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Hadassah College
SELECTED READINGS AND
EXERCISES IN ENGLISH
MANAGEMENT
LEVEL 3
Instructor:
Nina Luskin
For Internal Use Only
2014 – 2015
1
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Prefixes
3
Derivations
4
Subject and verb in a simple sentence
5
Passive verbs
6
Questions
7
Anaphors
9
Definitions
14
Logical relations
22
Noun phrases
35
Participles
42
Inference
45
Terms for text analysis
47
Punctuation
48
Passages
Tradition (anaphors, syntax)
Switzerland (polemics)
The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race (polemics)
Ethnocentrism (skimming)
The Primary Aims of Government (skimming)
Why Women Are Paid Less Than Men (skimming)
The Brain and the Computer (skimming)
Forget What You Know about Water (in-depth reading)
The Chemistry of Coal (reading for detail)
Working Hand-in-Hand with Africa (reading for detail)
Materials Provided by Tirtsa Harif
Management, Plain and Simple
Why I Quit the Company
Why Doctors Should Be More Empathetic − But Not Too Much More
To Conquer Burnout, Think Smaller
Keep it Clean
Smoke Screens
Conguitos
Is the truth too hot to handle?
Infestation: Nightmare on Bedbug Street
Is the office really necessary?
Should Drug Companies Get to See What Your Doctor Is Prescribing?
Spas: a hotel's best medicine
The Night-Weekend Effect
The Art of Influence
Can Smokers Be Banned From Government Jobs?
How Skype Is Changing the Job Interview
Can We Be Trained to Like Healthy Foods?
Persuasive Buzzwords
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51
53
56
59
61
65
66
68
70
75
77
79
81
83
86
88
90
92
94
97
100
103
105
110
112
113
118
PREFIXES
Decide if the following statements are true (T) or false (F).
1. A subterranean cave is found under the ground.
2. A pseudo-intellectual is a person with true intellectual ability.
3. You can find an unlisted telephone number in the telephone book.
4. If one is bilingual, one speaks only one language.
5. When we deflated the balloon, all of the air went out of it.
6. The students showed disrespect for the teacher by standing up when he entered the
room.
7. If a room is in semi-darkness, it would be difficult to read there.
8. When you exclude someone from your group. s/he is no longer a part of it.
9. Someone who works alone has many co-workers.
10. Inter-urban roads connect two or more cities.
11. A hyperactive child can sit still for hours.
12. World War II antedates the first atomic bomb.
13. A multi-lingual person knows several languages.
14. A preface is found at the beginning of the book.
15. Hypothermia is a condition in which the body’s temperature is below normal.
16. An antisocial person might spend a lot of time alone.
17. A malignant growth is nothing to worry about.
18. When a drug is given intravenously, it goes directly into the bloodstream.
19. In a completely automated factory, everything is made carefully by hand.
20. When you postdate a check, payment is delayed until the date written on the
check.
3
Evaluate the following statements as desirable (D) or undesirable (U)
Explain the point of view if appropriate
1. A substandard product
D
U
2. A pseudo-scientific theory
D
U
3. An unattainable level of expertise
D
U
4. Bisexual tendencies in a conservative society
D
U
5. A tripartite division of a country following a war
D
U
6. Devaluation of currency
D
U
7. Subversive activities in a totalitarian state
D
U
8. Unreliable share market for a stockholder
D
U
9. An unstable opposition party for a president
D
U
10. The disruption of an inflammatory process
D
U
11. Driving 40 kph on an interstate highway
D
U
12. A subzero environment for growing roses
D
U
13. Multinational cooperation of animal friends
D
U
14. Malnutrition resulting from a crash diet
D
U
15. Postwar economic development
D
U
16. Parking a semitrailer without mirrors
D
U
17. An informal dance class for antisocial individuals
D
U
18. An intravenous injection for acute pain
D
U
19. A trans-Atlantic gas pipe
D
U
20. An anteroom at the back of a cottage
D
U
DERIVATIONS
Memory
memorize
memorization
memorized
Industry
industrialize
industrialization
industrialized deindustrialize (?)
Category
catergorize
categorization
categorized
decategorize (?)
Secular
secularize
secularization
secularized
desecularize (?)
Popular
popularize
popularization
popularized
depopularize (?)
Verbal
verbalize
verbalization
verbalized
deverbalize (?)
Criminal
criminalize
criminalization
criminalized
decriminalize (?)
4
dememorize (?)
SUBJECT AND VERB IN A SIMPLE SENTENCE
In the following sentences find the verb and subject
1. Our company will gladly refund your money.
2. Three of our reviewers have read your manuscript.
3. Someone should have turned on [the porch light].
4. [The striking electricians] appointed [Herman Swift] [spokesman].
5. Upon completion of the job, I’ll pay you a bonus of five hundred dollars.
6. Loss of tax revenue has become a really serious local problem.
7. A period of tension and distrust followed the invasion.
8. Wide reading will at all events enlarge your vocabulary.
9. A bank of black clouds was moving in from the west.
10. Science fiction has only recently become academically respectable as literature.
11. Some of you have obviously been shirking your duties.
12. You should have been taking better class notes.
13. You are not being cooperative, Mr. Abby.
14. The cut in the budget will surely weaken our program.
15. I must soon be leaving for my tennis match.
16. All of us have been worrying about Sue's health.
17. The lack of experienced pass receivers has hurt our team.
18. A supervisor from the main office has been training the apprentices.
19. One of the thieves must have been hiding in the basement.
20. For all of you young people [this] should be a truly inspirational conference.
21. Your experience, together with your strong recommendations, has won [you] [the
appointment].
22. The price of all petroleum products has been steadily rising.
23. By this time the play has probably started.
5
PASSIVE VERBS
Part 1
1. After the show the audience was given a guided tour of the hall.
2. John Jones has been elected president of our service club.
3. Those files will be retained in my office until further notice.
4. Colonel Matthews is considered one of the best tacticians in the Army.
5. That hold has been refined by a new electronic process.
6. We were assigned offices on the top floor of the new building.
7. Perhaps we will be asked our opinion.
8. Freshly baked biscuits should be kept warm in the oven.
9. The whole commentary was deemed irrelevant.
10. In the beginning that aspect of the operation was not believed important.
11. The incident was not reported on the late news.
12. The volunteers were paid a small stipend for their efforts.
13. Physical education should be made a mandatory part of all college programs.
14. No one is granted extra credit in this course.
15. The owners were not allowed a look at the preliminary sketches.
16. That work should have been finished before the end of the hour.
17. He was thought innocent by most of his coworkers.
18. In return for their testimony they were granted immunity from prosecution.
19. The less able candidates are sometimes elected to office.
20. That shirt could have been dyed a prettier color.
6
Part II
1. At the door we were handed souvenir programs.
2. Mr. Elwood has been appointed director of vocational education.
3. The records will be kept in our files for ten years.
4. Simpson is considered one of the brightest persons in the firm.
5. This conflict has never been resolved by the courts.
6. The new agency has been assigned quarters in the Doane Building.
7. Later you will be sent a bill for these services.
8. The soil in this planting bed should always be kept moist.
9. The signature on the contract has been judged a forgery.
10. Ms. Horwood was not told the reason for her dismissal.
11. His escapade is still being talked about in our town.
12. These young people were paid scandalously low wages.
13. English 205 has been made a required course for all sophomores.
14. Cash customers are allowed a 10 percent discount.
15. We were shown a sketch of the proposed bridge.
16. Your assignment must be submitted before the end of the week.
17. Hartfield was declared guilty as an accessory to the crime.
18. Four of these men were later granted pardons by the governor of the state.
19. The nonconformists were driven out of the colony.
20. These walls should have been painted a softer shade of green.
QUESTIONS
Part I
1. What will the sales tax on this purchase be?
2. How many of the concerts did you attend?
3. To whom should I send my written complaint?
4. When will you give us your final decision?
5. Who could the intruder have been?
6. Whom did the personnel director interview this morning?
7. Who will Mr. Frazier’s replacement be?
8. How can I make my themes more interesting?
9. What salary did Ms. Horton promise you?
7
10. What are you hiding behind your back?
11. Which dictionary would you recommend for my purposes?
12. Which of these new trainees can we really rely on?
13. How cold do the winters get in Quebec?
14. Whom would you call our greatest secretary of state?
15. Why do you regard me as your enemy?
16. How many term papers did he assign your class last semester?
17. How sincere did Mr. Sharpe’s apology seem t you?
18. What courses have you signed up for?
19. Which one of these routes should I take to Atlanta?
20. What kind of dessert may I serve you?
Part II
21. How long should I make my introductory speech?
22. How much money did you lose at the racetrack yesterday?
23. Which horse was declared the official winner of the second race?
24. Whom among these candidates can an honest man vote for?
25. Who will your opponent be in the final game of the tournament?
26. What school did your team plan against in the semifinal round?
27. What will the outcome be?
28. Whom should we appoint chairperson?
29. What has Donna told you about her plan?
30. Whose class notes can I borrow before the final examination?
31. How tall has your youngest son grown?
32. Whom has the boss selected for these new duties?
34. How much did your overtime parking fine amount to?
35. How optimistic do you feel about our candidate’s chances?
36. How could anyone think of my client as a hardened criminal?
37. How many days of vacation does your company allow you?
38. Whom do you consider the prime suspect?
39. How much grain did the United States ship to Russia last year?
40. How good is the television reception in this area?
8
ANAPHORS
Part I
Find the references for the underlined words:
1. The Koala, a native of Australia, gets all its nourishment from one tree, the
eucalyptus; it doesn’t even need to add water to its diet.
its _____________ it _______________
2. Recent statistics show that Argentina is a Third World country. Like other countries
described by this term, it has a large foreign debt.
