the first 2
weeks of the course.
BOOKS
Students are required to buy the newest version of the Coursebook. Older copies are inadmissible.
ATTENDANCE IS COMPULSORY.
BOOKS MUST BE BROUGHT TO LESSONS.
SOME ELECTRONIC** AND ALL PAPER DICTIONARIES MAY BE USED.
**THE USE OF ‘PEN STYLE’ ELECTRONIC DICTIONARIES (QUICKTIONARY) OF ALL TYPES IS
BANNED IN CLASS AND IN ALL EXAMS.
3
MITKADMIM ANNUAL COURSE GRADING GUIDELINES 2010
The PASS GRADE in English courses and ALL exams at Ashkelon Academic College is 60.
The INTERNAL CLASS GRADE will include no fewer than 5 (FIVE) internal tests:
TESTS – 80%
Semester 1 - Two regular exams (ranging from 1800 – 2200 words) No grades to be dropped
semester one.
Semester 2 – Two regular exams (2500 – 3000 words) and one sample final test (3000 words)
and a MAKE-UP
TOTAL - 4 regular exams plus 1 sample final (3000 words)
Students should make up tests they miss DURING the course, not wait until the end.
At the end of the course a sixth (6th) exam should be given. It will be counted as follows:
a) If the student takes the exam because he missed an earlier one, he will now have 4 regular
exams and one compulsory, all to be counted.
TOTAL: 5 TESTS, all internal
b) If the student wants to improve one of his grades in semester 2, the 6th test can replace one of
his weaker grades in the same type of test. In other words, the student will still have 5
grades,one of which must be a sample final exam
TOTAL: 5 out of 6 TESTS, all internal The sample final grade cannot be dropped
HOMEWORK/ CLASSWORK:
5%
Homework should be set each week. The teacher determines the amount and type of classwork to be
counted in the grade.
GUIDED READINGS - semester 1 only, annual courses - 5%;
At least 2 guided tests should be given.
(A class exercise, where the teacher may draw the students’ attention to significant points in the text;
the questions are to be completed under test conditions)
READING PROJECT – annual course, semester 2 only. – 10%
Students will study a unit on empirical academic articles, and will be required to read, analyse and
answer questions on such an article under test conditions.
FINAL MARK
The final mark consists of the internal grade (60%) and the final test (40%).
A minimum grade of 50 is required on the final test before calculations of the final mark can be
made.
ATTENDANCE IS COMPULSORY.
LATEST COPIES OF REQUIRED COURSEBOOKS MUST BE BROUGHT TO ALL LESSONS.
SOME ELECTRONIC** AND ALL PAPER DICTIONARIES MAY BE USED.
**THE USE OF ‘PEN STYLE’ ELECTRONIC DICTIONARIES (QUICKTIONARY) OF ALL TYPES IS
BANNED IN CLASS AND IN ALL EXAMS.
4
‫הסבר חלוקת ציון בקורסי אנגלית‬
‫ציון הקורס מרוכב מציון כיתה – ‪ 60%‬וציון מבחן סופי – ‪.40%‬‬
‫ציון כיתה‪ :‬ציון זה אינו "מגן"‪ ,‬אלא משקף את רמת הידע של הסטודנט ומוכנותו להמשיך‬
‫לרמה הבאה‪.‬‬
‫להלן הרכב ציון כיתה‪:‬‬
‫‪ .1‬מבחנים פנימיים במהלך הקורס מהווים ‪ 80%‬מסך ציון הכיתה‪.‬‬
‫על הסטודנט להשלים את כל המבחנים הפנימיים טרם סיום הקורס‪.‬‬
‫כל המבחנים (‪ 5‬או ‪ 6‬מבחנים‪ ,‬בהתאם לדרישות הרמה) כלולים בחישוב הציון הסופי‪.‬‬
‫אין מבחן "שיפור ציון" פרט לרמת "מתקדמים"‬
‫‪ .2‬שיעורי בית‪ ,‬השתתפות בשיעורים‪:‬‬
‫תרגילים בכיתה ובחנים‪:‬‬
‫‪5%‬‬
‫‪15%‬‬
‫קורס שנתי ‪ -‬חובות הסטודנט‬
‫צייון עובר‪ 60 :‬לכל המבחנים‪ ,‬ולקורס בכלל‪.‬‬
‫נוכחות‬
‫חובת נוכחות בכל השיעורים‪ .‬אסור להעדר מיותר מ‪ 4-‬שעות שבועיות בסמסטר בקורס שנתי ומ‪ 8-‬שעות שבועיות‬
‫(שני מפגשים) בקורס סמסטריאלי‪ .‬סטודנט שנעדר פעמים רבות לא יקבל ציון כיתה (שערכו ‪ 60%‬מהציון הסופי) או‬
‫שלא יוכל להמשיך את קורס האנגלית באותו סמסטר‪/‬שנה‪.‬‬
‫כללי יסוד‬
‫איחורים לשיעור מכל סיבה שהיא לא מקובלים‪ .‬סטודנט לא יוכל להכנס לכיתה אחרי ‪ 10‬הדקות הראשונות של‬
‫השיעור‪ .‬לכן‪ ,‬ייחשב הדבר כהעדרות‪.‬‬
‫דפוסי התנהגות לא מקובלים‪:‬‬
‫‪ .1‬יציאה מוקדמת מהשיעורים‪.‬‬
‫‪ .2‬דיבור בפלאפון בזמן השיעור‪.‬‬
‫‪ .3‬אכילה ושתייה בשיעור‪.‬‬
‫‪ .4‬אין אפשרות להחליף קורס חוץ מאשר בתקופת השינויים‪ .‬סטודנט חייב להשאר באותו קורס אליו הוא נרשם‪.‬‬
‫לכן‪ ,‬כל שעות הקורס צריכות להתאים לסטודנט‪.‬‬
‫שיעורי בית‬
‫שיעורי בית יינתנו באופן קבוע‪ .‬יש להשלים את שיעורי הבית עד לשיעור הבא‪ .‬אם הסטודנט נעדר משיעור מכל סיבה‬
‫שהיא‪ ,‬עליו ליצור קשר עם סטודנט אחר מהקבוצה ולהתעדכן לגבי שיעורי הבית‪ .‬סטודנט כזה יראה למרצה את‬
‫שיעורי הבית מיד בשובו לכיתה‪.‬‬
‫מבחנים‬
‫אם הסטודנט יודע שלא יוכל להבחן בבחינה שנקבעה במערכת‪ ,‬עליו להודיע למרצה מראש‪ ,‬כך שיינקטו הצעדים‬
‫המתאימים‪.‬‬
‫אם הסטודנט לא נכח במבחן‪ ,‬מחובתו להסביר את העדרותו למרצה‪.‬‬
‫סטודנטים עם צרכים מיוחדים‬
‫כל הסטודנטים עם צרכים מיוחדים (תוספת זמן‪ ,‬השמעת השאלון על גבי קלטת‪ ,‬עולים חדשים עד ‪ 5‬שנים בארץ‪ ,‬בני‬
‫‪ )+40‬חייבים להמציא את המסמכים המתאימים מבר אילן במהלך השבועיים הראשונים של הקורס‪.‬‬
‫ספרים‪:‬‬
‫על הסטודנט לרכוש את הגרסה החדשה של הספר‪ .‬אסור להשתמש בספרים ישנים‪.‬‬
‫מילונים‬
‫חל איסור מוחלט על שימוש בכל סוגי מילוני "עט" (בסיגנון ‪ ) QUICKTIONARY‬גם בכיתה וגם במבחנים‬
‫‪5‬‬
‫הנחיות לסטודנטים במבחנים פנימיים‪:‬‬
‫‪ .1‬יש לכבות לגמרי טלפונים סלולאריים אשר יושארו בתיקים‪.‬‬
‫‪ .2‬יש לשים תיקים בקדמת הכיתה‬
‫‪ .3‬מילונים‪ ,‬כלי כתיבה ושתייה הינם האמצעים היחידים המותרים לשימוש בעת הבחינה‪.‬‬
‫‪ .4‬סטודנטים מותרים לצאת לנוחיות‪ ,‬כל אחד בתורו באישור המרצה ו‪/‬או המשגיח‪/‬ה בלבד‬
‫‪ .5‬סדר הישיבה יהיה בטורים‪ ,‬אחד אחרי השני‪.‬‬
‫‪ .6‬נושא המשמעת נתון בידי השגיח‪/‬ה או המרצה‪ ,‬אשר לו‪/‬ה ההכרעה בעניין‪.‬‬
‫‪6‬‬
Chapter I
Overview of the Structure of an Academic Article
GUIDE FOR GENERAL ARTICLES
1.
TITLE:
AUTHOR
DATE
SOURCE
2.
Look at the title/headline) and subtitle. What can you
infer from them? (topic, author's attitudes, intentions)
3.
What is the author's purpose in writing this article? (e.g.
information, persuasive argument, criticism, a research article,
a discussion, a book review, an historical survey(
4.
a) What is the main idea?
b) How does the author support his main idea?
Visually: charts, graphs, references, footnotes, pictures
Verbally: comparison, contrast, example, cause and effect....
)Quote and give paragraph numbers for each(
5.
What conclusions does the writer draw? What are the
implications of this conclusion?
6.
Is this article subjective or objective? Support your answer with
relevant quotes, giving paragraph and line numbers.
7.
What is your personal reaction to the article? Explain.
7
READING TECHNIQUES
1) Understanding the unknown word/ phrase:
a. From its context (from the sentence or paragraph in which it is written)
b. Identifying the part of speech of the unknown word (to determine its
function/job in the sentence)
c. Identifying prefixes and/or suffixes in the word
2) Understanding the sentence:
a) Determining the main sentence if you have more than one part (clause) in the sentence
b) Determining the subject and main verb of the main sentence
c) Understanding the relationship between two parts of one sentence or the relationship between
two sentences
e.g. contradiction, agreement, addition, cause and effect, example...
3) Identifying the Connecting Word and its Role:
(However, therefore, since, because, despite....)
4) Identifying basic information:
Title_______________, Author_______________, Date_____________,
Source________
5) Skimming the article using the technique of Global Reading:
Read TADS, Subtitles, All of the INTRODUCTION, the FIRST sentence of every paragraph, All of
the CONCLUSION
6) Identifying Reference Words
Common Reference words:
this, that, these, those, it, he, she, they, them, its, his, her, their
such, one, ones, there, then
which, who, whom. whose
8
7) Recognizing the Author’s Purpose:
Why is the author presenting the given material?
His intention may be:
to warn, to allay fears, to inform, to entertain, to persuade, or to advise about his subject.
ACTIVITY: What is the writer’s purpose in each of the following cases?
Choose from the previous list (to warn, to allay fears, to inform, to entertain, to persuade, to advise)
1. Buy fruit and vegetables only from authorized dealers. Wash each item with detergent before use.
Unwashed fruit and vegetables are a danger to your health.
_______________
2. Keep this substance out of the reach of children.
_______________
3. The situation is under control and there is no need for anyone to panic.
_______________
4. I am going to tell you a funny story.
_______________
5. The study showed that young people spend 22 hours per week watching
television.
_______________
6. I believe that examination of the facts shows that this is definitely
the best course to follow.
_______________
7. During the American Revolution some colonists remained loyal to the
British.
_______________
8. The worst recorded epidemic of all time was the bubonic plague, which swept Europe, Asia and Africa from
1346 to 1353.
_______________
9. Placing airbags in all new cars would save thousands of lives every year. Auto manufacturers should be
required to install this safety feature.
_______________
10. We must reform our penal system. The percentage of those released from prison who are later rearrested
shows how inadequate the system is.
_______________
9
Recognizing the Structure of an Article
What is the “structure”?
1. Does the introduction present the main idea?
2. How is the main idea supported? Is there a predominant style in the article? Is one of the
following styles used?
a. examples
b. question and answer
c. comparison and contrast
d. cause and effect
e. facts / personal experiences
3. What is the relationship between paragraphs?
a. Does each paragraph present a new idea?
b. Does one paragraph refer to a previous paragraph?
c. Are subtitles provided?
4. How can paragraphs be grouped according to ideas presented?
5. What is the relationship between the first sentence of a paragraph and the rest of the
paragraph?
a. Is the first sentence of each paragraph the main idea of that paragraph?
b. How is the rest of the paragraph constructed?
Examples/ question and answer/ comparison and contrast / cause and
effect/ facts / personal experiences
c. Does the last sentence of the paragraph express/sum up the main idea?
6. Does the conclusion repeat, reinforce, or enlarge upon the main idea?
7. Does the author offer opinions, make suggestions or predictions in the conclusion?
Think about these questions as you read the following short text.
10
Computers, Networks and Education
From Scientific American, September 1991
by Alan O. Key
1
The physicist. Murray Gall Mann has remarked that education in the 20th century is like being
taken to the world's greatest restaurant and being fed the menu. He meant that representations of
ideas (the menu) have replaced the ideas themselves (the food). In other words, students are taught
superficially about great discoveries instead of being helped to learn deeply for themselves.
2
In the near future, all the representations that human beings have invented will be instantly
accessible anywhere in the world on intimate, notebook-size computers. But will we be able to get
from the menu to the food? Or will we no longer understand the difference between the two? Worse,
will we lose even the ability to read the menu and be satisfied just to recognize that it is one?
3
There has always been confusion between carriers and contents, for example, between the
piano and musical feelings. Pianists know that music is not in the piano. It begins inside human
beings as special urges to communicate feelings. But many children are forced to "take piano" before
their musical impulses develop; then they turn away from music for life. The piano at its best can only
be an amplifier of existing feelings.
4
The computer is the greatest "piano" ever invented, for it is the master carrier of
representations of every kind. Now there is a rush to have people, especially schoolchildren, "take
computer”. Computers can amplify yearnings in ways even more profound than can musical
instruments. But if teachers do not nourish the romance of learning and expressing, any external
mandate for a new "literacy" becomes as much a crushing burden as being forced to perform
Beethoven's sonatas while having no sense of their beauty. Instant access to the world’s information
will probably have an effect opposite to what is hoped: students will become numb instead of
enlightened.
5
In addition to the notion that the mere presence of computers will improve learning, several
other misconceptions about learning often hinder modern education. Stronger ideas need to replace
them before any teaching aid, be it a computer or pencil and paper, will be of most service.
6
One of these stronger ideas is that we are capable of constructing new ways of thinking which
expand our understanding. Although understanding or creating such constructions is difficult, the
need for struggle should not be grounds for avoidance. An educational system that tries to make
everything easy and pleasurable will prevent most important learning from happening.
7
One of the pitfalls of existing media is that media try to fight complexity. In addition, the form of
the carrier of information is not neutral; it both dictates the kind of information conveyed and affects
thinking processes. This property applies to all media, not just the new high-tech ones. Socrates
complained about writing. He felt it forced one to follow an argument rather than participate in it, and
he disliked both its alienation and its persistence. He was unsettled by the idea that a manuscript
traveled without the author, with whom no argument was possible. Worse, the author could die and
never be talked away from the position taken in the writing.
8
Users of media need to be aware, too, that technology often forces us to choose between
quality and convenience. Compare the emotions evoked by great paintings and illuminated
manuscripts with those evoked by excellent photographs of the originals. The feelings are quite
different. For the majority of people who cannot make such comparisons directly, there is an
understandable tendency to accept the substitution as though nothing were lost. Consequently, little
protest has been made over replacing high-resolution photographs of great art (which themselves do
not capture the real thing) with lower-resolution videodisc images (which distort both light and space
even further). The result is that recognition, not reverie, is the main goal in life and also in school,
where recognition is the higher act to which most students are asked to aspire.
11
Questions
1. What is the author's purpose in writing this text?
a.
b.
c.
d.
to criticize the complexity of modern learning techniques.
to point out some of the dangers in misusing educational media.
to demonstrate the best way of using computers in education.
to clarify the misconceptions about educational tools.
2. What bothers the author most about today's educational system?
_____________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
3. Briefly explain what the author's reaction would be to having computers in his classroom.
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
4. Based on what you have read, which of the following ideas would the author support? Choose two.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Students should be taught the principles of computers as early as possible.
Student should be given an environment that develops their desire to learn.
Students should be provided with tools that easily solve frustrating problems.
Computers are beneficial in that they provide strong framework for learning
Technological teaching aids, which lower the quality of learning, are useless.
Computers, Networks and Education
Vocabulary exercises
Find the synonym
1. not in depth (para. 1)
____________________________
2. immediately (para. 2) ____________________________
3. impulses (para. 3)
____________________________
4. support, encourage (para. 4) _______________________
5. help (para. 5)
____________________________
6. misconception (para. 5) ___________________________
7. reason (para. 6) _____________________________
8. refers to (para. 7)
_____________________________
9. characteristic (para. 7) ____________________________
10. difficulties (para. 7)
_____________________________
11. triggered (para. 8)
_____________________________
12. Therefore, As a result (para. 8) ______________________
Complete the sentences
1. A black cat is usually a representation of_________________________________
2. We can expand our vocabulary by ______________________________________
3. Alienation in the modern society usually brings about ______________________
__________________________________
4. Nothing can substitute for ____________________________________________
5. I have a tendency to _________________________________________________
12
COMBINED SKILLS: Summary Quiz 1
After reading the passage, circle the letter of the best answer to each question.
1
When the Mayflower left Plymouth, England, in September 1620 on its historic journey to the
New World, three of its one hundred and two passengers were pregnant. ² The fates of the three
pregnant women and their children illustrate the fears that early American women facing childbirth must
have held for themselves as well as for their children's survival. ³ One of the passengers, Elizabeth
Hopkins, gave birth at sea to a baby boy she named Oceanus. 4Oceanus Hopkins died during the
Pilgrims' first winter in Plymouth. 5Two weeks after Oceanus' birth, Mayflower passenger Susanna
White bore her son, Peregrine, who lived into his eighties.
Plymouth,
2
passenger
Mary
Norris
Allerton
died
6The
spring after the Mayflower arrived in
giving
birth
to
a
stillborn
baby.
During the seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries, nearly one and one-half percent of all births
resulted in the death of the mother from exhaustion, infection, dehydration or hemorrhage. 8Since the
typical mother gave birth to between five and eight children in her lifetime, her chances of dying in
childbirth ran as high as one in eight. 9Even when the mother survived childbirth, she had reason to be
anxious about the fate of her child. '°In even the healthiest seventeenth-century communities, one in ten
children died before the age of five. ¹¹Less healthy settlements saw three out of ten children dying in
their early years.
1. According to the author, the experience of the three pregnant Mayflower passengers and their babies
a. was very unusual for that time period.
b. demonstrated how safe ocean travel was in. that era.
c. was typical for that time period.
d. is similar to the experience of today's women and infants,.
2. During the seventeenth century, childbirth in America was
a. rare
b. dangerous.
c. avoided.
d. easy
3. According to the passage, early childhood in Colonial America was a time of great
a. health risk
b. hope.
c. learning.
.d, exhaustion.
4. The first paragraph
a. defines and illustrates the word fate.
b. lists the fates of three early American pregnant women and their children.
c. discusses the similarities between three pregnant travelers and their children.
d. narrates the events of the Mayflower's journey.
5. This passage is made up mainly of
a. facts
b. opinions.
13
6. From this passage, you could infer that
a. childbirth in South America was much safer than in North America.
b. early American families tended to be smaller than they are now.
c. antibiotics to control infection were not available in seventeenth century America.
d. all of the above
7. From the passage, you can conclude that in seventeenth-century America
a. it wasn't uncommon for men to become widows
b. mothers were likely to have at least one child die by the age of five.
c. women experienced frequent pregnancies
d. all of the above
8. The author's primary purpose in the passage is
a. to question.
b. to praise
c. to inform.
d. to entertain
9. The tone of the second paragraph can be described as
a. angry
b. grim
c. ironic.
d. disbelieving
10. Which sentence best expresses the main idea of the passage?
a. Traveling on the Mayflower was dangerous for pregnant women and their babies.
b. There were great dangers involved with childbirth and childhood in early
America.
c. Women's health suffered greatly in colonial America.
d. In the early American colonies, infant mortality was great.
14
A GUIDE TO READING ACADEMIC ARTICLES
Knowing that all academic articles ought to follow some fairly strict conventions in their organization
and presentation is the first step in reading and understanding articles.
Step 1 – Consider the Article as a Whole
Examine the article as a whole. Try to decide something about the purpose, audience and content of
the paper before you start reading. Look for clues in the title and/ or subtitle, the acknowledgements
(if any), the first foot- or endnote, the author's biographical note (either with the article or at the front or
back of the book or journal).
Some questions to guide you in considering the article as a whole:
Who is writing the article?
See if you can find out anything about the author. Check to see what other articles or
books the author has written. It will give you an idea of how the article fits into the
author’s other works and the field in which the author is writing.
What audience is the author addressing?
This is important because it affects the style, content and approach the article takes to
its subject. This may be revealed by the source of the article - the publication (journal
or book) in which the article appeared.
What is the article about?
Look at the first couple of paragraphs; they should give you an idea of what the paper
is about. The title of the article should also suggest the main point of concern of the
article, the direction of the interpretation, and sometimes the time frame or period of
concern.
Step 2 – Determine the Overall Purpose, Structure and Direction of the Article
Now that you’ve looked at the article as a whole, start reading.
You should be able to find the author’s statement of purpose, or thesis statement, before the end of
the introduction. You should also be able to tell what evidence the author is going to use to support
the position she or he has taken.
You should also be able to tell the author’s point of view. Remember that research is not value-free,
nor culturally neutral. You may be able to tell what values the author seems to be promoting.
Also look at the conclusion. If it’s not clearly labeled, it will probably be the last two or three
paragraphs.
It is often useful to look at the conclusion before you read the whole paper because it contains the
author’s summary of what has been said. If you can’t quite identify the thesis (they are often not
clearly stated), read the conclusion. Knowing where the author ended up is often a clue to where he
or she started from. In many instances, too, the conclusion summarizes the whole paper, as should
the thesis statement.
15
Some questions to guide you in determining the overall purpose, structure and direction of the
article:
What is the author’s main point, or thesis?
Sometimes you can find this easily; the author says something like “the point of this
article is to” or “in this paper I intend to show/argue that.” Sometimes you have to look
for a simple statement that contains some echo of the title, the same phrase or words,
and some brief statements of the argument that supports the assertion: “despite what
other scholars have said, I think this [whatever it is] is actually the case, because I
have found this [supporting point #1], this [supporting point #2], and this [supporting
point #3].”
If the paper is well-crafted, the subtitles of the paper (when there are any) will contain
some allusion to the supporting points.
What evidence has the author used?
This question is often answered in step one, but you should also use what the author
tells you in the introduction to expand on your grasp of the evidence.
Academic papers are often “argued,” that is, constructed like an argument with a
statement of what the author has figured out or thought about a particular situation or
event (or whatever). Then, to persuade the reader, the author presents facts or
evidence
that support that position.
What is the author’s point of view?
This can sometimes be easily seen, especially in “polemical” essays, where the author
bashes a number of arguments and then presents her or his own.
Step 3 –Read the Article but pay attention to the writing and the presentation
As you read, watch not only for what the author is saying, but also how it is said. This step requires
that you read the article to gain an understanding of how the author presents the evidence and makes
it fit into the argument. At this stage of the exercise, you should also take the time to look up any
unfamiliar words or concepts.
Although you are somewhat off the hook critically in this stage, you should be aware that there are
tricks the author can use to make sure you’re following the argument. Some of them are standard
ways to keep the author’s argument separate from the evidence. Look for clues like: “for example,”
“as Professor S. said,” or “in my study area (or time), I found that.” Also, look for connectors and
phrases (“however,” “despite,” “in addition,” etc.)
Look, too, to see how the author switches from explaining how the evidence supports her or his
argument to the summary of the paper. The last few paragraphs should tidy up the discussion, show
how it all fits together neatly, point out where more research is needed, or explain how this article has
advanced learning in this discipline.
Step 4 – Criticism and Evaluation of the Article
What is your reaction to the article? How has it added to your knowledge of the topic discussed?
How does it compare to other articles you have read on the same subject?
Based on an internet article at : http://www.yukoncollege.yk.ca/~agraham/guides/#resources
© Amanda Graham and Yukon College, 1997-2004. Page last modified with minor editing changes 2 October 2004.
16
Chapter II
Word Formation
Look at the following examples taken from titles of articles:
Legalize? No. Deglamorize
Integrate or Disintegrate
Assimilation versus Pluralism
Crime in Cyberspace
Unconventional...weapons
Identify the roots of the words. Do you know them? What changes have been made and
how do these changes affect the words? In which words has the part of speech changed
and in which has the meaning changed?
What is the effect of the prefix? What is the effect of the suffix?
PREFIXES
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
Prefix
a
ab
ambi
ante
anti
bene
bi
circum
co
contra
de
dis
en, em
ex
extra
fore
in (im,il,ir)
in
inter
mal
mini
mis
mono
multi
non
Usual meaning
without
from, away
both, two, double
before
against
good
two
around
together with
against
negative, from
away
cause to be
out of, from
beyond, outside
before
not
into
among, between
bad, wrong
very small
wrong, in the wrong way
one
many
not
17
Example
amoral
abduction
ambivalent
antenatal
antibiotics, antiwar
beneficial
bilingual
circumvent
cooperation
contradict
defrost
disappear
enable, empower
exterior
extraordinary
forecast
inefficient
insight
international
malnutrition
minimarket
misunderstand
monocycle
multilingual
nonsense
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
over
per
poly
post
pre
re
retro
semi
sub
super
syn
trans
tri
ultra
un
uni
above, beyond, too much
through
many
after
before
again, back
back
half
under
above, more than
with, along with
across, over
three
beyond, very
not
one
overhead, overtired
perceive
polygamy
postpone
prehistoric
renew, reread
retrospect
semicircle
submarine, subtitle
supermarket
synonym
transport
triangle
ultraviolet
uninteresting
unite
Here are two lists of prefixes expressing numbers. One list comes from Latin and the other from
Greek. Which words do you know with these prefixes?
Meaning
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Hundred
Thousand
Half
Latin
uni
bi
tri
quart
quint
sex
sept
oct
non
dec
cent
mil
semi
Greek
mono
di
tri
tetra
penta
hexa
hept
oct
ennea
ten
hecto
kil
hemi
Sometimes the stem of the word also contains meaning:
Stem
1. anthrop
2. aqua
3. arch
4. audio
5. auto
6. bibl
7. capit
8. cent
9. chron
10. corp
11. cosm
12. dem
13. derm
14. dict
15. dorm
16. fort
17. graph
18. hydro
Usual meaning
man
water
chief, rule
hear
self
book
head
hundred
time
body
order, world
people
skin
say
sleep
strong
write
water
18
Example
anthropology
aqueduct
archbishop
audiologist
automatic
bibliography
capital
century
chronological
corporation
cosmopolitan
demographic
dermatologist
dictation
dormitory
fortify
graphologist
hydrology
19. log(o)
20. magni
21. met
22. micro
23. mit
24. nym
25. patho
26. ped (pod)
27. phil
28. phobia
29. phon
30. photo
31. port
32. psych
33. scribe/script
34. sect
35. solo
36. soph
37. spec
38. spire (spir)
39. tele
40. therm
41. viv
42. voc
speech
great, big
measure
small
send
name
disease, suffering
foot
love
fear
sound
light
carry
mind
write
cut
alone
wisdom
see, look
breathe
far
heat
live
voice
dialogue
magnify
meter
microscope
transmit
pseudonym
pathology
podiatrist, pedicure
philosophy
claustrophobia
phonetic
photograph
portable
psychology
inscription, scribe
section
soloist
sophisticated
spectator
perspire
telegram
thermometer
vivid, “Viva!”
vocal
SUFFIXES
Suffix
Usual meaning
Examples
ability
capacity for, ability to
flexibility
able (ble, ible)
capable of being
learnable / edible
al
possessing the quality of
cylindrical
ance
state or condition of
tolerance
ence
quality of
indifference
ate
to make
translate
ation
condition or act of
ventilation
tion
action or state
devotion
dom
state or condition
wisdom
ee
recipient of an action
employee
en
to make
sharpen
er, or
person or thing who / that
investor
ese
language of
journalese
ess
female
actress
ful
characterized by,
careful
having the quality of
fy
to make
mystify
hood
state, condition
manhood
19
ic, ical
quality or
magical
condition of
ine
like, with the
marine
quality of
ious, ous, uous
like, full of
religious
having the quality of
various
ish
like, somewhat
reddish
ism, ist
action, state
anachronism
ist
person who
satirist
itis
disease of, condition
resulting from
bronchitis
ize
to make
theorize
ization
act or state of
realization
less
without, lacking
thoughtless
ly
like, In the manner of
happily
ness
quality, state
happiness
condition
ogy,ology
science, study of
ecology
oid
like, resembling
schizoid
ory
having quality of
contradictory
osis
state, condition,
osmosis
ous
like, full of
dangerous
pathy
feeling of
sympathy
proof
resistant to
waterproof
ship
quality, state of
leadership
tion
state, condition
addiction
ward
in the direction of
forward
wise
in the direction
clockwise
or manner of
y
having the quality of,
somewhat
20
healthy
PRACTISE EXCERCISES
Prefixes
Root
biblio
bio
gam
gen
log(y)
mono
Definition
book
life
marriage
kinds, types
study of
one
Root
Phobia
Poly
Port
Tele
Theo
Vis
Definition
fear
many
carry
far, distance
god
see
Translate the following words into Hebrew:
1. bibliography ___________________________
2. biology
___________________________
3. monogamy ___________________________
4. biography
___________________________
5. polyphonous ___________________________
6. heterogeneous ___________________________
7. bibliophobia ___________________________
8. portable
___________________________
9. televise
___________________________
10.theology
Root
aud
chron
cred
dent
dict
___________________________
Definition
hear
time
belief
tooth
tell, say
Root
Graph
man, manu
Mort
Phil
Phon
Definition
write, record
hand
death
love
sound
Complete the following sentences according to the definitions in the table above:
1.
2.
3.
4.
If meter means measure, a chronometer ___________________________.
If something is audible, you can ___________________________ it.
Incredulous means ___________________________.
The suffix ist refers to a person; that's why someone who works on your teeth is called
a ___________________________.
5. If contra means against or opposite, contradict means
___________________________.
6. A chronograph is ___________________________.
7. The opposite of automatic is ___________________________.
8. Does a postmortem occur before or after death? ___________________________
9. If anthrop refers to man to mankind, what is a philanthropist?
___________________________
10. What is a dictaphone? ___________________________
21
Suffixes
Suffix
less
er, or
full
ness
ly
Definition
without
person or thing
full of
state or
condition
a
characteristic,
in a certain
manner
Suffix
ment
ish
It is
fy, able
Ible
Definition
state of
like, similar to
inflammation
to make or
cause
to happen
Complete the following sentences, according to the table above:
1. A person without a house is ___________________________.
2. A kind person shows ___________________________.
3. The opposite of strength is ___________________________.
4. A person who is idle is an example of _______________________.
5. A very clean table is ___________________________.
6. A snob acts ___________________________.
7. Someone who heals is called a ___________________________.
8. A bronchial illness is called ___________________________.
9. If you resent something, you are full of ___________________________.
10. If something can be expanded, it is ___________________________.
11. Acting as though you were full of the devil is called being
___________________________.
12. The inflammation of the tonsils is called ___________________________.
13. To serve as an example is to ___________________________.
14. To make beautiful is ___________________________.
15. To have a job is to have ___________________________.
16. If you are qualified and available for a job, you are ___________________________.
17. If you are inhumane, you probably act ___________________________.
18. She made an arrange_________ with the loan company.
19. If something can be moved, it is transport_________.
20. When a sound is inaud_________, it can't be heard.
22
Suffix
able, ible
ance, ence
Definition
able to
state of being
Suffix
er, or, ist
ess
ant, ent
person,
condition
to act or do
state of
condition
full, ous
Definition
person, degree
feminine
person
full of
tion
ic, al. ly
state of being
similar to
ate
cy, cracy
Add the correct suffix to the following words, according to the definitions in the table above:
1. depend _________________________.
2. infant _________________________.
3. narrate _________________________.
4. prince _________________________.
5. skill _________________________.
6. bureau _________________________.
7. host _________________________.
8. tight _________________________.
9. topic _________________________.
10. work _________________________.
11. success _________________________.
12. vocal _________________________.
13. sculpt _________________________.
14. expend _________________________.
15. form _________________________.
Affixes summary
Figure out the meaning of the following words using your knowledge of suffixes and prefixes.
Then use these words in a sentence.
1. Maladjustment
2. extracurricular
3. monogamist
4. supervision
5. unforeseeable
6. demoralize
7. semiconscious
8. herbology
9. phonetic
10. philanthropist
23
11. intravenous
12. boredom
13. Parentese
14. Unbearable
15. Trainee
16. Brotherhood
17. Theology
18. Polyphonous
19. Portable
20. Immortal
Translate the words in bold as they are used in the following sentences.
Use your knowledge of the word formation
1. Bibliotherapy is a potent psychological tool used for treatment of emotional problems in
children and adolescents.
2. The message of this novel is quite ambiguous.
3. Some societies still keep bigamous practices.
4. Being a coordinator is not an easy job.
5. The decision regarding legalization of drugs will never be unanimous. The controversy
surrounding this issue will never be resolved.
6. In order to form an objective attitude to a certain issue one needs to be emotionally detached.
7. Moshe Rabenu envisioned the Jewish people living in the land of milk and honey.
8. Sometimes immigrants return to their homeland as a result of maladjustment in the new
country.
9. Judaism, Islam and Christianity are monotheistic religions.
10. America is a multicultural and multilingual country.
11. The course is for postgraduate students only.
12. Today pregnant women are required to perform prenatal tests to detect potential genetic
defects and diseases.
13. Transboundary natural resources may create disputes between nations.
14. We were talking about him when he suddenly materialized in front of our eyes.
15. Her resourcefulness helped her to win the “Survival” competition.
24
In the following poem, which has numerous nonsense words, use your knowledge of parts of
speech and affixes to guess possible meanings:
Jabberwocky
by Lewis Carrol
Twas brillig and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves
And the momo raths outgrabe.
"Beware the Jabberwock, my son
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch !
Beware the Jubjub bird and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"
He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought—;
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.
And as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!
One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.
"And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms my beamish boy!
0 frabjous day! Callooh ! Callay!"
He chortled in his joy.
Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe,
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
25
Integrate or Disintegrate? That Is the Question
From Time, August 1990
by Charles Krauthammer
1
Federalism is the most boring word in the American political lexicon. Around the world,
however, it's a fighting word. Some countries will break, some blood will flow over it. From Kashmir to
Quebec, the world is seething with secessionists who have had enough of the federations to which
history and colonial masters have assigned them. They want out.
2
There is something anachronistic about these secessionist movements. After all, this is the
era of unification, not only of Germany but also of a nine-tongued, multi-sovereign, historically driven
Europe into that remarkable new creature, the European Community. Integrationists point to the E.C.,
as the wave of the future, the only hope for peace and prosperity on a planet, is already suffering from
a surfeit of sovereignty. Self-styled realists like former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher,
however, used to scoff at the notion of multinational union as Utopianism, a dangerous deviation from
the natural human condition of group homogeneity and ethnic sovereignty.
3
Who is right? Is the federation of different peoples into super political structures the wave of
the future? Or is the breakup of such polyglot structures as the former Soviet Union into their ethnic
elements the norm?
4
The answer is that in the age of the fax and the fiber optic cable, federation is the future. But
federation works only under the condition of freedom. Otherwise what passes for federation is really
colonialism. And though colonialism had a good 500-year run, it is spent. The only way to turn colonial
empires into real federations is to break up into their constituent parts and hope that in their wisdom,
they will see fit to knit themselves back together again.
5
The secessionists in Quebec seem to have this idea in the back of their minds. They want not
total independence but what they call "sovereignty-association". They want a sovereign Canada.
They even envision keeping the Canadian dollar.
6
It may be that in a postcolonial world, confederal states require divorce before reconciliation.
The Baltic republics might have chosen this path, had Gorbachev allowed them to go their own way.
After all, it is a natural Baltic interest to retain economic communications and even military links with
the country that will for decades remain the greatest power in that part of the world. The Balts would
give up many attributes of sovereignty in return for a flag and an anthem.
7
Gorbachev’s mistake was that he thought he could indefinitely hold back nationalist
movements by threat and force while making them see the light in the benefits of confederation.
There really are benefits to Confederation, as Europe is in the process of demonstrating. But people
are hardly likely to appreciate these benefits until they can choose them freely.
8
That is the lesson of the European Community. The only conceivable way to integrate such a
polyglot collection of peoples with a long history of mutual hostility is by open and absolute consent.
Of course, there is one other way to impose federation, Abraham Lincoln's way: total war bringing
total victory. Anything short of that partial Soviet control over the Baltic republics, for example, is a
temporary solution that endures only so long as the colonial power retains the will and the strength to
exert unrelenting repressive force. Remove it and secession follows.
9
West Europeans have had at least a century to enjoy the pleasures, such as they are, of
sovereignty. Others have not. As Europe has discovered after two World Wars, sovereignty is not all it
is thought to be. But those who have never had it might be skeptical about such a judgment.
They may need a taste of the fruit, before giving it up for a higher good .
26
Questions
1.
Is the writer’s attitude towards federation positive or negative?
___________________________
Copy a phrase from the text that supports your answer.
______________________________________________________________
2.
According to the writer, what must a nation experience first in order for federation to succeed?
(Answer in ONE word.)
___________________________
3.
What main idea is supported by the example of Quebec secessionists and the Baltic
republics?
a. Neither of them is seriously interested in independence.
b. States need to separate before they can successfully unite.
c. Colonialism is a failure in both the East and the West.
d. Leaders do not always handle secessionist claims wisely.
4.
a.
b.
c.
d.
5.
Which advice would Mrs. Thatcher have given to Mr. Gorbachev?
To allow the Baltic republics to go their own way.
To impose confederation on the Baltic republics.
To depress nationalists but encourage businessmen and militarists.
To be realistic and offer benefits to the Baltic Republics.
Paragraph 9 last sentence: "... the fruit... a higher good."
What is the writer referring to in each of these expressions?
“the fruit” ___________________________
“a higher good” ___________________________
Vocabulary Excercise:
1. List 5 words with prefixes and 5 with suffixes and 5 with both prefixes and suffixes and fill in the
following table:
Prefix
Sufffix
Both
2. How does the affix affect the word?
27
Chapter III
References
In English there are words or phrases that are used as substitutes. They can refer
Backward,
Forwards,
Out of the Text,
To Nothing Specific
A) Backward Reference is the most common in written academic texts. It refers
1. To a Noun or Noun Phrase
a. personal pronouns: I, you, he, she, it, we, they, me, him, her, us, them
e.g.: Joan and Ann are twins and people often confuse them.
b. possessives: mine, yours, hers, his, ours, theirs, its
e.g.: Israel has made peace with its greatest enemies.
c. demonstratives: this, these, that, those.
e.g.: Young American professionals prefer to live in the suburbs.
These kinds of people have enough money to get away from the city.
d. relative pronouns: who, which, whose, that, whom, where, when
usually refer to the last noun phrase before the relative pronoun.
e.g.: People sometimes find themselves in situations in which they have to
make critical decisions.
2. To a Verb Phrase
Whenever there is a helping verb (is, have, do, will, would, etc.) without the main
verb. The helping verb refers back to a verb that was already mentioned.
e.g.: Do you agree to take this woman to be thy lawful, wedded wife? I do.
3. To a Sentence or an Idea
Nouns like fact, idea, attitude, belief, etc. refer to ideas (expressed in whole
sentences or paragraphs) already mentioned in the text.
Words like that, this, these, etc. show that the idea was mentioned in an earlier
part of the text.
e.g. There is more to it than that.
B) Forward Reference
e.g. Although she was usually efficient, Mary, who was the secretary, forgot to
pick up the mail on that day.
C) Reference out of the Text
e.g. After reading other research, we set out to do our own study, (we refers to
the author.)
D) Empty "it" and "there"
e.g. There's a mouse in the room.
It's raining cats and dogs.
28
Finding References
A reference word usually refers to information that was mentioned earlier in the text. Therefore, in
order to find the word or words that can replace the reference word(s), go back to sentences
you have already read.
Sample questions:
a. What does ______x________ refer to?
b. What word can you use instead of ______x_________?
Common Reference words:
this, that, these, those, it, he, she, they, them, its, his, her, their
such, one, ones, there, then
which, who, whom. whose
Reference Exercises:
A]
Dr. James Walsh explains that hearty laughter stimulates internal organs, making
them work better through the increase of circulation that follows the vibrating massage that
accompanies it, and heightens resistance against disease.
1. The word "it" refers to ___________________________.
B]
In one group of monkeys, disputes over females were responsible for the deaths of thirty out
of thirty-three of them. Two points are of particular interest in these fights for possession. First, they
are often carried to such an extreme that they end in the complete destruction of the objects of
common desire.
2. What are "often carried to such an extreme..."?
______________________________________________________________
C]
It is interesting to note that it is only strangeness within a similarity of species that is resented.
Monkeys do not mind being joined by a goat or a rat. Children do not object when animals are
introduced to the group. Indeed, such novelties are often welcomed.
3. "... such novelties are often welcomed." Which novelties may be welcomed?
_____________________________________________________________
D]
When the physician measured his sedimentation rate, which indicates the extent of the
inflammation or infection in the body, he noted a significant reduction. This reduction held and
was cumulative.
4. Which words can be used instead of "this reduction"?
____________________________________________________
29
Seeing the Forest for the Trees
Making Common Cause
Herald Tribune, 27.05.98
by James D. Wolfensohn and Kathryn S. Fuller
1
WASHINGTON - Some may think it unusual that the heads of a global development bank and
an international conservation organization should make common cause to protect the world's forests.
The interests of finance and ecology are more often seen as being in conflict. But the need to break
free of such stereotypes is urgent. The world’s forests are dying, and it is only by acting together that
we can help save them.
2
Nearly two-thirds of the earth's original forest cover is gone, and what remains is disappearing
at the rate of more than one acre per second. In the past three months alone, the Brazilian Amazon
has lost forests covering an area the size of Belgium to fires set deliberately to clear land. Nearly all of
South-East Asia, meanwhile, remains cloaked in acrid smoke from forest fires.
3
The ecological cost of this destruction is devastating. Scientists estimate that about 100
species are driven into extinction every day, primarily through loss of their forest habitats. Many of
these plant and animal species are critical not only to the earth's biodiversity but to specialized fields
such as medicine. A frog living in Peru produces a painkiller more powerful, but less addictive, than
morphine; a flower growing in Madagascar is used in the treatment of leukemia. But forests are more
than nature's pharmacies; they absorb carbon gases that create global warming.
4
Like the ecological costs, the economic costs of deforestation are astronomically high, running
into the billions of dollars annually. In the end, the burden of these costs falls most heavily on the poor
of the developing world. Too often, conservation is depicted as a concern of the rich. This view is
tragically shortsighted.
5
Economics cannot remain healthy unless the resources on which they depend are sustainably
managed. True, rich countries can afford to spend more on conservation than poor ones. But
economies that degrade their environment for short-term gain are rarely stable and never sustainable.
6
Nowhere is this more obvious than in our mismanagement of the world's forests. At the Earth
Summit in Rio de Janeiro six years ago, the international community acknowledged the danger and
committed itself to a more sustainable future. But that promise has not been kept. Forests are often
called the lungs of the world for their role in helping to regulate the exchange of oxygen and carbon
dioxide. Yet everywhere we look, from the rain forests of the Amazon to the boreal forests of America,
the lungs are gasping
7
As leaders of organizations concerned about both the ecological and economic viability of
forests, we believe we must do more to save them. Therefore, the World Bank and WWF have formed
an alliance for the conservation and sustainable use of forests.
8
This alliance has two objectives. Currently, only 6 percent of the world’s forests are protected:
We propose to increase that figure to at least 10 percent of each of the world’s major forest types by
the year 2000. Second, we will work with countries, assisting them with our resources and our
expertise, to put 500 million acres of forest under independent certification by 2005.
9
Twenty-one countries in addition to Brazil have pledged to meet our 10 percent target, and we
will work to get similar commitments from others, helping them with both the science and the
resources required to select and protect their forests.
10
By itself, however, this will not be
enough. We also must reform forest-management
policies and make conservation investments involving all levels of society. Governments must be
30
encouraged not only to create more ecologically representative protected areas but also to surround
them with sustainably managed buffer zones. Verifying sustainable management through
independent, third party certification can be an invaluable means toward this end. Offering consumers
the choice of buying "good wood" -- products certified as having come from responsibly managed
forests -- can harness market demand to the drive for sustainable forestry.
11
Last, but not least, to conserve forests we must take into account the needs of the people who
live in them.
12
Creative mechanisms such as transition funding must be developed to help local communities
invest in sustainability. In all of our endeavors, we must be particularly sensitive to the needs and
rights of indigenous peoples.
James D. WoIfensohn is president of the World Bank. Kathryn S. Fuller is President of the World
Wildlife Fund-US. They contributed this comment to The Washington Post.
Questions
1. How does the title convey the main idea of the article?
__________________________________________________________
[6 pts]
2. What do “such stereotypes in paragraph 1 refer to?
______________________________________________________
[5 pts]
3. According to paragraph 1, “the world’s forests are dying”. What evidence supports this fact?
____________________________________________________________
[6 pts]
4. What’s the relationship between paragraph 1 and 2?
___________________________________________________________
[5 pts]
5. Is Belgium another area affected by deforestation?
Circle the correct answer:
Yes / No
Support your answer:
______________________________________________________
[6 pts]
6. What is a second danger mentioned in paragraph 3 that is created by deforestation?
_______________________________________________________
[6 pts]
7. What is the meaning of the phrase “nature’s pharmacies” in paragraph 3?
________________________________________________________
[6 pts]
8. What is a synonym for “cost” in paragraph 3 and 4 that fits the context?
________________________
[5 pts]
31
9. In which paragraph is the reason for “acting together” first mentioned?
__________________
Quote the sentence: _______________________________________
[6 pts]
10. What does “this” in line I paragraph 6 refer to?
_________________________________________________
[5 pts]
11. What does “the danger” in paragraph 6 refer to?
____________________________________________________________
[5 pts]
12. What two ideas does the word “Yet” connect in paragraph 6?
a. ___________________________________________________
b. ____________________________________________________
[8 pts]
13. Name the two goals of the W.W.F. and the World Bank:
a. ______________________________________________________
b. ______________________________________________________
[8 pts]
14. What does “this” in paragraph 10 line 1 refer to?
____________________________________________________________
[5 pts]
15. What do all the examples in paragraph 10 illustrate?
____________________________________________________________
[6 pts]
16. In conclusion, what do the writers imply about success in the conservation of our
forests?
Complete the following sentence:
We will fail unless ___________________________________________
[6 pts]
17. How many species are disappearing daily? _________________
What percent of the world’s forests are protected? ________________
When was the Earth Summit -Rio De Janeiro held? _________
[6 pts]
Seeing the Forest for the Trees: Vocabulary exercise
32
Fill in the blanks with words/phrases from the word bank. You may need to change the form of the
word.
resources
species
policy
fund
take into account
conservation
extinction
propose
commitment
alliance
efforts
1. ____________________ of water resources should be one of the prime ecological goals in
Israel.
2. Fall is the best period to observe various bird ________________ nesting in the area of Agam
Hahula.
3. A researcher has to _________________ several variables when he conducts a scientific
study.
4. ________________ is a union or association formed for mutual benefit, especially between
families, countries and organizations.
5. The bank issued a new ____________________ against money laundering.
6. Their great __________________ brought about the desired results.
7. Klalit sick _________________ has enlarged and enhanced its services.
8. Endangered species must be protected to prevent their complete _________________.
9. The Super Nanny __________________ that the parents should spend more time with their
children.
10. He is overworked at the moment because he has taken on too many _________________.
33
The Real
Odessa File
For half a century, writers have
speculated over a mysterious 1944
Strasbourg meeting at which plans were
laid for the rise of a Fourth Reich from
the ashes of Nazi Germany. Now, finally,
the true story is emerging. And it makes
even the most sensationalized fictional
accounts look banal.
David Horowitz
1. On August 10, 1944, more than a
dozen leading German industrialists
met with an SS general, at the
Maison Rouge Hotel at Strasbourg in
occupied France to confront what, for
them, was a painful truth. Though
Hitler, who had survived the von
Stauffenberg assassination attempt
just three weeks earlier still believed
in victory, they concluded sadly that
the war was lost. What was needed
now was a plan to save key figures of
the Nazi hierarchy and safeguard its
assets so that, in the not-too-distant
future, a reorganized, reinvigorated
party could again take power in
Germany and this time establish a
lasting hegemony, a Fourth Reich.
2.
For half a century, historians
were not even certain the meeting
actually took place, Now, documents
obtained by The Jerusalem Report
from the World Jewish Congress
detail not only what was discussed
that day in Strasbourg, but how the
partnership of Nazi leaders and German industrialists went on to establish
a network - commonly known as
"Odessa" - that smuggled thousands
of Nazis and hundreds of millions of
dollars' worth of looted riches to
Argentina at the end of World War II.
Furthermore, The Report has been
told
that
soon-to-be-declassified
Argentinian documentation indicates
that Juan Peron, the military colonel
who rose to power there at the end of
the war, was an enthusiastic
accomplice in the escape program –
not the more passive, if sympathetic,
figure previously believed – actively
seeking out Nazi criminals and
offering them safe refuge in return for
huge bribes.
3.
Reports of the secretive
Strasbourg meeting have appeared
intermittently since the end of World
War II. In the face of Western
skepticism, it was mainly Communist
historians who, in the aftermath of the
war, insisted that the meeting had
indeed taken place. In the 1060s, Nazi
hunter Simon Wiesenthal wrote that
he had seen an account of the
proceedings. But Wiesenthal says his
copy of the document was stolen. A
decade later, with Wiesenthal's
assistance, British novelist, Frederick
Forsyth penned "The Odessa File," a
best seller subsequently turned into a
hit movie, with a plot that centered on
the Strasbourg conference.
4. Now, finally, a trawl by the WJC
through the U.S. National Archives in
Washington has been rewarded with
the discovery of a secret report,
prepared for American intelligence by
a French informant sufficiently close
to the industrialists to have been
allowed to attend the Strasbourg talks,
and made available to The Report by
the WJC's executive director, Elan
Steinberg.
5.
That report, together with other
newly declassified documentation,
shows how, in the wake of the Strasbourg meeting, Odessa smuggled
hundreds of millions of dollars out of
Germany, via Switzerland, Spain,
Portugal and other routes, to
Argentina and other South American
officials
34
were
ordering
the
countries, and channeled thousands
of wanted Nazis - not a few hundred
as had hitherto been widely supposed
- via escape routes to the Middle
East, to South America, and
especially, to Argentina.
6. This documentation forms just a
small part of a rash of newly
declassified or discovered World War
II paperwork now being publicized all
over the world: documentation that
suggests the number of Jews
murdered by the Nazis may have
been closer to 7 million than 6; that
indicates Britain knew of the
systematic killing of Jews in 1941,
three years earlier than had
previously been believed, yet failed to
act; and that offers new glimpses of
how Switzerland secured immunity
from German attack by agreeing to
carry out banking services for the
Nazis during and even after the war.
7. The newly discovered report, at
the heart of the Odessa revelations,
with its fly-on-the-wall account of the
Strasbourg meeting, gives the
agenda for that August day as: "Plans
of German Industrialists to engage in
underground activity after Germany's
defeat." In attendance were many of
Germany's most prominent business
executives, representing such wellknown companies as Volkswagen
and Krupp steel, presided over by an
SS Obergruppenfuhrer (General)
named
Schied.
The
starting
assumption, the secret report quotes
Schied as saying, was that "from now
on, German industry must realize that
the war cannot be won." In that light,
the participants began making plans
for purchasing controlling interests in
foreign firms – to help establish a
secure post-war foundation for the
Nazis overseas.
8. Shortly afterward, the report goes
on, a second, smaller meeting was
held, at which it was stated that Nazi
industrialists to "prepare themselves
to finance the Nazi Party, which would
be forced to go under-ground."
Existing financial resources in foreign
countries were to be "placed at the
disposal of the Party, so that a strong
German Empire can be created after
the defeat." The Nazi promise was
that "as soon as the party becomes
strong enough to reestablish its
control
over
Germany,
the
industrialists will be paid for their
efforts."
9. Steinberg told The Report that the
document was included amidst a
mass of declassified papers, part of
an American intelligence operation
code-named
Project
Safehaven,
recently obtained by the WJC from the
National Archives in Washington. The
plan hatched that August day to
smuggle capital abroad was put into
effect,
says
Steinberg,
with
outstanding success. (He talks now of
seeking
reparations,
where
appropriate, from German companies
that participated in the Odessa
Project.) And along with the money,
the partnership between the Nazi
leadership
and
the
German
industrialists ensured that thousands
of Nazis were also able to flee
overseas
10. The same 1944 secret document
concludes that, while the Nazi party
recognized "that certain of its bestknown leaders will be condemned as
war criminals" after the defeat, it was
confident that "its less conspicuous
but most important members" could
evade justice – by disappearing into
lower level jobs in Germany, or fleeing
abroad.
11.
And that, notes Steinberg, is
exactly what happened – hundreds of
millions of dollars of capital and
thousands of war criminals were
smuggled overseas, with Argentina
swiftly emerging as the new center of
South America. The also suggest Eva
South America. They also suggest
35
postwar Nazi activity. A February
1945 U.S. treasury document, also
newly obtained by the WJC, shows
concern growing in the U.S. that
Argentina was serving as "a likely
refuge for Nazi criminals " and a
"focal point of Nazi financial and
economic activity." Other papers,
says Steinberg, conclusively establish
"a money bridge" – from Germany,
via Switzerland to Argentina – over
which hundreds of millions dollars'
worth of assets were transferred.
Simon Wiesenthal, speaking to The
Report by telephone from Vienna,
adds that the Nazis purchased
controlling interests in "750 firms
outside Germany, especially in
Argentina" toward the end of the war
– to serve the fleeing Nazis.
that Peron – about to be given
Hollywood status in a new movie
starring Madonna – helped set up
bank accounts in Switzerland to
receive the hundreds of millions of
dollars he was paid for taking in the
Nazis.
15. Among the myriad questions
raised by this new welter of
documentation, perhaps the most
important is why, having successfully
smuggled personnel and funding
overseas, the Odessa plan was not
followed through to its stated ultimate
goal – the reestablishment of Nazi
control over Germany. "Thousands of
criminals, and huge sums of money,
were exported," notes Steinberg, "but
we've found no evidence of attempts
at systematic organization toward a
13. Confirmation is also emerging fourth Reich."
from the other end of that "bridge". 16. In the immediate postwar climate
Four years ago Argentina's president, over revulsion over the Holocaust,
Carlos Menem agreed to WJC there may have been little opportunity
requests to open his country's for
any
overt
attempt
at
archives, to establish the degree of reorganization.
But
Wiesenthal
Peron's involvement in absorbing believes the expatriate Nazis did try to
Nazi war criminals. It has always indoctrinate their children into fulfilling
been known that high profile wanted their
dreams
of
a
revival.
Nazis such as Adolf Eichmann and "Fortunately," he chuckles gently
Yosef Mengele sought and found down the phone, " they simply weren't
refuge in South America. But, says able to pass on the fervor to a new
Steinberg, the soon-to-be published generation. There were neo-Nazi
Argentinian documentation confirms newspapers published in Argentina, a
that thousands of Nazis followed few isolated efforts here and there.
escape routes to Argentina. Peron, They tried to sustain Nazism. But –
says Steinberg, "set up a committee "he allows himself a second chuckle –
of advisers that sought out the "it never caught on. Their children
criminals to bring them to Argentina. preferred
to
be
successful
This was not ad hoc. It was businessmen rather than racist
systematic. And you don't need to be patriots." ■
a genius to deduce that, for Peron,
money was the motivating factor."
14. Indeed, some press reports on
the
Argentinian
documentation,
obtained from sources other than the
WJC, claim the papers show 15,000
Nazis to have obtained refuge in
THE JERUSALEM REPORT. DECEMBER 12. 1996
36
QUESTIONS
The Real Odessa File
1. What was the" painful truth"?
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
[9]
Is this an example of a forward or backward reference?
2. What was the purpose of the meeting described in paragraph 1?
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
[9]
Which sentence gave you the information?
3. What important information is given in paragraph 4?
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
[9]
4. Which report showed how the money was smuggled out of Germany?
____________________________________________________
In which paragraph did you find the information?
[9]
5. Which important facts are revealed in paragraph 6?
i. ________________________________________________________
ii.________________________________________________________
iii.________________________________________________________
[9]
What helped you to find the answer?
6. (Paragraph 9) Which plan was ”hatched that August day"?
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
[9]
7. If the Nazi party recognized "that certain of its best-known leaders would be condemned
as war criminals," who did they think would run Odessa?
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
8. Which country became both a place for Nazi members to escape to
as well as a safe haven for their money? _________________________
9. Why did the Perons encourage Nazis to settle in their country?
________________________________________________________
[9]
[9]
[9]
10. Why weren't there any attempt at systematic organization towards
a Fourth Reich?__________________________________________
________________________________________________________
37
[9]
11. Vocabulary development
Using context clues and your understanding of word formation explain the following
expressions:
[10]
aftermath (p3, )
_________________________________
subsequently (p3,)
_________________________________
fly-on-the-wall (p3)
_________________________________
trawl (p4,)
_________________________________
hitherto (P5)
_________________________________
rash (p6,)
_________________________________
efforts (what efforts) (p8, last line) _________________________________
evade (p11,)
_________________________________
high-profile Nazis (pl3,) _________________________________
myriad (P15,)
_________________________________
38
Chapter IV
Connecting Ideas
Using certain words and expressions, ideas can be connected between paragraphs, between
sentences or between parts of a sentence.
1. Read the following short text and circle all the connectives.
An ecological crisis that advances softly, almost imperceptibly, like a grave illness with
scarcely visible symptoms, does not generate enough alarm. Public concern responds to the shock
of new scientific findings about pollution, or to the images of dying seals, then turns to more
spectacular events, like the aftermath of war in the Middle East or the political disintegration in the
Soviet Union. Perhaps only in the Netherlands, the most densely populated country in Europe, do
people worry more about the environment than about job security, crime in the streets or other issues
that top the lists of popular fears in most countries.
For the 15 million Dutch, the danger to their small country is not distant but immediate and
measurable.
Although tulip fields, quaint canals and tidy towns are the popular image of the
Netherlands, it is in reality one of the most polluted countries in Western Europe. It leads the world,
for example, in the number of cars per square kilometer with 130, a number that rises each year. In
Dutch forests, a third of the trees are dying; only one in five will survive the decade. Two-thirds of the
drinking water is threatened by intensive farming that saturates the land with chemical fertilizers.
Unlike the rest of Europe, the Dutch have reacted to environmental problems with a collective
sense of urgency. In spite of the arguments regarding timetables and funds, everyone agrees that it’s
time for a massive cleanup operation.
antipollution program.
A national consensus has mobilized behind a radical
Made official two years ago and supplemented last year, the National
Environmental Policy Plan sets out more than 200 specific measures, ranging from cleaning up
industrial wastes to limiting rush-hour traffic. The estimated cost: $260 billion spread over 20 years.
2. Place the words you have circled under the appropriate category:
Similarity E Contrast
S Cause C Effect
Sequence
39
Addition
Example
Purpose
3. Answer the following questions:
1. According to the first paragraph, an ecological crisis
a. causes a great shock to most of the people.
b. does not seem alarming enough to most people.
c. draws more attention than other affairs, such as the aftermath of war in the Middle
East.
d. Is a popular fear in most countries.
2. Where do “the Dutch” live?
a. In the Netherlands
b. In Western Europe
c. In a polluted country with a misleading popular image
d. All of the above
3. Which of the following is highest?
a. the percent of trees which are dying in Dutch forests
b. the percent of trees that are expected to survive this decade
c. the percent of threatened drinking water
d. the answer is not given in the passage
4. According to the passage, what is the difference between The Netherlands and the rest of
Western Europe?
a. The Netherlands is a polluted country whereas Western Europe is not.
b. Unlike The Netherlands, in Western Europe there are arguments about timetables and
money.
c. Unlike The Netherlands, the rest of Western Europe hasn’t reacted to ecological issues
with a sense of urgency.
d. The rest of Western Europe thinks that The Netherlands is not polluted.
5. Which of the following best describes the development of this passage?
a. The second paragraph contradicts the first one, and the third paragraph resolves that
contradiction.
b. The first paragraph serves as an introduction to the second one, and the third presents
the resolution to the problem raised in the second paragraph.
c. The first paragraph scrutinizes a problem in detail, while the other paragraphs are
concerned with more general aspects of it.
d. Each paragraph deals with a different problem, and is a separate unit that stands by
itself.
4. In which of the above questions was your knowledge of connectives helpful?
40
Connectors or Markers
These are special words signaling relationships between ideas.
They can connect words, sentences, or paragraphs.
According to the relationship they mark, they can be divided into the following
categories:
comparison, contrast, cause, effect, sequence, addition, example
SIMILARITY
as.....as
CONTRAST
While
CAUSE
because
EFFECT
therefore
SEQUENCE
first
ADDITION
also
EXAMPLE
for
example
Just as....so
whereas
for
thus
second
in addition
for
instance
like
But
since
So
third
and
e.g.
similarly
yet
still
due to
hence
finally
moreover
i.e.
in the same way
instead of
owing to
So that
last
furthermore
such as
likewise
rather than
as a result of
consequently
then
as well as
namely
Both......and....
on the
other hand
on the grounds
that
resulting in
since
together
with
indeed
neither.....nor
conversely
As a result
before
not
only......but
also
in other
words
correspondingly
contrary to
as a
consequence
of
for this reason
after
both
thus
equally
however
in fact
Although
Though
Even
though
:
( )
In spite of
Despite
39
TRANSITIONS: Summary Quiz 2
A. Following are six short textbook excerpts. Circle the letter of the answer that describes the
relationship indicated by each italicized transition.
1. The relentless pressures athletes experience may lead them to distance themselves from their
studies.
The sentence expresses a relationship of
a. time
b. cause and effect
c. illustration
2. Since 1820, more than fifty million people came to live in the United States, including some three
million slaves who came against their will.
The relationship indicated by the transition is one of
a. addition
b. time
c. comparison
3. The number of women in the workforce has increased steadily since the turn of the century due to
factors such as World War II, a troubled-economy, a high divorce rate, and the women's
movement. Yet a pattern of gender inequality on the job continues.
The relationship of the second sentence to the first sentence is one of
a. contrast
b. cause and effect
c. illustration
4.
As a result of exposure to the various chemicals dumped at Love Canal, nearby
residents have an excessive number of serious illnesses, a high incidence of miscarriages, and
an unusual number or children born with birth defects. . .
The sentence expresses a relationship of
a. addition
b. illustration
c. cause and effect
5.
Speech style affects a speaker’s apparent trustworthiness. For instance, researchers
Gordon Hemsley and Anthony Doob found that if, while testifying, videotaped witnesses
looked their questioner straight in the eye instead of gazing downward, they impressed people
as more believable.
The relationship of the second sentence to the first is one of
a. contrast
B. illustration
c. cause and affect
6.
Every society shapes its children in the image of its own culture. In ancient Sparta,
young boys were taught discipline, obedience, physical prowess, and self-denial through
harsh treatment and deprivation. However, in nearby Athens, parents raised their sons to
be artistically sensitive and broadly educated as well as athletic.
The relationship of the last sentence to the one before it is one of
a. time
b. addition
c. contrast
40
Listing & Sequencing
Questions that ask for numbers of elements/ factors/ reasons usually rely on words of sequence:
First, second, third, further, another, in addition, moreover, next, then, later, afterwards finally,
and, also
Sample questions:
a. Name 3 factors/ characteristics that are mentioned in paragraph 5.
b. How many conclusions are listed/ made/ drawn ?
___________
Listing Exercises:
A.
Escalation during a conflict would almost certainly cross the minds of any leaders fighting a
losing battle with the United States. In such a case, the losing combatants might see a NBC strike as
their last chance to prevent catastrophic damage to their country, bring a halt to hostilities, and reassert
political control of their territory. Fear that their NBC arsenal would soon be destroyed would only
bolster the attacking leadership's belief that it must act before total defeat and death.
1. What does a losing state have to gain by using NBC weapons? Give 4 reasons:
a._____________________________________________________
b._____________________________________________________
c._____________________________________________________
d._____________________________________________________
B.
More importantly, proactive policies -- seeking out crime-breeding situations and taking steps
to eliminate them before the crime occurs -- may alleviate much of the burgeoning violence among
young people. Tender loving care demonstrated by informed parenting, universal health and daycare,
mentoring, and communal attention to children's welfare can prevent another generation of starvedfor-attention juveniles from becoming criminals.
2. According to information inferred from this paragraph, what makes young
people become criminals today? List three factors.
i. _______________________________________________________________
ii._____________________________________________________________
iii._____________________________________________________________
C.
The propaganda of commodities serves a double function. First, it upholds consumption as an
alternative to protest or rebellion. Paul Nysrom, an early student of modern marketing, once noted
that industrial civilization gives rise to a feeling of futility, a pervasive fatigue, a disappointment with
achievements that find an outlet in superficial things in which fashion reigns. The tired worker, instead
of attempting to change the conditions of his work, seeks renewal in brightening his immediate
surroundings with new goods and services......... In the second place, the propaganda of consumption
turns alienation itself into a commodity. It addresses itself to the spiritual desolation of modern life and
proposes consumption as the cure. It promises to palliate all the old unhappinesses: personal
insecurity, status anxiety, anxiety in parents about their ability to satisfy the needs of the young.
Advertising institutionalizes envy and its anxieties.
3. List two effects that the propaganda of commodities has on the individual:
i.______________________________________________________________
ii._____________________________________________________________________
41
"Legalize? No. Deglamorize"
Charles Krauthammer
After graduating from Canada's McGill University, Charles Krauthammer (b. 1950) studied political theory at
Oxford and then went to Harvard Medical School.
Trained as a neurologist and psychiatrist,. Krauthammer returned to political analysis, first as a senior editor at
The New Republic and then as a syndicated columnist. A collection of his essays has been published, and he
has won a Pulitzer Prize for commentary. In the following column, published in 1988, Krauthammer presents his
views on legalizing drugs.
1
The idea of the month — to cure the hysteria of the year — is to legalize illegal drugs. The idea
has been broached by the mayors of Baltimore and Washington. It has made the front pages of the
New York Post and the New York Times. It even boasts an academic champion in Ethan Nadelmann,
a professor at Princeton University.
2
Now, legalization, unlike militarization, has a logic. (Militarization is Congress' cynical electionyear ploy to order the military to play drug policeman and pretend to interdict the problem at the
border.) Legalization is the cheap and easy solution. It works instantly. Well, definitionally. By
redefining drug use as legal, it eliminates all drug-related crime.
3 Now, legalization does solve the drug enforcement problem. If drugs are legal, there are no profits
to be made smuggling, no mafias and drug cartels to be enriched by the trade. No one goes to jail.
We save billions in law enforcement and reduce corruption to boot.
4
What legalizers minimize is the catastrophic effect that legalization would have on public health,
an effect that would far outweigh the savings in law enforcement. We had an inkling of that during
Prohibition. Prohibition was a law-enforcement disaster but, during its early years at least, a public
health triumph. The rates of such alcohol-related illnesses as cirrhosis of the liver and alcoholic
psychosis went down remarkably.
5 Well, you ask, if alcohol is now legal, what is the logic of prohibiting cocaine and heroin? No logic,
just history. Alcohol use is so ancient and so universal a practice that it cannot be repealed. The
question is not: Which is worse, alcohol or cocaine? The question is: Which is worse, alcohol alone or
alcohol plus coke and heroin PCP? Alcohol is here to stay. To legalize other drugs is to declare that
the rest of the pharmacy is here to stay, too.
6
Do we really want the additional and permanent burden of the other intoxicants, some of which
are infinitely more addictive than alcohol? Since the January 1987 Amtrak crash in which 16
passengers were killed, there have been 37 railroad accidents involving drug use. With cocaine and
heroin (and drug cocktails yet to be imagined) readily available, additional transportation deaths alone
— think just of the highway toll — would dwarf the current number of drug-related deaths.
7
Even legalization proponents admit that it would increase drug use (though they say it is worth
the price). First, legalization gives a social sanction. A public house dispensing crack invites crack
use. Second, it makes drugs available without risk. Third, it makes them available at a price that must
match or undercut the street price —otherwise, the black market continues and the whole lawenforcement rationale for legalization is defeated. All three effects of legalization -- making available,
sanctioned, safe and cheap drugs -- would increase consumption. What we save in law enforcement,
we would have to spend many times over in traffic deaths, lost productivity and hospital costs.
8 What to do? For any problem that is ultimately cultural, there can be no quick fix. The answer has
to be cultural, too, and changing attitudes takes decades. But it can be done. The great paradigm is
the success of the now 25-year-old antismoking campaigns.
9
When I was a kid, the most glamorous image one could imagine was Bogie with a cigarette
dangling from his lips. No more. Tobacco advertising is banned on TV, a clear violation of free speech
42
and a good one. A relentless government campaign, finally picked up by Hollywood and the rest of
the culture industry, has thoroughly deglamorized cigarettes: it simply isn't cool to smoke. It is
considered a confession of personal weakness. This is not the image a person wants to project, and
projecting an image is why people start to smoke in the first place. (Addiction is why they continue.)
Using Argument and Persuasion
10 The combination of moral suasion, deglamorization and mild repression —segregating smokers,
banning TV ads — has led to a dramatic decline in tobacco usage in one generation. It was 40
percent when the surgeon general's first report was issued in 1964. It is 30 percent today.
11
Nancy Reagan's Just Say No to drugs campaign drew ridicule, but it recognized the only
nonrepressive way to go after drugs. Do to them what was done to tobacco: deglamorize. The only
way to reduce consumption is to reverse a cultural impression in a culture of bright lights and big
cities that cannot be quick and easy, but there is no other way.
12
Save one. If you want an overnight fix, the only one that will work is a dramatic attack on
demand. When the Chinese communists came to power, they eliminated China's endemic opium
problem rather quickly. They shot, imprisoned or "reeducated" anyone involved with opium.
13
That is a bit rough for Congress. Nonetheless, in the current hysteria, Congress wants to turn
soldiers into drug cops and undermine the cherished American tradition of keeping the military out of
police work. Well, if drug abuse is really such a mortal danger that civil liberties need to be trampled,
there is a far more effective way to do it: start cracking down hard on users.
14
Not by putting them all in jail. There aren't enough cells to go around. But by imposing stiff
sanctions against property — heavy fines and confiscations. When a user has to calculate the price of
coke at $100 per gram plus, say, a $10,000 premium thrown in, he might start looking for cheaper
forms of recreation.
15
There you have it: four solutions. If you are desperate for a quick fix, either (1) legalize drugs or
(2) repress the user. If you want a civilized approach, (3) mount a propaganda campaign against
drugs on the scale of the antismoking campaign. And if you are just a politician looking for reelection
(4) send in the Marines and wave to the cameras.
Questions
I. Answer the following questions by skimming the text:
1. Look up the meaning of glamor or glamour in your dictionary. What does deglamorize mean?
2. According to par. 4, what don't legalizers take into consideration?
______________________________________________________
3. According to par. 7, if legalizing drugs saves money on law enforcement, why is it not a costeffective measure?
______________________________________________________
4. Do you think the author is for or against legalizing drugs? Support your answer.
______________________________________________________
43
II. Close Reading Questions
1. Read the first sentence. What is the idea of the month?
______________________________________________________
What is the hysteria of the year?
______________________________________________________
2. What areas of expertise does the author have that qualify him to deal with this problem?
a. ______________________________________________________
b. ______________________________________________________
c. ______________________________________________________
d. ______________________________________________________
3. According to the logic of legalization, if drugs can be obtained legally, dealers will no longer
____________________________________________ and the state will no longer waste money on
_________________________________________________.
4. (Paragraphs 3-4) While legalizing drugs decreases the costs of ___________________________ ,
it increases ___________________________________. On the other hand, in the Prohibition era
___________________________ increased, but ___________________________ decreased.
6. According to paragraphs 2-8, bring 4 arguments for and against legalization of drugs:
For Legalizing Drugs
1.
Against Legalizing Drugs
1.
2.
2.
3.
3.
4.
4.
44
6. In the author’s view the drug problem is mainly
a) economic
b) legal
c) cultural
d) medical
7. Which paragraphs does the subtitle "Using Arguments and Persuasion" refer to?
Para. ___________________________
8. Look up the meaning of the word "save" in your dictionary. In your own words, what does the
expression "Save one" as it is used in paragraph 12 mean?
______________________________________________________
9. What is Krauthammer's suggestion in paragraph 12?
Complete the following sentence:
If the government wants to ____________________________________, it must
__________________________________________.
10. What realistic solution does Krauthammer suggest in paragraph 13?
______________________________________________________
11. What is the relationship between paragraphs 13 and 14?
______________________________________________________
12. In paragraphs 14 and 15 there are 4 solutions. Find the paragraphs earlier in the article which
elaborate on these solutions:
Solution
a. ___________________________
b. ___________________________
c. ___________________________
d. ___________________________
Paragraph/s
__________________
__________________
__________________
__________________
45
Vocabulary development:
I. Study the meanings of the following words as they are used in context
1. legalize (para. 1)
2. legalization (para.2)
3. enforcement (para. 3)
4. reduce (para. 3)
5. corruption (para. 3)
6. prohibit, prohibition (para. 5)
7. proponents (para. 7)- opponents
8. increase (para. 7) decrease
9. ban (para. 9)
10. repression (para. 10), repress, nonrepressive (para. 11)
11. sanctions (para. 14)
II. Use your knowledge of the words above to complete the following sentences
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Sanctions do not always help _________________________________________
I would like to increase _____________________________________________
You should reduce ______________________________ in order to have more free time.
_________________________ is prohibited in many public places.
Legalization of drugs may lead to _____________________________________
The best way to fight corruption is _____________________________________
III. Choose three words form the list above and use them in your own sentences
1. _________________________________________________________________
2. _________________________________________________________________
3. _________________________________________________________________
IV. Translate
1. the drug enforcement problem (para. 3) _______________________________
2. a law enforcement disaster (para. 4) __________________________________
3. the additional and permanent burden (para. 6) ___________________________
_________________________
4. the current number of drug-related deaths (para. 6) _______________________
________________________
5. the cherished American tradition (para. 13) _____________________________
46
Cause & Effect
Cause tells "why" something happened
Key words to identify the cause of an event are:
Cause(s), why, the reasons (for), because, since
Effect tells "what happened", what was the result or outcome of the issue.
Key words to identify the effect, (that is, the event itself) are:
The result is, the outcome is, the effects are, as a result,
Sample questions:
Looking for the causes:
a. Why did ___x_____ take place/ happen?
b. What was the cause of ______x_________?
c. What were the reasons for ____x_________?
d. Complete the following sentence:
____x_____happened as a result of __________________(the causes).
"x" = what actually happened, the effects
Looking for the effects:
a. What did A and B cause?
b. Complete the following sentence:
Because of x and y, ______________________________happened.
Identify the cause and the effect (A or B):
A
A
A
A
A
A
Since
causes
results from
leads to
follows
results in
is a result of
A, …. B
B
B
B
B
B
B
Rewrite the following sentence using the expressions above:
1) Tiredness
causes
accidents
2) ________________ result from
___________________
3) ________________ leads to
____________________
4) ________________
____________________
follow
5) ________________ results in
___________________
6) ________________ are a result of ___________________
7) Since people sometimes _________________________, ___________________________.
47
Cause/Effect Exercise:
A]
Dr. James Walsh explains that hearty laughter stimulates internal organs, making them work
better through the increase of circulation that follows the vibrating massage that accompanies it, and
heightens resistance against disease. Scientists at over a dozen medical centres, probing the effects
of laughter on the human body, have reported measurable effects, not just on the lungs, but on other
organs such as the heart, liver, stomach, and brain.
1. Fill in the missing information in the chart to show the chain of causes and effects explained
by Dr. Walsh:
A. HEARTY LAUGHTER
leads to...
B._________________________________
which causes ...
C._________________________________
that affects ...
D.STIMULATION OF INTERNAL ORGANS
which results in ...
E._________________________________
B]
Where endogamy prevails, either by choice of the minority or by imposition of the “majority”,
a pluralistic condition may endure for centuries or even millennia. Assimilation may also fail to take
place even when a certain amount of intermarriage takes place if there is a rule that assigns the
mixed offspring to the minority or if the rate of intermarriage is not very high relative to the rate of
population increase.
2. A low rate of intermarriage or the decision by society to give mixed offspring minority status
are possible reasons for:
a. endogamy by choice
b. the loss of a separate identity as a minority
c. the failure of assimilation to take place
d. the failure of the minority group in the new society
C]
Obvious forms of pluralism in which differences in language, religion, and other aspects of lifestyles are employed to increase the minority’s sense of identity may have considerable
utility…Informal networks of Jewish, Chinese, Japanese or Hindu merchants and businessmen
frequently provide important commercial advantages in highly competitive situations.
3. Some minorities can set up informal networks of business as a result of
_____________________________________________________. This can give them
__________________________________________________.
48
Assimilation versus Pluralism
1
Like classes, minorities occur in both relatively open and closed versions. Some minorities are
almost completely endogamous (marry within their own group) and of these many are endogamous
by choice. The Jews.Chinese, and Greeks in the United States, the Hindus in Trinidad, the Moslems
in India, the Japanese in Brazil are examples of groups for whom endogamy is a practice valued as
much by the minority as by the rest of the population. Other minorities such as the Eta of Japan, the
blacks of the United States, and the coloreds of South Africa lack strong endogamic preferences of
their own but find intermarriage blocked largely by the hostility of the rest of the population. Still other
minorities neither possess internal barriers to exogamy (marrying outside their group) nor encounter
external resistance. Such groups (e.g., the Germans or Scots in the United States, and the Italians in
Brazil) follow a developmental line that leads to assimilation -- the loss of separate identity as a
minority group.
2
Where endogamy prevails, either by choice of the minority or by imposition of the majority, a
pluralistic condition may endure for centuries or even millennia. Assimilation may also fail to take
place even when a certain amount of intermarriage occurs if there is a rule that assigns the mixed
offspring to the minority or if the rate of intermarriage is not very high relative to the rate of population
increase. What accounts for these variations?
3
Any attempt to explain why a minority will develop along pluralistic rather than assimilationist
lines requires a broad evolutionary and comparative approach. The most important fact to consider is
this: minorities enter the arena of social life under disadvantageous circumstances. They enter as
migrants seeking relief from exploitative class systems in their native lands; they enter as defeated
peoples who have been overrun during wars of conquest and expansion; or they enter as defeated
peoples transferred from colonial outposts to serve as slaves.
4
Each minority brings with it a unique socio-cultural defined adaptive capacity to survive and
prosper in the particular situation in which it finds itself. Wherever the class structure of the majority's
social system is marked by individualized competition for upward mobility and a corresponding lack of
class identity or class solidarity, the minority may derive advantages from the practice of endogamy,
settlement in restricted regions or neighborhoods, and pursuit of pluralistic goals.
5
The reasons for this are as diverse as the adaptive capacities of the world inventory of
minorities and the social systems in which they are obliged to compete. Some groups appear to be
more likely than others to benefit from the preservation of their traditional cultural patterns because
these patterns are associated with definite advantages in the new arena of conflict. Jews, for
example, long excluded from land-based means of earning a living in Europe, arrived in the rapidly
urbanizing society of late nineteenth-century America pre-adapted to compete for upward mobility in
occupations requiring high levels of literacy; contemporary Japanese migrants to Brazil bring with
them special skills related to intensive agriculture and truck farming; and Chinese migrants in many
parts of the world achieve outstanding success by adhering to traditional family-based patterns of
business activity.
6
Obvious forms of pluralism in which differences in language, religion, and other aspects of lifestyles are employed to increase the minority's sense of identity may have considerable utility in
impersonalized, class-structured, competitive contexts. Informal networks of Jewish, Chinese,
Japanese, Greek, Syrian, Hindu, or Moslem merchants and businessmen frequently provide
important commercial advantages in highly competitive situations. Yet minority solidarity carries with it
the danger of overexposure and reaction. In maintaining and increasing their own solidarity, minorities
run the risk of increasing the fear of alienation of the larger population and hence of becoming the
scapegoats (people made to suffer for others (‫ )שעיר לזאזל‬of genocidal pogroms. The fate of the Jews
in Germany and Poland, the Hindu Indians In East and Southern Africa, the Chinese in Indonesia,
and the Moslems in India are some of the better-known examples of successful minority adaptations
that have been followed by mass slaughter and/or expulsion.
49
I. Vocabulary
Find the word(s) in the text that mean the same as the following:
a) happen- P1.
b) thoroughly- P1.
c) are missing- P1
d) abounds -P2.
e) search P4.
f) to profit P5.
g) kept out P5
h) distinct P6
II
Skimming Activities
1.
Define the 2 terms in the title:
a. assimilation ___________________________
b. pluralism ___________________________
(10 points)
2. The text deals with minorities. Explain how pluralism is the opposite
of assimilation in this context.
___________________________________________________________
(10 points)
3. List the 3 general categories of minorities that are mentioned.
a. ________________________________________________________
b. ________________________________________________________
c. ________________________________________________________
(12 points)
Which of these above categories is discussed in the rest of the text?
___________________________________________________________
III Comprehension Questions
1. A low rate of intermarriage or the decision by society to give mixed
offspring minority status are possible reasons for
a.
b.
c.
d.
endogamy by choice
the loss of a separate identity as a minority
the failure of assimilation to take place
the failure of the minority group in the new society
(10 points)
2. What general point is illustrated by the examples in the last sentence
of paragraph 3?
___________________________________________________________
(8 points)
3. What feature of the general society helps some minorities to succeed?
a.
b.
c.
d.
individualized competition
strong class identity
pursuit of pluralistic goals
adaptive capacity to survive
(10 points)
50
4.
What does the success of the Jews, the Japanese and the Chinese show?
a. how high levels of literacy are important in modern society
b. that there are definite advantages for minorities in America
c. that competition for upward mobility is difficult in the new society
d. how traditional cultural patterns can help minorities in the new society
5. Some minorities can set up informal networks of business as a result of
___________________________. This can give them ________________________.
(10 points)
6. According to the writer (in par. 6), mass slaughter and expulsion of minority groups may be the
negative result of
a.
b.
c.
d.
too much minority solidarity
informal networks of business
trying to assimilate into the larger society
highly competitive situations
(10 points)
7.
We can infer that the main idea of this text is
a. The adaptive capacities of minority groups help them to survive and succeed in their new
society.
b. We cannot explain why a minority will develop along pluralistic rather than assimilationist lines.
c. Minorities come to their new society under disadvantageous circumstances.
d. The majority group in society determines whether a minority group is accepted.
(10 points)
Vocabulary development
As classless societies, Western democracies allow their citizens to improve themselves through
1)_______________
competition. Thus, people experience upward 2)______________. New
immigrants and people from 3)____________ groups who live in these open societies have distinct
4)__________________. Yet their success depends on their ability to 5)____________________ to
the new culture.
When such a group shows 6)__________________, a strong feeling of
togetherness, its members can have 7) ________________________ advantages in business. They
will
experience
less
8)_______________
and
will
prosper
in
such
a
9)____________________society, one that tolerates various opinions and ways of life.
The numbers of different ethnic groups in a society 10) _________________ to the degree of
tolerance of that society. Minorities may begin to 11)_____________into society and then lose their
group 12)_______________. Their children, or
13)____________________, receive the status of the 14)____________________.
CHOOSE FROM THE FOLLOWING WORDS TO COMPLETE THE PASSAGE:
solidarity
minority identity
majority
offspring assimilate pluralistic mobility
adapt individualized
exploitation correspond
commercial advantages
51
Fixing a World that Fosters Fat
Natasha Singer. New York Times. Aug 22, 2010
[...] despite individual efforts by some states to tax soda pop, promote farm stands, require
healthier school lunches or mandate calorie information in chain restaurants, obesity rates in the
United States are growing. Fast-food restaurants can charge lower prices for value meals of
hamburgers and French fries than for salad because the government subsidizes the corn and
soybeans used for animal feed and vegetable oil, says Barry Popkin, a professor of nutrition at the
Gillings School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
1.
WHY are Americans getting fatter and fatter? The simple explanation is that we eat too
much junk food and spend too much time in front of screens -- be they television, phone or
computer -- to burn off all those empty calories. One handy prescription for healthier lives is
behavior modification. If people only ate more fresh produce. If only children exercised more.
2.
Unfortunately, behavior changes won't work on their own without seismic societal shifts,
health experts say, because eating too much and exercising too little are merely symptoms of a
much larger malady. The real problem is a landscape littered with inexpensive fast-food meals;
saturation advertising for fatty, sugary products; inner cities that lack supermarkets; and unhealthy,
high-stress workplaces.
3.
"Everyone knows that you shouldn't eat junk food and you should exercise," says Kelly D.
Brownell, the director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale. "But the
environment makes it so difficult that fewer people can do these things, and then you have a public
health catastrophe."
4.
Dr. Brownell, who has a doctorate in psychology, is among a number of leading
researchers who are proposing large-scale changes to food pricing, advertising and availability, all
in the hope of creating an environment conducive to healthier diet and exercise choices. To that
end, health researchers are grappling with how to fix systems that are the root causes of obesity,
says Dee W. Edington, the director of the Health Management Research Center at the University
of Michigan.
5.
"If you take a changed person and put them in the same environment, they are going to go
back to the old behaviors," says Dr. Edington, who has a doctorate in physical education. "If you
change the culture and the environment first, then you can go back into a healthy environment and,
when you get change, it sticks."
6.
Indeed, despite individual efforts by some states to tax soda pop, promote farm stands,
require healthier school lunches or mandate calorie information in chain restaurants, obesity rates
in the United States are growing. An estimated 72.5 million adults in the United States are obese,
according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Last year, about 27 percent of adults
said they were obese, compared with about 20 percent in 2000, as reported in a C.D.C. study
published this month. And, the report said, obesity may cost the medical system as much as $147
billion annually.
7.
So what kind of disruptive changes might help nudge Americans into healthier routines?
Equalizing food pricing, for one. Fast-food restaurants can charge lower prices for value meals of
hamburgers and French fries than for salad because the government subsidizes the corn and
soybeans used for animal feed and vegetable oil, says Barry Popkin, a professor of nutrition at the
Gillings School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
8.
"We have made it more expensive to eat healthy in a very big way," says Dr. Popkin, who
has a doctorate in agricultural economics and is the author of a book called "The World Is Fat: The
Fads, Trends, Policies and Products That Are Fattening the Human Race."
52
9.
The inflation-adjusted price of a McDonald's quarter-pounder with cheese, for example, fell
5.44 percent from 1990 to 2007, according to an article on the economics of child obesity
published in the journal Health Affairs. But the inflation-adjusted price of fruit and vegetables, which
are not subject to federal largess, rose 17 percent just from 1997 to 2003, the study said. Cutting
agricultural subsidies would have a big impact on people's eating habits, says Dr. Popkin. "If we
cut the subsidy on whole milk and made it cheaper only to drink low-fat milk," he says, "people
would switch to it and it would save a lot of calories."
10.
Health experts are also looking to the private sector. On-site fitness centers and vending
machines that sell good-for-you snacks are practical workplace innovations that many companies
have instituted.
11.
On a more philosophical level, innovative companies are training managers not to burn out
employees by overworking them, says Dr. Edington of the University of Michigan. "Stress comes
up. It can lead to overeating and obesity," Dr. Edington says. At companies that see employee
health as a renewable resource, he adds, managers encourage employees to go home on time so
they can spend more time with their families, communities or favorite activities. "Instead of going
home with an empty tank, you can go home with the energy that we gave you by the way we run
our business," he says.
12.
CORPORATE-SECTOR efforts aren't entirely altruistic. It's less expensive for businesses
to keep healthy workers healthy than to cover the medical costs of obesity and related problems
like diabetes. For employees at I.B.M. and their families, for example, the annual medical claim for
an obese adult or child costs about double that of a non-obese adult or child, says Martin J.
Sepulveda, I.B.M.'s vice president for integrated health services.
13.
I.B.M. has been promoting wellness for employees since the 1980s. But in 2008, it began
offering a new program, the Children's Health Rebate, to encourage employees to increase their
at-home family dinners, their servings of fruits and vegetables, and their physical activities, as well
as to reduce their children's television and computer time.
14.
In addition to helping prevent obesity in children, Mr. Sepulveda says, the program is aimed
at employees who might neglect to exercise on their own but would willingly participate as part of a
family project. Each family that completes the program receives $150.
15.
All of these ideas sound promising. But the architecture of obesity is so entrenched that
policy makers, companies, communities, families and individuals will need to undertake a variety of
efforts to displace and replace it, says Alan Lyles, a professor at the School of Health and Human
Services at the University of Baltimore.
16.
And American efforts can seem piecemeal compared with those in Britain, where the
government has undertaken a multipronged national attack, requiring changes in schools, health
services and the food industry.
17.
Britain now places restrictions on advertising fatty, sugary and salty foods during children's
shows, for example. And by 2011, cooking classes will be mandatory for all 11- to 14-year-old
students in the nation. The hope is to teach a generation of children who grew up on prepared
foods how to cook healthy meals, and perhaps to make eating at home -- instead of at the local
fried fish-and-chips shop -- the default option.