This term ______________ it _______________
3. The running of the bulls in Spain is an annual event famous all around the world.
Every July, a group of bulls is released to charge through the city’s streets. Ahead,
behind and all around them are thousands of men and women seeking the thrill of
running with the bulls and impatient to share their feelings about it.
them _______________
their _______________
it _______________
4. The woman who was hypnotized confused two visual images, one of a mother
singing to her baby, and the other of a girl playing the piano. These grew into a single
impression in her mind, so she remembered something that hadn’t happened.
These _______________
5. If you want to lose weight, avoid eating fried foods. Such foods contain a lot of fat
and are very unhealthy.
Such _______________
6. Why do so many people get addicted to chocolate? It can’t simply be that it tastes
good. So do popcorn and pizza, but the words popaholic and pizzaholic haven’t
forced their way into the American lexicon the way chocoholic has.
it _______________ their _______________
so do _______________
7. Scientists believe that there are two distinct types of twins. The ones that developed
from the same ovum are difficult to distinguish, while those that developed from two
separate ova are no more alike than are regular brothers and sisters.
ones _______________
those _______________
8. Pediatric science has greatly changed its approach to baby care. For a while doctors
said mothers shouldn’t feed their babies more than once every four hours. Now they
admit this was wrong. For a while they told pregnant women to keep weight gain
minimal (and some women did so by smoking more cigarettes). Now they have found
this wrong too.
its _______________
they _______________
this (1) _______________
did so _______________
this (2) _______________
9
9. Many of us don’t realize that people from so-called primitive tribes often have
keener perception and more highly developed powers of observation than most of us.
The former results from their vast experience in surviving the wilds of the jungle.
the former _______________
their _______________
10. It is not uncommon for someone to feel quite sure that he was present when a
certain event took place while, in fact, he was not. This is a result of his having heard
many stories about the event.
he _______________
this _______________
11. The study investigated the effect of day care on 1,364 children from birth to age 3.
More than 20% were cared for full time by their mothers. The rest were in day-care
centers or in the homes of paid caregivers. The latter spent 30 hours or more each
week in those settings.
The latter _______________
those settings _______________
12. Half a century ago, Argentina’s per capita production was twice as high as Italy’s
and almost the same as that of France.
that _______________
10
Part II
Read the passages and answer the question(s) that follow(s)
1. The nineteenth century saw the sudden growth of many cities with populations
ranging from 100,000 to 8 million. An important reason for this development lies with
the great advances in technology that came during the second half of the eighteenth
century and during the nineteenth century.
a) What was one of the effects of the great advances in technology during the
nineteenth century?
2. At about three months of age, a baby is likely to smile if somebody comes close
and talks to him. This shows that he is aware of the approach of the other person, and
that pleasurable sensations are aroused. If, however, the person moves too quickly or
speaks too sharply, the baby may look apprehensive and cry. He hill not "trust" the
unusual situation but will have a feeling of uneasiness, of mistrust, instead.
a) What kind of reaction shows that the baby is aware of the approach of another
person?
b) Under what circumstances is the baby likely to feel apprehension?
3. Democratic discipline uses punishments and rewards, with more emphasis on
rewards. Punishments are never harsh. They are used where children willfully disobey
their parents.
a) How are parents likely to react when children refuse to obey them?
4. Margaret Mead's visit to Samoa later produced a description of a non-violent,
sexually liberated pacific world. In contrast, Freeman's visit there brings to the reader
a catalog of seething tensions and strict controls.
a) Which country is described by Freeman as replete with tensions and strict controls?
5. In Mexico and India, the "revolutionary party" tends to remain in power long after
the revolution is over. It remains in power through popular gratitude and through the
adept manipulation of the institutions that the veterans created in the first place for
themselves. Like well-tailored suits, they fit their measurements perfectly.
a) What is compared with well-tailored suits?
b) Whose measurements do these entities fit?
11
Anaphors: Passage
Going to School
1.
It has been argued that an infant under three who is cared for outside the home
may suffer because of the separation from his parents. The British psychoanalyst John
Bowlby maintains that separation from the parents during the sensitive “attachment”
period from birth to three may scar a child’s personality and predispose him to
emotional problems in later life. Some people have drawn the conclusion from
Bowlby’s work that children should not be subjected to day care before the age of
three because of the parental separation it entails, and many people do believe this.
But there are also some arguments against such a strong conclusion
2.
Firstly, anthropologists point out that the secluded love affair between children
and parents found in modern societies does not usually exist in traditional societies.
For example, among the Ngoni tribe the father and mother of a child do not rear their
infant along – far from it. But traditional societies are so different from modern
societies that comparisons based on just one factor are hard to interpret.
3.
Secondly, common sense tells us that day care would not be so widespread
today if parents, caretakers or pediatricians found that children had problems with it.
But Bowlby’s analysis raises the possibility that early day care has delayed effects.
The possibility that such care might lead to, say, more mental illness or crime 15 or 20
years later can only be explored by the use of statistics. Studies of this kind have not
yet been carried out, and even if they were, the results would be complicated and
controversial. Thirdly, in the last decade, there have been a number of careful
American studies of children in day care, and they have uniformly reported that day
care had a neutral or slightly positive effect on children’s development. But tests that
were used to measure this development are not widely enough accepted to settle the
issue.
4.
But whatever the long-term effects, parents sometimes find the immediate
effects difficult to deal with. Children under three are likely to protest at leaving their
parents and show unhappiness. At the age of three or three and a half almost all
children find the transition to nursery easy, and this is undoubtedly why more and
more parents make use of child care at this time. The matter, then, is far from clearcut, though experience and available evidence indicate that early care is reasonable
for infants.
Excerpted from Childhood: Pathways of Discovery by Sheldon White and Barbara
Nolkin White.
12
Going to School
Comprehension Questions – Focus on Reference
1. Who may be predisposed to more emotional problems in life as a result of early
separation?
_____________________________________________________________________
2. What do many people believe?
_____________________________________________________________________
3. What is the “strong conclusion” mentioned in Lines 8-9?
_____________________________________________________________________
4. “But traditional societies are so different from modern societies that comparisons
based on just one factor are hard to interpret” (Paragraph 2, last sentence). Which
factor is being referred to?
_____________________________________________________________________
5. Complete the following sentence:
We can infer from Paragraph 3 that parents, caretakers, and pediatricians believe that
children don’t have problems with
_____________________________________________________
6. What may lead to more mental illness or crime?
_____________________________________________________________________
7. Which statistical result would be complicated and controversial (Paragraph 3, Line
6)?
_____________________________________________________________________
8. What shows a neutral or slightly positive effect of day care on children’s
development?
_____________________________________________________________________
9. Which issue is not settled yet (Paragraph 3, last line)?
_____________________________________________________________________
10.
a) When do most parents send their children to day care?
_____________________________________________________________________
b) Why do they do this at this particular time?
_____________________________________________________________________
13
DEFINITIONS
For each of the two terms defined below, find the general category and list the
characteristics:
Prejudice is a rigid, emotional attitude often based on inadequate data, characterized
by stereotyped thinking and involving a tendency to respond negatively toward
certain identifiable groups or members of these groups. Prejudice does not involve
any overt action or behavior, although it may serve as a stimulus to behavior. As it is
an attitude, it is a hidden or covert characteristic, which people may or may not reveal
to others.
Prejudice is emotional; it involves feelings. These feelings are negative and are often
revealed in the words used to describe a group. After the Japanese attacked Pearl
Harbor, strong prejudice against them existed in the United States. The Japanese were
described as cunning, crafty, wily, slippery, shifty, treacherous, evasive, and
underhanded, all obviously undesirable traits. Such negative connotations are also
attached to the word "black." For example, blacken, black magic and blackmail. Of
course, the word "white" can be used emotionally and negatively, as in white elephant
and white-livered.
Entrepreneurship is part of the human resources in our economic system. It is
different from labor in that entrepreneurs have skills necessary for the running of a
successful business. That is not to say that they can be labeled as "managers."
Management skills are usually necessary, though not always, as managers can be
hired just like any other type of labor. What really makes entrepreneurs different is an
ability to plan ahead, the willingness to make decisions and take the risks, and bear
the uncertainties associated with producing goods for sale in the future, often in
markets which are unpredictable.
Henry Ford was an entrepreneur. He had the idea of marketing the first cheap, massproduced car and selling it to people who had never before considered that they could
afford a car. His factories were run by managers, but he was the one who took a
gamble and it paid off. He was a successful entrepreneur, but it is very likely that
there have been many unsuccessful ones that we have never heard of.
14
Forms of the Family
1.
Most of social anthropologists recognize the family as a basic social unit. In is
most elementary form it can be defined as a group consisting of a man and a woman
and their children living together in one home. Such a domestic group is known as a
nuclear family. It is usually established by means of a formal contract of marriage, but
a contract of this kind is not a necessary condition for a nuclear family to exist. It can
also be said to exist when a couple and their offspring share a common residence,
whether the couple is married or not. That is to say, a family may exist even when the
relationship between the man and the woman is one of concubinage rather than one of
marriage.
2.
Although we can, in general, define the nuclear family as a couple and their
children living within the same residential boundary, we must recognize that such a
definition is in fact a generalization which may not hold true in particular instances.
Sometimes a nuclear family is incomplete in that one spouse is absent from the
household. When a family is incomplete it is usually the man rather than the woman
who is away from home. Such a situation may be the result of social convention. For
example, among the Ashanti, a tribe living in Ghana, spouses continue to reside with
their own kin after marriage and do not live together as husband and wife. On the
other hand, a nuclear family may be incomplete by reason of economic necessity.
Sometimes, for example, a man has to leave his family to work in another part of the
country or in a different country altogether. This is the case with many workers in
South Africa and with foreign workers in France and Germany.
3.
The nuclear family may be extended by the addition of other people living
within the same residential boundary. So far we have been assuming that the family is
always based on monogamous marriage: that is to say, that it has only one man and
one woman living together as husband and wife. But monogamy is only one form of
marriage. It societies where polygamy is practiced, the family will, of course, include
one husband and more than one wife, and in the case of polyandry it will include one
wife and more than one husband. In a polygynous society, therefore, the nuclear
family will be extended by the addition of one or more wives, and in polyandrous
societies it will be extended by the addition of one or more husbands.
4.
In both monogamous and polygamous societies, families may also be
extended by the addition of related or non-related people. In some, for example,
people like servants and workmen live with the family as members of the household.
Again, one often finds that families are extended by the addition of consanguineal
relatives, or kin, of one or more of the marriage partners, like brothers, sisters, fathers,
grandfathers and so on. Affinal relatives like brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law and so on
may also become members of the family and share a common residence with the
brother or sister of their spouses.
15
Forms of the Family: Exercise
Using the information in the passage, match each item in Column I with an
appropriate definition in Column II.
1. a nuclear family
a. the relationship of a man and a woman living together
outside marriage
2. monogamy
b. a nuclear family in which one spouse is absent from
the household
3. polygamy
c. the marriage of one man with more than one wife
4. polygyny
d. a group consisting of a man and woman and their
offspring sharing a common residence
5. polyandry
e. people who are related by marriage
6. consanguineal relatives
7. affinal relatives
f. the marriage of one woman with more than one
husband
i. the marriage of one man with one woman
8. a spouse
j. people who are related by birth
9. concubinage
k. the marriage of more than two spouses
10. an incomplete nuclear family l. a partner in marriage
16
The Organization of Religion
1.
People have tried to understand the world around them throughout history, but
we do not know exactly how or why they began to believe in supernatural beings or
powers. Societies such as the Tasaday of the Philippines or the Bushmen of Africa,
who rely on hunting and gathering as their primary means of subsistence, often
explain things in naturalistic terms. This type of religion is known as animism, which
is the belief that spirits inhabit virtually everything in nature: rocks, trees, lakes,
animals, and humans alike, and that these spirits influence all aspects of life and
destiny. Sometimes they help, perhaps causing an arrow to strike and kill a wild pig
for food. At other times, they are harmful as when they make a child get sick and die.
These spirits can sometimes be influenced by specific rituals or behaviors, however,
and pleasing them results in favorable treatment.
2.
Some tribal societies practice a form of religion known as shamanism, which
revolves around the belief that certain individuals, called shamans, have special skills
or knowledge in influencing spirits. Shamans, most of whom are men, are called upon
to heal the sick and wounded, to make hunting expeditions successful, to protect the
group against evil spirits, and to generally ensure the group's well-being. Shamans
receive their power through ecstatic experiences, which might originate from a
psychotic episode, the use of a hallucinogen, or from deprivation such as fasting or
lack of sleep. The American Indians of the northwestern United States hold that
ancestral spirits work for the good or ill of the tribe solely through shamans.
3.
A third form of religion among primitive peoples is totemism. Totemism is
the worship of plants, animals, and other natural objects both as gods and ancestors.
The totem itself is the plant or animal believed to be ancestrally related to a person,
tribe, or clan. Totems usually represent something important to the community such
as food source or a dangerous predator, and the people often wear costumes and
perform dances to mimic the totem object. Most readers are probably familiar with the
totem pole used by North American Indians. This tall post, carved or painted with
totemic symbols, was erected as a memorial to the dead. Totemism is still practiced
today by some New Guinea tribes and by Australian aborigines. Durkheim believed
that totemism was one of the earliest forms of religion and that other forms of
religious organization evolved from it.
Source: McWhorter, K.T. Efficient and Flexible Reading, 4th Edition. Harper Collins
Publishers. 1996.
17
The Organization of Religion
Complete the following outline:
Forms of Religion
I. ________________ =
the belief that spirits inhabit everything in nature and
influence all aspects of life and destiny
1. _________________________________________________
2. _________________________________________________
II. _______________ =
____________________________________________
____________________________________________
1. The American Indians
III. Totemism
=
____________________________________________
____________________________________________
1. _________________________________________________
2. _________________________________________________
Study the following expressions from the text:
To rely on
Hunting
Expedition
Primary
To mimic
Gathering
Ancestor
Subsistence
Predator
18
Destiny
Managing Conflicts in Relationships
By Rudolph f. Verderber
1.
Conflict is the clash of opposing attitudes, ideas, behaviors, goals, and needs.
Although many people view conflict as bad, conflict is sometimes useful in that it
forces people to make choices and to test the relative merits of their attitudes,
behaviors, needs and goals.
2.
Conflicts include clashes over attitudes or opinions, over values ("Bringing
home pencils and pens from work is not stealing", "Of course it is" or "The idea that
you have to be married to have sex is completely outdated"); and perhaps the most
difficult are those that involve the ego ("Listen, I've been a football fan for thirty
years, I ought to know what good defense is." "Well, you may be a fan, but that
doesn't make you an expert.")
3.
One of the most common – and certainly one of the easiest – ways to deal with
conflict is to withdraw. Physical withdrawal is, of course, the easiest to identify. Dorie
and Tom are in conflict over Tom's smoking. When Dorie says, "Tom, I thought you
told me that whether you stopped smoking completely or not, you weren't going to
smoke around the house. Now here you are lighting up!", Tom may withdraw
physically, saying, "I don't want to talk about it" as he goes to his basement workshop.
Psychological withdrawal may be more difficult to detect but is every bit as common.
Using the same example, when Dorie speaks to Tom about his smoking, Tom sits
quietly in his chair looking at Dorie, but while she is speaking, he is thinking about
the poker game he will be going to the next evening. Both of these common
withdrawal behaviors are negative because they neither eliminate nor attempt to
manage the nature of the conflict. For instance, when Tom withdraws physically,
dorie may follow him to the basement, where the conflict will be resumed; if not, the
conflict will undoubtedly surface later.
4.
Nevertheless, there appear to be two types of situations where withdrawal may
work. The first is when the withdrawal is a temporary disengagement used for the
purpose of letting the heat of the conflict cool down. When Bill and Margaret begin to
argue over having bill's mother for dinner, Margaret feels herself get angry about
what her mother-in-law had said to her recently about the way she and Bill were
raising their daughter. Margaret says, "Hold it a minute, let me make a pot of coffee.
We can both relax a bit and then we'll talk about this some more." A few minutes later
she returns ready to approach the conflict more objectively. Margaret's action is not
true withdrawal; it is not meant as a means of avoiding confrontation. It provides a
cooling-off period that will probably benefit both of them. The second case where
withdrawal may work is when a conflict occurs between people who communicate
infrequently. Jack and mark work in the same office. At two office gatherings they
have gotten into arguments about whether the company really cares about its
employees. At the next gathering mark avoids sitting near Jack. Withdrawal is a
negative pattern only when it is a person's major way of managing conflict.