53
Questions
1. “…eating too much and exercising too little are merely symptoms of a much larger
malady” List four manifestations of this “larger malady”.
a. __________________________________________
b. __________________________________________
c. __________________________________________
d. __________________________________________
2. Who is to blame for the fact that people don’t exercise and eat junk food?
_________________________ (ONE word)
3. What are the three “root causes” of obesity mentioned?
a. ____________________________________
b. ____________________________________
c. ____________________________________
4. Name two initiatives aimed at fighting obesity.
a. ______________________________
b. ______________________________
5. Why is fast food cheaper than healthy food?
___________________________________________________________________
___
6. What economic decision may lead to the rise in the price of fruit and vegetables?
___________________________________________________________________
_
7. What are two possible means that companies can use to reduce obesity rates?
a. __________________________________________
b. __________________________________________
8. How can one’s job contribute to one’s obesity? (1-2 words in each space)
Obesity results from ________________________, which is caused by
___________________________
9. What general idea is illustrated by the example of I.B.M.?
___________________________________________________________________
___
___________________________________________________________________
___
10. What are the two target populations of the program “Children’s Health Rebate”?
a. ____________________________
b. ____________________________
11. British are less concerned with the problem of obesity than Americans.
TRUE/FALSE
Quote from the text to support your answer.
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
12. What is the purpose of the cooking classes in British schools?
______________________________________________________________________
54
General Idea & Supporting Detail
Looking for the Main idea:
Sample questions:
a. What do the examples in paragraph __2___ illustrate/ show/ demonstrate?
b. Why was ________x_________ mentioned /discussed? ( "x" is an example of a main point)
c. According to this paragraph, x ,y
and .
z______ are examples of _________
d. The ___________ described in this paragraph illustrate the writer's point
that___________________________
e. What is the main idea of this paragraph?
f. What is the writer's purpose in writing this article?
Helpful phrases to find answer:
For example, for instance, demonstrate(s), show(s), point out, illustrate
__________
Main idea/example exercises:
A]
In 1945, the psychologist Rene Spitz compared infants living with their mothers with
infants of the same age who had been placed in the care of an orphanage. The infants living with their
mothers had plenty of opportunity for close social interaction, but those in the institution received only
routine care at mealtimes and when their clothing or bedding was changed. Spitz found that the
infants in the orphanage were physically, socially, and emotionally retarded compared with other
infants – a difference, moreover, that increased steadily as the children grew older.
1. Why does the author mention Spitz’s study?
To show that the conditions in _________________ can lead to _____________ development in
children.
B] Let us examine the different explanations about one human characteristic, intelligence, offered by
two theories. Advocates of the “nature” theory, of course, maintain that we are born with a certain
capacity for learning that is biologically determined. Needless to say, they don’t believe that factors in
the environment have much influence on what is basically a predetermined characteristic. On the
other hand, behaviorists argue that our intelligence levels are the product of our experiences. They
suggest that the child who is raised in an environment where there are many stimuli, which develop
his or her capacity for appropriate responses, will experience greater intellectual development than
one who is raised in a stimulus-deprived environment.
2. What is the purpose of this paragraph?
a. to explore the debate about two common theories about intelligence
b. to explain what will happen to children brought up without stimuli
c. to explain the two theories of behavior through an example
d. to compare the nature/nurture debate with the debate on intelligence
55
C]
Vulnerability of the United States to terrorist attacks increases when it does not anticipate such
threats arising from an on-going crisis, or when it does not detect them in peacetime. This was
demonstrated on February 26, 1993, when an Islamic militant drove a van packed with high
explosives into a parking garage under the World Trade Center in New York City. The subsequent
blast killed 5 and injured more than 1000 people: it ripped through the Trade Center garage, causing
mayhem and temporarily crippling the Manhattan financial district. In hindsight, it is easy to see that
the U.S. internal security system failed.
3. The writer mentions the Islamic terrorist attack on the World Trade Center In New York City
as an example of ______________________________________________________.
D]
Every culture has developed preferences for certain kinds of food and drink, and equally
strong negative attitudes towards others. It is interesting to note that much of this ethnocentrism is in
our heads and not in our tongues, for something can taste delicious until we are told what it is. We
have all heard stories about people being fed a meal of snake or horse meat or something equally
repugnant in American culture and commenting on how tasty it was until they were told what they had
just eaten; as a result, they turned green and hurriedly asked to be excused from the table.
4. What point is illustrated by the examples of meals of snake and horse meat?
______________________________________________________________
E]
Meanwhile, Simon argued that looking back over 10,000 years of resource crises there is a
pattern. Although things did sometimes become scarce, people responded with innovations. They
found new supplies or practiced conservation. They managed to recycle without government policies
or exhortations from Greenpeace. Often the scarcity led to a much better substitute. Timber shortages
in 16th century Britain ushered in the age of coal; the scarcity of whale oil around 1850 led to the first
oil well in 1859.
5. What is the main point supported by the example of “timber shortages” and “the scarcity of
whale oil”? ______________________________________________________________________
F]
Human Cloning - If the human gene pool can be seen as a sort of species-wide natural
resource, it's only sensible for the rarest of those genes to be husbanded most carefully, preserved so
that every generation may enjoy their benefits. Even the most ardent egalitarians would find it hard to
object an Einstein appearing every 50 years or a Chopin every century. It would be better still if we
could be guaranteed not just an Einstein, but the Einstein. If a scientific method were developed so
that the man who explained general relativity in the first half of the century could be brought back to
crack the secrets of naked singularities in the second, could we resist using it? Would it be moral not
to try? Surprisingly, scientific ethicists say yes. "Choosing personal characteristics as if they were
options on a car is an invitation to misadventure," says John Paris, professor of bioethics at Boston
College. "It is in the diversity of our population that we find interest and enthusiasm."
6. The writer's purpose in providing the examples of Einstein and Chopin is:
a. to prove that the egalitarians are wrong
b. to show that the diversity of the population is important
c. to compare two great men that must be cloned
d. to argue that if the right people are cloned we can achieve greatness
56
Lying as America’s Pastime
Joe Saltzman. USA Today. Farmingdale: Jul 2006. Vol. 135, Iss. 2734; pg. 25, 1 pgs
Saltzman argues that lying has become such an integral part of the American society that no one
seems outraged by it anymore, even when that lie has extraordinary and painful consequences. One
survey determined that 90% of Americans lie under certain circumstances. Others show that many of
this country's citizens are extremely religious, believing in God, Satan, and a Bible that is very specific in
its condemnation of lying. Yet, members of the clergy have been caught in mistruths concerning
financial dealings, corrupt practices, and pedophilia.
1.
EVERYBODY lies. From the president of the U.S. to Congress to the smallest
citizen in the country, we are a nation of liars. Parents still try to teach their children not to
do so. They retell the story of George Washington and the cherry tree or recite Proverbs
6:16-19 to make their point. Yet, with the same breath, they tell their kids that, if they are
not good, Santa Claus will not bring them any presents. They also urge their offspring to
leave their teeth under the pillow so the Tooth Fairy will reward them. Youngsters discover
at an early age that skirting the truth will keep them out of trouble: "I didn't do it; she did."
"It wasn't my fault." "I don't know why the toilet overflowed. It just did."
2.
White lies are rationalized by young and old alike as a way of being kind to people.
They entail false compliments ("I love that dress on you"), lazy excuses ("I'll call you back
tomorrow"), and broken promises ("I won't ever do that again"). As we grow older, the
rationalizations for lying become more complex. We cheat on our income tax returns
because the tax laws are corrupt. "The check is in the mail" buys some extra time in
paying a late bill; besides, what is the harm? Putting on a resume that you graduated from
college when you did not seems fair because you were just a few units shy of getting a
diploma before you had to quit school because you ran out of money.
3.
One survey determined that 90% of Americans lie under certain circumstances.
Others show that many of this country's citizens are extremely religious, believing in God,
Satan, and a Bible that is very specific in its condemnation of lying. Yet, members of the
clergy have been caught in mistruths concerning financial dealings, corrupt practices, and
pedophilia (the Catholic Church hierarchy long denied such behavior even took place).
Adulterers-some surveys indicate that a significant percentage of married men and women
have affairs and they lie to the people they say they love the most: spouses, children, best
friends, and co-workers. Our lying to each other has become a way of life.
4.
Most of us lie out of fear or embarrassment. If our resumes are not impressive, we
are afraid we will not get that job. If we are caught doing something wrong, we will be
reprimanded, fired, or even sent to jail. Some rationalizations just keep growing, making
the liar almost appear noble and kind of heart: "I don't want my wife to find out I'm having
an affair because it would hurt her and the children." "I cheat on my tax return because the
government is using my tax dollars to wage an unjust war that is killing innocent people."
"I'm a good person and the lie really didn't hurt anybody. In fact it saved a lot of bruised
feelings."
5.
Plagiarism-passing off another's work as your own-and fabrication have become
commonplace, especially in student papers at all levels of American education. Moreover,
it has seeped into the media. Writers of nonfiction books and memoirs have been caught
lying about past events. Staff writers on such august publications as The New York Times
and New Republic have made up or improperly enhanced stories. In broadcast news,
pieces are lifted out of print publications without attribution or apology. Few electronic or
internet news media bother checking quotes or facts that they steal from other
publications. Most of the students or journalists caught red-handed seem more frustrated
that they were caught than apologetic for what they have done. Some do not seem to
understand that using other people's work without attribution or simply fabricating quotes
and facts is dishonest. Actually, this regressive brand of journalism merely appears to be a
57
logical extension of the dishonesty in business and personal relationships overtaking the
country.
6.
Lying has become such an integral part of society that no one seems outraged by it
anymore, even when that lie has extraordinary and painful consequences. So, when the
president or a congressman is caught in a lie, the public seems to accept it as just
business as usual. It turns out that it does not really matter what the real reasons were for
going to war in Iraq. The end justifies any means, any lies, any deceptions, any dishonest
behavior.
7.
The policy of government today seems to be that, if the truth is offensive, ignore it
and make up a story. Global warming? It does not really exist. Results of global warming?
Blame it on something else. Annoyed that science does not support your point of view?
Ridicule it and make up your own explanation. If anyone in or out of government dares to
tell the truth, minimize their participation in government and send them on their way.
8.
The news media appears utterly confused about the acceptance of lying as a way
of life. Few media outlets ever point out a lie or deception until long after it has served their
purpose. Using the excuse of balanced coverage and fairness, the press seems to give
any point of view, any lie, any deception equal time with people who actually are telling the
truth. Scientific fact is given equal time with anyone's point of view. Expert testimony is
equated with gossip and opinion. When in doubt, the news media always falls back on old,
reliable audience-pleasers like celebrity journalism, consumer news, the weather, and
sports-topics that do not offend or confuse.
9.
The problem is that private behavior and public policy built on deception corrupt the
heart and soul of a country and its people, leaving both morally bankrupt and
untrustworthy. The news media should be worried about this, reminding readers and
viewers about this epidemic of deceit that goes from the highest office in the land to the
average person on the street. They should be telling us on a daily basis that a lying tongue
not only is an abomination to God, but one that is intolerable to any conscientious citizen.
Author affiliations: Joe Saltzman, Associate Mass Media Editor of USA Today; associate
dean and professor of journalism. University of Southern California Annenberg School for
Communication, Los Angeles; and director of the Image of the Journalist in Popular
Culture, a project of the Norman Lear Center, is the author of Frank Capra and the Image
of the Journalist in American Film.
Questions
1. What general point is illustrated by the example of Santa Claus and Tooth Fairy?
Complete the sentence
Even though parents teach their children not to lie, they __________________________
2. What do giving a false compliment and cheating on income tax returns have in
common?
Complete the sentence
They are both examples of __________________________. (TWO WORDS)
3. What is the paradox introduced in paragraph 3?
On the one hand, many American citizens are ____________________. On the other hand,
_________________________________________________________________
58
4. i. What are the two groups the author accuses of plagiarism?
a. __________________________
b. __________________________
ii.
What is their characteristic response to these accusations?
___________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
5. Paragraphs 6-7 present a new domain of lying. What is it?
a. Journalism
b. Politics
c. Business
d. Academic studies
6. The truth outweighs lying in the news media.
TRUE/FALSE
Support your answer by quoting a sentence from the text.
___________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
7. i. Who is harmed by the overall lying in the American society?
______________________ (up to 4 words)
ii.
What role should the media undertake to remedy this situation?
_____________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
8. What is the main idea of the article?
a. Government officials and the news media are deceiving the public.
b. 90% of Americans lie under certain circumstances.
c. High rate of plagiarism reflects the corruption of morals in America.
d. Lying has become a norm of American behavior.
59
Plagues, Man, and History
by Mark Clark
1
With all the scary headlines it's easy to forget there was ever an epidemic like AIDS. But
history is laden with the heavy toll of plagues. The Black Death of the Middle Ages exterminated a
third of the population of Europe in just four years. In 1918, a pandemic of influenza killed more
than 20 million people in only few months. Even today, while AIDS continues its alarming spread -nearly 60,000 cases in the United States and 34,000deaths -- malaria remains the world champion
of epidemic disease, infecting 200 million new victims every year and killing millions.
2
The epidemics of the past hold medical lessons that can help keep the AIDS threat in
perspective. As University of Chicago Professor Emeritus William H. McNeill points out in his classic
study "Plagues and Peoples," dangerous viruses are simply part of the ecosystem in which all
animals and plants live. Frightening though they may be, they are only carrying out nature's
mandate to reproduce; the insidious organism doesn't know that by choosing the blood cells of the
human immune system in which to propagate, it is killing its host. And, in fact, should an infectious
organism be too virulent, it would kill off all its potential hosts, and finally itself.
3
To historians, there is nothing really new about AIDS.
Epidemics have changed the
course of human events just as readily as wars, religious movements, royal houses and the
imperatives of trade between nations. In fact, smallpox brought by the Spaniards did more than
gunpowder for the European conquest of the New Worlds; the bubonic plague of 1346 t o 1352 took
its toll equally among all classes -- clergy, landowners and serfs -- and eventually helped bring an
end to feudalism.
4.
Each epidemic carries its own macabre lineage. The Black Death occurred because the
bacillus known as Yersinia Pestis had done such an efficient job of killing off one of its hosts, the
common rat. The germ was carried from rat to rat by fleas that normally fed on the blood of rodents.
But as the rats died off,
fleas accosted people for their blood meal and transmitted the deadly
bacillus in
the process. In the unsanitary, crowded conditions of the time, the result was
devastating. In a few days, victims came down with symptoms of the disease. Death occurred as
the disease infected the bloodstream or caused pneumonia. After several recurrences, the
epidemic burned itself out though the disease still exists in parts of the world, including the United
States. According to one theory, a less lethal strain of the bacillus evolved: fewer rats died and
therefore there was no need for the fleas to bite humans.
5
It wasn’t until the influenza epidemic of 1918 -19 that the world knew another epidemic
comparable to that of the bubonic plague. Except for elderly or debilitated patients, a bout of flu
usually amounts to no more than a few days of fever, coughing and muscular aches and pains. But
this flu virus was different, infecting fully half the world's population and killing many of them within
days. "Sometimes they couldn't get them buried fast enough", says a survivor. "Undertakers were
afraid to enter the house," recalls another. As with AIDS, there was a certain degree of panic. In
San Francisco, the police wore masks and arrested people who didn't.
6
Eventually, the epidemic came to an end because so many people had been infected and
developed antibodies. That is what is called "herd immunity.” There weren't enough susceptible
people remaining in the population to allow the spread of the virus. No one yet knows why the 1918
epidemic was so virulent.
7
Traditionally, epidemics produce a xenophobic
reaction among their victims. The 1918
influenza spree was widely referred to as "Spanish flu," although it may have started in the United
States. The great wave of syphilis that spread over Europe in the l0th century was called the
"French disease" by the British and the "German disease" by the French. Some scholars maintain
that the disease had been carried back from the New World by Columbus's sailors; first accounts of
the epidemic coincide with these voyages of discovery. Others believe syphilis spirochete is almost
identical to the organism that causes yaws, a common skin disease in the tropics.
60
8
The upsurge of syphilis in the 16th century is the closest parallel to the AIDS epidemic. That
plague struck rapidly and randomly, says McNeill, and proved to be the harbinger of what is now
known as “safe sex." He suggests that the outbreak helped establish the puritan mind-set of the
Reformation and a new emphasis on monogamy. The syphilis organism became less virulent but
didn't disappear.
9
Like AIDS, syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease; how it was curtailed in the past may
suggest what to do to bring the present epidemic under control. According to the syphilis
experience, compulsory blood tests for AIDS antibodies wouldn't be of much use. Historian Allan M.
Brandt of Harvard Medical School points out that pre-marital blood tests for syphilis "failed to
identify a significant percentage of the infected population."
10
AIDS is not yet a spent epidemic. No one can predict how far it will spread beyond the major
risk groups of male homosexuals or bisexuals and drug users. Fortunately, the virus that causes
AIDS was quickly identified and the hunt is well under way for drugs or vaccines to bring it under
control. If history remains a reliable guide, this epidemic too will run its vicious course, spreading
acute misery. Then it will take its place in the background of the ecosystem, alongside the
organisms that cause influenza, syphilis, measles and a host of other infections.
Questions
1.
a. Which of the following diseases is the major concern of the writer?
influenza, Aids, malaria, the Black Death, bubonic plague,smallpox __________________________
b. Which has killed the most people?
__________________________
2
By discussing the previous plagues, the Black Death and influenza,what point is the writer
making about AIDS?
_____________________________________________
3
a. What is xenophobia? ________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
b. Apply that meaning in your explanation of how different people
accounted for the spread of syphilis in paragraph 7: _________________
___________________________________________________________
4
The writer's main purpose in this text is to
a.reassure us about AIDS.
b. blame people for spreading disease.
c. encourage scientists to find cures.
d. warn us about AIDS.
6.
Is the author optimistic about controlling AIDS in the future?
(Check the correct answer(
Yes /
No
Give two reasons to support your answer.
1_____________________________________________
2_____________________________________________
61
Living With the Virus
When and how HIV turns into AIDS
1 We all die of something, and the only thing that changed for Magic Johnson when he tested positive
for the AIDS virus is that he now knows what he will probably die from, if not necessarily when. There are,
according to estimates by the Centers for Disease Control, between 1 million and 1.5 million people like
Johnson in America, and roughly 10 million in the world -- people whose blood conceals a minute speck
of nucleic acid with the power to lay bare their immune defenses and leave them helpless in the face of
the most ordinary infections. What sets Johnson apart, other than being famous, is that he knows he has
it. Most of the people with the AIDS virus don't know who they are and neither does anyone else.
2 In the decade since AIDS was first described and named, medical science has made great progress
against it. Doctors have identified its cause, the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that infects and
destroys the T-cells that are a key component of the immune system. They have devised reliable tests for
the presence of HIV, thereby minimizing the risk of contracting it through contaminated blood
transfusions. They have come up with drugs to slow the growth of the virus in the body and delay the
onset of symptoms, and drugs to treat the complications of AIDS that actually kill. They have devised
rules, which, if everyone followed them, would virtually halt the spread of the virus among people who are
not yet infected. But there is one thing they have not been able to do, even once: they have never cured
it. Although there are reports of a few cases of spontaneous recovery (a highly controversial assertion, to
be sure), for all practical purposes a person who has been infected with HIV is infected for life.
3 Accordingly, people in Johnson's situation inhabit a kind of medical limbo, made possible by HIV's
remarkably long period of latency. Except for a brief flu like illness shortly after contracting the infection,
people with the AIDS virus may feel completely healthy, as Johnson does, and exhibit no medical
symptoms at all. They can continue like that indefinitely, while the virus erodes the immune system "the
way the surf works on a beach," according to Dr. Michael Gottleib, the Los Angeles immunologist who
published the first clinical description of AIDS patients. Over time, symptoms may appear, such as weight
loss or the night sweats that have been likened to a dousing with a bucket of cold water. Eventually a
threshold is crossed. The immune system breaks down, the person gets sick with one of the distinctive
infections that are markers for AIDS and his case is added to the 195,718 Americans who have been
diagnosed with AIDS. Although some people get sick soon after infection, the median interval is between
10 and 11 years, and that includes statistics from the years before drugs such as AZT were available.
The upper limit, if there is any, is unknown. That is the good news. The bad news is that once AIDS itself
is diagnosed -- the full blown disease, not just the infection -- the chance of surviving more than three
years is around one in 10.
4 And, of course, from shortly after someone is infected until the day he dies, he can pass the virus on
to someone else. It is precisely the long latency of the AIDS virus that has enabled it to spread so widely.
Despite its lethality, AIDS is actually a very difficult disease to catch. The virus cannot survive for more
than a few minutes outside the human body, and has been transmitted, as far as is known, only by
infected blood, semen or vaginal secretions. Hemophiliacs and surgery patients can get HIV via a
contaminated transfusion of whole blood or blood products, although that is rare now that blood is
routinely tested. Infants can get it from infected mothers, either in utero across the placenta or by contact
in passing through the birth canal; the virus has also been found in breast milk and studies have shown
that it can be transmitted that way. At least 40 and perhaps as many as several hundred health workers
have acquired the virus from the blood of patients, but transmission in the other direction almost never
occurs. (The case of the Florida dentist who infected Kimberly Bergalis and four others of his patients
was the only reported instance of its kind.) And the virus can spread among drug users who share
needles, accounting for the second largest number of total AIDS cases in America.
5 And, of course, it can spread via unprotected sexual contact -- usually, but not always, when the
infected partner is a male. This is partly because more men than women have the virus in the first place.
The early victims of the AIDS infection in America were mostly homosexual men, however today 20
percent of those infected are women.
62
Straight Talk about a Deadly Disease
What to Tell Your Kids
Who Is at Risk?
*Listen sympathetically to their
worries and tell them Magic may
have years to live.
*People who have unprotected sex
outside a stable, monogamous
relationship.
*Be prepared to counter
misinformation they may have
heard about AIDS and how the
virus is and is not transmitted.
*People who have multiple sex
partners, or partners whose HIV
status is unknown.
*Men and women who have
unprotected sex with homosexual
or bisexual men.
*Use the opportunity to explain the
facts about AIDS in an unemotional
way.
*Men and women who have unprotected
sex with intravenous drug users, or with
the partners of intravenous drug users.
*Reassure very young children that
they face almost no personal risk of
AIDS.
*Male and female IV drug users who
share their needles with others. This is
the second-largest risk group.
*Inform older kids about how they
can avoid the deadly risks of unprotected
sex and intravenous drugs.
Living with the Virus
For each paragraph of the article, complete the following information:
1) Which sentence expresses the main idea of the paragraph? – Mark the sentence in the text
2) How is that idea supported? (With statistics? Examples? Comparisons?)
P1
P2
P3
P4
P5
________________
________________
________________
________________
________________
What is the relationship between paragraphs 4 & 5?
___________________________________________________________________
63
Vocabulary Study
Find the synonyms for the following words. Match A and B.
A
1. to conceal
B
___ show
2. immunity
___ time between
3. to infect
___ no-man’s land
4. to devise
___ catch a disease
5. component
___ polluted
6. presence
___ existence
7. to minimize
___ make, create
8. contaminated
___ body’s protection against disease
9.accordingly
___ deadly
10. to contract
___ determine a disease
11. to exhibit
___ thus, in this way
12. limbo
___ make smaller
13. to diagnose
___ part
14. interval
___ hide
15. lethal
___ make ill
Comprehension
1.
In which paragraph are the following ideas found?
___
___
___
___
___
The case of Kimberly Bergalis is one in which a patient contracted AIDS from her
dentist.
Drugs delay the beginning of AIDS symptoms.
AIDS is not an easy virus to contract.
Hemophiliacs and surgery patients sometimes require transfusions.
Weight loss and night sweats are symptoms of AIDS.
2.
Magic Johnson is unlike others who test HIV positive because
a. he is a famous basketball star.
b. he knows he has contracted the HIV virus and openly admits it.
c. others don't know they are HIV positive.
d. others know they are HIV positive but don't reveal this information.
3.
The letters H.I.V. stand for....................................
64
4.
Some steps in the medical battle against AIDS include the following. Explain
in your own words.
a. Tests .........................................…….
b. Drugs............................................
c. Rules.............................................
5.
On the one hand, doctors have made progress in the fight against AIDS yet
........................................................................................................................
6.
"People in Johnson's situation inhabit a medical limbo." Why are such people in
limbo?.......................................:........................................................................
7.
In Dr. Gotlieb’s metaphor of the surf eroding a beach, the beach represents
…………………………………………………………………………………
8.
The average time that elapses between infection by the H.I.V. virus and being sick with AIDS
is ………………………. This is called the ……………………… period.
9.
Three means of transmitting the AIDS virus are
a. …………………………………………………………………………………
b. …………………………………………………………………………………
c ………………………………………………………………………………….
10.
Infection by means of transfused blood is rare today because
…………………………………………………………………………………
11.
Drug users are in a high-risk category for contracting AIDS because
…………………………………………………………………………………
12.
Unprotected sexual contact can spread AIDS. This is true for both
……………………… and .............………….. infected partners.
65
Word Study (circle the missing word)
1. The .......... between the two ideas is quite clear to me.
a. analogous b. analogy c. clarity
d. uniformity
2. Don't do it so quickly. Do it. .............
a. ruthlessly b. viciously c trivially
d. gradually
3. I think that he feels .......... by his failure.
a. frustrated b. extracted c stabilized
d. encouraged
4. The lecturer didn't ............. the interest of the public and found himself with
an empty hall.
a. alter b. arouse
c. misuse
d. deprive
5. You must have your own opinions. Don't ............. to everything.
a. turn
b. persuade
c compel
d. agree
6. Orphans are ............. of love and warmth.
a. deprived
b. beaten
c. discouraged
7.
d. destroyed
Handle it with great ............., because it's very fragile.
a. corruption
b. liability
c. caution
d. uphold
8. I'm in a great hurry, so I'll talk. .............
a. briefly
b. gravely
c. gradually
d. cautiously
9. They fought bravely, but were ............. and had to retreat.
a. altered
b. beaten
c. differed
d. elected
10. The police held an ............. after the robbery.
a. operative
b. conclusion c. inquiry
d. abolition
66
WERE YOU INFLUENCED?
From The Herald Tribune, August 1990
By Daniel Goldman
The use of subliminal messages is a technique in American advertising whereby stimuli
are introduced for a fraction of a second. The viewer or listener does not consciously see
or hear the stimuli. Instead, these messages operate below the level of consciousness,
attempting to persuade the person to buy the product being advertised.
1
The power of subliminal messages is taken as an article of faith by many people. Critics of
advertising often take for granted the power of "hidden persuaders." Many parents stand convinced
that messages buried in rock music are poisoning their children's minds. And for vendors of
audiotapes, the power of the imperceptible exhortation to strengthen memory or take off pounds is
more than an article of faith - it is a profit center.
2
But scientists studying the mind’s ability to register information outside awareness are locked
in debate about the power of messages directed to the unconscious mind. Some, most of whom are
cognitive psychologists, say there is no credible scientific evidence that hidden messages can
persuade or cure. But others claim their data show that certain kinds of subliminal messages can
have great persuasive and therapeutic impact. Both sides agree that popular understanding of
subliminal persuasion is largely naïve. "There's a huge gap between the scientific data on subliminal
perception and the extravagant claims made for it," said Timothy Moore, a psychologist at York
University in Toronto. “For example, I regard subliminal tapes as a form of health fraud.” Even
psychologists who say some subliminal messages can have therapeutic effects are skeptical about
commercial tapes. "On the whole, the tapes do not work," said Dr. Howard Shevrin, a psychologist at
the University of Michigan. "A uniform, off-the-rack message is not likely to have an effect, and can
even have negative effects. However, the right message under the right circumstances might be
therapeutic, but you have to tailor it to the individual.
3
The panel of cognitive psychologists, at the annual meeting of the American psychologists,
Association in Boston last week, declared that the lore about subliminal perception is largely
nonsense.
4
The scientific debate has spilled over into the courtroom in the trial of a rock band, Judas
Priest. The parents of two men who killed themselves after listening to an album by the band contend
that the suicides were caused by a subliminal message, "Do it!" on a song portraying a hopeless view
of life.
5
Testifying last week as an expert witness of the defense, Dr. Moore said the assumption that
embedded messages can compel such a strong reaction is wrong. Dr. Shevrin, a witness for the
parents, disagrees. "As I read the evidence, including my own work, the subliminal message could
have been a contributory cause to the suicides".
6
Only recently have there been well-conducted scientific tests of subliminal messages. The
results do not support the commercial claims made for subliminal tapes. In a study reported at the
psychological association's meeting. Two subliminal tapes were given to volunteers, who used them
for six to twenty sessions over several weeks. One tape was to improve self-esteem, the other to
boost memory. But the listener heard only a sound like that of ocean waves; the messages about
memory or self-esteem were beneath the threshold of conscious awareness, the manufacturer said.
7
But in the experiment, half the volunteers received tapes with the labels reversed. What was
labeled the self-esteem tape, for example, was actually the memory tape. Changes in self-esteem or
memory were measured by 12 different psychological tests.
8
“We asked, do you believe your memory or self-esteem has improved since you've used this
tape?" said Anthony Greenwald, a psychologist at the University of Washington, who did the studies.
"About 50 percent said they had improved on memory or self-esteem, but the effect was a result of
the labels, not the tapes. Those with the tapes labeled for memory said they had better memory;
67
those with tapes labeled self-esteem said they felt better about themselves. But there was virtually no
change on the objective measures of self-esteem or memory".
9
Anthony Pratkanis, a psychologist at the University of California at Santa Cruz, said:
"Subliminal tapes are today's snake oil. There's no evidence that there is subliminal perception of their
message. There's no evidence of any perception at all, let alone evidence that they work." Subliminal
tape companies typically support their claims through testimonials by satisfied customers, rather than
by citing specific studies of their tapes' effectiveness.
10
Despite the conclusions that the effects of subliminal tapes are simply due to suggestion, Dr.
Greenwald and other researchers concede that there is scientific evidence for the mind's ability to
perceive without conscious awareness. But they deny that subliminal awareness can lead to the kinds
of effects like better bowling made in commercial claims.
11
There is much debate among scientists, however, over the power of messages received
outside a person's awareness to affect how people act, as well as over the conditions under which
such effects occur. The debate tends to split along disciplinary lines, with cognitive scientists, who
study how the mind takes in and stores information, disputing the power of subliminal messages and
researchers with a psychoanalytic bent upholding it.
Questions
1. Which of the following questions is the main concern of the writer?
a. Can the effectiveness of subliminal messages be studied scientifically?
b. Is the use of subliminal messages limited to advertising?
c. Can subliminal messages bring about changes in behavior?
d. Are unconscious messages as effective as conscious messages?
2. At the beginning of the article, the writer mentions critics of advertising, parents and vendors of
audiotapes. What do they all believe?
______________________________________________________
3. What is the viewpoint of scientists about the power of subliminal messages?
Quote from the text to support your answer.
__________________________________________________________
4. What do the opinions of Dr. Moore and Dr. Shevrin illustrate?
___________________________________________________________
5. Complete the following sentence using the word below:
Even those scientists who partially accept the power of subliminal messages agree that most claims
made by commercial companies are ____________.
a. scientific
b. therapeutic
c. right
d. exaggerated
6. After reading the text, what can we conclude?
a.
b.
c.
d.
More research is needed to substantiate claims about the effectiveness of subliminal messages.
There is no scientific evidence of the mind’s acceptance of subliminal messages.
The public should be warned against the power of subliminal messages.
Subliminal messages are effective in advertising but not in other fields.
Comparison & Contrast
68
The author uses comparison and contrast to present his main idea in the following text.
THE EVIL THAT TWO MEN DID
By Bruce W. Nelan
In the first parallel biography of Hitler and Stalin, historian Allan Bullock
compares their motives and methods.
1 Adolf Hitler and Joseph
Stalin, the two most powerful
personifications of evil in this
century are still impossible to
explain fully. They shouldered
their way into politics as
resentful, hate-filled egoists, but
so did thousands of their
contemporaries. To anyone
scrutinizing the young Hitler
Stalin: more than an
organization man
or Stalin, writes Allan Bullock,
the Oxford University historian,
"a suggestion that he would
play a major role in twentiethcentury history would have
appeared incredible." At 30,
Hitler was a street-corner
speechmaker in Munich and
Stalin was in prison for plotting
an oil workers' strike in Baku.
2 "They developed over time,"
says Lord Bullock - he became
a life peer in 1976 – so he
decided to study that process in
a
comparative
parallel
biography of the two, something
no one else has done. Bullock
is the author of Hitler, A Study
in Tyranny, (1952), the first
great postwar biography of
the dictator. "I'm a narrative
historian, and in the course of
the narrative," he says, "it
comes clear" precisely how
Hitler and Stalin rose to
supreme power in Germany
and Russia.
3 Though Hitler and Stalin:
Parallel Lives (Knopf; 1081
pages; $35) runs a densely
written
thousand
pages,
detailing the two lives stage
by stage, not everything
comes clear. Most readers
willing to take the long
journey
will
hope
that
Bullock's exhaustive analysis
of
the
auto-biographical
literature and newly opened
archives might somehow
explain what caused Hitler
and
Stalin.
There
was
something inhumanly dark
and cold in both leaders that
made them willing to do
literally anything to fulfill what
they felt was their mission.
4 Unfortunately, as Bullock
writes, "the process by which
these
convictions
took
possession of their minds
remains a mystery." He
generally avoids psychohistory, but observes matterof-factly that both Hitler and
Stalin were paranoid and
insensitive to
69
humanity – that is, unable to
accept that other people were
as real as they. Both were, in
fact, incapable of normal
relationships.
One
word
Bullock does not use is
"monster" because he sees
horror in the fact that they
were human.
5
The source of Hitler's
political success was his
oratory. He began as no
Hitler:
hypnotizer of the masses
more than an idle, selfdeluded, uneducated young
man who liked World War I
army life because it gave him
a sense of purpose. In 1919
that suddenly changed when
he discovered, as he said, "I
could make a good speech."
He turned out to be a bold,
sharp political tactician as
well, but it was his hypnosis
of the masses that made him
the Fuhrer, the unchallenged
leader.
6
Stalin – rough,
conspiratorial,
despising
authority – was a Marxist
revolutionary. While studying
at a Russian Orthodox
seminary in his native
Georgia, he became a convert
to Marx and never changed
course. His career contrasted
with Hitler's because his
movement already had a
leader, Lenin. Unlike Hitler's
public portrayal of himself as a
man of destiny, Stalin's style
was stealthy, behind the
scenes.
7 As General Secretary of the
Communist
Party,
Stalin
appeared, calculatedly, to be
simply as organization man. But
he was far more than that
because he had perfected the
technique of using the details of
organization to amass political
power. Once he became the
vozhd, the master, he ruthlessly
annihilated all who were once
loyal to Lenin and all who might
consider
questioning
his
authority.
8
Both despots believed
utterly in themselves, and were
indifferent to the suffering and
destruction they caused to
achieve their ends. Hard as it is
to realize it, Bullock writes, "the
key to understanding both
Stalin and Hitler is … that they
were entirely serious about their
historic roles." In private they
were boring and boorish. The
mistake their political enemies
and
would-be
partners
repeatedly made was to
underestimate the men and the
extremes to which they would
go.
9
Hitler had nothing like the
collectivization
that
Stalin
rammed through at the cost of
millions of lives. He was really
interested only in foreign
conquests, and one
in particular: an Aryan empire
in Eastern Europe. Hitler was
driven by a slogan-ridden
ideology that he formed as a
youth,
reading
cheap
pamphlets in Vienna, and
never changed.
He had,
Bullock finds, no capacity at
all for critical thinking. He
believed the German "master
race" had three enemies:
Slavs, Marxists and Jews.
10 To eliminate them, Hitler
had an ultimate plan to
conquer
Ukraine
and
European
Russia
for
colonization by racially pure
Aryans. The original Slavic
population would be deported
or kept as slaves, educated
only enough to "understand
our highway signs." In 1941
Hitler actually began to carry
out that program and in going
to war with the Soviet Union
also put into effect his "final
solution
to
the
Jewish
problem", the extermination of
European Jewry. While Stalin
put more people to death
than Hitler did, Bullock
maintains the Nazi Holocaust
is unique because "mass
murder became not an
instrument but an end in
itself."
11
Russia, under Stalin's
direction,
was
Hitler's
nemesis in World War II. But
while that war freed most of
Germany from despotism, the
shackles of Stalinism stayed
in place in the Soviet Union
for another 40 years. Russia
is still trying to find its way
toward democracy. Bullock
maintains
that
only
a
confluence of violent
70
upheavals
and
unusual
leaders can produce a Hitler
or a Stalin, and "such
occasions are not common."
But it has happened within
living memory, and Bullock's
monumental history reminds
us how unwise it would be to
conclude that it cannot
happen again. ■
Global questions
Read the title, look at the pictures, read their captions and then answer the following questions:
1. What kind of article is this?
a. journal article
b. research report
c. essay
d. book review
2. Which book did Bullock write before and when?
_____________________________________________________
3. What was each one’s significant trait?
Hitler: ___________________________
Stalin: ___________________________
4. What is special about the book?
a. It presents two parallel biographies
b. It explains why it is impossible to understand the evil these two men did
c. It presents Stalin as a Marxist
d. It describes Hitler's character
5. Answer the question by circling the correct answer.
Nelan concludes by warning us that such monsters as Hitler and Stalin can still appear in the
history of the humankind.
YES / NO
Copy a sentence from the article in order to justify your answer.
______________________________________________________________
Close reading questions
6. Why is it impossible to fully explain the personality and success of Hitler and Stalin?
_____________________________________________________
7. At age 30 Hitler was __________________.
Psychologically they were both __________________, __________________ and
__________________, yet they are not "monsters" because
_______________________________. While Hitler achieved success through his
__________________, Stalin was a(n) __________________.
8. What was the ultimate goal of each:
Hitler ____________________________________
Stalin ____________________________________
9. What were the results of the war for each nation?
Germany ___________________________________________
71
Soviet Union
___________________________________________
10. Whose was the greater evil, Hitler or Stalin? Explain your answer.
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
IV.
Vocabulary work and text analysis:
1] Suggest meanings for the following words:
1. incredible (par. 1) _________________________________
2. speechmaker (par. 1) _________________________________
3. postwar (par. 2) _________________________________
4. inhumanly (par. 3) _________________________________
5. psychohistory (par. 4) _________________________________
6. insensitive (par. 4) _________________________________
7. uneducated (par 5) _________________________________
8. underestimate (par. 8) _________________________________
9. colonization (par. 10) _________________________________
10. monumental (par. 11) _________________________________
2] Why are italics used in the following cases:
1. Hitler and Stalin: Parallel Lives (par. 3)
2. caused (par. 3)
3. vozhd (par. 7)
3] Suggest meanings for the following word groups:
1. organization man (caption under Stalin's picture) ______________________
2. a street-corner speechmaker (par. 1) _______________________________
3. newly opened archives (par. 3) _________________________________
4.army life (par. 5) _________________________________
5. mass murder (par. 10) _________________________________
72
Emotional Smarts Key to Navigating Life Challenges
GINNY DEERIN, ROGER P. WEISSBERG. The Atlanta Journal - Constitution. Atlanta,
Ga.: Feb 22, 2009. pg. D.2
The coping skills and strategies that we all need right now are the same fundamental
capabilities that social and emotional learning programs teach to children in the elementary
school years.
1.
From stories in The Wall Street Journal to appearances on Oprah, the experts
are offering tips for surviving the tough economic climate we face this year. Almost all of
these coping tips focus not on fiscal advice or economic choices, but on social and
emotional skills. What's the link between coping with economic hard times and social
and emotional skills? It's the fact that what guides people through this or any other crisis
in their lives is emotional intelligence.
2.
Brain science has given us a whole new understanding of how intellect and
emotions work together. We now know that everyone needs emotional intelligence to
thrive, whether navigating playground politics or the ups and downs of Wall Street.
Emotions --- and our ability to use them to be effective, not merely reactive --- play a vital
role in determining how successful and happy people will be.
3.
Do you know what to do to calm down when panic rises over the drop in your
401(k) account? How do you guard against risky decision-making when your fears
overcome reason? Are you able to stop yourself from taking out your anger on friends
and family when feeling helpless? Can you maintain a sense of optimism in spite of
losing your job? Regardless of whether you have enough money to live comfortably, can
you sympathize with those less fortunate and reach out a helping hand?
4.
The coping skills and strategies that we all need right now are the same
fundamental capabilities that social and emotional learning programs teach to children in
the elementary school years. Such well-designed, evidence-based programs help
children develop confidence, empathize with others, motivate themselves and gain a
sense of optimism about their future. Research in thousands of classrooms has
demonstrated that with systematic instruction, these skills can be gradually developed
with feedback and reinforcement in a supportive classroom or after-school program.
5.
For years, people have said that teaching social and emotional skills would come
at the expense of academics. But a growing body of research shows that strengthening
these capabilities actually improves academic performance. A summary analysis by the
Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning looked at hundreds of
studies conducted by independent researchers of effective social and emotional learning
programs. CASEL's analysis showed multiple benefits for both regular-education and
higher-needs students, including an average gain of 11 percentile to 17 percentile points
on achievement test scores.
6.
We need to inoculate many more children with a comprehensive social and
emotional education so that they can cope more effectively with the challenges of school
and of life. It's time for policy-makers at the state and federal level to invest in researchbased program models that offer effective instruction with measurable outcomes. More
resources for training and professional development will improve the teaching of social
and emotional skills. Leadership from school superintendents and principals will help
convince education stakeholders that these programs will improve the lives of children.
73
7.
We must do more to ensure that children leave school with a strong foundation of
social and emotional capabilities. Emotional intelligence provides a compass with which
to navigate life's challenges, financial and otherwise.
QUESTIONS
1. What do The Wall Street Journal and Oprah have in common? Complete the
sentence.
Both _____________________________________________________________________
2. What is the key for handling crisis? Complete the sentence.
Experts emphasize ____________________________ rather than ____________________ for
coping with any kind of crisis.
3. What general idea do the questions in paragraph 3 illustrate?
_________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
4. Name the coping skills and strategies any adult needs.
a. ___________________________
b. ____________________________
c. ____________________________
d. ____________________________
5. a. What myth has research refuted?
_________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
b. According to recent research, what is the relationship between emotional education
and academic achievement? Complete the sentence.
_________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
6. The writers say “We must do more to ensure that children leave school with a strong
foundation of social and emotional capabilities.” What two practical
recommendations do they present to achieve this goal?
a. ___________________________________________________________________
___
b. ___________________________________________________________________
___
7. What is emotional intelligence is compared to in the last paragraph of the text?
____________________ (one word)
74
INFERENCES
Frequently in academic texts the writer does not directly express information or voice his opinion,
but rather gives enough information so that the reader can understand or “infer” the writer’s
intentions.
A. Read the passage below. Then check the two statements after the passage that are logically
supported by the information given.
1
A story is told of two neighboring shopkeepers who had "been bitter business and personal
rivals for many years.” They delighted in any harm that came to the other. One day an
angel appeared to one of the men to say that the Almighty had granted him a special
favor—but that it had a catch. G-d would give the shopkeeper anything he asked for, but his
hated rival would receive twice as much. So if the man asked for money, he would receive
it; but the rival would receive twice as much. The shopkeeper thought carefully for a
moment and then made his request. He asked to be struck blind in one eye.
___a. The shopkeepers were both poor.
___b. The two shops competed for the same business.
___ c. An angel also appeared to the other shopkeeper.
___ d. The man visited by the angel wanted revenge more than money.
___ e. The shopkeeper thought his rival would now see twice as well as he.
B. For each passage, check the three statements that are most logically supported by the
information given.
2.. Although many citizens think of American business as corporate giants like General
Motors and IBM, small businesses — defined by the government as any firm with 100
employees or fewer — are a significant part of the economic scene. Fully one-half of the labor
force is employed by small businesses. Small businesses encompass everything from coffee
shops to dry-cleaners, from law firms to dog-walking services. However, several factors are
common to almost all small businesses. Lack of capital is often a problem. Further, small
businesses are particularly vulnerable to fluctuations in the marketplace. Even given these
problems, however, hundreds of thousands of businesses are founded each year. These
businesses seem to fit well with the American ideal of independence. (One part of this ideal,
however, is hard work, including far more than forty hours of work per week.)
Check the three statements that are most logically supported by the information given
___ a. The health of the American economy depends in large part on the success of small
businesses.
___ b. The author feels the government should provide financial backing to small businesses.
___ c. A large majority of owners of small businesses are good judges of the amount of capital
their businesses will need to get a good start.
___ d. Running a small business generally requires more time than working for one.
___ e. The author feels that people who start a small business are probably partly motivated
by the desire to be independent.
75
3. The nursing profession grew out of the religious and charitable activities of early hospitals.
Religious orders of nuns took on the care of the sick and the poor. By the latter half of the 1800s,
however, increasing numbers of nonreligious personnel were employed to perform various custodial
functions in hospitals. Since the jobs required no formal training and were deemed to be menial
labor, many poor and uneducated women entered the field. This heritage has contributed to the
undeservedly low prestige the profession of nursing has long endured. The professionalization of
nursing — the emergence of professional standards, education, and nursing organizations —
received impetus from the activities of Florence Nightingale and her organization of nurses during
the Crimean War. Nightingale sought to strengthen cooperative ties between physicians and
nurses. Today, most nurses earn a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing in a four-year college
degree program, and many go on to secure master's degrees in specialized areas.
Check the three statements that are most logically supported by the information given
____ a. Like nurses, doctors in the 1800s were not well respected.
____ b. Florence Nightingale believed medical treatment would improve if doctors and
nurses worked together.