5.
Surrender means giving in immediately to avoid conflict. For instance, Jeff
and Marian are discussing their vacation plans. Jeff would like just the two of them to
go somewhere together, but when Marian says, "I think it would be fun to go with
another couple, don't you?" Jeff replies, "OK, whatever you want." In this example
19
Jeff really want the two of them to go alone, but rather than describe his feelings or
give reasons for his position, he surrenders to avoid conflict. Surrender is negative
because decisions should be made on merits and because if one person gives in, there
is no evaluation of the decision – no one knows what would really be best. If Jeff just
surrenders, Marian will perceive Jeff not as liking her plan, but as martyring himself.
His unwillingness to present his reasons could cause even more conflict.
6.
The use of physical or psychological coercion to get one's way is aggression.
Through aggression people attempt to force others to accept their ideas. An aggressive
person may "win," but it seldom does anything positive for a relationship. In each of
the above patterns, conflict is escalated or obscured. In none is it managed.
7.
Persuasion is the attempt to change either the attitude or the behavior of
another person. At times during a conflict one person might try to persuade the other
that a particular action is the right one. Doris and jack are considering buying a car.
Doris says, "Don't we need room?" Jack, her husband, might reply, "Enough to get us
into the car together." At this point, Doris and Jack's conflict comes into focus. Now
Doris might say, "Jack, remember the other day when you were complaining about
our present car because it doesn't have enough room to carry the groceries and the
equipment you need at work?" "There are lots of times when we invite another couple
to go somewhere with us." Statements like these are attempts at resolving the conflict
through persuasion.
8.
When persuasion is open and reasonable, it can be a positive means of
resolving conflict because it has a solid and logical base. However, persuasion can
also degenerate into manipulation and fuel conflict.
9.
Discussion is verbal problem-solving. It involves weighing and considering
the pros and cons of the issue in conflict and is, therefore, the most desirable means of
dealing with problems in a relationship. Nevertheless, it is often difficult to
accomplish.
10.
Problem-solving might follow the formal method of defining the problem,
analyzing the problem, suggesting possible solutions, selecting the best solution and
working to implement the decision. For instance, if Jeff and Marian were discussing
their holiday plans they might focus on the problem of how they spend their vacation.
They would seek to identify their goals and then they would select the place and
decide whether to go with friends.
20
Managing Conflicts in Relationships
Complete the following outline (Note that "=" means that a definition is required):
I.
Conflict is __________________________________________________
II.
Five ways people deal with conflict:
A. Withdrawal
1. Two types of withdrawal:
i. _________________________
ii. _________________________
B. ______________________= _____________________________________
C. ______________________= _____________________________________
D. Persuasion
= ____________________________________
i. Persuasion is positive when it ________________________
ii. Persuasion is negative when it _______________________
E. ______________________= _____________________________________
21
LOGICAL RELATIONS
Exemplification and Chronology
Psychedelics
1.
Psychedelics are comprised of a group of drugs that produce hallucinations
and various other phenomena that very closely mimic certain mental disorders. These
drugs include lysergic acid and diethylamide (LSD), mescaline, peyote, psilocybin,
and various commercial preparations such as Sernyl and Ditran.
2.
Of these, LSD is probably the best known, although its use has apparently
diminished since its heyday in the late 1960s. LSD is synthesized from lysergic acid
produced by a fungus (ergot) that is parasitic on cereal grains such as rye. It usually
produces responses in a particular sequence. The initial reactions may include
weakness, dizziness, and nausea. These symptoms are followed by a distortion of time
and space. The senses may become intensified and strangely intertwined – that is,
sound can be "seen" and colors "heard". Finally, there may be changes in mood, a
feeling of separation of self from the framework of time and space, and changes in the
perception of the self. The sensations experienced under the influence of psychedelics
are unlike anything encountered within the normal range of experiences. The
descriptions of users therefore can only be puzzling to nonusers. Some users
experience bad trips or "bummers", which have been known to produce long-term
effects. Bad trips can be terrifying experiences and can occur in experienced users for
no apparent reason.
Source: Wallace, Biology: The World of Life
22
Psychedelics
Exemplification
As the main example of psychedelics, the author mentions ________________, as
well as other drugs such as ____________________ and _____________________.
In the text, rye is an example of a _______________ ______________.
Weakness and nausea are given as illustrations of
_____________________________________________________________________
Chronology
List the users’ reactions to psychedelic drugs in chronological order.
First -
_______________________________________________________
Second -
_______________________________________________________
Third -
_______________________________________________________
Study the following expressions from the text:
Hallucination
Dizziness
To mimic
Phenomenon
Nausea
To encounter
Grain
To synthesize
23
Fungus
Comparison
For each item below, indicate: a) which marker of comparison is used; b) which two
entities are being compared; c) what these entities have in common
1. When individuals communicate, they are more likely to solve their problems. In a
similar fashion, countries can best solve their problems through communication.
a) Marker of comparison: _________________________
b) What is being compared? ________________________ and __________________
c) What do these two entities have in common?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
2. Just as a car’s oil must be changed regularly for it to operate smoothly, so we must
have regular checkups with our doctors to maintain our health.
a) Marker of comparison: _________________________
b) What is being compared? ________________________ and __________________
c) What do these two entities have in common?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
3. A movie’s success often depends upon how it is marketed. Similarly, promotion is
important in making a book a bestseller.
a) Marker of comparison: _________________________
b) What is being compared? ________________________ and __________________
c) What do these two entities have in common?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
4. Like any factory, cells need energy to operate.
a) Marker of comparison: _________________________
b) What is being compared? ________________________ and __________________
c) What do these two entities have in common?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
24
5. Neither weather forecasters nor fortune tellers can accurately predict the future.
a) Marker of comparison: _________________________
b) What is being compared? ________________________ and __________________
c) What do these two entities have in common?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
6. Some authors keep writing the same type of books over and over. Likewise, movie
producers keep making the same type of movies.
a) Marker of comparison: _________________________
b) What is being compared? ________________________ and __________________
c) What do these two entities have in common?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
7. Students taking lower level mathematics courses are as likely to fail as those in the
advanced levels if they don’t take the course requirements seriously.
a) Marker of comparison: _________________________
b) What is being compared? ________________________ and __________________
c) What do these two entities have in common?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
8. Both amateur and professional writers need to revise their writing repeatedly in
order to produce quality work.
a) Marker of comparison: _________________________
b) What is being compared? ________________________ and __________________
c) What do these two entities have in common?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
25
9. The legislation was passed with relative ease because the liberal and conservative
members of parliament were equally in favor of the new law.
a) Marker of comparison: _________________________
b) What is being compared? ________________________ and __________________
c) What do these two entities have in common?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
10. The Israeli university students were against enlarging class sizes in order to lower
tuition, just like their counterparts in other countries.
a) Marker of comparison: _________________________
b) What is being compared? ________________________ and __________________
c) What do these two entities have in common?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
26
Cause and Effect / Purpose
I. Complete the sentences below with a suitable phrase or sentence.
1. Because of ___________________________________________, many people
have to use their cars to get into town.
2. Owing to ___________________________________________, many tourists
were stranded at the airport.
3. We had to reserve rooms at that hotel in advance because
__________________________________________________________________
4. Anna uses a lot of sun cream in order to _________________________________
5. Dan had an extra room built onto his house so that
____________________________________________________________________
II. Fill the blanks in the sentences below with a suitable connector:
1. Scientists argue that the world’s climate is changing ________________ the
greenhouse effect.
2. ________________ I have finished reading all my library books, I’ll have to
borrow some more.
3. Voters are angry ________________ the government has not kept any of its
election promises.
4. ________________he’s working on this project, Andrew can share in the decisionmaking process.
5. ________________ the heavy traffic in cities, the authorities are trying to improve
the rail system.
6. Paul went to summer school in Cambridge ________________ improve his spoken
English.
7. Ellen traveled down to London by train ________________ she could enjoy the
scenery on the way.
8. Many rivers have burst their banks ________________ the unusually heavy
rainfall.
9. ________________ the pupils passed the test with such high marks, the teacher
decided she could set a harder test the next time.
10. Jill and Eric decided to hire a catering company ________________ provide
lunch for their employees.
27
Results or Consequences
I. Fill the blanks in the sentences below with an appropriate phrase or sentence.
1. As a result of _________________________________________, the government
has decided to lower taxes.
2. Smoking has been banned in public places. Therefore,
____________________________________________________________________
3. The price of clothes in the sale was very cheap. As a result, ___________________
___________________________________________________________________
4. Two pupils damaged property in school, so
___________________________________________________________________
5. Dan was driving at 135 kph. Consequently,
_________________________________
6. The student council has decided to get rid of school uniforms. Therefore,
___________________________________________________________________
7. As a result of ________________________________________, a new government
has been elected.
8. Ann was late for school every day last week, hence
____________________________________________________________________
II. Fill the blanks with a suitable connector.
1. The driver drove through a red light. _________________, he was arrested by the
police.
2. Susan loves playing tennis, _________________ Helen finds it very boring.
3. _________________the increase in the number of road accidents, the government
has organized a television campaign to persuade the public to drive more carefully.
4. She had a talent for design. _________________, she joined a fashion company
that makes clothes.
5. Ireland has magnificent scenery and a rich and varied history.
_________________, many tourists visit the country every year.
6. _________________ hundreds of homes were destroyed by the hurricane, few
people were actually killed.
7. There are many islands off the north-west coast of Scotland, _________________
Jura, Islay and Arran.
28
8. _________________ the recent elections, a new mayor was chosen by the
townspeople.
9. She went to university _________________ could study medicine and become a
doctor.
10. Over-exposure to the sun can cause skin cancer. _________________, a
protective sun cream should be used.
Concession
I. In the following sentences, find the proposition expressing an unexpected turn of
events.
1. Although he didn’t feel well, he went to work.
2. Despite the high price, I bought the dress.
3. The dress had a small stain on it, still I bought it.
4. He is always making jokes about me, yet I am still very fond of him.
5. Investors wanted to build a shopping mall in that neighbourhood; however, the
residents opposed the idea.
6. I won’t go to the concert although I have a ticket.
7. We arrived late at the hotel; nevertheless, they had kept our rooms for us.
8. She manages very well on her own despite her advanced age.
II. Fill the blanks in the sentences below with a suitable phrase or sentence:
1. Although _________________________________________ , Dana passed her
driving test.
2. Helen wasn’t hungry. Nevertheless, _____________________________________.
3. The bus was delayed for half an hour. Even so, ____________________________.
4. Even though ____________________________________, everyone walked past
him.
5. He always looks so lonely and sad it spite of ______________________________.
6. The TV campaign against smoking is excellent. However, ___________________
____________________________________________________________________.
7. The security situation is very bad at the moment, still, _______________________
___________________________________________________________________ .
8. I often take the bus to work in spite of the ________________________________.
9. It was terribly hot at the beach, yet ______________________________________.
10. Despite _________________________________________, we have decided to
go abroad for a holiday.
29
III. Fill the blanks in the sentences below with appropriate connectors:
1. ____________________ Andrew was warned of the risks, he decided to travel
alone to South America.
2. The city has a 50 kph speed limit. ____________________, people are often caught
speeding.
3. ____________________ his car accident, Mark isn’t afraid of driving.
4. Anna doesn’t have a great sense of humour, ____________________ she is a very
popular person.
5. ____________________ her qualifications, Maria didn’t get a promotion.
6. ____________________ she had planned her trip to India very carefully, Nadia
encountered several problems when she got there.
7. You won’t be forgiven ____________________ your apology.
8. We couldn’t find a house to buy ____________________ we looked at quite a few.
Logical Relations: Exercise
For each of the items below, indicate the logical relation it contains; then choose the
appropriate connector.
1. Certain diseases are carried by insects, __________________, malaria and sleeping
sickness.
moreover
for example
in addition to
2. The Lakes __________________ Windermere, Derwentwater and Grasmere, are a
favourite choice for holidays among Britons and foreign tourists.
as well
besides
such as
3. Football is Britain’s national sport. __________________, over half a million
people attend matches every Saturday.
For example
Furthermore
In addition to
4. __________________ an increase in the number of cars on the roads, there has
been an increase in the number of traffic offenses.
In addition to
Such as
Moreover
5. It is often quicker to travel by train than by car or bus. __________________, it’s
usually cheaper too.
In addition to
For example
Besides
6. Some languages, __________________ French and Italian, are based on Latin.
besides
as well as
such as
30
7. Newspapers offer the reader a wide variety of articles, __________________,
news, sport, financial columns and important announcements.
for instance
such
besides
8. Oxford is one of England’s great medieval cities. __________________, it has
been an international center of learning since 1167.
For example
Furthermore
As well as
9. All the students enjoyed the mountain climb __________________ Brian, who
injured his ankle when he slipped on a rock.
except for
furthermore
such as
10. What other languages do you know __________________ English and Hebrew?
apart from
for example
beside
Logical Relations: Paraphrasing
Rewrite each of the following items as one sentence, as instructed:
1. Despite the age of the house, we managed to sell it.
Although
_______________________________________________________________
2. Because the weather was bad, we cancelled our holiday.
Owing
_________________________________________________________________
3. Among the methods of travel nowadays are cars, trains, buses, ships and
aeroplanes.
(such as)
________________________________________________________________
4. There is an art gallery in the city and a museum as well.
In addition
______________________________________________________________
5. Her children have long conversations on the phone. Consequently, the phone bills
are expensive. (result)
________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
6. She took a course in dressmaking in order to be able to make her own clothes.
_____________________________________________________________________
7. The tickets were expensive, yet we went to the concert.
In spite of
______________________________________________________________
31
8. Everyone arrived at school on time with the exception of Joel. (for)
_____________________________________________________________________
9. Because the temperature dropped below 20 degrees Centigrate, children were sent
home from school.
On account of
___________________________________________________________
10. All of the students are going on this trip with the exception of David. (from)
_____________________________________________________________________
11. Despite the doctor’s advice not to play football, he played last week.
Even though
_____________________________________________________________
12. Many birds migrate over the Mediterranean, for instance eagles and cranes.
_____________________________________________________________________
13. His strenuous exercises resulted in a back injury.
He suffered
______________________________________________________________
14. In contrast to his sister, Bobby is a poor swimmer. (wereas)
_____________________________________________________________________
15. Helen is busy at work, while Andrea is on holiday.
As opposed to
____________________________________________________________
32
Logical Relations: Exercise
For each of the following passages, indicate the logical relation contained in it (use
the list at the bottom of the page for reference):
1. While humans grow until they reach maturity, a lobster will continue to grow as
long as it lives.
_________________________
2. Our natural environment includes several different visible forms of water: fog,
clouds, dew, rain, frost, snow, sleet, and hail. _________________________
3. Because Soviet parents believe being in the cold outside air makes it harder to catch
cold, they train their children to tolerate below-freezing temperatures.
_________________________
4. My first job was cooking at a fast-food restaurant. Next, I sold men’s clothing in a
department store. Later, I became a manager at that store.
_________________________
5. Jungles are areas of land that are densely overgrown with tropical trees and other
vegetation. In South America, the Amazon is the largest jungle.
_________________________
6. If farmers alternate crops which take nitrogen from the soil with those that return
nitrogen to the soil, then they can plant the same fields year after year.
7. Newspaper want ads are one of several excellent sources for secondhand goods.
Others are garage sales, flea markets, and thrift shops.
_________________________
8. Preventive medicine is like changing a car’s oil. Just as we must change the oil
regularly for a car to operate smoothly, we must have regular checkups with our
doctors.
_________________________
9. Norms are the standards of behavior accepted as appropriate in a society. In
American society, for instance, wearing shoes to places like school and work is a
norm. _________________________
10. Sexism is the assumption that a person, simply because of gender, has negative
characteristics that make him or her less capable in a particular job or situation. Until
recently, sexism kept women from entering prestigious, well-paid professions such as
law, medicine, and engineering.
_________________________
Cause & effect; purpose; example; definition; general  specific; specific  general;
condition; concession / paradox; chronology; claim & evidence; comparison / contrast
In the passage below, choose and circle the correct connectors.
33
Logical Relations: Passage
1.
About 300 years ago, in Salem, Massachusetts, a terrible with-hunt took place.
Many people were put in prison [because, as a result of, in order to, since] prejudice
and fear. [Moreover, Whereas, For example, Beside,] several women were accused
of being witches, and ‘witch finders’ began their terrible work of hunting them down
in order to punish them.
2.
The witch-finders used many methods of torture [so as, in order to, because
of, thus] make the prisoners admit that they were witches. Those who refused to do so
were hanged. [Like, Such as, For example, As a result of], one old lady called Sarah
Good, who used to talk to herself [when, during, since, by the time] she wandered
through the village, was imprisoned as a witch. [Due to, In addition, Though,
However,] even people in high positions, such as the governor’s wife, were accused
of witchcraft.
3.
[Therefore, Owing to, So that, Finally,] pressure by Boston’s church leaders,
[that, they, whom, who] were worried by the events in Salem, the governor of
Massachusetts decided to stop the witch-hunts. [Although, However, Thus, Despite,]
by that time, 19 people had already been hanged, and one tortured to death.
4.
Recent research by historians [is showing, has shown, was showing, had
shown] that these women were early feminists, [whose, their, that, who] activities
annoyed the male leaders of the community. These women did things that were not
common for women at that time. [Like, As, For example, Such as,] they engaged in
business, didn’t go to church and insisted on inheriting land when there was no son as
a male heir. [Whereas, Despite, Therefore, While,] the men saw them as a threat
and some time later, the women were accused of being witches. [So, Thus, Although,
In spite of] they were innocent, many women were hanged.