___ c. It is much more difficult to become a nurse today than it was in the 1800s.
___ d. The view of nursing as a woman's field has an historical basis.
___ e. Florence Nightingale must have wanted to become a doctor.
76
A SUMMARY OF PATTERNS OF ORGANIZATION
The following textbook passages use a combination of patterns of organization, (as is often the
case in all types of writing). Circle the letters of your answers to the questions about the passages.
A.
¹Japanese children go to school year-round, including half-days of classes on Saturdays. ²Admission
to Japanese universities is based entirely on competitive examinations. ³Test scores literally make or
break the college aspirations of young people, whether they are rich or poor. 4Students prepare
frantically for these all-important examinations, and parents often see that their children are well
prepared by enlisting the services of tutors to supplement regular classroom study. 5Despite placing
enormous pressure on adolescents, the Japanese educational system produces impressive results.
6In a number of academic areas — most notably mathematics and science — Japanese students outdistance students of all other industrial societies, including the United States.
1. The topic sentence of the passage is
a. sentence 1.
b. sentence 2.
c. sentence 3.
d. sentence 5.
2. The results of the Japanese educational system are explained in
a. sentence 1.
c. sentence 4
b. sentence 2.
d. sentence 6
B.
It's been a long time since Johann Sebastian Bach, the eighteenth-century German composer, last
wrote any music. But listeners can be forgiven if they briefly mistake music created by Kemal Ebcioglu
for Bach's work. Ebcioglu devised a computer program that writes harmonies remarkably similar to
Bach's. Ebcioglu analyzed Bach's music and came up with 350 rules that govern harmonization. The
resulting program displays what is known as artificial intelligence.
Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to computer programs capable of doing things that require intelligence
when done by people. Artificial intelligence is based on the fact that many tasks—from harmonizing
music to medical diagnosis—can be reduced to a set of rules applied to a body of information. AI is
valuable in situations where speed, vast memory, and persistence are required. In fact, AI programs are
better at some tasks than humans.
3. Overall, this passage
a. lists a series of steps in the process of creating artificial intelligence.
b. discusses the causes and effects of the rules governing harmonization.
c. illustrates, defines, and explains artificial intelligence.
d. lists events in the history of artificial intelligence.
4. The first paragraph
a. illustrates "artificial intelligence”.
b. compares the music of Ebcioglu's program with Bach's music.
c. briefly describes the process Ebcioglu used in creating his program.
d. does all of the above.
77
C. 1When Charles Dickens told the story of the French Revolution in his classic novel A Tale of Two Cities,
he based much of his tale on solid historical fact. ² History books mention the wastefulness of nobility; in
like manner, Dickens tells of a French nobleman who required four servants just to bring him a cup of hot
chocolate. ³ History books detail the sorry conditions of the prisons; similarly, Dickens writes of dreadful
diseases that overcame prisoners, who often died before their sentences could be carried out. 4 But the
most memorable features of A Tale of Two Cities are the characters, which are Dickens's own creations
and have little to do with history. 5 The villain Madame Defarge, for instance, never really existed. 6 And
history does not mention the heroic Sydney Carton or his famous sacrifice.
5.
Which sentence best expresses the implied main Idea of the paragraph?
a. Dickens based much of A Tale of Two Cities on historical fact.
b. History books and A Tale of Two Cities both tell about the wastefulness
of nobility at the time of the French Revolution.
c. The most memorable features of A Tale of Two Cities are its characters.
d. While A Tale of Two Cities is strongly based on the historic record of the
French Revolution, its memorable characters are entirely Dickens's
creations.
6-7. The paragraph both (circle two letters)
a. defines and illustrates.
c. lists examples
b. compares and contrasts
D.
d. narrates a series of events.
1Although
some evidence exists that women experience more minor illness than men, women outlive
men by an average of more than seven years. ²Sociologists and others have proposed various
explanations for why women outlive men. ³Some of the explanations take into account differences in
lifestyle, diet, activity level, and social circumstances between men and women. 4Some analysts, for
example, point to the facts that more men smoke cigarettes and engage in risky behavior (drinking too
much, participating in dangerous sports, driving too fast), and until recently men experienced more of the
stresses and strains of the workplace and of the breadwinner role. 5Other analysts maintain that certain
genetic factors make women, in a sense, physiologically or medically superior to men. 6Female
hormones, for example, seem to play a role in protecting pre-menopausal women from heart disease, and
women seem less prone to high blood pressure than men.
8. The topic sentence of the paragraph is
a. sentence 1.
c. sentence 3.
b. sentence 2.
d. sentence 4
9. Within the context of this paragraph, genetic factors are possible
a. causes.
b. effects
10. Which outline best represents the organization of the paragraph?
a. Proposed possible reasons
for why women outlive men:
b. Differences in lifespan
between men and women:
1) Women’s lifestyle
2) Men’s lifestyle
1) Differences in lifestyle and ...
social circumstances
2) Genetic differences
78
79
SENTENCE STRUCTURE
Simple sentences:
The two main "actors" in the simple sentences are the subject and the verb (or the predicate). Once
you recognize them, you should be able to understand the main idea of the sentence.
The subject tells us who or what the sentence is about and the verb tells us what the subject does
or what happens to the subject.
The girl runs.
In this sentence, "girl" is the subject and "runs" is the verb.
The little red-headed girl runs towards her friends.
In this sentence both the subject (girl) and the predicate (runs) are expanded by the addition of
different descriptors. However, the basic meaning (the main idea) remained the same.
Exercise:
Find the subject and the verb in the following sentences. Underline the subject once and the
verb twice.
1. Some countries oblige all young people to serve in the army for a certain period of time
immediately after they leave school.
2. Accidents occur frequently in the state of New Jersey.
3. Most people have some sort of phobia.
1. The bright lights and the colored signs of the fast food restaurants always tempt us to
go in.
2. Many sports are closely connected to specific countries and cultures.
3. Parental obsession with winning leaves young athletes feeling frustrated and
confused.
4. In the year 2002, Bollywood sold one million tickets more than Hollywood did.
5. The dangerous viruses "GoKar", "Redesi-B" and "Admirer" were transmitted by email.
6. Children throughout the ages have always gone into the woods to light fires, sleep in
tents and climb trees.
7. Teachers in America today are using rap –the street-smart, rhyming creations of
Shakur, Geto Boys, and others- to teach history and English.
80
Compound sentences
These sentences are compound of two or more simple sentences that are connected
with and, or, but.
Some Israeli youth prefer to commence their academic education right after
the army service, and some young people prefer to go on a long post-army trip
first.
In this compound sentence there are two simple sentences connected by “and”.
Each of these sentences contains a subject and a verb.
Sentence 1: Some Israel youth prefer- subject; prefer to commence- verb
Sentence 2: some young people- subject; prefer to go- verb.
Complex sentences
A complex sentence is combined of the main clause and the subordinate clause/s.
In order to simplify a complex sentence, we should be able to recognize the parts it is made of,
namely, the main clause and the subordinate clause/s.
A subordinate clause may appear in the following forms:
1. Adjective clauses
2. Reduced adjective clauses
3. Dependent clauses
Adjective clauses:
 My uncle Yossi,( whose son is currently working in America), immigrated to
Israel from Morocco in 1965.
In the above sentence the underlined part is the main clause and the part in brackets
is the subordinate clause.
Pay attention to the following words, which may indicate an adjective clause:
1. who (refers to person)
2. which (refers to an object or an animal)
3. that (replaces who and which)
4. whose (shows possession)
81
5. where (refers to place)
6. when (refers to time)
Reduced adjective clauses
 The old lady (feeding the cats in our neighborhood) has received a kitten as
a birthday present.
=
 The old lady( who is feeding the cats in our neighborhood) has received a
kitten as a birthday present.
Reduced adjective clause patterns:
1. noun + adjective
noun
adjective
 The employee (who is) satisfied with his salary and status is loyal to the
company.
2. noun + Ving
noun
Ving
 The song (which is) playing on the radio is one of my favorite.
3. noun + V3
noun
V3
 The equipment (that was) broken yesterday cost a thousand dollars
The adjective clauses and the reduced adjective clauses usually separate between the
subject and the verb. It is, therefore, essential to identify the subject and the verb to
understand the idea of the sentence. Sometimes the information provided in the clauses is
essential, while at other times it may be ignored.
Consider the following examples:
Ethnocentrism is the view that [one’s own view is better than all others].
In this sentence the subordinate clause marked by [
] provides an essential
information.
Steinberg, who [advises members of the university and the general community on proper
dietary practices at the sports medicine unit at the Hebrew University’s Cosell Centerfor
Physical Education Leisure and Health Promotion] has found that [the Rambam laid some
82
very specific guidelines as to how we should maintain our health through proper diet and
exercise].
While the information in the first clause is completely minor, the second clause
provides the message of the sentence, from which we learn about the Rambam.
Dependent clauses:
A dependent clause is a group of words that has a subject and a verb of its own, but
is NOT the main part of the sentence; it explains or expands the main clause.
Dependent clauses start with connectors.
 As [inflation rises], people spend less money because [the price of everyday
items goes up].
Connectors that start a dependent clause are:
CONTRAST
While
CAUSE
because
Whereas
for
Although
since
Though
As
EFFECT
So that
even
though
Exercise 1: In the following sentences underline the main clause once and the
subordinate clause twice. Then answer the comprehension questions that
follow
1. If children do not have words to use, their minds are, inevitably, a jumble of responses to
which they can react only emotionally, often with frustration.
a. Under what conditions do children’s minds become a jumble of responses?
__________________________________________________________
b.What happens when the children’s minds become a jumble of responses?
__________________________________________________________
2. Women should achieve more status and power in the medical media, so that it reflects the
real variety of women’s social roles.
83
What is the purpose of the women’s aspiration to achieve more status and power in the medical
media?
__________________________________________________________
84
3. Hunting was transformed from a means for survival into a leisure activity which enabled men
to gather socially and satisfy their need for the excitement of hunting and killing animals.
When
hunting
became
a
leisure
activity,
men
could
______________
__________________________________________________________
4. When King and the movement he led guided mass demonstrations in Alabama in 1963,
clashes between black demonstrators and police using police dogs and fire hoses were reported
around the world.
What information about the mass demonstrations in Alabama reached the media?
__________________________________________________________
5. Although Al Capone (America’s best known gangster) was responsible for the murder of many
of those who stood in his way, he was the first to open soup kitchens which gave free lunches to
the poor after the stock market crashed in 1929 and contributed clothes and food to the needy.
What are the two acts of generosity associated with Al Capone?
a.
_______________________________________________________
b. _______________________________________________________
6. Because of the success of the animal zealots in the general public, who does not necessarily
understand the scientific implications, support for so called “animals rights” has become
“politically correct”.
a.
The
general
supports/doesn’t
public
support
animal
activists.
Why? ______________________________________________________
b.
What
is
the
result
of
this?
____________________________________
7. In several countries, addicts can go to “injection rooms” where they can use drugs in a clean
environment, without fear of catching diseases caused by sharing needles.
Complete the sentence:
Since sharing needles may lead to _________________ (one word), drug addicts in several
countries can use _______________________.
8. Physically handicapped children benefit from art because their motor control improves as they
attempt to make more delicate movements with their hands and as they gradually impose more
control upon themselves.
a. In what way do physically handicapped children benefit from art?
_________________________________________________________
b. When does the motor control improve? _______________________
85
Exercise 2: In the following sentences find the main clause and the subordinate clause/s and
then translate the sentences:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
If drug abuse is really such a mortal danger that civil liberties need to be trampled, there
is a far more effective way to do it: start cracking down hard on users. (“Legalize? No.
Deglamorize.”)
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
The unquestioning adulation of the U.S. that once prevailed has been replaced by
increasing
self
confidence.
(“Two
Countries,
Intertwined”)
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
While few officials hope or expect that Japan will eclipse America as a great power, they
firmly believe it is time for Washington to treat Tokyo as its most important ally and not
like
a
junior
partner.
(“Two
Countries,
Intertwined”)
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
The training program, which is designed to help dyslexics understand rapidly changing
sounds that are the building blocks of language, helped the participants become better
readers
after
just
eight
weeks.
(“Remediation
Training”)
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
Only now, as the news of Dolly, the sublimely oblivious sheep, becomes part of the
cultural debate, are we beginning to come to terms with those soulquakes. (“Will We
Follow the Sheep?”)
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
Recognizing the extraordinary power and potential danger of this new technology,
scientists agreed to a temporary moratorium on further research until guidelines could be
developed to minimize the risk of a genetically engineered organism accidentally
escaping
into
the
wild.
(“Designing
Babies”)
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
As governments across the globe come to grips with global warming, biofuels are seen
as a pragmatic step toward reducing carbon emission. (“The Next Petroleum”)
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
These agreements, though not the same as defining sovereignty over water, and
certainly not “principled agreements” based on legal principles, nevertheless provide a
sufficiently precise arrangement for naturally fluctuating water resources to be allocated
and managed within separate territories to satisfy national honor and to enable the
secure and sustainable growth of the respective economies. (“Avoiding War over Natural
Resources”)
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
Now, if we consider, like economists, that “society” doesn’t own individuals, such costs
are private costs to smokers, not “external costs” transferred to others. (“The Economics
of Smoking”)
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
Thought the search for drugs may cause criminals to increase the rate of their
criminality, it is not the desire for drugs that leads people to criminality in the first place.
(“Drugs and Crime”)
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
86
11.
12.
13.
The dignity, autonomy and productivity of many users, already impaired by other
problems
is
destroyed.
(“Drugs
and
Crime”)
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
Because we cannot know what our level of drug use would be under a legalized regime
(though we can be certain it would be much higher than today) and because people
disagree about many of the costs- especially the moral costs-of drug use, the debate
over
legalization
will
never
be
resolved.
(“Drugs
and
Crime”)
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
When you only focus on things that don’t work, you create a reality that doesn’t work,
whereas if you concentrate on what is working, you can strengthen it and make it more
resilient. (“The Secret to Happiness”)
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
87
U.S. Court Upholds Law Allowing Assisted Suicide
Justices reject effort by attorney general to punish doctors
By David Stout
1000
WASHINGTON- The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld Oregon’s assisted-suicide
law, declaring that the Bush administration had exceeded its authority in trying to undo the statute
by punishing doctors who help people end the lives of their patients.
1.
2. In a 6-to-3 decision, which would apply to other states if their people chose to follow Oregon’s
lead, the court held that John Ashcroft, who then was attorney general, went well beyond his authority and expertise when he ruled in 2001 that doctors would lose their federal prescription
privileges if they prescribed lethal doses of medications for patients. The Oregon law, called the
Death with Dignity Act, was twice approved by the state’s voters. It is the only state law in the
United States allowing doctor-assisted suicide and has been used by more than 200 people since it
took effect in 1997.
3. The issues of euthanasia and assisted suicide remain highly controversial in the United States,
as they do in Europe, where practices range from the relatively permissive approach of the Netherlands and Belgium, which allow doctors to end life in certain limited conditions, to outright bans in
Poland and Greece.
4. In the U.S. ruling Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the majority, acknowledged that the longrunning battle over the Oregon law was part of a “political and moral debate.” But the issue for the
court, he said, was a more technical, down-to-earth one: Did the attorney general go beyond his
powers under the Controlled Substances Act of 197O?
5. Clearly, he did, Justice Kennedy wrote, in an opinion joined by Justices John Paul Stevens,
Sandra Day O’Connor, David Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer. The Controlled
Substances Act “gives the attorney general limited powers, to be exercised in specific ways,” the
court ruled. Those limited powers, he said, do not include the ability to declare Illegitimate “a
medical standard for care and treatment of patients that is specifically authorized under state law”.
6. In deferring to the will of Oregon lawmakers and voters, the high court majority said that
Congress had explicitly envisioned a role for the states in regulating controlled substances when it
enacted the 1970 law. Nothing in the act allows the attorney general to interpret prescriptions for
assisted suicide as ‘drug abuse,” Kennedy wrote.
7. Moreover, the majority concluded, the language of the 1970 law signals a clear unwillingness to
allow medical judgments to be made by an executive official who lacks medical expertise. And the
former attorney general’s assertion that he was making a legal decision, not a medical one, does
not hold up under scrutiny, the justices said.
8. The Death With Dignity Act took effect in 1997. It sets out specific, detailed procedures for
patients who want to end their lives, and for doctors who want to help them.
9. Among other requirements, a patient must have a life expectancy of less than six months and
must be mentally competent. The patient must be advised of all alternatives, like hospice care and
pain management. And the doctor who prescribes the drugs may not administer them.
10. As of the last reporting period on the law, in 2004, 326 patients had received prescriptions for
medications to end their lives, and 208 had actually used them. The ruling on Tuesday upheld one
by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which had voided the former attorney
general’s 2001 declaration.
88
European approaches
13. In Europe, approaches to the issue of assisted suicide range from outright bans in Poland and
Greece to permission for doctors to end life under limited conditions in Belgium and the
Netherlands.
14. A Dutch law that took effect in 2002 made the Netherlands the first country to legalize such
practices. But euthanasia is allowed only if the patient’s condition is incurable and only if the patient
is of sound mind, fully agrees to the procedure and faces a level of suffering considered
unbearable.
15. A committee comprising a doctor, a jurist and a medical ethicist checks that those criteria are
met.
16. Thousands of Dutch citizens have died under those conditions. But controversy erupted again
last year when a study found a score of cases in which doctors had reported the euthanasia of
babies with spina bifida — a severe but often surgically correctable birth defect. The government is
establishing a commission to regulate the still-illegal practice of ending the lives of newborns with
untreatable pain.
17. The Belgian Parliament in September 2002 passed a law stating that a doctor would “not be
committing an infraction” if a mentally competent adult suffering from an incurable disease or affliction and under constant or unbearable physical or psychological pain were allowed to die.
18. The Netherlands and Belgium are the only European Union countries to allow such practices,
though others are debating the matter, amid sharp opposition from the Roman Catholic Church.
Opinion polls in countries like Germany show considerable public support.
19. In Switzerland, a legal loophole allows trained counselors, not required to be physicians, to
prepare a fatal overdose for someone who is terminally ill and has asked repeatedly to die.
20. The National Assembly in France adopted a law in 2004 defining a right for incurably ill patients,
who are competent to make such a decision, to die by slowing or halting medical treatment.
21. But last year, the trial of a French mother, Marie Humbert, on criminal charges for helping end
her son’s life before the 2004 law, stirred an impassioned debate. The son, Vincent Humbert, had
been a 19-year-old firefighter in 2000 when a car crash left him nearly blind, mute and paralyzed
from the neck down. His mother campaigned for three years in support of Vincent’s wish to die, but
was turned down even by President Jacques Chirac. She unsuccessfully gave him an overdose of
sedatives in 2003, and a doctor later turned off a life-support system and administered a lethal dose
of drugs.
22. Early this month a state prosecutor dropped the charges against the mother and the doctor.
International Herald Tribune
89
EXERCISES
U.S. COURT UPHOLDS LAW
(10x10 pt)
TADS:
Title:______________________________________________
Author:____________________________________________
Date: ____________
Source:________________________
Important Vocabulary and Terminology
Uphold________________________
justices ___________________
U. S. Court ____________________
attorney general _____________
State Law _____________________
assisted suicide _____________
Federal Law____________________
euthanasia__________________
To exceed _____________________
to undo ____________________
Focus on complex sentences:
Read the sentences below and answer the questions that follow
Paragraph 1: WASHINGTON- The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld Oregon’s assistedsuicide law, declaring that the Bush administration had exceeded its authority in trying to undo the
statute by punishing doctors who help end the lives of their patients.
Questions:
1. Who has declared that the Bush administration had exceeded its authority?
2. In what way did the Bush administration exceed its authority?
3. What were the doctors punished for?
Paragraph 2: In a 6-to-3 decision, which would apply to other states if their people chose to follow
Oregon’s lead, the court held that John Ashcroft, who then was attorney general, went well beyond
his authority and expertise when he ruled in 2001 that doctors would lose their federal prescription
privileges if they prescribed lethal doses of medications for patients.
Questions:
a. What did the court claim about John Ashcroft?
b. In what way did he go beyond his authority and expertise?
Or:
c. Did the court support John Ashcroft? YES/NO
Why? ________________________________________________________
90
Paragraph 3: The issues of euthanasia and assisted suicide remain highly controversial in the
United States, as they do in Europe, where practices range from the relatively permissive approach
of the Netherlands and Belgium, which allow doctors to end life in certain limited conditions, to
outright bans in Poland and Greece.
Questions:
1. What is the comparison made in the sentence above?
The comparison is between ______________________ and __________________. In both
_______________________________________________________________.
2. What is the difference in approach to assisted suicide in different parts of Europe?
Complete the sentence.
While Netherlands and Belgium _______________________________________,
Greece and Poland ___________________________________________________.
Paragraph 17: The Belgian Parliament in September 2002 passed a law stating that a doctor
would “not be committing an infraction” if a mentally competent adult suffering from an incurable
disease or affliction and under constant or unbearable physical or psychological pain were allowed
to die.
Questions:
Under what 3 conditions may a doctor allow the patient to die?
________________________________________
________________________________________
________________________________________
SCANNING
1. a. According to the first section, which countries or states allow assisted suicide?
______________________________________________________________
b. Which countries or states forbid assisted suicide?
______________________________________________________________
QUESTIONS
2. a. What was the attorney general’s charge against the doctors?
_____________________________________________________
b. What punishment did he seek?
______________________________________________________
3. Give three reasons why the judges ruled against the attorney general.
i _____________________________________________________
ii _____________________________________________________
91
iii _____________________________________________________
4. What are 4 components of the Death With Dignity Act?
a. ________________________________________________________
b. ________________________________________________________
c. ________________________________________________________
d. _________________________________________________________
5. What does the second section of the article deal with?
_____________________________________________________________
6. How does the euthanasia law of Holland differ from that of Oregon?
______________________________________________________________
7. Name 3 other countries and explain their positions on euthanasia.
____________________
_______________________________________
___________________
_______________________________________
___________________
_______________________________________
8. What is the irony in the French mother’s act in 2003?
_____________________________________________________________
92
VOCABULARY & DICTIONARY WORK
WORD LEARNING STATEGIES:
A. How do you learn new words?
Always
Sometimes
1. I try to think of a
similar sounding word in my
first language.
2. I try to think of a
similar sounding word in
another language I know
3. I repeat the word
several times aloud.
4. I write the word down
several times.
5. I try to remember the word
by its root.
6. I try to find an association
that would help me remember
the word.
7. I draw a picture that would
help me remember the word.
8. I write the word down with
its translation.
9. I put the word in a
sentence.
10. I try to remember the
sentence in which the word is
used.
11. 11. I ask people who know
English well to use the word.
12. I try to remember the
word with its synonym.
13. I find the antonym (a word
with the opposite meaning) to
the word.
14. I write the word down with
its paraphrase.
15. I put the word in a group of
other words that are related to
it.
16. I remember where word
was printed on the page.
17. I use rhyming to remember
the word.
18. I write the word down on a
card and its translation on the
other side.
19. I write the word in a
sentence on a card and
underline it to remember it.
20. I use a combination of
93
Occasionally
Rarely
sounds to remember the word.
21. I remember the word by
making a clear mental image
of it.
94
B. How do you deal with the unknown words in the text?
Always
Sometimes
Occasionally
Rarely
1. I look up all the unknown
words in an English-English
dictionary.
2. I look up all the unknown
words in a bilingual dictionary.
3. I try to guess the meaning
of the unknown word from its
structure.
4. I try to guess the meaning
of the unknown word from
context.
5. I disregard (skip over) the
unknown word if I understand
the sentence without it.
6. I write down the
translation of the word above
it.
7. I write the explanation of
the word in English.
8. I write the translation of
the word as it appears in the
dictionary.
9. I write down the
translation of the word
according to its form in the
sentence.
C. WORD LEARNING STRATEGIES - SUGGESTIONS
1.
Categorize the word according to form, part of speech, etc.
2.
Use mnemonics, i.e. find a word with similar sounds in other language you know.
3.
Create a visual image of the word (e. g. through drawing, chart or graph).
4.
Rhyme (e.g. make up a song).
5.
Write sentences with the word(s).
6.
Repeat the words over and over.
7.
Keep a vocabulary notebook that contains not just lists of words but also sentences
comparing different meanings of the word, various grammatical forms of the word.
EXPAND on the strategies listed above by adding strategies that you use (or prefer).
*
*
*
*
95
Making meaning
Noun clauses
Noun clauses include a noun and one or more adjectives. The noun is the most important word in
such sequence and it is the last word of the sequence.
Follow these steps:
I.
Identify a noun sequence. Clues to help you identify a noun sequence:
a. A, an , the
b. This, that, these, those
c. Quantifiers: few, little, many, some, five etc.
d. Prepositions: in, on, from, fro, about, without etc.
e. Possessives: my, his, our etc.
II.
1.
2.
3.
4.
III.
Look for the end of the sequence. The end of the sequence may be marked by
words like:
Prepositions: of, in, by etc.
Verbs
Connectors
Relative pronouns: that, who, which, whose, where, when
Begin your translation from the last word of the sequence, which is the noun, and
then gradually move to translate the adjectives preceding it. In other words,
translate from right to left – from the noun to the adjectives.
Examples:
1. Each minority brings with it a (a clue) unique socio-cultural defined adaptive
capacity/ to (marks the end of sequence) survive and prosper in the particular
situation in which it finds itself.
Translation (from right to left):
‫חברתית מוגדרת מיוחדת‬-‫יכולת (ולא קיבולת במקרה זה) הסתגלותית תרבותית‬
2. The international trade in (clue) water-intensive imported commodities/ is
(stops the sequence) so effective that the 300 million people living there don't
register the impact of the (clue) substantial water deficit.
Translation:
Water-intensive imported commodities- ‫סחורה מיובאת עתירת מים‬
Substantial water deficit- ‫מחסור ניכר במים‬
# Very often the words preceding the last noun will be nouns as well. However, in this
particular setting they will serve as adjectives. For example:
Class solidarity
Class (n.)- ‫מעמד‬
Solidarity (n.)- ‫הזדהות‬
Here: ‫הזדהות מעמדית‬
Water policy
Water (n.)- ‫מים‬
96
Policy (n.)- ‫מדיניות‬
Water policy- ‫מדיניות מים‬
97
A single word:
In order to translate a word you don't know, follow these steps:
1. Decide what part of speech the word is
2. Try to break the word into parts (prefix, stem, suffix).
3. Try to guess the meaning by reading the whole sentence.
For example:
Some studies indicate that the strength of a child's bonding with his caregivers may increase
his ability to learn and cope with stress.
Bonding- the word "with" helps understand that it is a connection or a relationship.
Caregivers- again "with" makes it clear that these are people. The word can be divided into:
care+give+er
Cope-is a verb because it is connected to "learn". Learn has a positive meaning, so "cope"
is also positive. The word "stress" is also helpful, because you try to deal with it to make it
disappear.
4. If
you
still
cannot
figure
out
the
meaning,
consult
a
dictionary:
a. find out what part of speech the word is before you look up its meaning
b. choose the meaning relevant to the context at hand.
In the near future genetic engineering will allow parents to give their children an even
greater edge.
‫ יתרון‬,‫ חֹד; חַ ּדּות‬,‫ גְּ בּול; לַהַ ב‬,‫קָ צֶ ה‬
edge noun
‫ גָבַ ל; עִ צֵּ ב (את הקצה של משהו); חִ ּדֵּ ד‬,‫תָ חַ ם‬
edge verb
In the sentence above "edge" is a noun. Therefore, the meanings of edge as a verb are
irrelevant. The most suitable meaning in this context is: ‫יתרון‬
98
Practice:
I.
In the following sentences find the noun clauses and translate them.
1. Canada was once a leader in developing some of the most innovative
cooperative and non-profit housing for and by women anywhere in the world.
2. Only 35% of Americans drink their coffee black, meaning the rest of us have to
be careful that what we add to our cups doesn't outweigh any possible health
benefits from the coffee.
3. Since caffeine has a short-term elevating effect on blood pressure, people who
drink one cup after another may keep their blood pressure high for periods long
enough to risk heart trouble.
4. Evidence that the entrepreneurial renaissance may already be on the way can be
seen in the latest quarterly job market survey.
5. The current socio-cultural emphasis on thinness and physical fitness as a symbol
of beauty and success has contributed to the high rate of eating disorders.
6. Research has found that women competing in more gender- inappropriate sports
will
experience
more
role
conflict.
7. Most teachers today encounter a broad range of ethnically and racially diverse
students.
8. Synchronized word-gesture combinations begin to be seen in parallel with the
child's developing word usage at 16 to 18 months.
II. Use your dictionary. Are the following sentences
logical or not?
1
The witness described the man as obese, white-haired and scrawny.
logical / not logical
2
She bought a beautiful madrigal at H & O store.
logical / not logical
3
Only a few members have not paid their subscriptions.
logical / not logical
4
The numismatist told us about his stamp collection.
logical / not logical
5
The bugler broke into the house through an upstairs window.
logical / not logical
6
Cereals and meats are foodstuffs.
logical / not logical
7
Cotton is the principle edible crop grown by man.
99
logical / not logical
III. Choose the correct answer in each case.
8. The treasurer of a society… (a) sends out circulars
(c) collects money from members.
9. A sled is used for:
(a) hunting
(b) fishing
(b) takes charge of meetings
(c) traveling over snow.
10 An incandescent lamp gives out light by
(a) reflecting another light
(b) burning oil
11. On its first voyage the Titanic …
(c) a heated wire.
(a) drowned
(b) collapsed (c) sank.
12. We find an estuary … (a) on mountain tops (b) down a well (c) at a river mouth.
13. Silk is obtained from: (a) trees (b) cocoons (c) plants.
IV. Choose the word or phrase that is closest in meaning to the underlined words.
1. The ordinary land snail moves at the rate of about two inches per minute.
a. expert
b. active
c. common
d. colourful
2. The cost of living in nearly every country has skyrocketed in the past ten years.
a. increased slowly
b. levelled off
c. grown steadily d. risen rapidly
3. One cause of the Civil War was economic and political rivalry between the agrarian
South and the industrial North.
a. prosperous
b. old-fashioned
c. agricultural
d. poorly organized
4. Among all societies, legal marriage is usually accompanied by some kind of
ceremony that expresses group sanction of the union.
a. opinion
b. coercion
c. approval
d. insistence
5. Manufacturers who carry out government orders have to be very
careful to meet specifications.
a. encounter
b. adhere to
c. prepare
d. anticipate
6. The Depression in the United States lasted until the beginning of World War II.
a. was avoided b. continued c. was restrained
d. deteriorated
100
V. Use you dictionary to complete the following sentences with suitable words from
the given list. Use a different word each time.
sedentary, circumvent, sham, conspiracy, sanction, analogy, liability, adept, sordid,
contingency
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
He is __________________ at playing chess.
The teacher drew an __________________ between the human heart and a pump.
They found a way to __________________ the law and pay less income tax.
They were accused of forming a __________________ against the government.
You had better make __________________ plans. The weather is very unsettled and
you may not be able to travel on schedule.
His house is more of a __________________ than an asset.
A democracy cannot __________________ torture of prisoners.
He has a __________________ job and really needs to get more exercise.
He promised true love but it was only a __________________.
Dickens wrote about the __________________ conditions of the poor in nineteenth
century London.
VI. Use your dictionary. Match words from List A with words of similar meaning from
List B.
List A
1. berate
2. innocuous
3. inquisitive
4. lucid
5. scoff
6. solicitous
7. squander
8. stringent
9. superfluous
10. terse
List B
a. anxious to help
b. brief and exact
c. waste
d. rebuke
e. curious
f. more than is needed
g. harmless
h. clear
i. strict, sever
j. mock
_____
_____
_____
_____
_____
_____
_____
_____
_____
_____
101
Avoiding War over Natural Resources
"Water is a major livelihood issue for poor communities; it is a major strategic issue
for poor political economies." [1]
by Tony Allan
1750
© 2007 International Committee of the Red
1-11-1998 Extract from FORUM: Water and war
Cross
ABSTRACT
It is a universally held belief that surface water that crosses boundaries is prone to
dispute. In the arid Middle East and North Africa, where water symbolizes communal
security, the tendency is for water to be perceived as a prime factor in determining the
course of regional international relations. Since about 90% of the usable water in the
region crosses one or more international borders, such an assumption is understandable.
Tony Allan shows that, while water is important in international relations, its role in
bilateral and multilateral international relations is complex and never determining,
because water issues are always linked with other factors.
1. When nations negotiate, often the toughest bargaining is not between nations but within them.
The reason is simple: international agreements, no matter how much in the national "interest",
inevitably have differential effects on the factional concerns. Experienced negotiators almost
invariably insist that the more difficult part of their job consists not in dealing with the adversary
across the table but in handling interest groups, bureaucrats and politicians at home.[2]
2. Individuals and communities can pick a fight over any issue, including tangibles like territory and
resources -- water among them. Disputes can also arise over what can be described as
transgressions of national honor. The seizure, or attempted seizure, of territory or resources by one
country from another occurs when power relations enable an acquisitive initiative to be first
considered, then judged feasible and subsequently attempted. In 1990 just such a cycle culminated
in armed conflict when Iraq occupied Kuwait in pursuit not of water but of oil. Sovereignty over oil
resources is only rarely ambiguous. Only a tiny proportion of crude oil reservoirs are located directly
beneath international borders. Kuwait's excessive pumping of the oilfield beneath the Iraq-Kuwait
border was in this case cited as the reason for the invasion. In fact, the pumping of oil from a
particular oilfield was much less important than the perceived irresponsibility of Kuwait in pumping
and exporting oil at a rate, which had the effect of softening the international price for producers
with substantially greater needs for oil revenues than Kuwait. Iraq's economic security was severely
affected by global oil prices.
3. Nations will go to war over natural resources. Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, the reactions of its
neighbors and especially the responses of the United States and the other industrialized economies
were historic in their confirmation of this contention. The response of the OECD [3] economies was
swift, so threatened were their interests. They deployed their military might, or gave it their financial
support, when there was a threat to the secure flow of cheap Middle East oil. The Iraqi invasion
signaled either unacceptable regional instability or Iraq's equally unacceptable regional hegemony
over the world's major oil reserves. The intervention was effective in terms of ejecting Iraq from
Kuwait and ending its attempt to control the Gulf crude oil trade.
Water As An Issue
4. In the Middle East and North Africa, water is of obvious importance to the individual economies
of the region. However, it is of little significance on a global scale. It is not a surplus resource to be
traded. It can be used in agricultural production to produce commodities which can be exported, but
the comparative agricultural advantage of the region is no greater than many others, not least those
102
on the neighboring northern shore of the Mediterranean. Using water in industrial- and servicesector activities is an option - and one shown by Israel to have immense potential - but, again, it is
not one that gives the region any intrinsic economic advantage. Water certainly does not attract the
interest of the global community - especially not of the Northern economies, along with their
transnational corporations - in the way that oil does. For these global players, water in the Middle
East and North Africa is only interesting strategically insofar as disputes over scarce water would be
an additional source of political instability in a region already worryingly destabilized by Arab-Israeli,
Arab-Iranian and religious-secular conflicts.
Transboundary Water
5. Water and oil are significantly different in another important way. There is little transboundary
oil, but transboundary water forms the majority of water in a region, which has little soil water.
Sovereignty over oil resources is easily established, albeit through the rather recent acceptance by
the Middle Eastern leaderships of the operational but troublesome nation state system, if not
universally by the peoples of the region. It is commonplace for very large volumes of water to cross
international borders. Over 90% of the conventionally calculated water resources of the region
cross international borders as surface flows. If soil water is taken into account, the figure is still very
high - over 60% - and would be very much higher were Turkey to be left out of the regional
calculation. For the Egyptian economy, transboundary water is over 95% of its water budget.
Sovereignty over water is not determined by customary or formal international laws, notwithstanding
the May 1997 United Nations Convention on transboundary watercourses of the International Law
Commission. [4]
6. The nightmare of the downstream riparian is that a neighbor upstream will unilaterally exert
sovereignty over the flow by increasing its own consumption. Egypt is very anxious in this regard,
although it has not suffered any diminution of flow except that which it agreed with its immediate
neighbor, the Sudan, in the 1959 Nile Waters Agreement. Syria and Iraq have actually endured a
dramatic reduction of almost 50% in the average flow of the Euphrates since the 1970s. They are
anticipating additional reductions in the flow of the Tigris. Israel, a downstream groundwater entity,
signals an uncompromising stance on its continued supervision of the shared groundwater flows
from the limestone massif of the West Bank which it has been exploiting heavily since the 1950s. [5]
7. Difficulties of defining sovereignty over surface water flows make international relations over the
region's water resources very difficult to analyze. The ownership of a water resource enables water
markets to be developed. To date, such markets only exist for domestic use and particularly for
drinking water. Such trade usually involves the lifting of water from a groundwater resource of
recognized quality for human use for which the water rights are individual and recognized. An
individual or company signifies its "ownership" of the resource by charging a price for the water.
Sometimes the supply is a communal surface flow, a river, for which the water provider makes no
payment. The identification of sovereignty over water would massively improve the chances for
stable and secure international relations over transboundary waters.
8. Agreements over water are beginning to be made (see Jordan-Israel Agreement of 1994 [6] and
the PLO-Israel Interim Agreement of 1995 [7]). These agreements, though not the same as defining
sovereignty over water, and certainly not "principled agreements" based on legal principles,
nevertheless provide a sufficiently precise arrangement for naturally fluctuating water resources to
be allocated and managed within separate territories to satisfy national honor and to enable the
secure and sustainable growth of the respective economies. Operational arrangements for
allocating water during periods of fluctuating availability are particularly important in providing the
stable political economic circumstances for sustainable socio-economic development.
9. Since it is impossible precisely to define sovereignty over water, untidy and occasionally stressful
water politics in the Middle East and North Africa are inevitable. They will remain untidy until all the
103
economies of the region have achieved advanced levels of socio-economic development. In such
diverse economies water resources are one of many minor factors of production rather than the
determining major economic input. When water is a major factor of production in the economy, such
as in agriculture, its role in the livelihoods of a majority is palpable and the significance of such
water in terms of international relations makes water scarcity an easy focus for national and
communal anxiety. In this region water is insufficient to meet regional food production needs,
although the region is well enough endowed to provide water for industrial and domestic needs.
Such a resource deficit can be politically stressful if it is detected by users through an evident
reduction in availability.
Global Demand For Virtual Water
10. Understanding the factors affecting global demand for virtual water is the crucial issue for waterdeficit economies. This global dimension of Middle Eastern and North African international relations
is not given a high priority in policy-making agendas across the region.
11. Virtual water is the very substantial volume of water embedded in water-intensive commodities
such as grain. About 1,000 tonnes of water are required to produce a tonne of wheat. When an
economy imports a tonne of wheat it is in effect importing 1,000 tonnes of water. The Middle East
and North Africa region was importing annually about 40 million tonnes of grain and flour by the end
of the 1990s. About 40 billion tonnes of water would be required to produce this volume of grain.
Such a volume reflects about 20% of the region's annual water use and is equivalent to the water
used each year by Egypt in its agricultural sector. Engineers could not contemplate moving so
much water, but those involved in the international grain trade take the challenge in their stride.
There is a very clear "nexus" involving "water, food and trade" which is of major strategic
significance to grain-importing economies in arid and semi-arid regions. Virtual water has, since the
early 1970s, ensured the economic stability of this major arid region in the world. Future economic
stability here will depend on its capacity to sustain the trade in virtual water.
12. The international trade in water-intensive imported commodities is so effective that the 300
million people living there do not register the impact of the substantial water deficit. It is not a
political issue at the domestic level or the international level, except where governments choose to
make it one. With political stress over water being so easily managed at the level of the whole
economy, it should not be surprising that there has been so little armed conflict over water. More
importantly, there has been none since the early 1960s. The region has been free of armed conflict
over water for more than three decades. There is no evidence that the next half-century will be any
different. The only factors that could in future impede the economic solutions, which would enable
water deficits to be ameliorated, are external to the region.
A Dangerous Optimism
13.
It is a paradox that the water pessimists are wrong but their pessimism is a very useful
political tool, which can help the innovator to shift the eternally interdependent belief systems of the
public and their politicians. The water optimists are right but their optimism is dangerous because
the notion enables politicians to treat water as a low policy priority, delay innovation and thereby
please those who perceive that they are prospering under the old order. Pessimists also bring more
sensational stories to the media. Optimists bring a version of unsensational good news. The good
news is complicated and indigestible as well as unsensational.
The author, Tony Allan received his doctorate from the University of London in 1971. He specializes in the
renewable natural resources of arid regions and especially water in the Middle East. He has written and
edited a number of publications on the subject and advises governments and international agencies on water
issues.
104
Vocabulary development
I.
Translate the following words using your knowledge of word formation:
1. renewable (introduction) ____________________
2. usable (abstract) ____________________
3. understandable (abstract) ___________________
4. bilateral (abstract) ______________________
5. multilateral (abstract) _____________________
6. invariably (paragraph 1) _____________________
7. unilaterally (paragraph 6) _____________________
8. sustainable (paragraph 8) _____________________
9. enable (paragraph 8) _____________________
10. interdependent (paragraph 13) _____________________
11. indigestible (paragraph 13) ___________________
12. unsensational (paragraph 13) ____________________
II.
Study the meanings in context of the following words:
1. prone to (abstract) _________________
2. dispute (abstract) __________________
3. perceive (abstract) _________________
4. negotiate (paragraph 1) _________________
5. bargaining (paragraph 1) _________________
6. transgression (paragraph 2) _________________
7. sovereignty (paragraph 2) _________________
8. confirmation (paragraph ) _________________
9. surplus (paragraph 4) _________________
10. diverse (paragraph 9) _________________
11. commodities (paragraph 10) _________________
12. impact (paragraph 10) _________________
13. substantial (paragraph 10) _________________
14. deficit (paragraph 10) _________________
15. dimension (paragraph 11) _________________
16. volume (paragraph 12) _________________
17. notion (paragraph 13) _________________
18. prosper (paragraph 13) _________________
105
III.
Fill in the blanks using the words from the list above. You may need to
change the form of the word:
1. Multicultural countries are characterized by ethnically ______________ populations.
2. Early childhood years have a tremendous _______________ on the character formation of
an individual.
3. A _________________ percentage of academic materials is written in English.
4. When Harry Potter entered Snape’s office he saw plenty of bottles of all sizes holding
different ________________ of colorful liquid.
5. The news reporter announced that the water ________________ in Israel may lead to
draining of the agricultural territories.
6. Contrary to the popular ________________ that dolphins are friendly and sociable
creatures, a recent study discloses their potential for cruelty even towards their young.
7. He is __________________ lose his temper when people disagree with him.
8. The __________________ between the teachers and the government have had little
success so far.
9. What do you __________________ as the most important characteristic of a manager?
10. Children __________________ if they are given an opportunity to develop their special
talents.
IV.
Translate the following sequences as they are used in the text:
1. the conventionally calculated water resources (paragraph 5)
_________________________________________________
2. surface water flows (paragraph 7) ________________________________
3. water-intensive imported commodities (paragraph 10)
_____________________________________
4. water-deficit economies (paragraph 11) ___________________________
5. policy-making agendas (paragraph 11) ____________________________
106
Avoiding War Over Natural Resources
Global Questions
1. What is the author’s purpose in the text?
a. to warn policy makers that water scarcity can lead to war
b. to compare water and oil resources in the Middle East
c. to discuss water as a bargaining tool between nations
d. to present the variety of roles of water in international relations
8 pt
2. `CIRCLE THE CORRECT ANSWER:
According to the author, the most difficult aspect of bargaining policies is
dealing with (intrastate / interstate) issues when nations negotiate.
Quote a sentence to support your answer.
__________________________________________________________________
4+4 pts
3. In addition to tangibles such as territory and resources, what can lead to arguments
between individuals and communities?
_____________________________________________________________
8 pts
4. List two distinct ways in which water is different from oil as a resource in the Middle East and
North Africa:
a.____________________________________________________
b._________________________________________________________
8 pts
5. Why does Egypt show signs of anxiety?
A possibility exists that_________________________________________
8 pts
6. Why doesn’t the population of the Middle East and North Africa complain about the water
deficit?
Complete the sentence:
Because ___________________________________________________
8 pts
7. Why does the author fear the enthusiasm of water optimists?
______________________________________________________________
8 pts
107
Close Reading Questions
Read paragraphs 7-12
8. What would be the advantage of a nation establishing sovereignty over surface water?
______________________________________________________________
8 pts
9. Why have the Middle East water agreements been mentioned?
Complete the following sentences:
On the one hand, these agreements do not___________________________
_____________________________________________________________.
On the other hand, the countries involved maintain their_________________
_____________________________________________________________
10 pts
10. What is the relationship between the role of water in a country’s economic development and
its relations with other countries?
Complete the following sentence:
A decrease in water sources leads to ______________________________
__________________________________________________________
8 pts
11a. Give an example of a “water-intensive commodity”
_______________________________
b. What is virtual water?
______________________________________________________________
4+4 pts
12a. Which formula do Middle Eastern countries use to resolve their problems of water deficit?