5.
In 1992, the town of Salem decided to build a memorial to these victims [so,
so that, in order, so as to] remind people how dangerous prejudice can be.
6.
There have been other witch-hunts in America this century: Japanese
Americans were put into camps during World War Two, and in the 1950s the
McCarthy trials were held against people accused of being Communists.
34
NOUN PHRASES
Noun Phrases: Translation
Translate the following phrases:
1. The corner shop
_____________
2. The factory strike _____________
3. The iron curtain
_____________
4. The river bridge
_____________
5. A computer keyboard _____________
6. A cream sauce
_____________
7. China tea
_____________
8. The winter weather _____________
9. A quality product _____________
10. Shark species
_____________
11. A fruit jam
_____________
12. A fruit fly
_____________
13. A business proposition _____________ 14. A business lunch _____________
15. A quality report _____________
16. Product quality _____________
17. Brain damage
_____________
18. The fraud investigation __________
19. A Michael Jackson fan _____________ 20. The treason allegations __________
21. A death sentence _____________
22. A literature student _____________
23. A screenplay writer _____________
24. A book lover
_____________
25. Wildlife protection
_____________
26. Land use _____________
27. Personnel recruitment _____________ 28. A charity appeal _____________
29. Famine relief
_____________
30. Kidnapper refuge _____________
I.
Blood cholesterol
Blood cholesterol level
Blood cholesterol level test
Blood cholesterol level test results
II.
A rug shampoo
A rug shampoo container
A rug shampoo container cleaner
A rug shampoo container cleaner salesman
III.
A student protest
Student protest media
Student protest media coverage
Student protest media coverage campaign
IV.
Kidnapper escape
A kidnapper escape vehicle
A kidnapper escape vehicle police chase
A kidnapper escape vehicle police chase failure
V.
Personnel recruitment
Personnel recruitment policy
Personnel recruitment policy decision
Personnel recruitment policy decision advisor
Personnel recruitment policy decision advisor search
35
Noun Phrases: Exercise
Read the following sentences and identify the noun phrases. Mark the head noun in
each of the noun phrases and answer the questions that follow.
1. The department needs more social science research workers.
What does the department need?
a. more social workers
c. more research
b. more social scientists
d. more workers
2. University restaurant improvement suggestions will be welcomed by the Student
Union.
What will the Student Union welcome?
a. university restaurant
c. suggestions for improvement
b. improvements in the restaurant
d. improved suggestions
3. The book deals with the slum dwellers community organization.
What does the book deal with?
a. slum dwellers
b. the community
c. the organization of the community
4. Students should be put on tenure promotion committees.
What should we do to students?
a. give them promotion
b. put them on committees
c. give them tenure
5. The students must face real life learning situations.
What must the students face?
a. real life
b. learning about life
c. situations
6. The teacher was appointed to the Biological Sciences Curriculum Committee.
What was the teacher appointed to?
a. the Biology department
b. the committee
c. the science curriculum
7. Anyone who violates International Amateur Athletic Federation prohibitions
against steroid use should be banned.
What might some people violate?
a. prohibitions against steroid use
c. steroid use
b. the Federation
d. Amateur Athletes
36
Noun Phrases with Adverbs
Translate the following noun phrases. Note the difference in meaning between the
groups.
1. A currently unavailable drug
________________________________
2. An unusually long queue
________________________________
3. An abnormally pigmented spot
________________________________
4. A normally acceptable behavior
________________________________
5. A formerly popular view
________________________________
6. An uncomfortably tight dress
________________________________
7. A comfortably heated room
________________________________
8. An attractively furnished cottage ________________________________
1. An unfathomably deep philosophy ________________________________
2. An immeasurably valuable contribution
________________________________
3. A totally wrong conclusion
________________________________
4. An entirely absurd outlook
________________________________
5. A completely unnatural style
________________________________
6. A tremendously impressive argument
________________________________
7. An insufficiently scientific approach
________________________________
8. An absurdly childish behavior
________________________________
1. A medically useful discovery
________________________________
2. A technologically sound invention ________________________________
3. A scientifically inaccurate conclusion
________________________________
4. A canonically unacceptable format ________________________________
5. A theologically unfounded statement
6. A logically invalid derivation
________________________________
________________________________
7. A psychologically implausible assumption________________________________
8. A physically impossible action
________________________________
37
RELATIVE CLAUSES
Relative Clauses: Relative Pronouns (from Grammar in Focus)
I. Complete the sentences using a relative pronoun from the list below:
who, which, where, that, when, whose
1. Where are the boys _______________ promised to cut our grass?
2. What is the address of the man _______________ car hit ours?
3. This is the platform _______________ you catch the train to Paris.
4. The shoes _______________ I bought last week were expensive.
5. He’ll never forget the day _______________ he first tried hang-gliding.
6. I live in a town _______________ a new shopping mall is being built.
7. That is the car _______________ we imported from Italy.
8. My wife has a friend _______________ speaks Japanese fluently.
9. The design _______________ won first place in the competition wasn’t very
original.
10. Tell me about the man _______________ letter was published in the newspaper.
II. Combine the following sentences using an appropriate relative pronoun. Make any
other necessary changes.
1. The film is about a man. He loses his memory.
_____________________________________________________________________
2. We saw the art exhibition. It received excellent reviews from the critics.
_____________________________________________________________________
3. I met a friend last week. Her husband is an astronaut.
_____________________________________________________________________
4. Here is a photograph of the hotel. We stayed there for a long weekend.
_____________________________________________________________________
5. Peter is going to marry a girl. Her sister is in my class.
_____________________________________________________________________
6. We hired a removal company. The company is known to be reliable.
_____________________________________________________________________
7. The politician resigned. She had refused to support her party.
_____________________________________________________________________
8. This is the article. It wasn’t printed by the newspaper.
_____________________________________________________________________
38
Relative Clauses with Prepositions
Complete the following sentences using a relative pronoun and afterwards rewrite
them transposing the preposition.
Example:
This is the music I’ve listened to many times.
This is the music to which I have listened many times.
1. The chair on
____________
I was sitting collapsed.
_____________________________________________________________________
2. This is the book
____________
I have been looking for.
_____________________________________________________________________
3. The gentleman to
___________
I spoke yesterday was very helpful.
_____________________________________________________________________
4. The company ____________
I work for is very successful.
_____________________________________________________________________
5. The picture ____________
you are looking at is an original Picasso.
_____________________________________________________________________
6. The exam for _____________
you are studying will be difficult.
_____________________________________________________________________
7. The pupil
_____________
you are studying with is very clever.
_____________________________________________________________________
8. The girl to
_____________
I sent a note is ignoring me.
_____________________________________________________________________
9. The music ____________
you are listening to was written by my brother.
_____________________________________________________________________
10. The boy for ______________
I am knitting this sweater is a cousin of mine.
_____________________________________________________________________
39
Relative Clauses – Relative Pronoun after Quantifiers and Connectors
Combine the sentences in each item into one sentence using a relative pronoun.
I.
1. We invited a lot of people to the wedding. All of them were family or friends.
_____________________________________________________________________
2. Over 200 books were stolen from the library. Half of them have been returned.
_____________________________________________________________________
3. Twenty students had to be tested. Each of them prepared a different topic.
_____________________________________________________________________
4. Two photographers offered to do the children’s portraits. Neither of them quoted a
reasonable price.
_____________________________________________________________________
5. I tried on at least five different coats. None of them suited me.
_____________________________________________________________________
II.
1. He tripped. In spite of this he got up and won the race.
_____________________________________________________________________
2. We were taken out of the forest by our guide. Without him we would have been
lost.
_____________________________________________________________________
3. I didn’t have a valid ticket. Despite this I was allowed on the train.
_____________________________________________________________________
40
Relative Clauses: Passage
In the following passage, choose the correct pronoun in the brackets.
1.
The city of York in the north of England was founded by the Romans in 71
A.D. [Which, It, Its, That] is a walled city containing the largest Gothic cathedral in
Britain, York Minster, [in which, in that, in it, in this] the Great East Window can be
seen. It took three years to complete the window, [which, whose, its, that] many
small scenes together make up the largest single medieval glass window in the world.
2.
York has several historic monuments, many of [them, these, those, which]
are located within the walls of the city or just outside them. The Castle Museum
contains a reconstructed Victorian street, [which, when, where, there] visitors can
enter typical Victorian shops. Visitors to York can also join a haunted walk, the aim
of [what, is, this, which] is to show tourists some of the “ghostly” spots of the city.
3.
Across from the Castle Museum stands the ruined York Castle, part of [which,
whom, it, that] is Clifford’s Tower, a grim reminder of the worst anti-Semitic
outbreak in English history. Local Christian merchants, [they, which, whom, who]
owed great sums of money to Jewish bankers, decided to cancel their debts either by
starving the Jews to death or by killing [whom, them, who, these]. The bankers fled
with other Jews to the tower as a refuge.
4.
Rather than face death at the hands of these merchants, 150 Jews committed
collective suicide. Some say that since then, no Jew has lived inside the city walls of
York, although [by which, who, this, which] has never been verified.
41
PARTICIPLES
Participles: Translation (from Grammar in Focus)
Translate the following participles
Annoying
____________________
annoyed
____________________
Confusing
____________________
confused
____________________
Depressing
____________________
depressed
____________________
Embarrassing ____________________
embarrassed
____________________
Worrying
worried
____________________
____________________
Disappointing ____________________
disappointed ____________________
Interesting
____________________
interested
____________________
Annoying
____________________
annoyed
____________________
Boring
____________________
bored
____________________
Disgusting
____________________
disgusted
____________________
Exhausting
____________________
exhausted
____________________
Pleasing
____________________
pleased
____________________
Amazing
____________________
amazed
____________________
Amusing
____________________
amused
____________________
Astonishing
____________________
astonished
____________________
Horrifying
____________________
horrified
____________________
Shocking
____________________
shocked
____________________
Surprising
____________________
surprised
____________________
Frightening
____________________
frightened
____________________
Terrifying
____________________
terrified
____________________
Tiring
____________________
tired
____________________
Delightful
____________________
delighted
____________________
Attractive
____________________
attracted
____________________
Impressive
____________________
impressed
____________________
42
Participle: Exercise
Complete the following sentences using the present and the past participle of the
verbs in parentheses:
1. The lawyer’s arguments were so ____________________ that we were
____________________ of the man’s innocence. (to convince)
2. The statistics on child abuse are quite ____________________. I’m sure many
people are ____________________ at the enormity of the problem. (to shock)
3. Seeing hot-air balloons floating over the desert is an ____________________ sight.
You’d be ____________________ at the number of people who participate in this
sport. (to amaze)
4. The climb up the mountain was so ____________________ that many of the
students, who were feeling ____________________ by then, asked if we could stop
and rest.
(to tire)
5. Many Americans were ____________________ by the president’s speech, which
was ____________________ both for its grasp of the problems facing the country
today, and for its passionate optimism. (to impress)
6. Letting children stay out late is a ____________________ problem. By midnight,
many parents already feel a little ____________________. (to worry)
7. Many foreigners find the Middle East situation ____________________. The
conflicting news reports leave people ____________________ as to what the truth
really is. (to confuse)
8. Some say Hitchcock’s film The Birds was ____________________. Personally, I
was more ____________________ by Psycho. (to terrify)
9. Helen was ____________________ with her retirement gift. What a
____________________ idea, buying her a ticket to Paris for a all-expense-paid trip.
(to delight)
10. Sue doesn’t think slapstick comedy is ____________________. She’s more
____________________ by satire. (to amuse)
11. Personally, I’m not ____________________ in stamp collecting, although I’m
sure it’s an ____________________ hobby. (to interest)
43
12. The dirt and litter on our city streets is ____________________. Many residents
are ____________________ by the fact that the local council won’t provide litter-bins
here. (to disgust)
13. I’m so ____________________ with the test result. It’s ____________________
to know you’ve succeeded in a difficult course. (to please)
14. I find Joseph very ____________________, but I’m not ____________________
to his friend at all. (to attract)
15. Robert’s disappearance is ____________________. Most of his neighbours were
____________________ to read about it in the papers. (to astonish)
Participial Clauses
Mark with a "v" the sentences that can be interpreted as expressing a causal relation:
Example:
Worried about declining revenues, the committee recommended increasing the state
sales tax.
Since the committee was worried about the declining revenues, it recommended
increasing the state sales tax.
1. Noticing my confusion, the lawyer rephrased his question to me.
2. After reading the report, I put it in the file containing the earlier correspondence.
3. Anyone showing a spring-quarter activity card will be admitted free.
4. We chose a campsite reached only over a dusty, bumpy road.
5. Feeling better after her brief rest, Carol started writing her weekly letter home.
6. Quickly hiding the letter, Helen reached for her hat and coat.
7. Herb can advise you about courses, having been in college five years.
8. Mrs. Hoff stormed out of the room, infuriated by her nephew’s behavior.
9. Baffled by the complicated maze, the rat began shaking violently.
10. We saw truckloads of artichokes being prepared for shipment.
11. In the final seconds, Starkey scored again, sending the game into overtime.
12. Having taken the wrong road, we did not arrive home until midnight.
13. Blinded by the headlights, the taxi driver ran the cab up over the curb.
14. Having saved most of the salary, I plan on buying some new clothes.
15. The teacher, realizing my embarrassment, quickly changed the subject.
16. Slocom deflected the last-minute pass, preventing a sure touchdown.
17. Surprised by Mark’s vehement reply, Mr. Basoom apologized weakly.
18. Feeling sure of my position, I listened to the lawyer’s argument.
19. Annoyed by the noisy students, Anita decided against studying in the library.
20. The prowler, believing the house empty, became exceedingly careless.
21. The waiter stumbled, spilling some hot soup on the host.
22. Having made up her mind, Laura cut short the salesman’s plea.
44
INFERENCE
Inference – exercise
Read the passages below and answer the question(s) that follow(s).
1. Cancer of the skin is much more common in people who spend long hours exposed
to bright sunlight.
What can be inferred as a possible cause of skin cancer?
2. In Ruritania, both lawyers and doctors were earning about $20,000 a year, which
was twice what a coal miner was earning at the same time. The miners decided to
strike, arguing that their work was hazardous and that there should not be such
discrepancies between the salaries of white and blue collar workers.
a) How much was a coal miner earning in Ruritania?
b) Give two examples of white-collar workers?
3. Proposals for reforming the university are all too often made without stating their
overall objective.
a) According to the author, how should a proposal for reforming the university be
presented?
4. It was thought that once everyone could read and the printed word, people would
keep themselves properly informed of what was going on around them. Events have
by no means justified this optimism.
a) Circle the correct answers:
The author believes that people [are / are not] well informed about what goes on
around them [because / although] most of them are literate.
5. Children of the same or similar intelligence level can be taught together with the
same method, regardless of their cultural background, whereas children of
significantly different intelligence cannot learn together whether they come from the
same or from different cultural backgrounds.
a) The cultural background is / is not (circle the correct answer) a determining factor
in education?
b) What is more significant in choosing the method of instruction: intelligence or
cultural background?
45
Inference: Indirection
For each item below answer the question or complete the sentence:
1. Not infrequently do we go to Prague in the autumn.
Do we often go to Prague in the autumn? YES / NO
2. It is not unlikely that we will go there again this October.
Is there a good chance that we’ll be going there in October? YES / NO
3. It is not unthinkable that there should be a 3rd World War.
Is this a completely ridiculous idea? YES / NO
4. He thinks nothing of checking his answers again and again.
Does he mind checking his answers? YES / NO
5. Nor is it only his own answers that he checks.
What else does he do?
_______________________________________________________
6. It is not impossible that the experiment will fail.
The speaker is _____________________ the person he is addressing that the
experiment _________________ fail.
7. Geology is by no means without practical importance.
The speaker is aware that some people, including the person he is addressing, may
have the idea that geology _______________________________________________
8. Her behavior makes her all but indistinguishable from a native Israeli.
How does she behave? _____________________________________________
9. It is not unknown for him t be less than punctual.
Is he ever late? YES / NO
46
TERMS USED IN STUDY AND TEST SITUATIONS
Fill each blank with an appropriate term from the list below.
identify
evaluate
draw a diagram of
enumerate
cause (n)
compare
summarize
analyze
describe
list (v)
justify
define
review (v)
analysis
outline (n)
1. A music teacher wants the class to show that they understand clearly the meaning
of some special terms used in music. He would ask them to _______________ the
terms.
2. A literature instructor wants students to demonstrate their understanding of the
similarities in two poems written at different times and places. He would ask them to
_______________ the poems.
3. A political science teacher wants the class to give a sympathetic version of why the
United States sent troops into a certain country. He would ask them to
_______________ the invasion.
4. Next, the students are expected to give an objective view of this same event. He
would ask them to give the _______________ of the invasion.
5. Music students are expected to mention all the contributions of jazz to modern
music. They would be asked to _______________ these contributions.
6. A Shakespeare instructor wants students to present a clear picture of the
construction of the Elizabethan stage. He would ask them to _______________ the
stage.
7. A history teacher wants the class to show that they know the main stages in the
development of industrial power in England. He would ask them to provide an
_______________ of these stages.
8. Students in an art class are assigned a painting by another member of the class; they
must mention its strengths and weaknesses and decide whether or not it was
successful. They would be asked to _______________ and to _______________ it.