______________________________________________
b. What is done to carry out this formula?
________________________________________________________5+5 pts
108
VOABULARY LISTS - WORD LISTS OF SYNONYMS
FOR
AGAINST
pro
support
proponent
advocate (v., n.)
substantiate
uphold
back up
welcome (v)
adhere to (v)
champion(v)
corroborate
play up
defend
agree
confirm
approve (of)
accept
allow
argue for
represent
endorse
admire
verify
justify
promote
an adherent of
an apostle of
POSITIVE
con
challenge (only as a verb)
opponent
refute
oppose
dispute
reject
belittle
discount
deplore
play down
denounce
find fault with
disagree
negate
disapprove (of)
attack
forbid
argue against
combat
contradict
counter
defy
quarrel with
take issue with
stand up to
dissent
rival
resist
NEGATIVE
asset
benefit
merit
advantage
advantageous
strength
flawless
impeccable
reliable
liability
shortcoming
flaw
disadvantage
disadvantageous
weakness
fault
drawback
curtail
disown
myth
thwart
109
IMPROVEMENT
WORSENING
mitigate
improve
enhance
encourage
facilitate
advancement
progress
UP
exacerbate
aggravate
deteriorate
annoy
DOWN
rise
ascend
boom
raise
escalate
accelerate
elevate
skyrocket
increase
inflation
fall
descend
drop
lower
reduce
decelerate
plummet
dip
decrease
deflation
recession
dwindle
flag
decline
UP AND DOWN
fluctuate
unstable
NOW
NO LONGER
relevant
modern
trendy
contemporary
fad
“in”
irrelevant
obsolete
outmoded
outdated
old-fashioned
anachronistic
collapse
110
WORD LISTS BY CATEGORY
Criminology:
trial
judge
jury
sentence
punishment
prison
jail
detention
convict (v)
convict (n)
enforce
delinquent
juvenile
penalty
guilty
execution
inmate
‫משפט‬
‫שופט‬
‫מושבעים‬
‫גזר דין‬
‫עונש‬
‫בית כלא‬
‫בית סוהר‬
‫מעצר‬
‫להרשיע‬
‫אסיר‬
‫לאכוף‬
‫בעל נטייה לפשע‬
‫קטין‬
‫קנס‬,‫עונש‬
‫אשם‬
‫הוציא להורג‬
‫אסיר‬
police
detective
alleged
‫משטרה‬
‫בלש‬
‫נאשם‬
incarceration
charge
arrest
accuse
victim
violent
criminal
perpetrator
gang
innocent
imprison
offence
offender
commit a crime
lawyer
verdict
counsel for
defense
prosecution
murder
rape
111
‫מאסר‬
‫להאשים‬
‫לעצור‬
‫להאשים‬
‫קרבן‬
‫אלים‬
‫פושע‬
‫פושע‬
‫כנופיה‬
‫חף מפשע‬
‫לכלוא‬
‫עבירה‬
‫עבריין‬
‫לבצע פשע‬
‫עורך דין‬
‫פסק דין‬
‫סניגור‬
‫התביעה‬
‫רצח‬
‫אונס‬
Sociology:
peer
dominant
majority
minority
prejudice
society
socialization
adjustment
crisis
cult
individual
mass
crowd
urban
suburban
rural
mobility
perspective
poll
survey
pluralism
establishment
‫שווה לו‬
‫דומננטי‬
‫רוב‬
‫מיעוט‬
‫דיעה קדומה‬
‫חברה‬
‫חברות‬
‫התאמה‬
‫משבר‬
‫כת‬
‫פרט‬/‫יחיד‬
‫המוני‬
‫קהל רב‬/‫המון‬
‫עירוני‬
‫פרברי‬
‫כפרי‬
‫ניידות‬
‫השקפה‬
‫סקר‬
‫סקר‬
‫פלורליזם‬
‫הממסד‬
public
private
population
group
community
hierarchy
class
status
socio-economic
role
model
dependent
independent
culture
sub-culture
poverty
wealth
integration
segregation
immigrant
peer pressure
ethnic
112
‫ציבורי‬
‫פרטי‬
‫אוכלוסייה‬
‫קבוצה‬
‫קהילה‬
‫היררכיה‬
‫שכבה חברתית‬
‫מעמד‬
‫סוציו אקונומי‬
‫תפקיד‬
‫מודל‬/‫דוגמא‬
‫תלוי‬
‫עצמאי‬
‫תרבות‬
‫תרבות‬-‫תת‬
‫עוני‬
‫עושר‬
‫אינטגרציה‬
‫הפרדה‬
‫מהגר‬
‫לחץ חברתי‬
‫אתני‬
Psychology:
personality
character
traits
ego
id
fear
phobia
stress
depression
repression
anxiety
‫אישיות‬
‫אופי‬
‫תכונות‬
‫אגו‬
‫איד‬
‫פחד‬
‫ פחד עמוק‬,‫פוביה‬
‫לחץ‬
‫דיכאון‬
‫הדחקה‬
‫חרדה‬
antisocial
introvert
extrovert
needs
wishes
wants, wishes
inferior
complex
paranoia
‫אנטי חברתי‬
‫אדם מופנם‬
‫מוחצן‬
‫צרכים‬
‫משאלות‬
‫רצונות‬
‫נחות‬
‫תסביך‬
‫פרנויה‬
emotions
mental
sane
maniac
crazy, lunatic
Freud
conform
behavior
humanism
gestalt
conditioned
response
normal
abnormal
sibling
spouse
environment
genetic
heredity
guilt
feelings
113
‫רגשות עזים‬
‫נפשי‬
‫שפוי‬
‫מטורף‬
‫מטורף‬
‫פרויד‬
‫לנהוג בהתאם‬
‫התנהגות‬
‫הומניסטי‬
‫כללית‬-‫תפיסה‬
‫מותנית‬-‫תגובה‬
‫נורמלי‬
‫לא נורמלי‬
‫אח או אחות‬
‫בן או בת זוג‬
‫סביבה‬
‫גנטי‬
‫תורשה‬
‫רגשות אשם‬
‫רגשות‬
Research:
population
control group
variable
(dependent)
variable
(independent)
constant
sample
method
results
findings
evidence
experiment
field
laboratory
subject
questionnaire
blind
double blind
placebo
data
examine
analysis (n)
‫אוכלוסייה‬
‫קבוצת ביקורת‬
‫משתנה תלוי‬
interpret
measure
show
‫לפרש‬
‫למדוד‬
‫ מוכיח‬,‫מראה‬
‫משתנה בלתי‬
‫תלוי‬
‫קבוע‬
‫מדגם‬
‫שיטה‬
‫תוצאות‬
‫ממצאים‬
‫עדויות‬
‫ניסוי‬
‫שטח‬
‫מעברה‬
‫נברק‬
‫שאלון‬
‫עיוור‬
‫עיוור כפול‬
‫דמה‬
‫נתונים‬/‫נתון‬
‫לבחון‬
‫ אנליזה‬,‫עיבוד‬
hypothesis
‫היפותזה‬/‫השערה‬
theory
prove
proof
conclude
cause
correlation
affect
effect
average
percent
study
objective
subjective
assume
expect
statistic
postulate
observe
record (v)
‫ להתבונן‬,‫לצפות‬
‫ להקליט‬,‫לרשום‬
characteristics
indicate
‫מאפיינים‬
,‫להצביע על‬
‫להראות‬
figures
tables,
charts
science
random
‫תיאוריה‬
‫להוכיח‬
‫הוכחה‬
‫להסיק‬
‫סיבה‬/‫גורם‬
‫התאמה‬
‫להשפיע‬
‫השפעה‬
‫ממוצע‬
‫אחוז‬
‫מחקר‬
‫אובייקטיבי‬
‫סובייקטיבי‬
‫להניח‬
‫לצפות‬
‫נתון‬
‫לקבוע כהנחה‬
‫בסיסית‬
‫תמונות‬/‫מספרים‬
‫טבלאות‬
114
‫מדע‬
‫אקראי‬
Government:
democracy
dictator
fascist
elections
vote
president
prime minister
regime
control
rule
anarchy
‫דמוקרטיה‬
‫דיקטטור‬
‫פשיסט‬
‫בחירות‬
‫ להצביע‬,‫קול‬
‫נשיא‬
‫ראש ממשלה‬
‫משטר‬
‫שליטה‬
‫לשלוט‬
‫אנרכיה‬
treaty
rights
left wing
right wing
center
revolution
rebel
rebellion
radical
extreme
assassin
liberty
propaganda
oppression
suppression
conquer
army
occupy
independence
civil
citizen
representative
embassy
‫חרות‬
‫תעמולה‬
‫דיכוי‬
‫דיכוי‬
‫לכבוש‬
‫צבא‬
‫להשתלט על‬
‫עצמאות‬
‫אזרחי‬
‫אזרח‬
‫נציג‬
‫שגרירות‬
opposition
coalition
party
tyranny
majority
minority
moderate
ballot
policy
military
ambassador
ally
115
‫אמנה‬
‫זכויות‬
‫שמאלני‬
‫ימני‬
‫מרכז‬
‫מהפיכה‬
‫מורד‬
‫מרד‬
‫רדיקל‬
‫קיצוני‬
‫ מתנקש‬,‫רוצח‬
)‫(פולחני‬
‫אופוזיציה‬
‫קואליציה‬
‫מפלגה‬
‫רודנות‬
‫רוב‬
‫מיעוט‬
‫מתון‬
‫פתק הצבעה‬
‫מדיניות‬
‫צבאי‬
‫שגריר‬
‫בן ברית‬
Reading Comprehension:
definition
idea
topic
explain
refer
cause, reason
result, effect
former
latter
quote
factor
‫הגדרה‬
‫רעיון‬
‫נושא‬
‫להסביר‬
‫מתייחס‬
‫ גורם‬,‫סיבה‬
‫תוצאה‬
‫הקודם‬
‫השני‬
‫ציטוט‬
‫גורם‬
‫מבוא‬/‫הקדמה‬
‫ניב‬
‫תמצית‬/‫סיכום‬
‫כותרת‬/‫שם‬
‫כותב‬/‫סופר‬
‫קטע קריאה‬
‫מאמר‬
‫קריאה גלובלי‬
‫לקרוא ברפרוף‬
‫לקרוא במבט‬
‫קריאה‬
‫אינטנסיבית‬
‫ביטויים‬
‫מונחים‬
‫תקציר‬/‫תמצית‬
‫לתאר‬
‫אירוע‬
‫מתכוון‬
‫משפט‬
‫דוגמא‬
‫השוואה‬
‫ניגוד‬
‫מטרה‬
introduction
idiom
summary
title
writer, author
passage, text
article
global reading
skim
scan
intensive
reading
expressions
terms
abstract
describe
event,
happening
phrase
critical
review
argument
opinion
belief
specific
infer
imply
according to
paragraph
‫מסוים‬/‫ספציפי‬
‫להבין‬/‫להסיק‬
‫מתכוון‬/‫מרמז‬
‫לפי‬
‫פסקה‬
mean
sentence
example
comparison
contrast
purpose, aim,
goal
conclusion
‫סיכום‬/‫סיום‬
connectors
‫מילות קשר‬
116
‫חלק ממשפט‬
‫ביקורתי‬
‫בקורת‬/‫סקירה‬
‫נימוק‬/‫טעון‬
‫דיעה‬
‫אמונה‬
Active and Passive
Active
I write a book every three years.
I am writing a book now.
Last year I wrote a book.
When our family visited us last
week, I was writing a book.
I have written many books since I
became a teacher.
I knew that my best friend had
written many books.
Next year I will write a book on
teaching grammar.
Passive
A book is written every three
years by me.
A book is being written now by
me.
A book was written last year by
me.
When my family visited us last
week, a book was being written
by me.
Many books have been written
by me since I became a teacher.
I knew that many books had
been written by my best friend.
A book on English grammar will
Susan knew I would write more
books in the years to come.
be written next year by me.
Susan knew that more books
would be written by me.
I must write a thriller.
A thriller must be written by me.
The verb TO WRITE changes
according to the underlined time
expressions in each sentence.
The verb TO BE changes
according to the underlined time
expressions in each sentence
while the verb to WRITE changes
into its V3 form – WRITTEN.
117
ACTIVE AND PASSIVE
A. Complete the sentences with the given words and phrases
1. (Shakespeare, Hamlet)
_______________________was written by _________________.
2. (Shakespeare, other plays)
__________________________also wrote ____________________
3. (reckless drivers, accidents)
________________________are often caused by _____________________.
4. (the history teacher , the pupils)
________________________examined __________________orally.
5. (two examiners, the written tests )
_______________________________ were checked by _____________________.
6. (smoking, many health problems)
________________________are aggravated by ________________________.
7. (many people, group pressure)
_____________________________are influenced by ______________________
8. (youngsters, group pressure)
_____________________________can make ______________________do things they would
never do on their own.
B. Choose the correct verb forms to complete each sentence.
1. (devised, was devised)
The procedure ______________________by the psychology professor.
2. (can cause, is caused)
Malnutrition ______________________developmental problems in children.
3. (denied, was denied)
The prisoner ____________________all the charges.
4.(supported, was supported)
The evidence _______________________the theory.
5. (are building, are being built)
Many new roads _____________________in our town.
6. (invited, is invited )
If he _______________________, he will come.
7. (believed, was believed)
In medieval times, it _______________________________that the earth was flat.
8. (impressed, was impressed)
Everyone present ____________________________by the ceremony.
118
‫‪PART 2‬‬
‫לשימוש פנימי ולצורכי לימוד בלבד‬
‫‪119‬‬
o
Two Countries, Intertwined
116 (Main idea + supporting detail)
o
Designing Babies
126 (connectors)
o
Drugs and Crime
133
o
Mob Rule
139 (listing)
o
Avoiding War over Natural Resources
148
o
Bicultural Competence
155
o
Bilingual Children’s Mother Tongue
162
o
Remediation Training Improves Reading Ability…
169 (structure of an article)
o
Will We Follow the Sheep
174 (Main idea + supporting detail)
o
An Ounce of Prevention
o
The Economics of Smoking
183 (comparison & contrast)
o
The Next Petroleum
191 (vocabulary – UP/DOWN)
o
The Duel of the Diamonds
178
180
120
Two Countries, Intertwined
From Time February 10,1992 by
Berry Hillenbrand.
2000
S.H.
1
Sony, Toyota, Honda, Mitsubishi, Nikon, Ricoh, Toshiba, There seems no escaping
Japan in the U. S. these days. But just try to escape America in Japan, especially if you are young
and yearn to be hip in Tokyo. America is an essential element of growing up urban in Japan.
2
It starts with the clothes: a pair of Bass Weejuns baggy chinos, a Stanford
sweatshirt, a Washington Redskins hat. And it's also the food: Doritos tortilla chips bought from 7 Eleven; real American all beef frankfurters eaten under a Wigley Field mural in the Chicago Dog
restaurant; or ersatz American pizza ordered from Chicago Pizza, which promises home delivery
as speedy as archival Domino's.
3
America does not stop at food and clothing: it's entertainment too. The block- buster
movies are all American and require buying tickets days in advance. Hours after the box offices
opened, all 56,000 seats for M.C. Hammer's concert at the Tokyo Dome were spoken far. Millions
of dollars' worth of American CDs are bought at stores like Tower Records.
4
And what about sports? The national pastime is baseball, but among college students, the
latest craze is American football. The Super Bowl, as well as the World Series, is broadcast live in
Japan
5
America is also on Japan's mind and stays there even after a Japanese outgrows blue jeans.
American books can at times sell more in Japanese then back home in English. News is often seen
through an American prism. Trends and movements sweep across the Pacific from America and take
root. In Japan these days, many people prefer whale watching to whale eating: environmentalism has
arrived.
QUESTIONS
1. What main idea is illustrated by the examples in paragraphs 2-5?
_____________________________________________________________
[8 pts]
___________________________________________________________________
6
The puzzle is how two countries so intertwined can be so frequently at odds. Ever since
President George Bush showed up in Tokyo last month with a group of vituperative business leaders
in tow, the U. S. and Japan have once again been sniping at each other. And once again the
ambiguous mix of Japanese attitudes toward the U. S. has been brought to the fore. In the mind of
Japan, the superpower on the other side of the Pacific is both an object of respect and envy, of
emulation and repulsion, of gratitude and contempt. Despite the years of wrangling between the two
nations, Japan retains a large reservoir of good feeling towards the U. S. For the Japanese, America
is the foreign country, the one that is admired and imitated, the standard for measuring national
success.
7
What has changed is Japan's growing desire for respect. The unquestioning
adulation of the U. S. that once prevailed has been replaced by increasing self confidence. The
Japanese believe that social and economic problems have eroded America's strength at just the
moment when their own hard work has brought their country wealth and prosperity. While few
121
officials hope or expect that Japan will eclipse America as a great power, they firmly believe it is
time for Washington to treat Tokyo as its most important ally, and not like a junior partner.
8
In Japan, debts are neither readily forgotten nor easily repaid. The Japanese
acknowledge the enormous debt they owe America for the benevolence after the post World War II
occupation and for the nurturing and protection the U. S. has provided Japan ever since. As Prime
Minister Kiichi Miyazawa put it in a speech two weeks ego, "It is no exaggeration to say that Japan
could not have achieved its postwar prosperity had it not been for the good-hearted support of the
U.S." Older Japanese in particular feel the need to repay that debt, especially now that the U. S. is
in the midst of its longest recession since the 1930's.
9
"We are sorry to see America in this trouble," says Tatsuro Toyoda, 63, executive
vice president of Toyota Motor Corp. "We must help America because we really would like to see
America strong once again".
QUESTIONS
2 a. What contradictory relationship exists between Japan and America?
THE FOLLOWING SENTENCE)
(COMPLETE
Although Japan and America __________________________________,
the Japanese regard America as ______________________________.
[6 pts]
b. Why has their relationship changed?___________________________
[4 pts]
3.a. Why are Japanese like Tatsuro Toyoda motivated to help America?
Because ________________________________________________________
[5 pts]
b. What “trouble “ is Toyoda referring to?
________________________________________________________________
[5 pts]
___________________________________________________________________
10
But there are limits to how far the Japanese will go to help America. Opinion surveys
show that the majority of Japanese fears that a significant drop in the nation' trade surplus would be
bad for their domestic economy. This concern gives some bureaucrats reason to delay reforms that
would further open markets to American imports. During Bush's visit, Japanese auto companies
promised to double their purchase of American auto parts to $19 billion by 1994. But they are
reluctant to extend assistance to U. S. markets trying to sell American cars. "The Americans
themselves have done little to penetrate our market," says Nissan president Yutaka Kume. "They
must try harder".
11
Lately some Japanese executives have begun to acknowledge that their country is
partly to blame for America's economic problems. A commentary in a recent issue of the respected
business weekly Toyo Keizai could have been written by Pat Buchanan: " Japan can't merely
122
criticize the decline of the U. S. economy by saying 'It serves you right.' If one takes into
consideration the abnormal situation where Japan's excessive competition, low profit margins and
long work hours served as a background to our earnings a $40 billion trade surplus with the U. S
we can say that Japan has a share in the responsibility for U. S. industrial decline".
12
But most Japanese - like most Americans - place the responsibility for U. S.
economic troubles largely on Americans themselves. "Whatever happened to the good old
Emersonian credo that if you build a better mousetrap, the world will beat a path to your door?"
asks Masao Kunihiro, an anthropologist who is also a member of the Diet's Upper House. "That is
what made America what it is today, economically and industrially powerful. But many of us, rightly
or wrongly, now feel that the U. S. is no longer turning out mousetraps which are better than ours.
Sadly, there's been an erosion of the puritan work ethic in America, a country which taught us so
much".
QUESTIONS
4. Why are bureaucrats not interested in opening more markets to American imports?
(COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING SENTENCE)
They fear ______________________________________________________
[8 pts]
5. What point does the writer make when referring to Japan’s excessive competition and low
profit margins?
a.
b.
c.
d.
criticism of American trade policy is justified.
Japan is economically superior
Japan plays a role in U.S. economic distress
Japan has abnormal attitudes to work
[8 pts]
6. a. What is the relationship between paragraphs 11 and 12?
a.
b.
c.
d.
comparison
contrast
cause and effect
main idea and illustration
[4 pts]
b. State the main idea of these 2 paragraphs
______________________________________________________
[6 pts]
___________________________________________________________________
13
Unfortunately, not all analyses of America's problems are as sophisticated as
Kunihiro's. When Yoshio Sakurauchi, the Speaker of the Lower' House of the Diet, caused a furor
in the U. S. two weeks ago by saying that the "root of America's (trade) problem lies in the inferior
quality of American labor," he was reflecting a condescension toward Americans that many
Japanese share.
123
14
At times, criticism of America borders on racism. Young people who have grown up
enjoying succession of ingenious Japanese-made consumer products have developed a contempt
for anything made by lesser mortals. In addition many Japanese contend that America is
handicapped because it does not mirror Japan's cultural and racial homogeneity, which they
believe is largely responsible for the country's high degree of national harmony. The virtues of this
harmony are probably overrated, and the disadvantages repression, numbing conformity are widely
ignored. But the myth that racial homogeneity endangers unity is the root of discrimination against
anyone who is not Japanese. Accustomed to the efficiency and uniformity of their own country, the
Japanese are frightened and shocked by the seemingly chaotic nature of American society. They
tend to believe that America's racial diversity and cultural pluralism are weaknesses, not strengths.
15
Since the end of World War II, Japanese racism has had no formal guiding ideology.
Books with bigoted themes appear occasionally and sell well to a curious public. The books are
often the source of ignorant racist remarks by Japanese politicians. But with one or two minor
exceptions, no notable Japanese has taken up racism as a political or social platform.
16
The same is true of anti-Americanism. Shintaro Ishihara, a Diet member and author of The
Japan That Can Say No, struck a resonant chord with some when he argued that the country should
become more assertive on the world stage because it now holds technological supremacy over the
U. S. But Ishihara has no role in setting Japan's political agenda.
17
Last fall some Tokyo-based foreign journalists discovered and wrote about kembei,
which means "resentment of America. "Their stories unleashed fears that a new strain of antiAmericanism was emerging. But the word was never in wide spread use and has since virtually
disappeared. Writer Yoshimi Ishikawa, who claims credit for coining the word, asserts that it was
misunderstood from the beginning. Kembei, says Ishikawa, was meant to describe Japan's sense of
impotence when faced with America's demands for assistance during the gulf war. Ishikawa points
out that U. S. - bashing demonstrations, a regular and often-violent feature of student life in Tokyo
during the 1960s, are practically unknown these days. And while marginal politicians, assorted TV
news anchors and intellectuals are taking noisy potshots at the U. S., no important cultural figures
in Japan have been heard uttering such sentiments. Says Ishikawa: "Everyone is saying,
'Apparently, there is a growing dislike of America,' but where is it? Who's doing the disliking"?
18
Certainly there is no indication that Japanese are shunning the icons of popular
American culture or of America itself. While it is true that the Japanese - like many Americans think twice about buying an American car, they consume more than a billion dollars' worth of
McDonald's fast food each year and another billion in soft drinks from Coca-Cola.
19
Not content with merely experiencing a bit of America at home, more than 3 million
Japanese visited the U. S. last year and spent $10 billion. Nearly 1.5 million of them journeyed to
Hawaii, while the other half traveled on the mainland. Some Japanese tourists are even paying
$1,600 for a five-day trip to Snoqualmie, Washington, where the TV series Twin Peaks (a big hit in
Japan) was shot.
QUESTIONS
7. What does Masao Kunhiro imply when he mentions poorly constructed American
“mousetraps” in paragraph 12?
(COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING SENTENCE)
The reason for the decline in the American economy is a result of
_______________________________________________________
[8 pts]
124
8. a. What is the main idea of paragraphs 14 – 17?
___________________________________________________________________
b. Circle the correct words:
Paragraphs 18 & 19 ILLUSTRATE / CONTRAST the main idea from the previous
paragraphs.
[10 PTS]
20
On the other hand, the Japanese are bombarded with the same negative images of
the U. S. that have deepened America's mood of depression and self-doubt. People watch CNN
reporting on the American homeless. They flock to see the gratuitous violence of Die Hard 2.
Japanese playboy, which for years projected an image of the U. S. as a sexual playground, now
runs stories about the AIDS epidemic. Japanese newspapers, cribbing from the U. S. press, detail
the decline in American education and the rising murder rate.
21
These images contribute to a vision of America as a country spinning out of control.
In Japanese eyes, the picture of the U. S. as a faltering giant has weakened America's authority to
lead the free world, a leadership that Tokyo used to accept without question. These days, says a
foreign Ministry official, Japan is weary of being treated like a mindless "cash register" to be rung up
when problems arise but not consulted or taken seriously by Washington. Miyarzwa wanted to
make that the focus of his talks with Bush during his recent visit, but the subject was mostly
drowned out by the flap over trade.
22
Of all Japanese, young people are the most ambivalent about America. Unlike their
elders, they are not burdened by the debt of gratitude from the postwar occupation, and they do not
remember the days when the U. S. was viewed with undiluted reverence. Because they have
traveled more widely, young Japanese understand America better than their parents did. They are
both fascinated and repelled by what they see. Says Donald Richie, an American critic who writes
on contemporary Japanese culture: "Young people view America as a dangerous wilderness filled
with freedom and adventure. Embracing America is a way of rebelling against the strict paternalistic
society home".
23
In the process, young Japanese are dabbling in American culture and lifestyles in ways that
baffle their elders. Like the thousands of American students residing in Japan, the 30,000 young
Japanese living and studying in the U. S. are beginning to build bridges between the two countries.
Some Americans persist in their hope that Japan will become more like the U. S. when these young
people come to power, but that is unlikely. The more realistic prospect is that over time, through
increased understanding, the Japanese will develop more tolerance for societies different from their
own. What they will never abandon is the qualities that make them uniquely Japanese.
QUESTIONS
9. How do the Japanese youth embody their country’s ambivalent attitude to America?
(COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING SENTENCE)
On one hand, they ______________________________________________.
On the other hand, the youth ______________________________________
[10 pts]
10. In the writer’s opinion, will relations with America affect the Japanese in the future ?
125
CIRCLE THE CORRECT ANSWER
YES / NO
Quote a sentence to support your answer
______________________________________________________________
[8 pts]
11.
According to this article.
a.
b.
c.
d.
the Japanese are increasingly influenced by America.
Americans have taken over Japan.
Japanese are trying to move to America.
Japanese values have been replaced by those of America.
[10 pts]
Vocabulary development
Study the meanings of the following words as they appear in the text:
At odds (6) Intertwined (6) Debt (8) Criticism (14) critical criticize
Racism race(14) Resentment (17) Shun (18) Deepen (20) Contribute (21)
Ambivalent (22) Tolerance (23) tolerant Abandon (23) Merely (23)
Complete the sentences using the words above. You may need to change the form of the
word.
1. The kuku bird often __________________________ her offspring short time after they are
born.
2. The Bible teachers you to be ____________________ towards other people.
3. I would like to _______________________ my knowledge of the world history.
4. Unfortunately, many people in the world still experience strong ____________________
towards people of a different nationality. Therefore, it is important to stress the value of
_____________________ in every educational setting.
5. How does paragraph 11 ____________________ to the main idea?
6. The country experiences an economic crisis and its foreign _________________ is growing.
7. These two articles deal with different aspects of the same issue. Their ideas are
___________________.
126
Designing Babies: A Eugenics Race with China?
By Eric G Swedin
May/Jun 2006
©Copyright World Future Society May/Jun 2006
The Futurist ,
2054 words
The rapid pace of genetic research, the author argues, guarantees that we will see genetically
manufactured babies before the end of the century.
1
Human eugenics - the science that deals with improvements in hereditary qualities of a race
- and the creation of genetically engineered advanced humans are probably inevitable. Granted,
such a bald statement flies in the face of certain U.S. laws and most bioethical thinking, but within
the next two decades, we will likely see human beings born with enhanced genetic characteristics
in China, and competitive nations such as the United States are unlikely to allow a "smart-baby
gap" to emerge. Many Americans will overcome their misgivings and support efforts to keep up in
this new realm of international competition. The time has come to ask two questions: What is the
potential of genetic engineering, and why is China predisposed to adapting genetic engineering to
human enhancement?
Achievements in Genetic Engineering
2
The discovery of the structure of DNA in 1953 eventually led biochemists Herbert Boyer and
Stanley Cohen to develop the techniques of genetic engineering in the early 1970s. Recognizing
the extraordinary power and potential danger of this new technology, scientists agreed to a
temporary moratorium on further research until guidelines could be developed to minimize the risk
of a genetically engineered organism accidentally escaping into the wild. But biotechnology
continued to advance rapidly when the moratorium ended just a year later. Today, many historians
and prognosticators believe that biology and biotechnology may be the queen of twenty-firstcentury science just as physics and quantum mechanics were the queens of twentieth-century
science.
3
When microbiologist Ananda Mohan Chakrabarty, an employee of General Electric,
developed an oil-eating bacterium for possible use in cleaning up oil spills in 1971, the company
applied for a patent on it that same year. What followed was a controversial landmark 1980
decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that permitted life created in a laboratory to be patented. In
1988, the U.S. Patent Office took the next step by granting a patent on a transgenic mouse
developed at Harvard University that had been altered to make the animal susceptible to breast
cancer. Since then, mice have been altered to be susceptible to other diseases so that new
medicines and vaccines can be tested before use on humans.
4
The 1990s saw experiments in gene-transfer therapy, where a gene is introduced into a
patient (often via a virus) because the patient either lacks that gene or his copy of that gene does
not function properly. Gene therapy may prove effective in treating diseases such as cystic fibrosis
or Huntington's disease, which have a strong genetic component. Ultimately, gene therapy could be
used to permanently alter a person's body so that it regularly creates any protein or enzyme that
had previously been lacking.
127
5
The international Human Genome Project, launched in 1990 and completed in 2003,
provided a completed sequence of 3.1 billion gene pairs making up 35,000 to 40,000 human genes.
Researchers around the world are trying to understand what each of these genes actually does,
especially in combination with other genes.
QUESTIONS
1.
How would China influence Americans to genetically engineer human beings?
_________________________________________________________________________
(8 pts)
2 a. When was genetic engineering first used to improve the human condition?
___________________________
b. What was the goal of this procedure? Complete the following sentence:
To replace or restore
________________________________________________________________________
(2+6=8 pts)
_____________________________________________________________________________
6
The biotechnology industry, based on genetic engineering, reached $91 billion in revenue in
2004, with more than three-fourths of that research activity headquartered in the United States.
Scientists have already made "designer babies" through the use of pre-implantation genetic
diagnosis, where embryos still in the test tube are checked for genetic diseases such as Down's
syndrome, Tay-Sachs disease, cystic fibrosis, or sickle-cell disease. This technique has also been
used to check for immunological compatibility when parents are trying to have another child in order
to save an existing child in need of a bone-marrow donation.
Future Expectations
7
In the future, genetic engineering will eventually allow us to design children in a test tube,
but that goal will be reached through a series of efforts aimed at more modest improvements. At
first, the designs will just use probabilities, banking on knowledge of which genetic combinations
are usually found in more intelligent people, or which genetic combinations might make the blood
more efficient in transporting oxygen and thus increasing physical endurance.
As our
understanding of the human genome increases and our crude genetic-engineering techniques
become more sophisticated and precise, we will be able to make ever finer changes in humans.
These changes may come in the test tube by manipulating a fertilized egg. They may be changes
to a fetus in the womb. They may even be changes in the genome of children or adults. The earlier
the changes are made, the easier and more dramatic their consequences.
8
So far, most genetic engineering has taken place in the United States and other
industrialized countries, but that is changing. The study of genetics came to China in the 1920s.
After the communists took power, however, genetics work was stifled, much as it was in the Soviet
Union. The excesses of the Cultural Revolution in China permitted little scientific exploration.
128
9
Since 1978, with the end of the Cultural Revolution and the opening of China to vigorous
economic expansion under the tutelage of the Communist party, the study of genetics has thrived.
China is also pouring large sums of capital into developing its universities into more productive
research centers. According to statistics released from the Chinese government, research and
development expenditures in areas such as genetic and genomic research totaled about $18
billion, roughly 1.3% of China's GDP ($1.4 trillion in U.S. dollars). It is not unreasonable to assume
that in the next two decades China will become an important scientific player on the world stage,
with world-class genetic engineering facilities and scientists and technicians to staff them.
Bioethical Discrepancies
10
Bioethics has always been implicitly present in the practice of medicine and medical
research, and it has now grown into an important academic discipline. The first institute to study
bioethics, the Hastings Center of Garrison, New York, was founded in 1969. Medical schools now
often include bioethics in their curricula. Bioethics has become more prominent in China in recent
years, with newly minted academic programs on the subject, but the Chinese approach focuses
more on what is best for society at large than on the more common ideal in the West of individual
autonomy.
QUESTIONS:
3. How do American bioethical considerations differ from those of China?
Americans________________________________________________
while the Chinese _____________________________________________
(10 pts)
_____________________________________________________________________________
11
One bioethical dilemma deals with designing babies. Most parents seek to give their
children every possible advantage, such as sending them to the right school or arranging for
specialized care and training. But in the near future, genetic engineering will allow parents to give
their children an even greater edge. According to bioethics researchers in China, such as Qiu
Renzong of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, Chinese bioethical principles draw
on traditional Confucianism to bring the family into medical decisions, not just the doctor and
patient. Since Confucianism teaches that life begins at birth rather than conception, Qiu argues, the
Chinese have no moral qualms against abortions, which are a major form of birth control.
12
In 1995, China passed the Maternal and Infant Health Law, which required medical doctors
to conduct prenatal testing and to advise couples with genetic diseases either to not marry or to
consider sterilization. In cases where the couple has already conceived and genetic abnormalities
in the fetus are suspected, the doctor is to advise abortion. While the law only compelled doctors to
offer advice, not to compel abortions or compel that their marriage advice be followed, Western
critics argue that such advice in a one-party communist state is tantamount to a direct instruction.
Some tradition-minded Chinese view birth defects as a sign of personal sin of the parents or their
ancestors. The intent of the 1995 Maternal and Infant Health Law is to remove birth defects from
the population, since handicapped people are often condemned to a life of poverty because of the
limited social safety net within China.
129
13
It is not known how many potential births in China this law has affected. But for purposes of
comparison, a study in the United States and Britain found that 3%-5% of all live births have some
sort of genetic disorder. It is reasonable to assume that a similar proportion of Chinese births have
been prevented due to Chinese policies, though not all birth defects can at present be detected
before birth.
14
Bioethicists in the United States and elsewhere objected to the new Chinese law as a
violation of fundamental human rights. The Chinese government, however, considers Western
concepts of human rights to be no more than a weapon used by Western nations to rhetorically
abuse the Chinese people. This is not to imply that there are not Chinese activists who advocate
human rights-only that their point of view is officially suppressed.
QUESTIONS:
4. Why would a Chinese woman consider aborting her fetus if genetic defects are detected?
Choose the correct answer to complete the sentence:
According to Chinese culture, abortion is morally acceptable because
___________________
a.
b.
c.
d.
It is best for society.
It allows the individual to choose.
The individual is autonomous.
Life begins at birth.
(8 pts)
5. What is the purpose of the Maternal and Infant Health Law?
Complete the following sentence:
The 1995 Maternal and Infant Health Law was meant to_____________________
because __________________________________________________________
(10 pts)
6.
Why is the Chinese Maternal and Infant Health Law unethical in the opinion of American
bioethicists?
__________________________________________________________________________
(8 pts)
7. Why do the Chinese reject the views of Western bioethicists?
______________________________________________________________________________
(8 pts)
______________________________________________________________________________
130
15
Given the current Chinese thinking in bioethics and the obvious intent of the Maternal and
Infant Health Law, it is hard not to imagine the Chinese government taking the next step and
actively promoting the creation of genetically engineered babies.
A Race for Bioengineered Supremacy
16
A future of human eugenics is not something to take lightly. One can easily imagine in 50 to
100 years the popularity of 400-pound football linebackers, workers with superior strength or
stamina, workers who excel in mathematics, or workers whose bones and organs can better
withstand the effects of zero gravity for functioning in outer space. Around the world, parents
seeking the best opportunities for their children may want to buy biotechnology that gives their
children an edge, and we will see the birth of specialized human beings. Sending them to the right
school or arranging for specialized care and training will be supplanted by genetic engineering
which will allow parents to give their children ever more advantages. Moral qualms will be brushed
aside, and keeping up with the Chinese will be seen as a patriotic duty.
17
Political and moral questions of particular concern to bioethicists would be authoritarian or
totalitarian governments that try to genetically program their populations toward docile obedience.
Cultures that value docility in women might strive to find gene sequences that predispose women to
that trait. There are certainly religious leaders who might see the possibility of programming people
to be more religious as a gift from God, a way to make His people more pious and righteous. This
assumes that docile behavior or the inclination toward religious piety have a genetic component.
QUESTIONS
8. Why would a program in human eugenics in a country like China pose political and
moral questions ?
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
(8 pts)
9. Genetic engineering has both positive and negative possible consequences. Give an
example of
each:
Positive: _______________________________________________________________
Negative :______________________________________________________________
(8 pts)
_____________________________________________________________________
131
Conclusion
18
Medical advances in the last century have enabled many people with genetic disabilities to
be born and to live. For instance, diabetics can now live almost normal lives and have children, but
that rarely happened before the availability of insulin treatments. The down side of this development
is that defective genes are now presumably accumulating from generation to generation because
natural selection is no longer taking place. It's a hard thought to digest, but perhaps genetic
engineering will be the twin to modern medicine, completely changing how humans reproduce and
improving our chances to live productive lives.
19
Ever since humans began to domesticate animals and plants, we have been engaged in
large-scale bioengineering. New species exist because of our intervention, and many species no
longer exist because of our actions. Genetic engineering gives us the tools not only to continue to
alter other species and our natural environment, but also to alter ourselves.
20
The social and moral consequences of genetic modification are certainly disturbing to
contemplate, but we would be naïve to believe that we won't do it. Biological evolution through
natural selection has been superseded by cultural evolution. The possibility of directing and
accelerating our biological evolution through deliberate genetic engineering of the human genome
is now on the horizon.
21
Such new technologies can only be controlled when all nations capable of using these
technologies agree to do so. In the absence of broad agreement, technologies will be developed as
a matter of international competition. Nuclear weapons and nuclear power are a perfect example of
this. Just as the nuclear arms race and the so-called "missile gap" of the late 1950s and early
1960s obsessed Americans during the Cold War, a future genetic human-enhancement race with
China, with fears of a "smart-baby gap," may well drive future policies. I believe we will see this
within the next 20 years.
About the Author
Eric G. Swedin is an assistant professor and department chair in the information systems and
technologies department of Weber State University. His books include Computers: The Life Story
Of Technology (Greenwood Press, 2005), Science in the Contemporary World: An Encyclopedia
(ABC-CLIO, 2005), and Healing Souls: Psychotherapy in the Latter-Day Saint Community
(University of Illinois Press, 2003). His address is Information Systems and Technologies
Department, Weber State University, Davis Campus, 2750 North University Park Boulevard MC
101, Layton, Utah 84041. E-mail eswedin@weber.edu. Web site www.swedin.org.
QUESTIONS
10. According to paragraph 18, genetic abnormalities are no longer being inherited
because of genetic engineering.
YES /NO CIRCLE THE CORRECT ANSWER
Quote a sentence to support your answer
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
(8 pts)
132
11. What is the purpose of the example of nuclear weapons in the last paragraph?
To illustrate the point that _____________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
(8 pts)
12. What is the purpose of the author in this article?
a. to alert the reader to the China’s superiority in genetic engineering of humans
b. to emphasize the threat China presents to ethical behavior in genetic engineering
c. to alert readers to the implications of escalated efforts to genetically engineer
humans
d. to emphasize that human genetic engineering is contrary to American bioethics
(8 pts)
133
Drugs and Crime
by James Q. Wilson
2400 S.H.
From: Michael Tomry and James Q. Wilson, (Eds.) Drugs and Crime, 1990
1.
Some people argue that we must "stamp out" drug abuse in order to reduce
crime, break up criminal gangs, and improve public health. But there is no reason to
believe that vigorously enforcing the drug laws will achieve any of these goals and
many reasons to think that they make matters worse.
2.
Consider crime: there is no doubt a strong association between the use of
drugs and aggressive behavior, but, as Jeffrey Fagan points out, it is far from clear that this
correlation amounts to cause. People who become aggressive after drinking
alcohol or using cocaine usually turn out to be people who were aggressive before
consuming these substances. Personality factors and social settings seem to have a
large, perhaps dominant, effect in determining whether getting high will lead to
aggression, moody introspection, or quiet gaiety. Heroin seems to induce in its users
euphoria, drowsiness, and sexual impotence, but not aggression. There is a good deal of anecdotal
evidence suggesting that using phencyclidine (PCP) or amphetamines or smoking crack will cause
violent behavior, but so far not much systematic evidence supports this theory.
3.
There is also a strong association between drug use and street crime, and here
the research shows that, for at least certain drugs, their use - or more accurately, their purchase does cause higher rates of income generating crime. During periods when heroin addicts are using
the drug heavily, the rate at which they commit crimes is much higher than it is during periods when
they are relatively abstinent. The reason is that the illegality of heroin produces a black market in
which price rises to the point where many addicts can only support their habits by theft or
prostitution.
4.
Though the search for drugs may cause criminals to increase the rate of their
criminality, it is not a desire for drugs that leads people to criminality in the first place.
Jan and Marcia Chaiken suggest that many heavy drug users were committing crimes before they
turned to drugs; they began spending money on drugs in part because crime had produced money
for them to spend and in part because criminality drew them into a social setting in which drug use
was common and expected.
5.
For all these reasons, it is not clear that enforcing the laws against drug use
would reduce crime. On the contrary, crime may be caused by such enforcement
because it keeps drug prices higher than they would otherwise be.
134
QUESTIONS
1. Does the author believe that enforcing anti-drug laws would result in lower crime rates?
(circle the correct answer):
YES / NO
Quote from the text to support your answer:
___________________________________________________________________
[7 pts]
2. (3) How are Fagan and Chaiken’s theories similar? (para. 2 and 4)
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
[7 pts]
6.
Or consider criminal gangs: tough law enforcement may break up those criminal enterprises
that traffic in drugs, but it may also make such enterprises more skilled, more ruthless, and more
dangerous. The more profitable drug sales are, the greater the incentive dealers have to protect
their profits by arming themselves against rivals, forcibly maintaining discipline among
subordinates, and corrupting or otherwise resisting the criminal justice system. Critics of drug
enforcement often compare the effects of our drug laws to those prohibiting the sale of alcohol: any
effort to suppress the use of a popular substance will create rich and powerful criminal syndicates.
7.
Or consider public heath: injecting drugs, such as heroin or cocaine, can lead to hepatitis or
AIDS if contaminated needles are used, and such needles are more likely to be used if the drugs
are consumed surreptitiously. Over half the AIDS victims generally contracted the disease through
intravenous drug use. Drugs sold illegally are beyond the reach of the pure food and drug laws; as
a result, many addicts use heroin that has been "cut", or adulterated, with harmful substances.
When marijuana is grown illegally, it may be produced in fields sprayed by the police with
dangerous herbicides or covered by the growers with harmful fertilizers. And even when a drug is
free of poisons, its strength is often unknown, so that a user may unwittingly take a fatal overdose.
Mislabeling a drug is not a crime to those who sell drugs illegally.
8.
In short, attempting to suppress the use of drugs is very costly. This fact has
led many people to call for their legalization, either totally or under some form of
government regulation. Should we therefore eliminate the costs of law enforcement by repealing the
laws against drugs? The result would be less crime, fewer and weaker gangs, and an opportunity to
address the public health problems in a straightforward manner.
9.
On the other hand, legalizing drugs would also entail costs. Those costs are much more
difficult to measure, partly because, to a large extent, they are moral and partly because we have
so little experience with legalized drugs that we can not be sure of what those costs would be.
135
QUESTIONS
3. Which reason does the author give against enforcing anti-law drugs?
__________________________________________________________________
[7 pts]
4. What is the purpose of paragraph 9?
a. to offer a reasonable alternative to dealing with drugs
b. to sum up the main idea
c. to indicate the futility of finding a solution to the drug problem
d. to illustrate the complexity of the drug issue
[7 pts]
10
The moral reason for attempting to discourage drug use is that the heavy
consumption of certain drugs is destructive of human character. These drugs -principally heroin, cocaine, and crack -- are, for many people, powerfully reinforcing. The pleasure
or oblivion they produce leads many users to devote their lives to seeking pleasure or oblivion and
to do so almost regardless of the cost in ordinary human virtues, such as temperance, fidelity, duty,
and sympathizing. The dignity, autonomy, and productivity of many users, already impaired by other
problems is destroyed.
11.
There are, to be sure, many people who only experiment with drugs or who use them
regularly but in a "controlled" way. Citizens differ in how seriously they view such use. Some will
argue that if users can maintain their moral character while consuming drugs, no social problem
exists. Moreover, a national survey suggests that drug use by casual or controlled users has been
declining in recent years. The proportion of Americans saying that they currently use any drug has
dropped significantly since 1985; however, this statistic, from an essay by the Office of National
Drug Control Policy 1989, is concerned with the heavy user of the most dangerous drugs - heroin
and cocaine. And for that group, the news is bad. The same survey shows that the proportion of
cocaine users who consume it frequently (i.e., weekly or more often) has doubled since 1989. For
such consumers, the moral costs of drug abuse are undeniable.
12. But there are some people who deny that society has any obligation to form and sustain the
character of its citizenry. Libertarians would leave all adults free to choose their own habits and
seek their own destiny so long as their behavior did not cause any direct or palpable harm to others.
But most people, however willing they may be to tolerate human eccentricities and support civil
liberties, act as if they believed that government, as the agent for society, is responsible for helping
instill certain qualities in its citizens. This is one reason (indeed, it was the original reason) for
mandatory schooling. We not only want to train children to be useful, we want to train them to be
decent. It is the reason that virtually every nation that has been confronted by a sharp increase in
addiction to any psychoactive substance, including alcohol, has enacted laws designed to regulate
or suppress its use. (The debauch produced by the sudden arrival of gin in eighteenth-century
England led to debates not very different from the ones we are having today about cocaine.) Great
Britain once allowed physicians to prescribe opiates for addicts. The system worked reasonably
well so long as the addicts were middle-class people who had come by their dependence as a
consequence of having received painkillers in hospitals But as soon as oblivion-seeking youth
became heroin addicts, Britain ended the prescription system, replacing it at first with a system of
controlled dispensation from government clinics and then with a system of substituting methadone
for heroin coupled with the stringent enforcement of the laws against the latter.
13. Even if we were to decide that the government had no responsibility for character formation
and should only regulate behavior that hurt other people, we would still have to decide what to do
about drug-dependent people because such dependency does in fact hurt other people: a heroin
136
addict dreamily enjoying his euphoria, a crack smoker looking for that next high, a cocaine sorter
eager for relief from his depression - these users are not likely to be healthy people, productive
workers, good parents, reliable neighbors, attentive students, or safe drivers. Moreover, some
people are directly harmed by drugs that they have not freely chosen to use. The babies of drugdependent women suffer because of their mothers' habits. We all pay for drug abuse in lowered
productivity, more accidents, higher insurance premiums, bigger welfare costs, and less effective
classrooms.
QUESTIONS
5. What moral reason might society use to dissuade drug use?
___________________________________________________________
[8 pts]
6. (7) State ONE reason taken from paragraphs 10-11 in support of and ONE reason
objecting to the legalizing of drugs.
Support
Objection
a. ____________________________
b. ________________________
____________________________
_________________________
[8 pts]
14.
The question is whether the costs of drug use are likely to be higher when the
drug is illegal or when it is legal. In both cases, society must pay the bill. When the
drug is illegal, the bill consists of the law enforcement costs (crime, corruption, extensive and
intrusive policing), the welfare costs (poorer health, lost wages, higher unemployment benefits,
more aid to families with dependent children, and various treatment and prevention programs), and
the moral costs (debased and degraded people). When the drug is legal, the bill will consist
primarily of the welfare costs and the moral costs. Which bill will be higher?
15. The answer chiefly depends on how many people will use the drug under the two scenarios.
We have a rough idea of how many people regularly use heroin and cocaine under the present
illegal scenario. How many will regularly use it under the legal scenario?
16. No one knows for certain, but it will almost surely be many more people than now use it. The
free-market price of cocaine is probably no more than 5% of its present black-market price The
consumption of a widely desired, pleasure-inducing substance will, without question, increase
dramatically if the price is cut by 95% (Kaplan & Moore. 1988). But suppose that the government
levies taxes on the legal cocaine, either to raise revenue, discourage use, or both. The higher the
government sets the tax on, and thus the price of, the drug, the less will be consumed, but the
greater the incentive the drug user will have to steal (in order to pay the high price) or to
manufacture the drug illegally (in order to undercut the government price). Either way, high taxes
gel us right back where we started. There is no such thing as an optimal price of cocaine because
there is no such thing as an optimal mix of two radically opposed goals - to reduce drug use and to
prevent drug-related crime.
17. Moreover, the true price of the drug is the monetary price plus the difficulty and inconvenience
of the search for it and the risk associated with consuming a product of unknown quality. Though
drugs are sold openly on the streets of some communities, for most people - especially for novice,
middle-class users - they are hard to find and are often found only in unattractive and threatening
surroundings. Legalizing the drugs, even if the price is not cut, will make the drug more attractive by
reducing the costs of searching for the product, negotiating a transaction, and running the risk of
137
ingesting a dangerous substance. The combined effect of lowered market prices and lowered
transactions costs will be very great.
18.
Just how great cannot be known without trying it. And one cannot try it
experimentally, for there is no way of running a meaningful experiment. The increase in drug use
that would occur if people in one neighborhood or patients at one clinic were allowed to buy the
drug at its market cost can give us no reliable information on how many people would use it if the
drug were generally available in all neighborhoods and at any clinic.
QUESTIONS
7. (9) Which 3 “costs” is the writer referring to in his question in paragraph 14?
___________________________________________________________
[9 pts]
8. (6) What is the dilemma posed by paragraphs 14 and 15?
Complete the sentence:
Since we don’t know _____________________________, society can’t decide
_______________________________________________________.
[8 pts]
9. (10) How can the “true price” of a drug be determined?
a. ___________________________________________
b. ___________________________________________
c. ___________________________________________
[9 pts]
19. The experience of other countries confirms that ease of availability is associated with large
increases in use. When Great Britain allowed private physicians to prescribe heroin and young
people began to avail themselves of this source, the number of known addicts (many more than
were known to the authorities) increased thirty fold during a 15 year period. It was because of this
increase that the British government changed the law. After a brief period in the 1970s when the
number of known heroin addicts stabilized, a new storm broke. Between 1980 and 1985, the
number of newly notified heroin addicts increased fivefold. Geoffrey Pearson (1990) estimates that
by the mid-1980s Great Britain had some 15,000 registered drug addicts and probably ten times as
many unregistered ones; this in a country whose "system" some people once thought should be a
model for the United States. The increased availability of heroin in Europe, a continent once
generally free of addicts, has been followed by a sharp increase in the number of addicts.
20.
Even if legalization increases the number of addicts, would it not dramatically
decrease the number of crimes committed by addicts? Not necessarily. No doubt the average
number of crimes per addict will fail (few people would have to steal in order to buy drugs at market
prices), but the increase in the number of addicts would mean an increase in the number of people
leading such deviant lifestyles that occasional crime might be their only (or their preferred) means of
support. Thus the total number of crimes committed by drug users might not fall at all.
138
21. Because we cannot know what our level of drug use would be under a legalized regime (though
we can be certain it would be much higher than today) and because people disagree about many of
the costs - especially the moral costs- of drug use, the debate over legalization will never be
resolved. However, being aware of these issues will help people focus the debate on the right
question. That question is this: how can we minimize the sum of the law-enforcement, moral, and
welfare costs of drug use? If we want drugs to be illegal, it is because we believe that the very high
law-enforcement costs will be offset by lower moral and welfare costs. If we want drugs to be legal, it
is because we believe that the higher moral and welfare costs will be offset by the lower lawenforcement costs. In making this choice, we are making an estimate of how large the drug-using
population will be in each case, and we are assigning a value to the tangible but moral costs.
QUESTIONS
10 (11) According to the experience of Great Britain in issuing prescriptions for heroin,
what general conclusion has the writer reached?
Complete the following sentence:
The easier ________________________________________, the more _______
__________________________________________.
[8 pts]
11. (12) a. Which assumption does the writer reject in paragraph 20?
By legalizing drugs, we _________________________________________
b. How does he arrive at this conclusion?
_____________________________________________________________
[8 pts]
12. Which two factors prevent settling the debate about whether to legalize drugs
or not?
a. ________________________________________________________
b. __________________________________________________________
[8 pts]
13. What is the writer’s purpose in this article?
a. to support legalization of drugs
b. to support law enforcement prohibiting drug use
c. to inform the reader of different positions within one society on
the drug use issue
d. to criticize the government’s handling of the drug problem in
society
[7 pts]
139
Mob Rule
Adapted from an article by JOHN GRAVOIS
2070
The Chronicle of Higher Education Apr 14, 2006
1
When songbirds perceive some sign of danger -- a roosting owl, a hawk, a neighborhood cat
-- a group of them will often do something bizarre: fly toward the threat. When they reach the
enemy, they will swoop down on it again and again, jeering and making a racket, which draws still
more birds to the assault. The birds seldom actually touch their target (though reports from the field
have it that some species can defecate or vomit on the predator with "amazing accuracy"). The
barrage simply continues until the intruder sulks away. Scientists call this behavior "mobbing."
2
Birds mob for a couple of reasons. One of them is educational: Youngsters learn whom to
mob, and whom to fear, by watching others do it. But the more immediate purpose of mobbing is to
drive the predator away -- or, in the words of the eminent Austrian ethologist Konrad Lorenz, to
make "the enemy's life a burden."
3
Mr. Kenneth Westhues has made a career out of the study of mobbing. Since the late
1990s, he has written or edited five volumes on the topic. However, the mobbers that most
captivate him are not sparrows, fieldfares, or jackdaws. They are modern-day college professors.
Social Syndrome
4
In the early 1980s, Heinz Leymann, a German psychologist working in Sweden, was
conducting clinical studies of workers who had encountered violence on the job. At the time, plenty
of research had already been done on the "mental insufficiency" experienced by soldiers after
wartime and the survivors of major industrial disasters. So Leymann set out to study some of the
less obvious cases of post-traumatic stress. He carried out longitudinal studies of Stockholm
subway drivers who had accidentally run over people with their trains. He studied the psychological
effects of robberies on bank tellers. But he stumbled upon an even less obvious group that showed
the most surprisingly acute measures of stress. These were people whose colleagues had ganged
up on them at work.
5
Inspired by Lorenz's writings on animal mobbing, Leymann coined the term "workplace
mobbing" to name the phenomenon. He defined it as "an impassioned, collective campaign by coworkers to exclude, punish, and humiliate a targeted worker."
6
Leymann drew up a list of 45 mobbing indicators. It amounted to an impressive catalog of
bureaucratic nastiness: "You are interrupted constantly"; "you are isolated in a room far from
others"; "management gives you no possibility to communicate"; "you are given meaningless work
tasks"; "you are given dangerous work tasks"; "you are treated as if you are mentally ill."
7
Though Leymann is relatively unknown in North America, his research on mobbing has
been remarkably influential in Europe. “Das mobbing” is a household term in Germany. France has
even passed anti- mobbing laws.
140
1. According to the introduction, who are the subjects of Kenneth
Westhues’ studies on “mobbing”?
________________________. (Two words)
8 PTS
2. What is the definition of mobbing in the workplace according to
Leymann?
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
8 PTS
141
8
In the thousands of mobbing case studies that Leymann carried out, universities were
among the most highly represented workplaces. Mr. Westhues, a sociologist at the University of
Waterloo, is not surprised. In his view, mobbing is a pathological undercurrent of irrationality in
bureaucracies.
9
According to Mr. Westhues, mobbing occurs most in institutions where workers have high
job security, where there are few objective measures of performance, and where there is frequent
tension between loyalty to the institution and loyalty to some higher purpose. Tenure is supposed to
protect scholars from outside control, but it does a poor job of protecting them from one another,
Mr. Westhues says.
10
In the hothouse of a department, disputes can easily cascade from individual disagreement
and disapproval to widespread revulsion to a concerted effort to get a colleague removed. "Mobbing
is a turning inward," he says. "People lose a sense of purpose and they're at one another's throats."
11
The purpose of a university, Mr. Westhues contends, is to maintain a spirit of openness,
independence of mind, and civil debate. When a mobbing occurs, that spirit of openness gets
strangled by group-think, bent on someone's elimination.
12
Calling some departmental mess a mobbing does not imply that the victim is wholly
innocent, Mr. Westhues says. But it does imply that the campaign against the target has probably
been based on fuzzy and unspecific charges, that it has proceeded with a degree of secrecy, that
its timing has been hasty, that its rhetoric has been overheated and overwrought, and that it has
been backed by an eerie unanimity.
3. What is a weakness in the concept of “tenure”?
Although it may insure your employment,____________________________
8 pts
142
4. How does mobbing contradict the goal of a university?
Complete the following sentence with only ONE word in each space:
Rather than encourage __________________mobbing leads to____________
8 PTS
5. According to paragraph 12, what is Westhues’ opinion of mobbing
procedures?
POSITIVE / NEGATIVE CIRCLE THE CORRECT ANSWER
Give two reasons to support your answer.
a. ________________________________________________________
b. _______________________________________________________
10 PTS
13
"One of the most painful experiences in my life," Mr. Westhues says, "has been to go to
dismissal hearings where everybody is sitting around a table as if they were embodiments of pure
reason." What's really going on in many of those settings, he thinks, is just brutish behavior ratified
by procedure.
14
"What we've got to do is cultivate an academic culture that is aware of the tendencies in us,
of the herd instincts inside of us," he says. "We have a tendency, especially us pompous
academics, to think we're above all that."
Panorama of Targets
15
Mr. Westhues conducts his research on mobbing mainly by doing case studies -- by
studying official documentation of disputes and by interviewing people. By now, he has conducted
just under 150 full case studies, but he is contacted all the time by people who believe they have
been mobbed. The view he has acquired of higher education is a panorama of the academic down
and out.
16
It includes a professor from South Asia working in Texas who, after years of getting sniped
at by his colleagues, was eventually drummed out of his position for careless accounting and
unauthorized use of a photocopier. It includes a German-accented professor who so unnerved
fellow faculty members that during a tirade against her one of them actually had a seizure. (She
was soon after served with a petition demanding her physical removal from the department for
charges of "creating a hostile work environment" and "unethical behavior.")
143
6 . What faults does Westhues find in judgments for dismissal?
a. ____________________________________________________
b. _____________________________________________________
10 PTS
7. Westhaus’ studies point to higher education as “the academic down and
out”. Give an example which supports his opinion. (Be concise in your
presentation.)
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
8 PTS
144
17
His view includes a brassy New Yorker working in the Midwest who urged her department to
hire a consulting psychologist to help resolve years of infighting, only to have the psychologist
report that most of her colleagues blamed her for all the trouble. And every now and then, the
panorama includes someone whose story about being mobbed fades into an account of life in a
mental institution.
18
A few times a year, Mr. Westhues embarks on research trips to campuses where he has
gotten wind of a mobbing. He sometimes combines his research missions with lectures or panels
on mobbing, to bring the idea out into the open.
Pattern Recognition
19
Like the weather, conflict in a well-functioning academic department comes and goes.
"People's stock rises and falls over time," Mr. Westhues says. "The different factions in
departmental politics rearrange themselves over time. That's healthy."
20
A mobbing, however, is like a tornado spun off from a spring rainstorm -- a fervent collective
assault that escalates from an ordinary conflict. "What happens in a mobbing is that everybody
gets lined up on one side," he says, "with one or a few targets on the other side who are demonized
as being beyond the pale."
21
Though no two mobbings are alike, Mr. Westhues often describes a kind of stereotypical
pattern for the escalation from storm to full- bore twister. The first stage of a mobbing, as he
outlines it, is a period of increasing social isolation. At this point, if you are the target, you might get
left off certain guest lists. You get the sense that more people dislike you than you once thought.
The next stage is one of petty harassment. Your administrative requests are repeatedly delayed or
misplaced. Your parking space is moved to the outer reaches of the lot. Your classes or meetings
get scheduled at odd times.
22
Then matters come to a head -- to a "critical incident," as Mr. Westhues calls the third stage.
You are accused of making racially or sexually insensitive remarks. A minor charge of plagiarism
surfaces against you. A surprise audit shows you have been careless with expense reports. You
have an angry outburst in class (perhaps catalyzed by your long walk across the parking lot, your
misplaced request, the insanely early/late time of day). A rumor of some impropriety with a student
gets traction. In the eyes of your colleagues, this "critical incident" demands swift administrative
action -- and many of them may sign a petition saying so. They may say that the incident confirms
what they have always suspected about you. What's more, it makes them wonder aloud what you're
really capable of.
23
The next stage is one of adjudication. At this point, the mobbing escalates to the
administrative level, where it is either legitimized or stopped short. You may be brought before an
ethics tribunal, an ad hoc disciplinary committee, or one of academe's myriad other quasi-judicial
bodies. An outside arbitrator may be brought in. Months pass. A decision is handed down.
145
24
And then, Mr. Westhues says, chances are, you leave. Whether you win or lose the
proceeding, whether you are dismissed or fully reinstated, whether it is due to exhaustion, disgust,
illness, or (God forbid) suicide, you cut your losses and get out.
8. According to the section “Pattern Recognition”, what are the stages of
a mobbing?
i. _____________________________________________________
ii. _____________________________________________________
iii _____________________________________________________
iv._____________________________________________________
8 PTS
146
Who Gets Mobbed?
25
Essentially, Mr. Westhues says, anything that can be a basis for bickering can be a basis for
mobbing: race, sex, political difference, cultural difference, and intellectual style. Professors with
foreign accents, he says, often get mobbed, as do professors who frequently file grievances and
"make noise." But perhaps the most common single trait of mobbing targets, he says, is that they
excel.
26
"To calculate the odds of your being mobbed," Mr. Westhues writes in his most
comprehensive book on mobbing, The Envy of Excellence: Administrative Mobbing of HighAchieving Professors, "count the ways you show your workmates up: fame, publications, teaching
scores, connections, eloquence, wit, writing skills, athletic ability, computer skills, salary, family
money, age, class, pedigree, looks, house, clothes, spouse, children, sex appeal. Any one of these
9. What is the answer to the question of the section “Who Gets Mobbed?”
The dominant characteristic of mobbed professors is____________________
8 pts
will do."
Mobbing the Mobbers
27
Leveling the charge of mobbing can be a quick and easy way to seize the moral high ground
in a dispute. Mr. Westhues does largely agree with this argument. "There's a tendency for anybody
who wants some leverage in campus politics to say, “You know, I'm being mobbed," he says, "and
the whole thing becomes quite meaningless." This is one reason why Mr. Westhues, unlike many
mobbing researchers, is dead set against anti-mobbing legislation.
28
At his lecture on mobbing in Carbondale, Mr. Westhues told an audience of about 50 people
that, in fact, his best hope for his work on mobbing is that it might have an impact on administrators.
Professors seeking to eliminate one of their colleagues cannot get very far without the backing of
the administration, he said. And in cases where many professors are pitted against one,
administrators' first instinct will often be to side with the majority.
29
But because mobbers tend to be so impassioned and sloppy in their reasoning, Mr.
Westhues argued, administrators who side with them may suffer for it later. Mr. Westhues's
research provides numerous examples of mobbing victims who have walked away with fat court
settlements, and of administrators who have walked away without their jobs. "Administrators need
to know that it's in their interests to prevent this," Mr. Westhues said. "They take a big risk when
they encourage the mobbing of a professor."
30
He said that universities should wean themselves of the quasi-judicial bodies, like ethics
committees, that, in his opinion, simply dignify pettiness and give professors a chance to have
power over one another. At his own university, he said, after having been the subject of several
ethics committee proceedings himself (of course, he has what he considers to be his own history
147
with mobbing), he worked to persuade the Board of Governors to abolish the committee. He argued
that an ethics committee "lets people play judge" and "brings out the worst in good people." His
arguments succeeded. "If you ask me," Mr. Westhues told the audience in Carbondale, "we've been
more ethical without the ethics committee."
31
Beyond that, Mr. Westhues said, administrators also have more power to halt a mobbing in
its tracks. "You know what stops mobbings?" he asked. "Somebody saying, 'Cut it out. Enough of
this!'"
10. Does Westhues approve of ethics committees?
YES / NO
CIRCLE THE CORRECT ANSWER
Quote a sentence to support your answer.
_______________________________________________________
9 PTS
11. What is the purpose of Westhues work? (Circle one)
a.
To compare birds to academic culture
b.
To raise administrators’ awareness of mobbing
c.
To know more about mobbing in bureaucracies
d.
To show that stopping mobbing can be easy
8 PTS
148
Avoiding War over Natural Resources
1750
"Water is a major livelihood issue for poor communities; it is a major strategic issue
for poor political economies." [1]
by Tony Allan
1-11-1998
Extract from FORUM: Water and war
International Committee of the Red Cross
VOCABULARY EXERCISES
V.
Translate the following words using your knowledge of word formation:
13. renewable (introduction) ____________________
14. usable (abstract) ____________________
15. understandable (abstract) ___________________
16. bilateral (abstract) ______________________
17. multilateral (abstract) _____________________
18. invariably (paragraph 1) _____________________
19. unilaterally (paragraph 6) _____________________
20. sustainable (paragraph 8) _____________________
21. enable (paragraph 8) _____________________
22. interdependent (paragraph 13) _____________________
23. indigestible (paragraph 13) ___________________
24. unsensational (paragraph 13) ____________________
VI.
Study the meanings of the following words:
19. prone to (abstract) _________________
20. dispute (abstract) __________________
21. perceive (abstract) _________________
22. negotiate (paragraph 1) _________________
23. bargaining (paragraph 1) _________________
24. transgression (paragraph 2) _________________
25. sovereignty (paragraph 2) _________________
26. confirmation (paragraph ) _________________
27. surplus (paragraph 4) _________________
28. diverse (paragraph 9) _________________
29. commodities (paragraph 10) _________________
30. impact (paragraph 10) _________________
31. substantial (paragraph 10) _________________
32. deficit (paragraph 10) _________________
149
©
2007
33. dimension (paragraph 11) _________________
34. volume (paragraph 12) _________________
35. notion (paragraph 13) _________________
36. prosper (paragraph 13) _________________
The author, Tony Allan received his doctorate from the University of London in 1971. He specializes
in the renewable natural resources of arid regions and especially water in the Middle East. He has written and
edited a number of publications on the subject and advises governments and international agencies on water
issues.
ABSTRACT
It is a universally held belief that surface water that crosses boundaries is prone to
dispute. In the arid Middle East and North Africa, where water symbolizes communal
security, the tendency is for water to be perceived as a prime factor in determining the
course of regional international relations. Since about 90% of the usable water in the
region crosses one or more international borders, such an assumption is
understandable. Tony Allan shows that, while water is important in international
relations, its role in bilateral and multilateral international relations is complex and never
determining, because water issues are always linked with other factors.
4. When nations negotiate, often the toughest bargaining is not between nations but within them.
The reason is simple: international agreements, no matter how much in the national "interest",
inevitably have differential effects on the factional concerns. Experienced negotiators almost
invariably insist that the more difficult part of their job consists not in dealing with the adversary
across the table but in handling interest groups, bureaucrats and politicians at home.
5. Individuals and communities can pick a fight over any issue, including tangibles like territory and
resources -- water among them. Disputes can also arise over what can be described as
transgressions of national honor. The seizure, or attempted seizure, of territory or resources by one
country from another occurs when power relations enable an acquisitive initiative to be first
considered, then judged feasible and subsequently attempted. In 1990 just such a cycle culminated
in armed conflict when Iraq occupied Kuwait in pursuit not of water but of oil. Sovereignty over oil
resources is only rarely ambiguous. Only a tiny proportion of crude oil reservoirs are located directly
beneath international borders. Kuwait's excessive pumping of the oilfield beneath the Iraq-Kuwait
border was in this case cited as the reason for the invasion. In fact, the pumping of oil from a
particular oilfield was much less important than the perceived irresponsibility of Kuwait in pumping
and exporting oil at a rate, which had the effect of softening the international price for producers
with substantially greater needs for oil revenues than Kuwait. Iraq's economic security was severely
affected by global oil prices.
6. Nations will go to war over natural resources. Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, the reactions of its
neighbors and especially the responses of the United States and the other industrialized economies
were historic in their confirmation of this contention. The response of the OECD economies was
swift, so threatened were their interests. They deployed their military might, or gave it their financial
support, when there was a threat to the secure flow of cheap Middle East oil. The Iraqi invasion
signaled either unacceptable regional instability or Iraq's equally unacceptable regional hegemony
over the world's major oil reserves. The intervention was effective in terms of ejecting Iraq from
Kuwait and ending its attempt to control the Gulf crude oil trade.
QUESTIONS
11. `CIRCLE THE CORRECT ANSWER:
According to the author, the most difficult aspect of bargaining policies is
150
dealing with (intrastate / interstate) issues when nations negotiate.
Quote a sentence to support your answer.
__________________________________________________________________
5+5 pts
12. In addition to tangibles such as territory and resources, what can lead to
arguments between individuals and communities?
_____________________________________________________________
9 pts
Water As An Issue
8. In the Middle East and North Africa, water is of obvious importance to the individual economies
of the region. However, it is of little significance on a global scale. It is not a surplus resource to be
traded. It can be used in agricultural production to produce commodities which can be exported, but
the comparative agricultural advantage of the region is no greater than many others, not least those
on the neighboring northern shore of the Mediterranean. Using water in industrial- and servicesector activities is an option - and one shown by Israel to have immense potential - but, again, it is
not one that gives the region any intrinsic economic advantage. Water certainly does not attract the
interest of the global community - especially not of the Northern economies, along with their
transnational corporations - in the way that oil does. For these global players, water in the Middle
East and North Africa is only interesting strategically insofar as disputes over scarce water would be
an additional source of political instability in a region already worryingly destabilized by Arab-Israeli,
Arab-Iranian and religious-secular conflicts.
Transboundary Water
9. Water and oil are significantly different in another important way. There is little transboundary
oil, but transboundary water forms the majority of water in a region, which has little soil water.
Sovereignty over oil resources is easily established, albeit through the rather recent acceptance by
the Middle Eastern leaderships of the operational but troublesome nation state system, if not
universally by the peoples of the region. It is commonplace for very large volumes of water to cross
international borders. Over 90% of the conventionally calculated water resources of the region
cross international borders as surface flows. If soil water is taken into account, the figure is still very
high - over 60% - and would be very much higher was Turkey to be left out of the regional
calculation. For the Egyptian economy, transboundary water is over 95% of its water budget.
Sovereignty over water is not determined by customary or formal international laws, notwithstanding
the May 1997 United Nations Convention on transboundary watercourses of the International Law
Commission.
10. The nightmare of the downstream riparian is that a neighbor upstream will unilaterally exert
sovereignty over the flow by increasing its own consumption. Egypt is very anxious in this regard,
although it has not suffered any diminution of flow except that which it agreed with its immediate
neighbor, the Sudan, in the 1959 Nile Waters Agreement. Syria and Iraq have actually endured a
dramatic reduction of almost 50% in the average flow of the Euphrates since the 1970s. They are
anticipating additional reductions in the flow of the Tigris. Israel, a downstream groundwater entity,
signals an uncompromising stance on its continued supervision of the shared groundwater flows
from the limestone massif of the West Bank which it has been exploiting heavily since the 1950s.
QUESTIONS
151
13. List two distinct ways in which water is different from oil as a resource in the
Middle East and North Africa:
a.____________________________________________________
b._________________________________________________________
8 pts
14. Why does Egypt show signs of anxiety?
A possibility exists that_________________________________________
9 pts
11. Difficulties of defining sovereignty over surface water flows make international relations over the
region's water resources very difficult to analyze. The ownership of a water resource enables water
markets to be developed. To date, such markets only exist for domestic use and particularly for
drinking water. Such trade usually involves the lifting of water from a groundwater resource of
recognized quality for human use for which the water rights are individual and recognized. An
individual or company signifies its "ownership" of the resource by charging a price for the water.
Sometimes the supply is a communal surface flow, a river, for which the water provider makes no
payment. The identification of sovereignty over water would massively improve the chances for
stable and secure international relations over transboundary waters.
8. Agreements over water are beginning to be made (see Jordan-Israel Agreement of 1994 [6] and the
PLO-Israel Interim Agreement of 1995 [7]). These agreements, though not the same as defining
sovereignty over water, and certainly not "principled agreements" based on legal principles, nevertheless
provide a sufficiently precise arrangement for naturally fluctuating water resources to be allocated and
managed within separate territories to satisfy national honor and to enable the secure and sustainable
growth of the respective economies. Operational arrangements for allocating water during periods of
fluctuating availability are particularly important in providing the stable political economic circumstances
for sustainable socio-economic development.
QUESTIONS
15. What would be the advantage of a nation establishing sovereignty over surface
water?
______________________________________________________________
9 pts
16. Why have the Middle East water agreements been mentioned?
Complete the following sentences:
On the one hand, these agreements do not___________________________
_____________________________________________________________.
On the other hand, the countries involved maintain their_________________
_____________________________________________________________
10 pts
152
9. Since it is impossible precisely to define sovereignty over water, untidy and occasionally stressful
water politics in the Middle East and North Africa are inevitable. They will remain untidy until all the
economies of the region have achieved advanced levels of socio-economic development. In such diverse
economies water resources are one of many minor factors of production rather than the determining
major economic input. When water is a major factor of production in the economy, such as in agriculture,
its role in the livelihoods of a majority is palpable and the significance of such water in terms of
international relations makes water scarcity an easy focus for national and communal anxiety. In this
region water is insufficient to meet regional food production needs, although the region is well enough
endowed to provide water for industrial and domestic needs. Such a resource deficit can be politically
stressful if it is detected by users through an evident reduction in availability.
Global Demand For Virtual Water
10. Understanding the factors affecting global demand for virtual water is the crucial issue for waterdeficit economies. This global dimension of Middle Eastern and North African international relations is not
given a high priority in policy-making agendas across the region.
11. Virtual water is the very substantial volume of water embedded in water-intensive commodities such
as grain. About 1,000 tonnes of water are required to produce a tonne of wheat. When an economy
imports a tonne of wheat it is in effect importing 1,000 tonnes of water. The Middle East and North Africa
region was importing annually about 40 million tonnes of grain and flour by the end of the 1990s. About
40 billion tonnes of water would be required to produce this volume of grain. Such a volume reflects
about 20% of the region's annual water use and is equivalent to the water used each year by Egypt in its
agricultural sector. Engineers could not contemplate moving so much water, but those involved in the
international grain trade take the challenge in their stride. There is a very clear "nexus" involving "water,
food and trade" which is of major strategic significance to grain-importing economies in arid and semi-arid
regions. Virtual water has, since the early 1970s, ensured the economic stability of this major arid region
in the world. Future economic stability here will depend on its capacity to sustain the trade in virtual
water.
QUESTIONS
17. What is the relationship between the role of water in a country’s economic
development and its relations with other countries?
Complete the following sentence:
A decrease in water sources provides ______________________________
__________________________________________________________
8 pts
8 a. Give an example of a “water-intensive commodity”
_______________________________
b. What is virtual water?
5+5 pts
12. The international trade in water-intensive imported commodities is so effective that the 300 million
people living IN THE Middle East and \North Africa do not register the impact of the substantial water
153
deficit. It is not a political issue at the domestic level or the international level, except where governments
choose to make it one. With political stress over water being so easily managed at the level of the whole
economy, it should not be surprising that there has been so little armed conflict over water. More
importantly, there has been none since the early 1960s. The region has been free of armed conflict over
water for more than three decades. There is no evidence that the next half-century will be any different.
The only factors that could in future impede the economic solutions, which would enable water deficits to
be ameliorated, are external to the region.
A Dangerous Optimism
13. It is a paradox that the water pessimists are wrong but their pessimism is a very useful political
tool, which can help the innovator to shift the eternally interdependent belief systems of the public
and their politicians. The water optimists are right but their optimism is dangerous because the
notion enables politicians to treat water as a low policy priority, delay innovation and thereby please
those who perceive that they are prospering under the old order. Pessimists also bring more
sensational stories to the media. Optimists bring a version of unsensational good news. The good
news is complicated and indigestible as well as unsensational.
QUESTIONS
9. Why doesn’t the population of the Middle East and North Africa complain
about the water deficit?
Complete the sentence:
10.
Because ___________________________________________________
9 pts
Why does the author fear the enthusiasm of water optimists?
______________________________________________________________
9 pts
11.
What is the author’s purpose in the text?
a. to warn policy makers that water scarcity can lead to war
b. to compare water and oil resources in the Middle East
c. to discuss water as a bargaining tool between nations
d. to present the variety of roles of water in international relations
9 pt
VOCABULARY EXERCISES – CONTINUED
VII.
Use the list at the beginning of the text to complete the following
sentences.
You may need to change the form of the word:
11. Multicultural countries are characterized by ethnically ______________ populations.
12. Early childhood years have a tremendous _______________ on the character formation of
an individual.
13. A _________________ percentage of academic materials is written in English.
154
14. When Harry Potter entered Snape’s office he saw plenty of bottles of all sizes holding
different ________________ of colorful liquid.
15. The news reporter announced that the water ________________ in Israel may lead to
draining of the agricultural territories.
16. Contrary to the popular ________________ that dolphins are friendly and sociable
creatures, a recent study discloses their potential for cruelty even towards their young.
17. He is __________________ lose his temper when people disagree with him.
18. The __________________ between the teachers and the government have had little
success so far.
19. What do you __________________ as the most important characteristic of a manager?
20. Children __________________ if they are given an opportunity to develop their special
talents.
VIII.
Translate the following sequences as they are used in the text:
6. the conventionally calculated water resources (paragraph 5)
_________________________________________________
7. surface water flows (paragraph 7) ________________________________
8. water-intensive imported commodities (paragraph 10)
_____________________________________
9. water-deficit economies (paragraph 11) ___________________________
10. policy-making agendas (paragraph 11) ____________________________
155
Bicultural Competence: A Means to Crime Reduction among the
Children of Immigrants?
Caitlin Killian, Emory University
3200
Introduction
1.
Public sentiment against immigrants and immigration ebbs and flows. During certain periods
of time over the past century, immigrants have been blamed for corrupting morals, stealing jobs,
and raising the crime rate; at other times, they have been largely forgotten and invisible. In the
I980s and 1990s immigration is once again a popular topic, and one of the perennial questions that
has resurfaced is: what is the relationship between immigrants and crime? While much research
reveals that most immigrant groups actually commit less crime than the native population, the more
worrisome finding is that their children are more criminal. I will discuss this finding and examine
solutions for preventing crime among the children of immigrants. Specifically, I propose that cultural
socialization and bicultural competence may insulate the second generation from engaging in illegal
acts. Finally, I will suggest future directions for work on immigration and crime.
Findings on immigrant crime
2. Overall, with some clear exceptions, the findings suggest that immigrants commit less crime
than do members of the native population, but that the second generation commits more crime than
natives. Canadian studies from the 1950s to the I990s reveal that immigrants are half as likely to be
criminals as are natives (Yaeger 1997). The statistics are similar in Australia where immigrants from
New Zealand, Germany, and Yugoslavia are only slightly more likely to commit crime than natives,
and Asians are much less likely to engage in crime (Yaeger 1997). In the United States the pattern
holds, although there is little research that is not more than 25 years old (Yaeger 1997). Most
modem British studies conclude that neither Asians nor blacks of foreign origin are more crimeprone than natives (Yaeger 1997), although the findings for black immigrants are contradicted by
other studies (Smith 1997). In Switzerland, Italians are less likely to commit crimes than native
Swiss, and in Germany, although immigrant crime is on the rise, it is still less than the rate for native
German males (Yaeger 1997). Terlouw and Bruinsma (1994) found that Dutch natives are the most
frequent drug offenders overall in the Netherlands, committing more crime than even illegal North
African and Eastern European immigrants.
3. Those immigrant groups that do commit more crime than the native population may include
West Indians in Great Britain, and do include Moroccans and Antilleans in the Netherlands, and
Hispanics in the United States (Tonry 1997). Another study found that in 1991, Latin Americans and
Caribbean immigrants had higher crime rates, 14 and 18 per 10,000 population, respectively, than
the general population in Canada where the rate for native-born Canadians was 10.6 and for the
foreign born in general 5.5 per 10,000 population (Thomas 1993). The New York State Department
of Correctional Services reported that in 1994, 13 percent of their prison population was foreignborn, but that 80 percent of the incarcerated immigrant population was comprised of Caribbeans
and South Americans (New York State Dept. of Correctional Services 1995). Other groups, such as
Asians, commit substantially less crime (Batta, Mawby and McCulloch 1981), although those Asians
that migrated as ‘boat people’ engage in more crime than earlier waves pointing to structural rather
than cultural reasons for illegal activity.
4.
Not surprisingly, the data on different rates of offending by immigrant group caries over into
the rate of offending for the second generation, such that some groups reach parity with natives,
some surpass them, and others never reach native levels (Yaeger 1997). But the second
generation is clearly more criminal than the first, especially in terms of property crimes (Yaeger
156
1997; Tonry 1997). In Tonry’s (1997) cross-national comparison of nine ~~stern countries, only in
Sweden, where immigrants are more criminal than the general population, were immigrants found
to be more crime-prone than their children (Martens 1997). Thus the findings on immigration and
crime point to two consistent factors: children of immigrants commit more crime than their parents
and different immigrant groups engage in crime at different rates. Why are the children of
immigrants more criminal than their parents, and how can this be prevented?
Prevention of crime among members of the second generation
Crime theories
5. Various crime theories can help us understand why children of immigrants are more criminal
than their parents. Cultural theories would argue that members of the second generation assimilate
and in the process both lose the cultural values that prevented crime among their parents and gain
values that predispose members of the new culture to crime. The specific values would depend on
the group of origin and the country of destination, and thus could explain the different findings for
various groups in different countries. At the micro level, social learning theorists would argue that
children learn deviance from deviant peers who model and reinforce deviant behavior. Strain and
anomie theorists would predict that members of the second generation caught between different
value systems may experience conflicting values. They may feel alienated from their parents whom
they view as backward and ignorant, yet they may not yet be fully accepted by peers in the new
country. Hence, unlike their parents who feel comfortably tied to the ethnic community, they may
experience a general state of anomie leading to higher crime rates. In a similar vein, social control
theorists would argue that children of immigrants may be breaking away from their co-ethnic groups
and thus becoming unattached, while at the same time experiencing the discrimination that makes it
difficult to integrate into the larger culture. Unable to become invested in conventional activities they
lose control and turn to crime.
6. On the structural side, social disorganization theorists would argue that while their parents grew
up under different circumstances, many children of immigrants are growing up in socially
disorganized neighborhoods where economic deprivation, heterogeneity of the population, continual
resident turnover, and size and density of the community are all problems. These factors make
supervision of youth, surveillance of activities and property, and neighborhood organization and
involvement difficult. While the parents may wish to move to a better neighborhood as soon as is
economically feasible, the poorly monitored children maybe establishing ties to peer groups that are
unsupervised and possibly delinquent.
7. Although there are many reasons to believe that immigrants should be strained, there are also
reasons to believe that their children should be as strained in certain areas and more so in others.
The second generation, at least while growing up, will suffer from the same economic situation as
their parents. However, their parents may compare their present situation to that in the country of
origin and thus feel better off, while the children will compare to peers in the new country instead.
Children of non-white immigrants will experience the same discrimination as their parents, perhaps
more so as they move beyond the ethnic enclaves that might help insulate their parents. Finally,
while the immigrants are adjusting to life in the new country, their children are trying to forge an
identity and reconcile ancestral traditions with new values. All of these examples highlight the strain
that might overburden members of the second generation who then release their frustration through
crime.
8. Finally, theorists from diverse perspectives argue that both cultural and the structural dynamics
of the United States make it an especially violent society (Hill et al., 1994; Messner and Rosenfeld
1994). Since most immigrants move to countries where they both hope to do better economically
and encounter cultural conflicts, it is no wonder that as immigrant children assimilate into
mainstream culture in most popular countries for immigration they become increasingly crimeprone.
157
QUESTIONS
1/ 2. List types of theories explaining why children of immigrants are more
criminal than their parents.
i.___________________________________________________________________
ii.___________________________________________________________________.
iii.___________________________________________________________________
iv.__________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Ties to ethnic communities
9. Given this, how can we prevent crime in the second generation? The answer I propose
combines elements of social control and cultural theories with findings in other domains of research
on the children of immigrants. As early as the I960s, researchers found that the delinquency of
children of immigrants is much lower in communities where there is a good deal of inner cohesion,
strong primary-group control of members, and strong home control over youth (reported in Shoham
1962). Fujimoto (1975) explains the lack of crime among second generation Japanese immigrants
by arguing that children are expected to work for the family, and the family’s dependency on them
not only limits the time they have for delinquent acts, but more generally causes them to mature
quickly and be responsible. A recent set of studies of Vietnamese youth in Louisiana (Bankston and
Caldas 1996; Zhou and Bankston 1994) reveals that those adolescents who have weak social
control and replace adult Vietnamese social networks with peer culture are more likely to drop out
of school and to get in trouble with the law. They become attached to a minority fringe rather than
the immigrant community as a whole, and thus have trouble connecting to the larger society. These
youth are labeled as outsiders in their own communities and their subsequent social learning comes
from delinquent peers instead of families and community leaders. All of these studies deal with
social control, yet since they involve immigrants, social control also implies attachment to ethnic
values.
10. Strong ties to the ethnic community may also help children succeed despite disadvantaged
backgrounds (Harrison et al., 1990; Zhou and Bankston 1994). Participation in strong ethnic
communities may indeed foster traditional ethnic values and behaviors, and these networks of
relations with similar others are a valuable social capital asset. In Zhou and Bankston’s (1994)
study they focus specifically on ties to the community as social capital. They found that those
Vietnamese children in an immigrant community who have a strong commitment to traditional
Vietnamese values and are highly involved in the ethnic community do better in school and have
higher academic goals than peers without these characteristics. Because these children are living in
an economically depressed area, and their success in school may translate into higher human
capital, this study points to the ability of high social capital to overcome the effects of a poor family
background (Zhou and Bankston 1994). The study by Bankston and Caldas reported above showed
that the converse is also true: unintegrated Vietnamese youth are at risk for delinquency and crime.
The findings from both these studies support Harrison et al’s (1990) assertion that traditional ethnic
world views and biculturalism may be a beneficial adaptive strategy for minority youth.
______________________________________________________________________________
158
QUESTIONS
2/ 5. What idea do the examples of Japanese and Vietnamese immigrants illustrate?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
3 / 6. What are the benefits of fostering traditional ethnic values?
Circle the correct words:
The stronger/weaker the social control is, the more/less likely the children are
to commit crime.
___________________________________________________________________________
Proactive socialization and bicultural competence
11. Recent research is beginning to show the benefits of bicultural competence. Studies since the
l960s have consistently shown that bilingual children score higher on a variety of intelligence tests
(see Portes and Schauffler 1994). In addition, while it was once believed that immigrant and
minority children, due to acculturative strain and discrimination, experienced childhood and
adolescence uniformly negatively recent works have argued that there is a positive side as well.
Harrison et al (1990) argue that when minority families practice adaptive strategies, such as
teaching their children world views that foster communal attachment and interdependence rather
than an individualist perspective, fostering ethnic pride, and exposing them to extended family
systems, children benefit from biculturalism through enhanced cognitive flexibility and general
coping mechanisms. The term proactive socialization (Boykin and Ellison reported in Hill et al.
1994) refers to the conscious socialization of minority youth to understand the varied expectations
of the multiple cultural systems in which they live. Like Harrison et al., Hill et al. argue that cultural
values can strengthen children and help protect them from racism. It can also help them bond with
appropriate role models within their communities (Hill et a!. 1994). Bowman and Howard (1985,
reported in Hill et al. 1994) found that pro-actively socialized black children were more motivated
and achievement-oriented than their peers. Hill et al. (1994) also state that bicultural competence
should improve not only cognitive functioning, but also general mental health.
______________________________________________________________________________
QUESTIONS
4 / 7. What are 2 positive effects of bicultural competence?
i.___________________________________________________________________
ii.___________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
12. Applied in the context of crime theories, these behaviors should help mitigate second
generational deviance. When ancestral norms discourage deviance and crime, ethnic socialization
should help children avoid illegal behavior. The strain that comes from being a minority member in a
majority culture is also reduced when children feel proud of their ethnicity and are competent in both
cultures so that they can move back and forth with less stress. They may be able to brush off ethnic
or racial slurs, instead of taking them personally and feeling the need for retribution (Hill et al.
1994). The reliance on extended family can ensure social control even when parents are at work, or
close family members have remained in the home country. Hill et al. (1994) specifically state that
159
the absence of proactive socialization may put minority children at an increased risk of violence.
Thus, because of increased flexibility, reduced strain, heightened social control, and better
achievement in school, children of immigrants who are actively ethnically socialized, yet biculturally
competent should be less likely to commit crime than those who are disengaged from their ethnic
communities or conversely so isolated within them that they are unable to function in the wider
social context. The key is to find a balance between cultures and not to assimilate completely.
13. A quote from the United States in the l950s concerning the first generation is revealing and can
be applied to the second generation as well:
‘Some immigrants...have established fairly effective institutions and primary relations.
..Immigrants who only gradually give over their old world patterns of behavior are in general
seldom seen in our criminal courts. [The immigrant thus it becomes assimilated more slowly
possibly, but much more effectively. Not nonassimilation but overrapid Americanization spells
crime’ (Taft 1956 cited by Shoham 1962).
14. Yet, a half century ago the goal was still straight-line assimilation where immigrants and
especially their children quickly lost the language, cultural traditions, values, and even identification
with the country they left. Today this model is being challenged by researchers, particularly in the
case of racial minorities who are unable to assimilate through identification because of
discrimination in the host society. The recommendation for all immigrants should no longer be
assimilation, but rather biculturalism, where children are well versed in the cultural values of their
parents yet perfectly capable of coping in the new society in which they live.
The role of others
15. How can non-ethnic community members help the children of immigrants stay attached to their
families and ethnic groups? First, it is important to promote an atmosphere that is accepting of
diverse cultures. The mental health of immigrants in general tends to be belier in multicultural
societies (Murphy 1973). Second, those who are frequently in contact with immigrant youth can
work to avoid making matters worse between immigrants and their children. Hopkins et al. (1994)
highlight two reasons that contribute to Southeast Asian refugee youth becoming delinquents:
acculturation problems and role-reversal with parents. When parents have poor language skills
(Hopkins et al., 1994) or parents are missing (Bankston and Caldas 1996), immigrant youth are
often forced to take on responsibilities beyond their years. This not only increases strain, but also
cuts children off from their parents or relatives even further. Hopkins et al. recommend that
professional translators be used in interactions between officials (courts, schools, etc.) instead of
allowing children to translate for their parents, thus upsetting the balance of authority in the parentchild relationship. Additionally, they recommend that those involved with immigrant youth should not
openly agree with their assertions that their parents are backward, do not understand life in the
United States, cannot relate to their lives, etc. Interestingly, in 1962 Shoham noted some of the
same problems with North African Jews in Israel ‘The process of integration may also injure and
sometimes shatter the social and economic status of the head of the family. This. ..may weaken the
cohesion of the family unit and thus hamper the family control over the young ... . All these factors
presumably increase the susceptibility of the children of immigrant parents to absorb the so-called
“street-culture” and to become juvenile delinquents’.
_______________________________________________________________________________
QUESTIONS
5 / 8. What is the author's suggestion for preventing crime among second generation
immigrants?
160
The author suggests that_____________________________and
_______________________ can prevent crime among the second generation of
immigrants.
6 / 9. Is the author in favor of straight-line assimilation. YES / NO (circle the correct
answer)
Quote the sentence from the text that supports your answer
7 / 10. According to the author, what are the problems with North African Jews in
Israel?
i.____________________________________________________________
(not more than 4 words)
ii.___________________________________________________________
(not more than 4 words)
____________________________________________________________________________
Critiques of the cultural socialization approach
16. Arguably, there are some weaknesses with the cultural socialization approach to curbing the
second generation’s crime rate. First of all, elements of the parents’ culture may be maladaptive.
Sexism, physical punishment, lack of children’s rights, and the like, may all make it hard for children
of certain immigrant groups to find a middle ground between their parents’ culture and that of the
host country. However, the findings on cognitive flexibility point to bicultural children’s increased
ability to migrate back and forth and pick and choose between cultural value systems. Having more
options in and of itself should help children find ways to cope with strain in difficult situations. It
would also be difficult to argue that any society is truly pro-crime, and thus even if particular cultures
encourage certain forms of deviant behavior, strong ties to parents and community members should
still prevent most crime. It is important to remember that competing values exist within cultures, and
researchers sometimes disagree about whether a particular cultural value should lead to or hinder
crime. Sanchez Jankowski (1995) notes the example of respect in Hispanic cultures. Can it
simultaneously lead to violence because of the need to maintain respect and, on the other hand,
counter crime because of respect for authority?
17. The other problem is that bicultural competence may have less effect than hypothesized, and
prevention of crime may be more influenced by purely structural factors. Martens (1997) suggests
that the children of immigrants in Sweden commit less crime than their parents because of the
successful social welfare policy. However, immigrants in Sweden commit more crime than the
native population, and it may be that Sweden is a particularly law-abiding society. Martens
acknowledges that groups with a high brime rate in the first generation have a high rate in the
second generation and vice versa, which points to cultural factors. Thus more research needs to be
done to understand the relative importance of each of these factors.
161
Conclusion: suggestions for further research
18. The few current studies on immigration and crime are a step in the right direction. Unfortunately,
much work continues to rely heavily on crime statistics ranging from the turn of the century to the
1970s. Current research needs to focus on crimes committed by immigrants in the 1990s. New
studies should systematically examine different immigrant groups in order to understand their
differential rates of crime commission and any connection to ethnic socialization.
19. Most importantly, future research should incorporate the theoretical work on proactive cultural
socialization and bicultural competence to see if these factors do indeed hinder crime. Studies need
to explore structural factors to determine whether they work in conjunction with cultural factors, or in
fact outweigh them in preventing crime. While the pressure of becoming bicultural may indeed
produce strain, all immigrant children are facing strain in their options for adapting, and biculturalism
may be the healthiest option, healthier than assimilation. Biculturalism is reported to improve
academic achievement and to help discourage the negative effects on self-esteem caused by
discrimination. If successful biculturalism can also impede deviant and criminal behavior, as we
have reason to suspect, it would further lend credence to the argument that the benefits of
biculturalism outweigh its stresses.
References (partial listing)
Agnew, Robert. (1992). ‘Foundation for a general strain theory of crime and delinquency’. Criminology 30:47-88.
Bankston, Carl L. III and Stephen J. Caldas. (1996). ‘Adolescents and deviance in a Vietnamese American community: A
theoretical synthesis’. Deviant Behavior: An Interdisciplinary Journal 17:159-181.
_______________________________________________________________________________
QUESTIONS
8 / 3. What are the problems of the cultural socialization approach?
i.__________________________________________________________________
ii.___________________________________________________________________
9 / 4. Why is further research necessary?
10 / 1. The purpose of the article is
a. to explain why new immigrants commit more crime than the local population
b. to discuss the relationship between crime and immigration .
c. to propose solutions for preventing crime among the children of immigrants.
d. to present the reasons for blaming the immigrants for the rising crime rate.
162
Bilingual Children's Mother Tongue: Why Is It Important for Education?
By Jim Cummins
2370
University of Toronto
1
The term globalization is never far from the front pages of newspapers these days. It evokes
strong positive or negative feelings depending upon whether it is being praised by the business
community for opening up world markets to more extensive trade or condemned by those who
associate the term with the dramatically widening gap between rich and poor nations and people.
2
One aspect of globalization that has important implications for educators is the increasing
movement of people from one country to another. Population mobility is caused by many factors:
desire for better economic conditions, the need for labor in many countries that are experiencing
low birthrates, a constant flow of refugees resulting from conflicts between groups, oppression of
one group by another, or ecological disasters. Economic integration within the EU also encourages
the free movement of workers and their families among EU member countries. The fact that
traveling between countries is now fast and efficient (most of the time) obviously facilitates
population mobility.
3
A consequence of population mobility is linguistic, cultural, "racial", and religious diversity
within schools. To illustrate, in the city of Toronto in Canada, 58% of kindergarten students come
from homes where Standard English is not the usual language of communication. Schools in
Europe and North America have experienced this diversity for many years, but it remains
controversial, and educational policies and practices vary widely between countries and even within
countries. Neo-fascist groups in a number of countries promote overtly racist policies in relation to
immigrant and culturally diverse communities. Other political parties and groups adopt a somewhat
more enlightened orientation and search for ways to "solve the problem" of diverse communities
and their integration in schools and society. However, they still define the presence of diverse
communities as a "problem" and see few positive consequences for the host society. They worry
that linguistic, cultural, "racial" and religious diversity threaten the identity of the host society.
Consequently, they promote educational policies that will make the "problem" disappear.
QUESTIONS
1. In addition to the movement of large numbers of people across the globe, what
are four other effects of globalization?
There will be a wider range of_______________________________
___________________________________in the educational system.
8 pts.
4
Whereas neo-fascist groups advocate expulsion of immigrants or at least exclusion from the
mainstream of society (e.g., in largely segregated schools and housing areas), more liberal groups
advocate assimilation into the mainstream of society. However, "assimilation" is similar in many
ways to "exclusion" insofar as both orientations are designed to make the "problem" disappear.
Under both policies, culturally diverse groups will no longer be visible or audible. Assimilationist
policies in education discourage students from maintaining their mother tongues. If students retain
their culture and language, then they are viewed as less capable of identifying with the mainstream
163
culture and learning the mainstream language of the society. While students may not be physically
punished for speaking their mother tongue in the school (as they previously were in many
countries), a strong message is communicated to them that if they want to be accepted by the
teacher and the society, they have to renounce any allegiance to their home language and culture.
5
This "solve the problem" orientation to diversity in education is still dominant in most
European and North American countries. Unfortunately, it can have disastrous consequences for
children and their families. It violates children's right to an appropriate education and undermines
communication between children and their parents. Any credible educator will agree that schools
should build on the experience and knowledge that children bring to the classroom, and instruction
should also promote children's abilities and talents. Whether we do it intentionally or inadvertently,
when we destroy children's language and rupture their relationship with parents and grandparents,
we are contradicting the very essence of education.
6
The destruction of language and culture in schools is also highly counter-productive for the
host society itself. In an era of globalization, a society that has access to multilingual and
multicultural resources is advantaged in its ability to play an important social and economic role on
the world stage. At a time when cross-cultural contact is at an all time high in human history, the
identities of all societies are evolving. The identities of societies and ethnic groups have never been
static and it is a naive illusion to believe that they can become static-fixed as monochrome and
mono-cultural museum exhibits for posterity -- when the pace of global change is as rapid as it is
today.
7
The challenge for educators and policy-makers is to shape the evolution of national identity
in such a way that the rights of all citizens (including school children) are respected, and the
cultural, linguistic, and economic resources of the nation are maximized. To squander the linguistic
resources of the nation by discouraging children from developing their mother tongues is quite
simply unintelligent from the point of view of national self-interest and also represents a violation of
the rights of the child.
8
How can schools provide an appropriate education for culturally and linguistically diverse
children? A first step is to learn what the research says about the role of language, and specifically
children's mother tongues, in their educational development.
QUESTIONS
2a. How do neo-fascist and liberal groups want to “solve the problem” of diversity in the
population?
Complete the following sentence:
Both ___________________________________________________
2 b. How would the writer prefer to see this challenge answered?
Complete the following sentence:
It is the responsibility of those in education and government to
____________________________________________________
10. pts
_____________________________________________________________________________
164
What We Know About Mother Tongue Development
9
The research is very clear about the importance of bilingual children's mother tongue for
their overall personal and educational development. Bilingualism has positive effects on children's
linguistic and educational development. When children continue to develop their abilities in two or
more languages throughout their primary school years, they gain a deeper understanding of
language and how to use it effectively. They have more practice in processing language, especially
when they develop literacy in both, and they are able to compare and contrast the ways in which
their two languages organize reality. More than 150 research studies conducted during the past 35
years strongly support what Goethe, the German philosopher, once said: The person who knows
only one language does not truly know that language. The research suggests that bilingual children
may also develop more flexibility in their thinking as a result of processing information through two
different languages.
10
The level of development of children's mother tongue is a strong predictor of their second
language development. Children who come to school with a solid foundation in their mother tongue
develop stronger literacy abilities in the school language. When parents and other caregivers (e.g.,
grandparents) are able to spend time with their children and tell stories or discuss issues with them
in a way that develops their mother tongue vocabulary and concepts, children come to school well
prepared to learn the school language and succeed educationally. Children's knowledge and skills
transfer across languages from the mother tongue they have learned in the home to the school
language. From the point of view of children's development of concepts and thinking skills, the two
languages are interdependent. Transfer across languages can be two-way: when the mother
tongue is promoted in school (e.g., in a bilingual education program), the concepts, language, and
literacy skills that children are learning in the majority language can transfer to the home language.
In short, both languages nurture each other when the educational environment permits children
access to both languages.
11
Mother tongue promotion in the school helps develop not only the mother tongue but also
children's abilities in the majority school language. This finding is not surprising in view of the
previous findings that (a) bilingualism confers linguistic advantages on children and (b) abilities in
the two languages are significantly related or interdependent. Bilingual children perform better in
school when the school effectively teaches the mother tongue and, where appropriate, develops
literacy in that language. By contrast, when children are encouraged to reject their mother tongue
and, consequently, its development stagnates, their personal and conceptual foundation for
learning is undermined.
QUESTIONS
3. According to the this section of the article, does a minority mother tongue have influence
on learning the majority language in school?
YES / NO
Circle the correct answer.
Quote a sentence to support your answer.
________________________________________________________ 9. pts
4. Which concept explains why the level of a child’s mother tongue is a “strong predictor of
second language development”?
________________________________________ (no more than 3 words)
8 pts
165
5. According to paragraph 11, what danger does a child face when his native language is
ignored in school?
___________________________________________________________
9 pts
____________________________________________________________________________
12
Spending instructional time through a minority language in the school does not hurt
children's academic development in the majority school language. Some educators and parents are
suspicious of bilingual education or mother tongue teaching programs because they worry that
these programs take time away from the majority school language. For example, in a bilingual
program where 50% of the time is spent teaching through children's home language and 50%
through the majority school language, surely children's learning of the majority school language
must suffer? One of the most strongly established findings of educational research, conducted in
many countries around the world, is that well-implemented bilingual programs can promote literacy
and subject matter knowledge in a minority language without any negative effects on children's
development in the majority language. Within Europe, the Foyer program in Belgium, which
develops children's speaking and literacy abilities in three languages (their mother tongue, Dutch
and French) in the primary school, most clearly illustrates the benefits of bilingual and trilingual
education.
13
We can understand how this happens from the research findings summarized above. When
children are learning through a minority language (e.g., their home language), they are not only
learning this language in a narrow sense. They are learning concepts and intellectual skills that are
equally relevant to their ability to function in the majority language. Pupils who know how to tell the
time in their mother tongue understand the concept of telling time. In order to tell time in the second
language (e.g., the majority language), they do not need to re-learn the concept of telling time; they
simply need to acquire new labels or "surface structures" for an intellectual skill they have already
learned. Similarly, at more advanced stages, there is transfer across languages in academic and
literacy skills such as knowing how to distinguish the main idea from the supporting details of a
written passage or story, identifying cause and effect, distinguishing fact from opinion, and mapping
out the sequence of events in a story or historical account.
14
Children's mother tongues are fragile and easily lost in the early years of school. Many
people marvel at how quickly bilingual children seem to "pick up" conversational skills in the
majority language in the early years at school (although it takes much longer for them to catch up to
native speakers in academic language skills). However, educators are often much less aware about
how quickly children can lose their ability to use their mother tongues, even in the home context.
The extent and rapidity of language loss will vary according to the concentration of families from a
particular linguistic group in the school and neighborhood. Where the mother tongue is used
extensively in the community outside the school, language loss among young children will be less.
However, where language communities are not concentrated or "ghettoized" in particular
neighborhoods, children can lose their ability to communicate in their mother tongue within 2-3
years of starting school. They may retain receptive (understanding) skills in the language but they
will use the majority language in speaking with their peers and siblings and in responding to their
parents. By the time children become adolescents, the linguistic gap between parents and children
has become an emotional chasm. Pupils frequently become alienated from the cultures of both
home and school with predictable results.
166
QUESTIONS
6.
What justification is made for studying two to three languages simultaneously?
Children are not only learning the minority language but _______________________
in the majority language as well.
9 pts
7.
How can a “ghetto" neighborhood affect a minority language?
___________________________________________________________
9 pts
_____________________________________________________________________________
15
To reduce the extent of language loss, parents should establish a strong home language
policy and provide ample opportunities for children to expand the functions for which they use the
mother tongue (e.g. reading and writing) and the contexts in which they can use it (e.g., community
mother tongue day care or play groups, visits to the country of origin, etc.).
16
Teachers can also help children retain and develop their mother tongues by communicating
to them strong affirmative messages about the value of knowing additional languages and the fact
that bilingualism is an important linguistic and intellectual accomplishment. For example, they can
initiate classroom projects focused on (a) developing children's language awareness (e.g.,
surveying and celebrating the multilingualism of students in the class) and (b) the sharing of
languages in the class (e.g., every day a child brings one significant word from the home language
into class and the entire class, including the teacher, learns and discusses this word.
17
To reject a child's language in the school is to reject the child. When the message, implicit or
explicit, communicated to children in the school is "Leave your language and culture at the
schoolhouse door", children also leave a central part of who they are -- their identities -- at the
schoolhouse door. When they feel this rejection, they are much less likely to participate actively and
confidently in classroom instruction. It is not enough for teachers to passively accept children's
linguistic and cultural diversity in the school. They must be proactive and take the initiative to affirm
children's linguistic identity by having posters in the various languages of the community around the
school, encouraging children to write in their mother tongues in addition to the majority school
language (e.g., write and publish pupil-authored bilingual books), and generally create an
instructional climate where the linguistic and cultural experience of the whole child is actively
accepted and validated.
QUESTIONS
8. What two suggestions deal with how parents and teachers can help children maintain
their native tongues?
a. _____________________________________________________
b. ____________________________________________________
10 pts
167
9. To avoid rejecting a child’s language, what steps should a teacher actively do to assure
successful integration of the pupil in the classroom?
a.
_____________________________________________________
b.
____________________________________________________
10 pts
_________________________________________________________________________
Shaping a Dynamic Identity for the Future
18
When educators within a school develop language policies and organize their curriculum
and instruction in such a way that the linguistic and cultural capital of children and communities is
strongly affirmed in all the interactions of the school, then the school is rejecting the negative
attitudes and ignorance about diversity that exist in the wider society. In challenging coercive
relations of power, the school is holding up to bilingual children a positive and affirming mirror of
who they are and who they can become within this society. Multilingual children have an enormous
contribution to make to their societies, and to the international global community, if only we as
educators put into practice what we believe is true for all children:
 Children’s cultural and linguistic experience in the home is the foundation of their future learning
and we must build on that foundation rather than undermine it;
 Every child has the right to have their talents recognized and promoted within the school.
19
In short, the cultural, linguistic and intellectual capital of our societies will increase
dramatically when we stop seeing culturally and linguistically diverse children as "a problem to be
solved" and instead open our eyes to the linguistic, cultural, and intellectual resources they bring
from their homes to our schools and societies.
QUESTIONS
10. According to the writer, how does the bilingual child contribute to society?
_____________________________________________________
9 pts
11. What is the purpose of this article?
a. to show how teachers should deal with bilingual children
b. to present methods for bilingual children to maintain their mother tongue
c. to present reasons for the importance of bilingual children’s mother tongue
d. to discuss the effects of globalization on bilingualism
9 pts
Vocabulary development
168
Study the meanings of the following words
Bilingual
Mother tongue
Diverse (adj.)/ Diversity (n.)
Consequence/Implication/Outcome/Result/Effect
Whereas=while
Policy
Assimilation
Counter-productive
Identity (n.)/identify (v.)/identical (adj.)
Resources
Predict (v.)/predictor (n.)/prediction (n.)
Promote (v.)/ Promotion (n.)
Minority (n.)/minor (adj.)
Majority (n.)/major (adj.)
Reduce/decrease/deteriorate/decline
Reject (v.)/rejection (n.)
Accomplishment/achievement
Initiative (n.) /initial (adj.) /initiate (v.)
Concept
Found (v.) / foundation (n.) / founder (n.) =establish (v.) /establishment (n.)
Counter-productive
Match the word to its antonym:
Minority
Decline
Reject
Predictable
Accomplishment
failure
accept
majority
increase
unforeseeable
Translate:
1. What do you predict will happen in the next chapter of this suspense novel?
2. The concept of ethnic diversity is predominant in many of the European countries that
welcome immigration.
3. If you don’t work systematically, your efforts may be counter-productive.
4. When the state of Israel was established, its leaders advocated assimilationist approach to
immigration.
5. What is the company policy regarding employee promotion?
6. Overuse of natural resources often causes disastrous consequences for the local
populations.
7. Peer rejection often causes emotional problems in adolescents.
8. Initiative is one of the keys to achievement at labor market.
9. A vast majority of babies in the world likes the flavor of milk based formulas such as Materna
and Similac.
10. A minor percentage of couples have identical twins.
169
Remediation Training Improves Reading Ability of
Dyslexic Children
1500
By: Lisa Trei (2003)
E.G.
1
For the first time, researchers have shown that the brains of dyslexic children can be rewired
-- after undergoing intensive remediation training -- to function more like those found in normal
readers.
2
The training program, which is designed to help dyslexics understand rapidly changing
sounds that are the building blocks of language, helped the participants become better readers after
just eight weeks.
3
The findings were released Monday in "Neural deficits in
children with dyslexia ameliorated by behavioral remediation:
Evidence from functional MRI," published by the Proceedings of
the National Academy of Sciences Early Edition. "It was very
dramatic to see the huge differences that occurred in the brains of
these children," said Stanford psychology Professor John
Gabrieli, one of the study's authors. "The intervention, although
substantial, only covered eight weeks. One note of optimism
about the study is that such a limited intervention can have a
substantial effect on reading scores."
4
Brain imaging scans of the children who participated in the
training showed that critical areas of the brain used for reading
were activated for the first time, and that they began to function
more normally. Furthermore, additional regions of the brain were
activated in what the researchers believe the dyslexics may have
used as a compensatory process as they learned to read more
fluently.
5
Gabrieli said the study's findings may help demonstrate
how different kinds of reading programs can tackle various problems faced by poor readers. "This is
showing us for the first time the specific changes in the brains of children receiving this sort of
treatment, and how that is coupled with the improvement they have in reading and language ability,"
he said. "We're hoping that this becomes an additional tool to understand how educational
remediation programs alter children's abilities, as they must do, by changing the way their brains
process information."
2. Is the following sentence TRUE or FALSE ? (circle the correct answer).
The study showed the role of certain reading programs in improving the reading
ability of dyslexic children.
Support your answer by quoting a sentence from the article:
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
(2 + 6 ) 8 pts
170
6
Study co-author Paula Tallal, professor of neuroscience at Rutgers University and a founder
of Scientific Learning Corporation, the Oakland-based company that designed the program, said the
findings are also important because it is the first time a commercial product has been proven
scientifically to work using standardized educational testing and brain imaging. Scientific Learning's
computer program, Fast ForWord Language, focuses on helping children become more fluent at
processing the rapidly changing sounds, she said.
7
"In light of President [George W.] Bush's legislation, No Child Left Behind, which mandates
that only scientifically validated applications be used for intervening with children, this program has
the potential to address the crisis we are facing in the number of children failing to meet
[educational] standards," she said. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 places an emphasis on
teaching methods that have been proven scientifically to work.
3. According to Paula Tallal, what is particularly significant about the
study reported here?
_______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
8 pts
8
Dyslexia, sometimes called "word blindness," is a common disorder, affecting 5 to 10
percent of Americans, Gabrieli said. It is defined as a specific difficulty in reading that is severe
enough to interfere with academic functioning and cannot be accounted for by lack of educational
opportunities, personal motivation or problems in sight or sound. Tallal said that studies estimate
that about 40 percent of people with dyslexia inherit it genetically. Other factors believed to trigger
the disorder include prematurity at birth, developmental language impairment and attention deficits,
she said.
9
Dyslexics have trouble distinguishing between letters that rhyme, such as 'B' and 'D.' "If you
hear the sound 'ba' in butter and 'da' in Doug, the only way we know the difference is in the first 40
milliseconds of the onset of those sounds," Tallal explained. "The ability to extract the sounds out of
words is what is called phonological awareness. We have to be aware that words can be broken
into sounds, called phonemes, and that these sounds have to be identified with letters." This
process might appear intuitive, but it is a learned skill, Tallal said.
10
The training program the children took part in was targeted at helping them learn to process
and interpret the very rapid sequence of sounds within words and sentences by exaggerating and
slowing them down. "These are the building blocks you have to have in place before you can learn
to read," Tallal said. "I think Fast ForWord is building the scaffold for reading, and doing it based on
scientific knowledge of the most efficient and effective way of helping the brain learn."
4. According to the study, dyslexia may be caused by certain factors.
Which ones are mentioned?
i. _____________________________________________
ii. ____________________________________________
iii. ____________________________________________
iv. ____________________________________________
171
8 pts
5. Give an example of a difficulty experienced by dyslexics:
_______________________________________________________________
8 pts
6. What is “phonological awareness”? Complete the following sentence:
A child who is phonologically aware is able to ___________________ words into
sounds. The next step for the child is to ________________ these sounds with their
written symbols.
8 pts
The study
11
The study included 20 dyslexic children aged 8 to 12 years. Their brains were scanned
using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) at Stanford's Lucas Center for Magnetic
Resonance Spectroscopy before and after participating in the eight-week training program. A
control group of 12 children with normal reading abilities also had their brains scanned but did not
participate in the training. The scanning machines, which look like beds that slide into small tubes,
normally are used to check for brain injuries or tumors, Gabrieli said. With slightly different software
they can be used to measure which regions of the brain are active by looking for changes in blood
oxygenation, a process that occurs in parts of the brain where the neurons are active.
12
Study lead author Elise Temple, assistant professor in human development at Cornell,
headed the research as a graduate student at Stanford. Both the dyslexic children and the control
group were asked to perform a simple rhyming task while having their brains scanned. Participants
were shown two uppercase letters and told to push a button if the two letters rhymed with each
other. For example, 'B' and 'D' would match, but not 'B' and 'K.'
13
Twenty-minute sessions were broken into five-minute segments, during which the children
had to stay completely still. Afterward, they were rewarded with Pokémon or baseball cards, and
given a picture of their brain to take home. Before the sessions started, Temple allowed the children
to play around the fMRI machines, which can be claustrophobic, to help them become comfortable
with the testing process. "In this study, it was especially important not to have the experience be a
bad one because we wanted them to come back," Temple said.
7. a. How were the two groups in the study compared?
First,___________________________________________________________
In the second phase_______________________________________________
b. Why was the activity of the neurons measured?
Because this shows____________________________________________
12 pts
172
8. What is the disadvantage of the fMRI machine?
a.
b.
c.
d.
Children regard it as a toy.
Children are frightened to play near it.
Children refuse to come back to it.
Its small space can cause discomfort.
8 pts
14
During the rhyming exercise, children with normal reading showed activity in both the
language-critical left frontal and temporal regions of the brain, the latter of which is behind and
above the left ear. Dyslexics, however, struggled with the task and failed to activate the temporal
region, and showed some activity only in the frontal brain area.
15
Afterward, the dyslexic children used the Fast ForWord Language computer program for
100 minutes a day, five days a week, as part of their regular school day. "The computer games
were fun, the kids liked them," Gabrieli said. The program consisted of seven exercises that
rewarded players when they answered questions correctly. For example, when a picture of a boy
and a toy was shown, a voice from the computer would ask the player to point to the boy, a step
that required understanding the very brief difference in the sound of the first consonant in each
word. Initially, the questions were asked in a slower, more exaggerated fashion than in normal
speech to help the children understand the sounds inside the words. As the player progressed, the
speed of the voice in the program slowly increased. "Each child worked at his or her own level,"
Tallal said. "The goal was to leave all children processing sounds correctly in words and sentences
of increasing length and grammatical complexity."
8. What does the example in paragraph 15 illustrate?
_______________________________________________________________
8 pts
9. What was the aim of the computer games?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
8 pts
The results
16
Following the training, the dyslexic children's scores went up in a number of language and
reading tests, Gabrieli said. "The study supported the idea that for some children, getting training on
just simply processing rapid sounds is a route to becoming much more fluent and capable readers,"
he said. In addition, activation of the children's brains fundamentally changed, becoming much
more like that of good readers. "We see that the brains of these children are remarkably plastic and
adaptive, and it makes us hopeful that the best language intervention programs in the future can
alter the brains in fundamentally helpful ways," he said.
17
It is likely that the children will continue to need considerable help in reading, Gabrieli said.
"This is not a one-shot vaccine," he said. "But it makes them much more prepared to take
advantage of a regular curriculum to read successfully and do well."
173
18
The next step, Temple said, is to see if other commercial programs can alter the brain as
well. "I don't know if these changes are unique to this program," she said. "Are there some training
programs that are better for some kids than others?" A future goal would be to offer a series of tests
to help select which programs best meet a child's needs, she said.
19
For many years, Gabrieli said, the nation has been concerned with the best methods to
teach reading. "We're hoping that this becomes one piece of many pieces of research that will help
us better understand ... what are effective ways to rescue children who have trouble reading," he
said. In addition, the study brings the scientific use of brain imaging into the arena of education.
"We'd like to use these cutting-edge tools of neuroscience to somehow directly assist thoughts
about educational curricula, policies and ways to help children perform better in school and look
forward to better futures," he said.
In addition to Temple, Tallal and Gabrieli, the paper was written by Gayle K. Deutsch, a senior
clinical scientist at Stanford; Russell Poldrack, a former postdoctoral student at Stanford and
currently assistant professor of psychology at the University of California-Los Angeles; Steven L.
Miller of Scientific Learning Corporation; and Michael M. Merzenich, a founder of Scientific Learning
and a professor at the University of California-San Francisco. The Haan Foundation for Children
helped fund the study.
10. What was the main result of the study?
______________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
8 pts
11. According to the conclusion, what two benefits has this study brought to
education?
i._____________________________________________
ii. ____________________________________________
8 pts
12. What is the purpose of the author in this article?
a. to present the brain imaging technology
which helps children to read faster
b. to show that when given help, dyslexic children can read as fast as normal
readers
c. to report how special training can help
dyslexic children to become capable
readers
d. to prove that the Fast ForWord Language Program is the best for dyslexic children
8 pts
174
Will We Follow the Sheep?
It will be up to science to determine if human cloning can be done.
It is up to the rest of us to determine if it should be.
March 10, 1997
B
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2420
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1] It's a busy morning in the cloning laboratory of the big-city hospital. As always, the list of
people seeking the lab's services is a long one--and, as always, it's a varied one. Over
here are the Midwestern parents who have flown in specially to see if the lab can make
them an exact copy of their six-year-old daughter, recently found to be suffering from
leukemia so aggressive that only a bone-marrow transplant can save her. The problem is
finding a compatible donor. If, by reproductive happenstance, the girl had been born an
identical twin, her matching sister could have produced all the marrow she needed. But
nature didn't provide her with a twin, and now the cloning lab will try. In nine months, the
parents, who face the very likely prospect of losing the one daughter they have, could find
themselves raising two of her--the second created expressly to help keep the first alive.
2] Just a week after Scottish embryologists announced that they had succeeded in cloning a sheep
from a single adult cell, both the genetics community and the world at large are coming to an
unsettling realization: the science is the easy part. It's not that the breakthrough wasn't decades in
the making. It's just that once it was complete--once you figured out how to transfer the genetic
schematics from an adult cell into a living ovum and keep the fragile embryo alive throughout
gestation--most of your basic biological work was finished. The social and philosophical temblors it
triggers, however, have merely begun.
3] Only now, as the news of Dolly, the sublimely oblivious sheep, becomes part of the cultural
debate, are we beginning to come to terms with those soulquakes. How will the new technology be
regulated? What does the sudden ability to make genetic stencils of ourselves say about the
concept of individuality? Do the ants and bees and Maoist Chinese have it right? Is a species
simply an uberorganism, a collection of multicellular parts to be die-cast as needed? Or is there
something about the individual that is lost when the mystical act of conceiving a person becomes
standardized into a mere act of photocopying one?
1. What is the main idea the writer is trying to convey?
a.
b.
c.
d.
that it is not certain yet whether a human child can be cloned.
that a human can be cloned in seven years from now.
that the ethical question regarding cloning humans should first be solved.
that the ethical questions of cloning humans should be left to the
scientists.
(8 pts.)
____________________________________________________________________________
175
4] Last week President Clinton took the first tentative step toward answering these questions,
charging a federal commission with the task of investigating the legal and ethical implications of the
new technology and reporting back to him with their findings within 90 days. Later this week the
House subcommittee on basic research will hold a hearing to address the same issues. The
probable tone of those sessions was established last week when Harold Varmus, director of the
National Institutes of Health (NIH), told another subcommittee that cloning a person is "repugnant to
the American public."
5] Around the globe the reaction was just as negative. France’s undersecretary for research
condemned human cloning as “unthinkable”, the Council of Europe’s Secretary General called it
“unacceptable”, and Germany’s Minister of research and Technology flatly declared: “There will
never be a human clone.” Agreed Professor Akira Iritani, an embryology expert at Osaka’s Kinki
University, “We must refrain from applying [the technique] to human beings”.
6] Though the official responses were predictable--and even laudable--they may have missed the
larger point. The public may welcome ways a government can regulate cloning, but what's needed
even more is ways a thinking species can ethically fathom it. "This is not going to end in 90 days,"
says Princeton University president Harold Shapiro, chairman of President Clinton's committee.
"Now that we have this technology, we have some hard thinking ahead of us."
2. What was the world’s reaction to the cloning issue?
State what type of reaction it was, the actual words and where they were spoken.
Place
Type of reaction and quote
a. _________________
_____________________________________
b. _________________
______________________________________
c._________________
_______________________________________
d. _________________
______________________________________
e. _________________
_______________________________________
(15 pts.)
7] Also waiting in the cloning lab this morning is the local industrialist. Unlike the Midwestern
parents, he does not have a sick child to worry about; indeed, he has never especially cared
for children. Lately, however, he has begun to feel different. With a little help from the cloning
lab, he now has the opportunity to have a son who would bear not just his name and his nose
and the color of his hair but every scrap of genetic coding that makes him what he is. Now
that appeals to the local industrialist. In fact, if this first boy works out, he might even make a
few more.
Of all the reasons for using the new technology, pure ego raises the most hackles. It's one thing to
want to be remembered after you are gone; it's quite another to manufacture a living monument to
ensure that you are. Some observers claim to be shocked that anyone would contemplate such a
thing. But that's naive--and even disingenuous. It's obvious that a lot of people would be eager to
clone themselves.
176
8] "It's a horrendous crime to make a Xerox of someone," argues author and science critic Jeremy
Rifkin. "You're putting a human into a genetic straitjacket. For the first time, we've taken the
principles of industrial design--quality control, predictability--and applied them to a human being."
9] But is it really the first time? Is cloning all that different from genetically engineering an embryo to
eliminate a genetic disease like cystic fibrosis? Is it so far removed from in vitro fertilization? In both
those cases, after all, an undeniable reductiveness is going on, a shriveling of the complexity of the
human body to the certainty of a single cell in a Petri dish. If we accept this kind of tinkering, can't
we accept cloning? Harvard neurobiologist Lisa Geller admits that intellectually, she doesn't see a
difference between in vitro technology and cloning. "But," she adds, "I admit it makes my stomach
feel nervous."
10] More palatable than the ego clone to some bioethicists is the medical clone, a baby created to
provide transplant material for the original. Nobody advocates harvesting a one-of-a-kind organ like
a heart from the new child--an act that would amount to creating the clone just to kill it. But it's hard
to argue against the idea of a family's loving a child so much that it will happily raise another,
identical child so that one of its kidneys or a bit of its marrow might allow the first to live. "The
reasons for opposing this are not easy to argue," says John Fletcher, former ethicist for the NIH.
3.
In paragraph 9 the writer implies that cloning has occurred before but under different
forms. What are those forms? In other words, what is cloning compared to?
a. ________________________________________________
b. ________________________________________________
(10 pts.)
4.
Find ONE ethical argument In SUPPORT OF cloning and ONE ethical argument
AGAINST cloning.
FOR ________________________________________________________
AGAINST______________________________________________________
(8 PTS.)
5.
What is the difference between an ego clone and a medical clone?
a. The former is created to help people with an ego clone, whereas the latter is
created to help medicine.
b. The former is created so that people have a copy of themselves, whereas the
latter is created to save a sick baby.
c. The former is created so that the genes of geniuses are not lost, the latter is
created so that the genes of healthy babies are not lost.
d. The former is never created due to a controversy, whereas the latter is created in
hospitals all the time.
(8 pts.)
11] The problem is that once you start shading the cloning question--giving an ethical O.K. to one
hypothetical and a thumbs-down to another--you begin making the sort of ad hoc hash of things the
Supreme Court does when it tries to define pornography. Suppose you could show that the baby
who was created to provide marrow for her sister would forever be treated like a second-class
sibling--well cared for, perhaps, but not well loved. Do you prohibit the family from cloning the first
daughter, accepting the fact that you may be condemning her to die? Richard McCormick, a Jesuit
177
priest and professor of Christian ethics at the University of Notre Dame, answers such questions
simply and honestly when he says, "I can't think of a morally acceptable reason to clone a human
being."
12] In a culture in which not everyone sees things so straightforwardly, however, some ethical
accommodation is going to have to be reached. How it will be done is anything but clear. "Science
is close to crossing some horrendous boundaries," says Leon Kass, professor of social thought at
the University of Chicago. "Here is an opportunity for human beings to decide if we're simply going
to stand in the path of the technological steamroller or take control and help guide its direction."
13] Following the local industrialist on the appointments list is the physics laureate. He is
terminally ill. When he dies, one of the most remarkable minds in science will die with him.
Reproductive chance might one day produce another scientist just as gifted, but there is no
telling when. The physics laureate does not like that kind of uncertainty. He has come to the
cloning lab today to see if he can't do something about it.
14] If the human gene pool can be seen as a sort of species-wide natural resource, it's only
sensible for the most rare of those genes to be husbanded most carefully, preserved so that every
generation may enjoy their benefits. Even the most ardent egalitarians would find it hard to object to
an Einstein appearing every 50 years or a Chopin every century. It would be better still if we could
be guaranteed not just an Einstein but the Einstein. If a scientific method were developed so that
the man who explained general relativity in the first half of the century could be brought back to
crack the secrets of naked singularities in the second, could we resist using it? And suppose the
person being replicated were researching not just abstruse questions of physics but pressing
questions of medicine. Given the chance to bring back Jonas Salk, would it be moral not to try?
15] Surprisingly, scientific ethicists seem to say yes. "Choosing personal characteristics as if they
were options on a car is an invitation to misadventure," says John Paris, professor of bioethics at
Boston College. "It is in the diversity of our population that we find interest and enthusiasm."
6.
Why does the writer mention Einstein and Chopin in paragraph 14?
a. To prove that the egalitarians are wrong.
b. To show that the diversity of the population is
important.
c. To compare two great men that must be cloned.
d. To argue that is the right people are cloned we can achieve greatness.
(8 pts.)
7. Why are scientific ethnicists against cloning?
Among other things, they claim that human kind is interesting exactly because
it is _____________________(one word). Moreover, choosing the characteristics we want
to
clone is difficult because ____________________________________________________
(12 pts.)
_____________________________________________________________________________
178
16] Complicating things further, the traits a culture values most are not fixed. If cloning had existed
a few centuries ago, men with strong backs and women with broad pelvises would have been the
first ones society would have wanted to reproduce. During the industrial age, however, brainpower
began to count for more than muscle power. Presumably the custodians of cloning technology at
that historical juncture would have faced the prospect of letting previous generations of strapping
men and fecund women die out and replacing them with a new population of intellectual giants.
"What is a better human being?" asks Boston University ethicist George Annas. "A lot of it is just
fad."
17] Even if we could agree on which individuals would serve as humanity's templates of perfection,
there's no guarantee that successive copies would be everything the originals were. Innate genius
isn't always so innate, after all, coming to nothing if the person born with the potential for excellence
doesn't find the right environment and blossom in it. A scientific genius who's beaten as a child
might become a mad genius. An artist who's introduced to alcohol when he's young might merely
become a drunk. A thousand track switches have to click in sequence for the child who starts out
toward greatness to wind up there. If a single one clicks wrong, the high-speed rush toward a Nobel
Prize can dead-end in a makeshift shack in the Montana woods. Says Rabbi Moshe Tendler,
professor of both biology and biblical law at Yeshiva University in New York City: "I can make
myself an Albert Einstein, and he may turn out to be a drug addict."
18] The despot will not be coming to the cloning lab today. Before long, he knows, the
lab's science will come to him--and not a moment too soon. The despot has ruled his little
country for 30 years, but now he's getting old and will have to pass his power on. That
makes him nervous; he's seen what can happen to a cult of personality if too weak a
personality takes over. Happily, in his country that's not a danger. As soon as the
technology of the cloning lab goes global--as it inevitably must--his people can be assured
of his leadership long after he's gone.
19] This is the ultimate nightmare scenario. The Pharaohs built their pyramids, the Emperors built
Rome, and Napoleon built his Arc de Triomphe--all, at least in part, to make the permanence of
stone compensate for the impermanence of the flesh. But big buildings and big tombs would be a
poor second choice if the flesh could be made to go on forever. Now, it appears, it can.
8.
What are the two factors that make a genius?
a. ________________________________________________
b. _________________________________________________
(12 pts.)
9. Explain in your own words the following phrase:
“A fiction of one decade becomes the technology of another.” (paragraph 20)
__________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________ (9pts.)
20] The idea of a dictators being genetically duplicated is not new--not in pop culture, anyhow. In Ira
Levin's 1976 book The Boys from Brazil a zealous ex-Nazi bred a generation of literal Hitler Youth-boys cloned from cells left behind by the Fuhrer. Woody Allen dealt with a similar premise a lot
179
more playfully in his 1973 film Sleeper, in which a futuristic tyrant is killed by a bomb blast, leaving
nothing behind but his nose--a nose that his followers hope to clone into a new leader. Even as the
fiction of one decade becomes the technology of another, it's inevitable that this technology will be
used--often by the wrong people. "I don't see how you can stop these things," says bioethicist
Daniel Callahan of the Hastings Center in Briarcliff Manor, New York. "We are at the mercy of these
technological developments. Once they're here, it's hard to turn back."
21] Hard, perhaps, but not impossible. If anything will prevent human cloning--whether of dictator,
industrialist or baby daughter--from becoming a reality, it's that science may not be able to clear the
ethical high bar that would allow basic research to get under way in the first place. Cutting, coring
and electrically jolting a sheep embryo is a huge moral distance from doing the same to a human
embryo. It took 277 trials and errors to produce Dolly the sheep, creating a cellular body count that
would look like sheer carnage if the cells were human. "Human beings ought never to be used as
experimental subjects," Shapiro says simply.
22] Whether they will or not is impossible to say. Even if governments ban human cloning outright,
it will not be so easy to police what goes on in private laboratories that don't receive public money-or in pirate ones offshore. Years ago, Scottish scientists studying in vitro fertilization were subjected
to such intense criticism that they took their work underground, continuing it in seclusion until they
had the technology perfected. Presumably, human-cloning researchers could also do their work on
the sly, emerging only when they succeed.
23] Scientists don't pretend to know when that will happen, but some science observers fear it will
be soon. The first infant clone could come squalling into the world within seven years according to
Arthur Caplan, director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania. If he's right,
science had better get its ethical house in order quickly. In calendar terms, seven years from now is
a good way off; in scientific terms, it's tomorrow afternoon.
For more about the ethics of cloning, visit time.com/cloning on the World Wide Web
10.
What possible outcome of the cloning controversy does the writer predict in this
article?
Although scientists may never be officially permitted to clone humans,
___________________________________________________________
180
An Ounce of Prevention
From Scientific American September 1994
by Devra Lee Davis and Harold P. Freeman
1
Public hopes and presidential promises that cancer could be cured provided much of
the cultural meaning and all of the federal funding for the modern war on cancer, launched
some two decades ago. The search for a cancer cure, in part, reflected the belief that the
disease arises chiefly from discrete external entities such as viruses that can be attacked
and eradicated.
2
Lately the war on cancer has reinvented itself as the exhilarating quest for defective
genes. We read and hear that all cancer is genetic in origin, arising from mutations in the
basic building blocks of cells that lead to unregulated growth. Yet only a relatively small
portion of most dominant types of cancer is inherited. The key questions remain: What
causes the majority of people who have originally inherited a healthy array of genes - some
95 percent of women with breast cancer, for instance – to develop defects that lead them to
acquire cancer; and what strategies can be applied to reducing the incidence of disease for
all segments of society?
3
The history of infectious disease in the 19th century supplies a model. Such illness
began to decline as a major cause of death largely because of improvements in providing
cleaner water, food and air and better housing and working conditions. Reductions in the
number of people suffering from these diseases usually stemmed not from treatment but
from public health programs that kept these afflictions from occurring in the first place.
QUESTIONS
1. Which two possible causes of cancer have already been explored by scientists in
the past?
i) __________________________________________
ii)__________________________________________
10 pts
2. Why do the writers cite the statistics on breast cancer in paragraph 2?
They want to refute the scientific claim that
________________________________
___________________________________________________.
10 pts
181
3. Why is the history of infectious disease in the nineteenth century mentioned in
paragraph 3?
a) It provides a model for techniques for tracing disease
b) It provides a model for methods for early detection
c) It provides a model for strategies for treatment
d) It provides a model for programs for prevention
10 pts
________________________________________________________________________
4
Of course, there are more cases of cancer today because there are more older
people, and the technology for identifying the disease has advanced. But the rate of all new
cases of cancer, excluding that of the lung, has increased about 35 percent since1950; by
one estimate, rates of cases not linked to smoking have tripled in men of the baby-boom
generation and grown by a third in women of that generation, compared with their greatgrandparents.
5
In most modern countries, one individual in three will contract some form of cancer,
and one in four will die from it. Rates of breast cancer, multiple myeloma and brain cancer
have been rising for several decades and are about five times higher in the U. S. than in
some Pacific Rim countries and up to 50 times higher than in less developed countries.
This remarkable divergence in cancer patterns within and between geographic regions,
along with elevated rates in some poor, disadvantaged communities and notably high
incidences in about 50 different workforces, implies that a substantial segment of cancer is
avoidable or postponable.
6
At present, the mounting toll of lung cancer provides incontrovertible evidence that
smoking remains the single most important avoidable cause of cancer, responsible for
about 30 percent of all cancer deaths in industrialized societies. But a prolonged and
protracted scientific debate greeted first reports in 1949 from Ernst Wynder that tied
smoking to lung cancer. While this debate persisted, millions of people became addicted.
Recent reductions in lung cancer in white males in the U. S. and several other developed
countries constitute a bona fide public success, largely attributable to a decline in the
number of those who smoke. Unfortunately, smoking-related lung cancer continues to
increase at alarming rates in women in those countries. Also lung cancer in nonsmokers
has reportedly increased in several countries.
QUESTIONS
4. (para 5 ) We can infer that the “remarkable divergence in cancer patterns” is a result of
a) poverty and economic disadvantage
b) certain geographical conditions
c) industrialization and modernization
d) changes in world health patterns
8 pts
182
5. a) When Ersnt Wynder first published research linking cancer to smoking, how did
people react?
Because his findings were accepted / not accepted immediately, people
continued to smoke / stopped smoking. (circle the correct option in each case)
6 pts
b) Whereas lung cancer in women in Western countries has __________________,
in men it has ________________.
6 pts
7
A growing body of experimental and human evidence has identified a number of
significant environmental risk factors as causes of cancer. They include past diagnostic
and therapeutic radiation; diets high in some fats and low in fresh fruits and vegetables;
workplace exposures to chemicals, dust and fumes; pharmaceuticals; sunlight; and heavy
alcohol drinking. Long-term, low-level exposures to some environmental contaminants,
such as small particulates, chlorination by-products in domestic water and organochlorine
residues in animal and fish fat, appear to increase the risk of cancer in human populations,
and extensive animal studies indicate a clear risk. Some compounds may function by
alerting hormones, whereas others may directly affect gene expression.
8 Meanwhile two decades and $24 billion since the formal launching of the war on
cancer, both the war and its warriors are weary. Despite some stunning and gratifying
successes in curing the relatively rare cancers of young people, no radically different
intervention has been developed for any of the predominant forms of the disease. The poor
and uninsured have limited access to early detection and treatment and are often first
diagnosed with much higher rates of advanced illness. Even where treatment for relatively
rare cancers has been effective, as with testicular cancer, new cases have more than
doubled in the past two decades in many countries. Moreover, cancer-cured children and
young adults sometimes face a troubling legacy: they have been subject to intensive
radiation, surgery or chemical treatments at vulnerable stages of their lives and carry
lifelong increases in risk and reductions in function.
QUESTIONS
6. Why are dust and fumes, heavy alcohol drinking and sunlight mentioned in
paragraph 7?
___________________________________________________________________
10 pts
7. On the whole, do the writers consider the war on cancer a success?
Yes / No
(circle one)
Copy a statement from the text to support your answer
___________________________________________________________ 10 pts
183
9
This country spends about five times more per patient on chemotherapy than the
U.K. does, but survival for most common cancers does not differ. Even when benefit is
unexpected, chemotherapy and other cancer treatments have come to be regarded as an
entitlement. A decade ago John Cairns of Harvard University pointed out the folly of
pouring hundreds of millions of dollars every year into giving a growing number; of patients
chemotherapy with little proven benefit for the major types of cancer, while doing virtually
nothing to protect the population from cigarettes. To this sensible charge, we now wish to
add that it is time to turn attention to confirming other avoidable causes of cancer.
10
No matter how efficient we may become at delivering health care, we must also seek
to reduce the need for treatment. An increase in cases of cancer in younger persons in the
U. S. and parallel findings in Sweden indicate that we need to identify avoidable causes of
cancer in addition to smoking and to develop effective interventions that keep people from
developing the disease altogether. If we avert only 20 percent of all cancers each year, we
will save more than 200,000 people and their families from this difficult disease and spare
the public from the burgeoning costs of treatment and care.
QUESTIONS
8. According to paragraph 9, people accept chemotherapy and other cancer
treatments as their right. What is the authors’ opinion of this view?
They agree / disagree (circle one)
Justify your answer:
_______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________.
10 pts
9. The main idea of this article is:
a. Funding should also be allocated to explore possible preventive causes of cancer.
b. It is better to spend the funding on providing better health care for cancer patients.
c. It is a complete waste of money to spend funding on expensive treatments.
d. Funding should be used to reduce rates of smoking-related lung cancer.
10 pts
10. If the government were preparing a budget for the war on cancer, which one of
the following proposals would the writers probably support?
a) Increased research on environmental factors which add to the risk of cancer
b) Increased funds for chemotherapy treatment for poor and uninsured
patients
c) Increased funds for research on the link between smoking and cancer
d) Increased research on new methods of intervention for advanced stages of
the disease
10 pts
184
The Economics of Smoking
JB / SH
2200
by Pierre Lemieux
VOCABULARY:
Find a word(s) in the text that mean the same as: Find the opposite of:
1. additionally P.14
1. disadvantages p.1
2. merchandise P. 14
2. exceptional p. 1
3. interference P. 16
3. safe p.4
4. frequent (VERB!) p. 18
4. ambiguous p.4
5. attend to p.6
6. unreasonable p.15
1.
All human activities carry costs that have to be weighed against their benefits.
Risk to limb or life is merely a type of cost that will occur with a probability lower than one
but higher than zero. Economist Kip Viscusi reports that, in the U.S., the annual death risk
from motor vehicle accidents is 1 / 5,000 (1 in 5,000). In France, 115,000 skiers are injured
every year, and more than 50 killed. In a typical year, 390 Canadians drown, and lightning
kills 5. Individuals presumably take risks into account when they make choices. They believe
that the pleasure of driving, skiing, swimming, or walking outweighs the risk; otherwise, they
don't engage in such activities.
2.
Why does the state try and persuade individuals to quit smoking, but not skiing?
Why do we hear about the "social cost of smoking"—$130 billion per year in the U.S.,
according to a 1998 Treasury study—but not about the social cost of driving or swimming?
What do we mean by "social cost"? We shall see that, on these issues, economists
generally arrive at conclusions opposite to those of the Public Health approach—i.e., the
approach of the medical specialists and government organizations of which we hear so
much in popular discourse and the media.
QUESTIONS
1. From paragraphs 1 & 2, what can we infer is the attitude of the author to
government regulation of smoking?
He is FOR / AGAINST
Circle the answer which helped you decide:
e.
f.
g.
h.
The examples show that smoking is as dangerous as skiing and driving.
The examples imply that the choice to smoke should be made by individuals.
The paragraphs show that the ‘social cost’ of smoking is very high.
The paragraphs emphasize the disagreement between economists and public
health officials.
Economics Versus Public Health
3.
Before we look at the main Public Health arguments and the economic counter
arguments, let's have a first look at how the two approaches differ on the basic concepts of
benefits and costs.
185
4.
Economics starts with subjective individual preferences. Individuals who smoke
tobacco reveal that they gain net "utility" (or satisfaction) from this consumption. The risky
character of many activities—whether smoking, driving cars, or skydiving—does not change
this conclusion, as the demand that each consumer brings to the market includes his
estimates of such non-price costs. Economic theory demonstrates that, given certain
conditions, free markets are efficient; i.e., they lead to the socially optimal allocation of
resources.
5.
The Public Health school adopts a radically different methodology. Starting from
the observation that smoking is bad for the smoker's health, it goes on to conclude that
individuals do not derive benefits from smoking. Anti-smoking activist Scott Ballin asserts:
"There is no positive aspect to [smoking]. The product has no potential benefits."
6.
Not only does the Public Health school neglect subjective benefits of smoking, as
evaluated by each individual, but it often reveals a confused notion of cost. This was
especially obvious in the Public Health literature of the 1970s and 1980s, which assumed
that costs of smoking-related illnesses were of the nature of a "social cost," borne by
"society as a whole." Typically, 75% of the so-called "social cost" of smoking was made of
incomes lost by ill or deceased smokers.
7.
Now, if we consider, like economists, that "society" does not own individuals,
such costs are private costs to smokers, not "external costs" transferred to others. Each
individual deducts these costs from his subjective benefits before making his consumption
choices. It would be double counting to add them again to social costs.
QUESTIONS
2. In what way do the views of economists and of the public health school differ?
Economists believe that smokers _________________________benefits from
while public health thinkers maintain that smoking _____________________ for
society.
_____________________________________________________________________________
The Transfer Argument
8.
Not all Public Health arguments were so simplistic. A more serious one was
related to what economists call "transfers," i.e., subsidies between different groups in
society. The transfer argument claimed that health care costs of treating smoking-related
diseases was partly supported by non-smokers and, hence, amounted to a forced subsidy to
smokers. This claim implicitly relied on the fact that health care has been more or less
nationalized; otherwise, smokers would have to pay for their self-imposed diseases, possibly
through higher private insurance premiums. Now, public health insurance regimes have
been set up with the avowed objective of operating a redistribution from the healthy to the
sick; in fact, the whole Welfare State is based on cross-subsidies between social groups. It
would seem a perversion—if not a totalitarian slippage—of the system to single out certain
groups who happen to be on the receiving side.
9.
Consider, for a moment, the similar cases of alcohol and sedentary lifestyle (i.e.,
lack of physical exercise). Research has shown that alcohol consumption transfers net costs
to the rest of society because it is often a causal factor in automobile accidents and violent
186
crimes. Yet, forcing the drunk to bear responsibility for the costs they impose would seem to
be a more appropriate response than prohibition for everybody. As for sedentary lifestyle
and obesity-related diseases, economists Willard G. Manning, et al. write: "Surprisingly, the
lifetime external costs of a sedentary life-style are actually higher than the external cost of
smoking. ... We estimate that lack of exercise imposes external costs of 24 cents for every
mile that sedentary people do not walk, jog, or run." The fact that not doing something might
impose "costs" on others illuminates the troubling implications of this kind of transfer
argument.
10.
In the case of smoking, anyway, the transfer argument is empirically false.
Economists who looked at the figures in many countries (including Robert Leu and Thomas
Schaub in Switzerland, Willard Manning in the U.S., Raynauld and Vidal in Canada, and
Jean-Jacques Rosa in France) discovered that net transfers go the other way around if one
factors in tobacco taxes paid by smokers plus the savings that their early deaths brings to
public pension plans and other kinds of old-age care. Not only do smokers pay their way, but
also they actually subsidize non-smokers. Interestingly, Public Health activists have turned
this defeat to their advantage: they now argue that this is simply "not the kind of calculation
that a civilized society engages in," as MIT Prof. Jeffrey Harris puts it.
QUESTIONS
3. What does the transfer argument in paragraph 8 claim?
a. the government should pay health care costs for smoking related
diseases.
b. health care costs for smoking related diseases are paid by nonsmokers as well
c. smokers are subsidized for health care
d. only smokers pay health care costs for smoking related diseases
4. a. According to the transfer argument, how are smoking and alcohol
consumption similar?
Both ____________________________________________________________
b. How does a sedentary lifestyle differ from the other two life choices in the transfer
argument?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
The World Bank's Arguments
11.
After the economists' analytical assault, the case for smoking regulations seemed
pretty thin in the early 1990s. Then, World Bank economist Howard Barnum proposed a new
argument. It relied on welfare economics, a field of neoclassical economic theory designed
to show that "market failures," created by external costs or other types of "externalities"
(phenomena that bypass the market), prevent free markets from maximizing social welfare.
The welfare-economics argument against smoking has since been refined by other
economists working with the World Bank, and has provided the intellectual basis for the
Bank's 1999 report on the smoking "epidemic."
12.
The argument runs as follows. Smoking is not like other consumption choices,
and the economic presumption of market efficiency does not apply. This is because, as the
187
World Bank puts it, "many smokers are not fully aware of the high probability of disease and
premature death," and because of the addictive nature of tobacco. Consequently, the
demand that smokers bring to the market does not represent the true benefits of tobacco for
them. Externalities transform what would be private risks and costs of the smoker himself
into social costs. Reducing tobacco consumption (or eliminating it, in the original Barnum
version) would increase net social benefits.
13.
The first question is whether addiction really take over the free will of its impotent
victims. Statistics show that half of non-smokers are former smokers, which suggests that
quitting is not infinitely costly. Many smokers claim that they would like to quit, but that they
are unable to. Words are only words and, in the economist's eyes, an actual choice to
smoke reveals that, all costs and advantages being considered, this is what the smoker
prefers to do. Analogously, notes Kip Viscusi, half the residents of Los Angeles claim that
they would like to move out, but never do. There is much everyday evidence that one is
"addicted" to tobacco because one likes it, not the other way around: many former smokers
start again months or even years after any withdrawal symptom has long gone away, and
smokers prefer a cigarette to nicotine gum or patches.
14.
Moreover, the theory of "rational addiction", developed mainly by Gary Becker, a
Nobel Prize-winning economist, has brought addictive behavior into the realm of rational
choice. An addictive good is defined as one whose utility is a function of previous
consumption: the more you have consumed, the better you are likely to appreciate it—like
for alcohol, drugs, music, television, or religion. Individuals become addicted to something
because, given their own circumstances, they judge the benefits higher than the costs,
including possible withdrawal costs. One can test the rational addiction theory by testing
whether addicts take future prices into consideration in their current demand for the
addictive good (as a rational individual would, because he can get hooked into paying higher
future prices). Indeed, it has been found that smokers are more responsive to long-term
price changes.
15.
The second basis of the World Bank argument lies in the assumed imperfect
information about smoking risks. This is contradicted by research showing that American
smokers actually overestimate the risks of smoking, compared to the claims of Public Health
specialists themselves. While the smoker’s risk of getting lung cancer during his life is
estimated at around 10% in the scientific literature (much higher than the nonsmoker’s risk),
opinion polls show that the public’s assessment of this risk is at least three times higher.
Moreover, if perfect information may be a convenient assumption in formal neoclassical
models, it is not an economic ideal as long as information is costly; i.e., as long as producing
or gathering information requires the use of real resources including time, the scarce
resource par excellence. The rational consumer will obtain additional bits of information only
as long as their advantages are higher than their costs. This is why the typical consumer
doesn’t get a degree in mechanics before choosing a car, or a Ph.D. in electronics before
buying a computer.
188
QUESTIONS
5. According to the welfare-economics argument, how is smoking different from
other consumer choices?
a. __________________________________________________________
b. __________________________________________________________
6. What is the writer’s response to the claims of the welfare argument?
In answer to the first claim in answer 9a, the writer states_________________
_________________________________________________.
To the second claim, his comment is ______________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
Secondhand Smoke and Property Rights
16.
So far, so good: smokers only "hurt" themselves. (This is only a way of talking
since they obviously expect to derive more benefits than costs from smoking.) But what
about secondhand smoke? Assuming that secondhand smoke imposes inescapable
"external [health] costs" on third parties, most economists (a least in the neoclassical
tradition) would consider this as a real case of market failure, which calls for government
intervention.
17.
There is a double catch here. First, the health hazards of secondhand smoke
may well turn out to be the hoax of the twentieth century. Regarding the 1992 EPA report
that classified secondhand tobacco smoke as a "Group A carcinogen," U.S. District Judge
William Osteen wrote, in a recent decision: "The court is faced with the ugly possibility that
EPA adopted a methodology for each chapter, without explanation, based on the outcome
sought in that chapter. ... The record and EPA's explanations to the court make it clear that
using standard methodology, EPA could not produce statistically significant results with its
selected studies" (Flue-Cured Tobacco Cooperative v. EPA, No. 6:93CV00370 at 60, 77,
M.D.N.C. July 17, 1998).
18.
The second point is that, even if secondhand smoke did cause a risk of disease
to non-smokers, private property rights would solve the problem better than regulations or
prohibitions. Take the example of restaurants. In order to maximize his profits, a restaurant
owner must mediate between the demands of customers who want to smoke, and of those
who do not wish to have smokers around. Depending on his clientele, on how much they are
willing to pay to have their preferences catered to, and on the costs of satisfying them, the
owner will decide to which extent he will segregate his customers. The market will show its
usual diversity, with non-smoking, smoking-only, and dual-section restaurants. Non-smokers
who do not wish to be exposed to secondhand smoke will give their patronage to nonsmoking restaurants. Similarly, people who don’t like to be punched don’t climb on boxing
rings, and people who want a zero risk of being hit by an avalanche or a fellow skier don’t
patronize Alpine ski resorts.
189
QUESTIONS
7. According to the article, the effects of secondhand smoking have been
exaggerated / underestimated (CIRCLE THE CORRECT ANSWER).
Quote from the text to support your answer.
________________________________________________________________
8. Could private property rights alleviate the problem of secondhand smoke?
YES / NO
CIRCLE THE CORRECT ANSWER
Support your answer with an example.
________________________________________________________________
Is Government Perfect?
19.
If what we have said is right, it appears that, even in the worst possible
scenario—i.e., smoking harms smokers' and nonsmokers' health—economics cannot justify
regulation of smoking, at least on private properties. Yet, an objection remains: in the real
world, markets do not work perfectly. We have returned to the market-failure argument.
20.
Suppose that there are, indeed, unredeemable market failures. It would still
remain to be proven that government intervention would succeed in correcting them at an
acceptable cost, including the loss of individual liberty. There is no point in comparing
imperfect markets with perfect government. Yet welfare economists traditionally do just that.
21.
The main thrust of the Public Choice school of economics has been to show that
government failures are often worse than market failures. Incoherent policies are one
manifestation of government failures—when, for example, government subsidizes tobacco
farmers while trying to reduce tobacco consumption. Public policy is more an outcome of
pressure group politics and bureaucratic incentives than a product of enlightened welfare
economists.
22.
Regulation against smoking is not only a theoretical debate. In most Western
countries, smoking is legally prohibited, or regulated, on private properties—not yet in
people's private homes, but in many private places open to the public, like restaurants,
shopping centers, or workplaces. Laws—and the armed men that ultimately enforce them—
not only prohibit businesses from mixing smokers' and nonsmokers' accommodations, but
also from offering smoking-only restaurants or smoking-only flights.
23.
Most economists are opposed to regulating adult smoking because economics
shows how markets are generally more efficient than political and bureaucratic processes.
On the contrary, the Public Health school expresses a heavy prejudice in favor of coercive
government intervention. There are some economic arguments for government regulation of
smoking, but they resort to the most questionable aspects of welfare economics, and
assume that bureaucrats and politicians are disinterested and omniscient. History suggests
that, between imperfect markets and imperfect governments, liberty and prosperity side with
the former.
190
QUESTIONS
9. How does the writer answer the question of the last section, “Is the government
perfect?”
_________________________________________________________________
10. Which does the writer favor, regulation of adult smoking by the government or
natural regulation in the economic market?
_________________________________________________________________
Quote a sentence to support your answer.
________________________________________________________________
191
The Next Petroleum
With oil prices going through the roof,
so-called biofuels are at last becoming a viable alternative to gasoline and diesel.
BY STEFAN THEIL,
2150
S.H.
NEWSWEEK, August 5, 2005
1.
A couple of years ago, when the cost of oil started to soar, Joel Rosado didn’t think twice.
The owner of an air-taxi service in Mineiros, Brazil, with a fleet of 12 planes, he needed to
do what he could to contain fuel costs—he spends 20 percent of his revenues each year on
300,000 or so liters of fuel. So he rang up aircraft-maker Embraer, put in an order for the
latest-model single-propeller Ipanema plane and tanked up— with alcohol. Flying on ethanol
(a form of alcohol) distilled from sugar cane slashed the fuel bill for his Ipanema plane by 40
percent, at no cost to performance. Now Rosado is buying another brand-new Ipanema and
plans to convert his 11 other planes to alcohol, too. The only problem: Embraer, the world’s
first manufacturer of ethanol-fueled planes, now has so many customers that there’s a twoyear wait list to convert gasoline engines to alcohol. Embraer is now looking into converting
the T25, a military-training turbojet, to alcohol. “At this rate,” says Embraer executive Acir
Padilha, “the gasoline motor is headed for extinction.”
2.
The demise of the gasoline motor is not restricted to the air in Brazil. The country’s sugarcane fields now feed a network of 320 ethanol plants, with 50 more planned in the next five
years. While most of Brazil’s 20 million drivers still tank up with fuel that is cut with 25
percent ethanol, a growing fleet of new-generation (flex-fuel) cars can run on straight
ethanol, which goes for as little as half the cost of gas at every service station from
downtown Rio to the remote Amazon outback. To keep up with demand, local sugar barons
and giant multinationals will invest some $6 billion in new plantations and distilleries over the
next five years. And Brazilian ethanol tankers are sailing the seven seas, supplying fuelhungry countries like South Korea and Japan as they begin to diversify away from oil. No
wonder there’s talk of Brazil’s fast becoming “the Saudi Arabia of ethanol.”
3.
Unlike oil, however, no one country dominates the market for ethanol and other so-called
biofuels. In the United States, the use of ethanol made from corn has surged, thanks to new
clean-air mandates and a fat federal tax credit. Production is almost as high as Brazil’s,
doubling since 2001 and already replacing 3 percent of all transport fuel. The energy bill
passed by the U.S. Congress last week will double ethanol production again. In Europe,
Germany has become the world’s biggest producer of “biodiesel”, a high-performing, highoctane fuel—the German variety is made from rapeseed—that is cutting into sales of regular
diesel at the nation’s pumps. In more than 30 countries from Thailand to India, Australia to
Malawi, crops as diverse as oil palms, soybeans and coconuts are being grown for fuel.
Venezuela, Indonesia and Fiji announced biofuel initiatives just last week. They hope to
emulate Brazil, which is revolutionizing both the countryside and the auto industry.
192
QUESTIONS
1. What main idea is illustrated by the example of Joel Rosado’s air-taxi service?
a. How to save money by using ethanol as fuel.
b. Reinvesting profits in one’s company ensures success.
c. Ethanol fuel is becoming an acceptable substitute for gasoline.
d. Ethanol is a cheaper source of fuel than gasoline.
8 pts
2.
Which advantage, besides cost, does ethanol have for success in global
competition?
________________________________________________________________
9 pts
4.
Has the inevitable transition from petroleum to next-generation fuels begun, right under our
very eyes? Certainly no one expects oil to disappear overnight—or even in the next one or
two decades. Even after the recent surge, farm-grown biofuels like ethanol and biodiesel still
account for only a small fraction of fossil-fuel use, as do other renewables such as wind and
solar power. But thanks to skyrocketing oil prices, worries about climate change and
growing anxiety over the future security of the world’s supply of crude, the prospects for
ethanol and other biofuels to make major inroads in oil use are bright. Even as much of the
world has focused on hydrogen cars, which may still be decades away, biofuels have, in the
words of a Canadian report, begun to pose “the first serious challenge to petroleum-based
fuel in a century.”
5.
The boom has some powerful institutions behind it. As governments across the globe come
to grips with global warming, biofuels are seen as a pragmatic step toward reducing carbon
emissions. A growing number of countries now require biofuels to be mixed into the fuel
supply, and oil companies like Shell and British Petroleum have invested heavily in
response. Already, Shell has become the world’s largest distributor of ethanol through its
global service-station network. Companies as disparate as Du Pont and Volkswagen are
jostling for a slice of the $20 billion-plus market. Farmers worldwide are enthusiastic about a
big, new outlet for their produce. Environmentalists hail the new fuel as clean and
sustainable. Whereas petroleum releases carbon that had previously been trapped deep
underground, the carbon in biofuels emissions has simply been captured from the
atmosphere by crops. Some carbon and energy goes into production—fertilizers, transport,
distilling—but the net effect, biofuel advocates say, is an up to 90 percent reduction in
greenhouse-gas emissions.
6.
Serious questions remain as to whether biofuels can be successfully scaled up to take on
oil. Would there, for instance, be enough land on which to grow energy crops without
lowering food production? And will biofuels be able to establish themselves without tax
credits and subsidies, especially if oil prices head downward? Then there’s the politics of
global trade. Already, powerful rich-country farm lobbies are trying to prevent exports of
biofuel from Brazil, Pakistan and other developing nations.
QUESTIONS
193
3. How does the writer answer the question in paragraph 4?
___________________________________________________________________
8 pts
4. According to paragraph 6, what 3 obstacles challenge the success of biofuels?
a. ______________________________________________
b. _______________________________________________
c. _______________________________________________
9 pts
7.
The politics may be complex, but the technology is straightforward. Oil, after all, is itself a
kind of biofuel. When plants are put under tremendous pressure for millions of years,
hydrogen and carbon atoms rearrange themselves into molecules that, when burned,
release abundant energy. Oil is also extracted in most plants by pressing them— peanut oil
ran German engineer Rudolf Diesel’s first eponymous engine in 1897. Plants, sugar cane,
sugar beets or grapes can also be fermented to produce alcohol. Like fossil fuels, vegetable
oil and ethanol are hydrocarbons that release their energy when burned.
8.
Indeed, what makes biofuels so compelling is that conventional engines can run on them.
That means biofuels can be mixed into the existing fuel supply (gasoline or diesel) and be
distributed using conventional gas stations. What’s more, the biofuel component of what
comes out of the pump can be gradually increased as production revs up, says Wolfgang
Steiger, biofuels guru at carmaker Volkswagen. Combustion engines can run on gas
“stretched” with 10 percent ethanol or less with no modifications. Higher concentrations of
ethanol require “flex-fuel” engines, which automatically adjust fuel injection depending on
the fuel mix (more than half of all new cars in Brazil have them).
9.
Biodiesel—a high-quality, clean-burning fuel remarkably similar to petroleum diesel—is
made from the oil extracted from the seeds of plants like soybeans or rapeseed, along with
methanol (a type of alcohol) and a catalyst. Conventional diesel engines easily tolerate 20
percent biodiesel “stretching,” and many are already warranted at up to 100 percent.
Because biofuels “don’t require anyone to reinvent the car’ says Volkswagen’s Steiger, they
offer an advantage over hydrogen fuel cells, a new and infinitely more complex technology.
10. This
compatibility is why many countries have picked up on biofuels as an easy way to
reduce their import bill for oil. Thailand is building over a dozen ethanol plants using sugar
cane and rice husks for supply. China has constructed the world’s largest fuel ethanol facility
at Jilin. It uses corn, but Chinese biofuel distillers are also experimenting with cassava,
sweet potato and sugar cane. Besides very closely studying Brazil’s production methods,
Beijing is reported to be eying the idea of importing Brazilian ethanol as well. Japan has
already gone that route, signing its first 15-million liter deal with Brazil in May as a prelude to
replacing up to 3 percent of Japan’s gasoline, which would generate a demand for 1.8 billion
liters of alcohol a year. Another boost to the burgeoning biofuels trade has come from the
European Union, whose goal of using 6 percent biofuels by 2010 would require a fivefold
increase in the production of biofuel crops – a gap other countries hope to fill. Malaysia, for
one, is expanding oil-palm plantations and setting up biodiesel plants expressly to serve the
194
German market.
QUESTIONS
5. Is it necessary to modify ordinary cars in order to use biofuel? YES / NO
Support your answer by quoting from the text:
_____________________________________________________________
10 pts
11. A
global biofuel economy, with a division of labor favoring the most efficient producers, is
key to developing biofuels as a viable alternative to oil. For many developing countries,
year-round growing seasons and cheap farm labor are a valuable competitive advantage
over cold, high-cost northern countries. Super-efficient Brazil now sells ethanol at the
equivalent of $25 dollars a barrel, less than half the cost of crude. What’s more, because
parts of the sugar-cane plant are used both to fertilize the fields and to fire up the distilleries,
Brazil uses much less fossil fuel to produce alcohol than Europe and America. In those
places, by contrast, ethanol and biodiesel cost $50 and up because of shorter growing
seasons, lower crop yields, and higher wages.
12. For
either the United States or Europe to replace just 10 percent of transport fuel using
today’s crops and technology would require around 40 percent of cropland. Southern
countries growing sugar cane, on the other hand, can get up to five times as much biofuel
from each acre of land.
13. Yet
this emerging global market in biofuels is running into some serious political trouble.
Developed-country farm lobbies are lending biofuels a powerful momentum, but also
demanding protectionist barriers. “Everyone pretends their enthusiasm is for the
environment, but its all about agricultural subsidies,” biofuels expert Delahouliere warns. To
encourage biofuels, the EU pays farmers €45 for each hectare of “energy crops” they grow.
That gives European farmers a big incentive to keep cheap foreign ethanol from entering
their market. ‘When Pakistan got special access to EU markets in 2002 and began shipping
ethanol, says Delahouliere, local farm lobbies persuaded Brussels to change course and reestablish tariffs. The United States also has a 50-cent-a-gallon import duty on Brazilian
ethanol. Even within the union, some European countries have raised subtle protective
walls. Almost every country has its own biofuel standard with slightly different specifications.
14. The
next generation of biofuels may be easier for northern countries to produce
economically. Instead of getting fuel from sugar or oil—a tiny part of the total plant— upstart
companies are building new factories that convert a plant’s entire “biomass” into fuel.
Present fermentation technology leaves the cellulose—a stiff material that gives plants their
structure—as waste. (In the case of biodiesel, oil is pressed from the seeds; the rest of the
plant is discarded.) Last fall, the Canadian firm Logen inaugurated the world’s first
commercial plant that takes leftover straw from surrounding farms and turns it into ethanol.
The trick is to use genetically engineered enzymes—only now becoming cheaply
available—that can convert the cellulose in straw to glucose, which is then fermented to
produce ethanol. Shell Oil has invested $46 million for Logen to complete a bigger facility
that will produce 200,000 tons of ethanol a year—at an estimated cost of $1.30 per gallon—
once it goes online in 2008.
QUESTIONS
6. a. According to paragraph 11, which countries have an advantage in the production of
195
biofuels?
__________________________________
b. Give a reason for this advantage.
____________________________________________________________________
10 pts
7. What is the relationship between paragraphs 11 and 12?
a. main idea and example
b. comparison
c. contrast
d. cause and effect
8 pts
8 a. How does the main idea in paragraph 14 differ from that of paragraph 11?
___________________________________________________________________
b. What new information accounts for this different approach?
___________________________________________________________________
10 pts
9 . Find a paragraph in this section that presents the main idea in the first sentence while the
rest of the paragraph illustrates this idea.
a. Paragraph number __________
b. Main idea:_______________________________________________________
c. Illustration of main idea:____________________________________________
2+4+4=10 pts
15. In Germany,
Volkswagen is financing Choren Industries, which is developing a process to
synthesize a premium-quality diesel fuel from the cellulose in trees and straw. Cars at
Volkswagen’s Wolfsburg headquarters already use the fuel from Choren’s pilot facility, and a
commercial-size plant will go online in 2007. “This will drastically cut the amount of land
needed to produce biofuels,” says VW’s Steiger.
16. To
produce fast-growing crops—all that counts is total plant mass, not fruit size or seed
count—Volkswagen is financing research on fast-growing willows and poplars, 50-headed
sunflowers, and strains of corn three times as high as normal. “Growing plants for mass will
change our landscape:’ Steiger says. According to a study released in April by the U.S.
Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the United States alone could use
these new technologies to replace 30 percent of its current gasoline consumption by 2030—
without cutting into food production or greatly changing land use.
17. The
surprising news is that biofuels could help make hydrogen unnecessary. Already, the
much-touted “hydrogen economy” looks farther away than ever—it may be 30 years before
196
hydrogen plays any significant role, says VW’s Steiger. In the meantime, Brazil dropped its
alcohol subsidies in the late 1990s and now makes biofuel so competitive it could trump
gasoline at $25 a barrel. With the rest of the world following Brazil, hydrogen is going to
have to run fast to catch up. “At the very least biofuels are a bridge toward the hydrogen
economy:’ lEA’s Lew Fulton says. “But if you add increased use of biofuels, other fuels such
as gas-to-liquid and coal-to-liquid, and finally add improvements in fuel efficiency, we may
not ever need the fuel cell at all.” That would make biofuels a convincing alternative indeed.
QUESTIONS
10. In paragraph 16, what additional approach are northern countries considering in
order to conquer the biofuels market?
______________________________________________________________
8 pts
11. Does the hydrogen fuel cell have any relevance as an alternative to gasoline, in the
writer’s opinion?
Circle the correct answer:
YES / NO
Quote to support your answer.
______________________________________________________________
10 pts
197
Duel of the Diamonds
ELD
06/07
MAN-MADE DIAMONDS ARE NOW SO PERFECT THEY FOOL THE
EXPERTS. THE DIAMOND INDUSTRY IS HOPING NOBODY NOTICES.
BY MICHAEL HASTINGS
1
Leo , a balding man with an Israeli accent, stands behind a glass counter in one of
the hundreds of jewelry shops on 47th Street, the heart of New York's diamond district. Leo
makes his living on the strength of his ability to evaluate the authenticity and value of
diamonds. He is examining three small stones, each weighing less than half a carat—one
pink, one colorless and a third, slightly green, called a marquise. He picks up the crystals,
checking for the way the gem reflects light, its clarity and the shape and quality of the cut.
"They're real," he pronounces, handing over a business card with no last name. “They’re
very nice, but you're not going to retire on them. Come back when you have bigger rocks."
2
Reactions like this are making the diamond industry very nervous. There are now
two technologies for making diamonds in a laboratory that are virtually indistinguishable
from the natural crystals mined from the earth. Apollo Diamond, a Boston firm, has
developed a method of growing perfect diamonds in a pressurized chamber, and plans to
start selling colored and colorless diamonds this summer. Gemesis, a firm in Sarasota,
Florida, has perfected a technology that uses high pressures and temperatures to mimic
the way diamonds form naturally in the earth. Gemesis is now selling colored gemstones,
including rare yellow and blue diamonds, for up to 75 percent less than. the market rate for
natural diamonds that are by most measures identical. At least three other companies are
known to be working on these technologies. Mother Earth no longer has a monopoly on
making diamonds.
3
What impact this development will have on the place of diamonds in our culture is
unclear. Civilizations from the Romans to the Moguls of India have coveted these
gemstones. Medieval European kings displayed them as symbols of virtue. Renaissance
merchants hoarded them as status symbols. In modern times, diamonds have become the
passion of future brides' and scientists alike. How much does this value depend on place of
origin—150 kilometers or so underground, then ferried up near the surface by billions of
years of volcanic activity? How much does it derive from the gems' brilliant sparkle, the
198
product of an octahedral crystalline structure that reflects light in just the right way?
Diamonds, says George E. Harlow, author of "The Nature of Diamonds" and gem curator at
the American Museum of Natural History, seem as if "they are created by God." Now that
scientists can re-create God's brilliance in the lab, will we still prize them so highly?
_______________________________________________________
1. What main idea does paragraph 1 illustrate?
Diamond experts today________________________________
____________________________________________________
[10 pts]
________________________________________________________
4
The diamond industry is in a swoon. More than with any other gem, the market for
diamonds is based largely on an illusion. Contrary to their reputation as rare gems,
diamonds are relatively common--sapphires and rubies, which are often priced below
diamonds, are in fact thousands of times rarer. What makes diamonds expensive and
sought after is a deft combination of marketing and carefully controlled supply among a few
big companies.
5
Five diamond-mining firms—De Beers, Alrosa, Leviev, BHP Billiton and Rio Tin--
control almost 90 percent of the market, according to the Rapaport Diamond Report. The
marketing is largely the work of De Beers, the world's largest diamond-mining company and
creator of perhaps the most effective advertising slogan in history-"A Diamond Is Forever."
Almost single-handedly, De Beers has made diamonds a synonym for love and an
international symbol of commitment; today 85 percent of diamonds that are bought and
sold in the United States are intended as gifts.
6
What happens if stones made in the lab flood the $60 billion diamond jewelry
market, undercutting prices and puncturing the illusion of value? Other than cultured pearls,
no man-made commodity has ever truly supplanted such a natural treasure; so-called
synthetics could make diamonds as common as quartz. "If these synthetic diamond
manufacturers start putting a lot of stones in the market," says Robert M. Hazen, a scientist
at the Carnegie Institution in Washington, D.C., "the diamond market could crash."
199
7
If the new diamond-making technologies were the brainchild of a single inventor,
perhaps De Beers, a diamond mining firm, could buy them and lock them away in the
company vault. But what's emerging now is the culmination of 50 years of trying to create
the perfect diamond. The first breakthrough came in 1954 when Tracy Hall, a research
scientist at General Electric in Schenectady, New York, invented a machine that recreated
the high pressures and high temperatures that form diamonds in the earth. The small
stones which were produced were as hard as real diamonds but they didn't dazzle the eye their crystalline structure was too imperfect. Nevertheless, De Beers' stock plummeted after
the feat was announced, according to Hazen, author of "The Diamondmakers."
____________________________________________________
2. What is the relationship between paragraphs 4 and 5?
Circle the correct answer and fill in the blanks
Paragraph 5 SUPORTS / CONTRADICTS the information in paragraph 4 by
mentioning _________________________________________________
[10 pts]
3. Why would diamond companies like De Beers see the flooding of the market
by the new technologies as a threat?
Give 3 reasons:
a. __________________________________________________________
b. __________________________________________________________
c. __________________________________________________________
[9 pts]
8. De Beers, founded in 1888, maintained a monopoly on diamonds through most of the
20th century and wanted to keep close tabs on any technology that had a remote possibility
of threatening its gemstone business. This family-run firm soon came out with its own
diamond machine design so similar to Hall's that De Be "must have used industrial
espionage to [it]," says Hazen. GE sued for patent infringement and, after a six-year legal
battle, won an estimated $25 million settlement. By then, De Beers had launched itself into
industrial diamond making; last year the company accounted for an estimated third of the
$1 billion-a-year business.
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9
In 1989, a team of five Russian scientists based in Novosibirsk, Siberia, managed to
create gemstones at the relative low pressure of 60,000 atmospheres. After the Soviet
Union collapsed, Russian scientists began trying to attract investors. De Beers caught on in
1993, according to Victor Vins, a former Soviet scientist. "There was a big fuss," he says.
"They invited me to London and to Johannesburg. They invited me to work with them as a
consultant, and we did for a while. I think they just wanted to keep an eye on us." Carter
Clarke, an American entrepreneur, heard about the diamond making during a business trip
to Russia. In 1996 he paid $57,000 for a "diamond-growth chamber the size of a washing
machine and founded Gemesis, which now makes diamonds at the rate of more than 100
carats a week.
10
While entrepreneurs scoured post Soviet Russia, Robert Linares, the founder of
Apollo Diamond, was secretly developing a different technology. The company had started
out making diamond wafers for semiconductors as a replacement for silicon. Researchers
modified a common technique in which diamonds are grown from tiny "seeds" in a
superheated high-pressure chamber. A mixture of hydrogen and natural gas is added to the
chamber, forming carbon atoms that settle on the seeds like dust on an old chair, and a
crystal forms layer by layer. The engineers were delighted "to find that this so-called
chemical-vapor-deposition method, or CVD could be made to yield clear, perfect gems—
including colorless diamonds, which the high-pressure methods couldn't manage. Apollo,
which made the three gems
NEWSWEEK
took to be evaluated hasn’t yet been able to make
stones bigger than one carat, but promises to be making two-carat stones by 2006.
___________________________________________________
4. What is the common theme in paragraphs 8 -10?
a. the end of De Beers supremacy in the diamond market.
b. De Beers frustration in a changing market.
c. the development of technologies for diamond making.
d. world reaction to changes in the diamond industry.
[8 pts]
5. How is Apollo Diamond’s technology unique compared to other
manufacturers?
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In addition to the high-pressure technique, Apollo uses
_____________________________
.
This results in diamonds which are _____________________.
[10 pts]
___________________________________________________________
11
Apollo plans to start rolling out its diamonds in six months, most likely in partner-ship
with luxury-jewelry designers. The gems will probably sell for l0 to30 percent below the cost
of natural diamonds. For the past two years, Gemesis has been selling its fancy colored
diamonds for a fraction of the price of natural stones—$4,800 for a one-carat yellow
diamond that would typically retail for $18,000. Although the equipment to make the manmade gems is pricey, experts say it's a bargain compared with opening a diamond mine.
It's also many times cheaper for the manufacturer to get the diamonds to the store—the
long supply chain from to mine to retailer is basically eliminated.
12
The newcomers won't say how low they could afford to price their diamonds, but
they're no more eager than the established companies to see diamonds turned into a
cheap commodity. Nor do they want to provoke the ire of the diamond establishment.
Apollo and Gemesis say they're making "cultured" diamonds for a new type of customer
who likes to "get frosted" or "wear a lot of ice"—a market that Apollo CEO Bryant Linares,
Robert's son, puts at $2 billion a year. Gemesis laser inscribes labels on its gems so
appraisers can see that they're not natural; Apollo says each cultured diamond should have
a certificate of authentication.
13
De Beers and other big firms, by contrast, sneer at the market for what they call
"synthetics." (The diamond makers prefer the term "cultured," as with the pearl industry, but
have lost that battle In at least one court case, in Germany.) Stephen Lussier, executive
director of marketing at De Beers, says the company's research has shown that 94 percent
of women would choose "the real -thing" over a synthetic diamond. Scientists may say the
lab gems are identical chemically, physically and optically to natural diamonds, but,
according to Lussier, they "don't understand what it is that makes a diamond valuable to
the men who buy it and the women who receive it. "De Beers has begun to insist in its
marketing campaigns that only diamonds forged by the earth's geology are authentic.
_____________________________________________________
6. According to this section, what are the advantages of each type of diamond?
Man-made
Natural
a. _______________________________
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c. ______________________________
b. _______________________________
[9 pts]
7. Which goal do the manufacturers of the synthetic diamond and traditional mining
companies share? Complete the sentence.
Neither wants____________________________________________________________
[9 pts]
_______________________________________________
14
"Will the distinction between man-made diamonds and natural ones eventually
disappear? The answer may hinge on whether De Beers can come up with a cheap and
easy way of telling the two apart. Doing so conclusively currently entails a battery of hightech instruments that's beyond the pale for most diamond appraisers. Gemologists at the
International Gemological Institute, a New York-based firm, used a high-powered
microscope on the diamonds provided by Apollo to look for inclusions—tiny marks a
diamond would acquire underground while it was being formed. A diamond that's too clean
(or too perfect, as Bryant Linares would have it) might be man-made- or it could simply be a
very clean diamond. IGI then used a $40,000 machine to shoot a mid-infrared light through
the diamonds to analyze the distribution of nitrogen atoms.
15
IGI next ran the diamonds through two devices supplied by De Beers. The first
called Diamond Sure, checks the nitrogen content as well. The second, Diamond View,
looks at a diamond's "growth structure" by illuminating the gem with a high concentration of
ultraviolet light. The test can reveal a diamond made by high pressures, but it's stumped by
Apollo's CVD diamonds, in which carbon atoms are formed more similarly to natural
diamonds. In the final test—on a machine that costs $100,000—the IGI gemologists cooled
a diamond in liquid nitrogen so an even more accurate reading could be taken. They then
shot a laser through it and analyzed the wavelength. A natural diamond would measure a
wavelength of 741 nanometers; Apollo's CVD diamond measured 737.
________________________________________________
8. Why has there been difficulty distinguishing between man-made and natural
diamonds?
__________________________________________________________________
[9 pts]
203
9. Which main idea do paragraphs 14 and 15 share?
a. Evaluation of man -made and natural diamonds is expensive.
b. Man-made and natural diamonds are easily distinguishable.
c. Natural and man-made diamonds are difficult to differentiate.
d. IGI is the only institute testing the two kinds of diamonds.
[8 pts]
______________________________________________________
16
What happens when less scrupulous businesses start to get hold of these diamond-
making technologies? High-pressure diamond presses could be made to fit on a desktop.
Many semiconductor firms are to keen to get the latest CVD technology; it seems only a
matter of time before other engineers figure out how to use it to make perfect diamonds.
Whatever new tests are developed, manufacturers are sure to find ways of fooling them.
They might tweak the technology to add inclusions to their diamonds, or small amounts of
nitrogen. The detection challenge is like "a cat-and-mouse game," says David Weinstein,
executive director of the IGI.
17
Don't count De Beers out yet, however. The company has been developing its own
CVD technology and is closely studying high-pressure techniques. If gem-quality synthetics
were to puncture the diamond market, De Beers would most likely be well placed to jump
into the game, with far greater technological and marketing resources than any other
player. No doubt diamonds are forever. It's just not clear which kind.
With HENK ROSSOUW in Johannesburg, JOANNA CHEN in Jerusalem and
FRANK BROWN and NADYA TITOVA in Moscow
NEWSWEEK
__________________________________________________
10. What developments in the man-made diamond industry are causes for
concern, according to the writer?
Quote a sentence from the text.
_______________________________________________________________
[10 pts]
11. What is the writer’s purpose in writing this article?
a. to convince the reader of the value of man-made diamonds.
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b. to criticize alternative diamond making processes.
c. to warn the buyer of potential dishonest trading in diamonds.
d. to inform the reader of challenges to the natural diamond industry.
[8 pts]
205