9. A class in Spanish history is expected to present briefly an account of the
development of Franco’s political views. They would be asked to _______________
this development.
10. Students are given a list of names of people and places; they are expected to tell
who or what these names represent. They would be asked to _______________ the
items on the list.
11. A sociology teacher wants the class to give a thoughtful statement concerning the
various aspects of the role of television in the lives of preschool children. He would
ask them to provide an _______________ of the subject.
47
PUNCTUATION
Add capital letters and punctuation to the following passage and then answer the
questions below:
just as the infant who is fed rested and comfortable begins to look for something of
interest all children and adults also seek ways to escape boredom however as you
might have suspected rattles and mobiles which satisfy the infant’s need for novelty
and stimulation rarely if ever excite interest in adults as you grow older your interests
and stimulation need change and fluctuate the american psychologist maslow would
consider that sexual interest curiosity and pleasure were stimulation needs although
sexual activity is biological or physiological in nature it is not essential for survival
consequently the need for sex is on the second step of maslow’s hierarchy and is
classified as a stimulation or psychological need.
Answer the following questions based on the passage above:
1. Mark the following sentence as True or False based on the passage:
Neither adults nor babies have a need for novelty and stimulation.
Justify your answer by quoting from the text.
________________________________________________________________
2. What may dispel boredom in infants? _______________________________
3. What may dispel boredom in adults? _________________________________
4. The need for sex not important for survival although ___________________
48
Tradition
1.
The acceptance of new ideas always involves a struggle; people do not easily
give up notions they hold dear. In this way tradition protects itself, for by providing a
testing-ground for the new it allows only what is of some value to assert itself.
2.
Ideas which are half accepted by one generation are often completely accepted
by the one that follows. Innovations are at first bitterly attacked by those who cannot
conceive of a new order, and are judged by the standards of the past. This is because
people’s sensibilities are confined to what they have always known and believed.
What was new to one generation is easily assimilated by another, because sensibility
has widened sufficiently to allow a notion that was once considered radical or extreme
to establish itself. A good example of this is the publication of the Origin of Species
in 1859. The prolonged and better controversy which Darwin’s work provoked has
lingered to this day. But whereas, initially, Darwin’s arguments were hotly disputed,
they have since become a part of our cultural heritage. This is to say, they no longer
shock our sensibility. In the same way modern music, for instance, does not strike us
as discordant merely because it does not conform with former conceptions of
harmony. What were once new ideas have withstood the test tradition has imposed on
them.
3.
Our view of the past is forever changing. Tradition is like a great city which is
growing all the time. Old buildings are demolished and new ones put up. Each new
building, however large or small, alters our view of the shape and size of existing
ones. The city we look upon is not the one our ancestors saw; nor is it the one we shall
hand down to our successors.
49
Tradition
Exercises
I. Reference
No.
Anaphor
Line No.
Reference
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
the one
another
this
they
since
ones
ones
the one
it
one
5
8
10
12
13
18
19
20
20
20
_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
II. Find the subject and the verb in the following sentences:
Line No. First word(s)
Last word(s) Verb(s)
Subject(s)
5
Innovations
past
_________________________________________
6
This is because
believed
________________________________________
7
What was new
itself
_________________________________________
11
The prolonged
day
_________________________________________
12
But whereas
heritage
_________________________________________
15
What were
on them
_________________________________________
III. Indicate logical relations expressed by the following expressions:
Line No.
Expression
Logical relation
2
12
13
13
for
whereas
since
This is to say
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
50
POLEMICS
Switzerland
1.
Many people think Switzerland consists chiefly of Alps and that the Alps are
white. Actually, they are green and purple, most of the way up, and Swiss scenery
also includes valleys and plains; there are even palm trees in the south.
2.
These are not the only misconceptions about Switzerland. Peace conferences
often take place there, and this fact also leads to misunderstandings. In reality, the
Swiss are not pacifists, but a nation of warriors, fortified, and prepared for a siege.
Within 48 hours Switzerland could mobilize an army of 80,000 men – twice the size
of that of France. She did mobilize for the Second World War, several minutes before
England – and though she stayed out of war, she shot down some twenty airplanes in
order to make her policy of neutrality clear. Swiss neutrality is based on strength.
3.
Pragmatism, not pacifism, is what caused the Swiss to withdraw from
international power politics. Their geographic position made this possible; their
neighbors all found advantage in it; but their sense of practical realism was the major
factor involved in the Swiss decision to remain neutral.
4.
Pragmatism is also the basis of Switzerland’s economy. She has no natural
resources whatever except water power and the ability to do things. That ability is so
widely developed that barren Switzerland has one of the highest average living
standards in the world. There are no slums, no beggars, and no illiterates.
5.
The millions of tourists who visit Switzerland used to come seeking only the
beauties of nature. Now they are just as attracted and impressed by the social values
they find there: moral and physical courage, pragmatism, tolerance and cleanliness.
Indeed, both physically and socially, Switzerland can be thought of as a model in a
troubled world.
51
Switzerland
Comprehension Questions
1. The writer lists several misconceptions about Switzerland. List three of them.
What most people think
a.
Reality, according to the writer
a.
b.
b.
c.
c.
2. What do many people conclude from the fact that Switzerland hosts many peace
conferences?
_____________________________________________________________________
3.
a) How does the writer account for Switzerland’s decision to stay out of international
politics?
_________________________________________________________________
b) What factors have allowed Switzerland to put this decision into practice?
_________________________________________________________________
4.
(a) What do the following anaphors refer to in the text?
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 3
This fact _____________
this _____________
That _____________
it _____________
(b) Find a synonym for each of the following expressions, which are found in
paragraph 3:
Practical realism _____________
To remain neutral _____________
52
The Worst Mistake in the Chemistry of the Human Race
1.
To science we owe dramatic changes in our self-image. Astronomy taught us
that our earth isn't the center of the universe but merely one of billions of heavenly
bodies. Now archaeology is destroying another sacred belief: the progressivist view
that human history over the past million years has been a long tale of progress. In
particular, recent discoveries suggest that the adoption of agriculture was in many
ways a catastrophe from which we have never recovered. With agriculture came the
gross social and sexual inequality, the disease and tyranny that curse our existence.
2.
At first, this interpretation will strike twentieth century readers as illogical.
We're better off in almost every respect than people of the Middle Ages, who in turn
had it easier than cavemen, who in turn were better off than apes. Just count our
advantages. We enjoy the most abundant and varied foods, the best tools and material
goods, some of the longest and healthiest lives, in history. Most of us are safe from
starvation and predators. We get our energy from oil and machines, not from our
sweat. Who among us would trade his life for that of a medieval peasant or a
caveman.
3.
For most of our history, we supported ourselves by hunting and gathering. It's
a life that philosophers have traditionally regarded as nasty, brutish, and short. Since
no food is grown and little is stored, there is no respite from the struggle that starts
anew each day to find wild foods and avoid starving. Our escape from this misery
happened only 10,000 ago, when in different parts of the world people began to
domesticate plants and animals. The agricultural revolution gradually spread until
today it's nearly universal, and few tribes of hunter-gatherers survive.
4.
From the progressivist perspective, to ask, "Why did almost all our huntergatherer ancestors adopt agriculture?" is silly. Obviously, they adopted it because
agriculture is an efficient way to get more food for less work. Planted crops yield far
more tons per dunam than roots and berries.
5.
While the case for the progressivist view seems overwhelming1, it's hard to
prove. How do you show that the lives of people 10,000 years ago got better when
they abandoned hunting and gathering for farming? Here's one example of an indirect
test. Are twentieth century hunter-gatherers rally worse off than farmers? Scattered
throughout the world, several dozen groups of so-called primitive people, such as the
Kalahari Bushmen, continue to support themselves that way. It turns out that these
people have plenty of leisure time, sleep a good deal, and work less hard than their
farming neighbours. For instance, the average time devoted each week to obtaining
food is only 12 to 19 hours for one group of Bushmen.
1
Since evidence in favor of the progressivist view seems quite solid
53
6.
While farmers concentrate on growing high-carbohydrate crops like rice and
potatoes, the mix of wild plants and animals in the diets of modern hunter-gatherers
provides more protein and a better balance of other nutrients. It's almost inconceivable
that Bushmen, who eat 75 of so wild plants, could die of starvation the way hundreds
of thousands of Irish farmers and their families did during the potato famine of the
1840s.
7.
But modern hunter-gatherer societies that have lived next to farming societies
for thousands of years don't tell us about conditions before the agricultural revolution.
The progressivist view is really making a claim about the distant past: that the lives of
primitive people improved when they switched from gathering to farming.
8.
How can one deduce the health of the prehistoric people and thereby directly
test the progressivist view? That question has become answerable only in recent
years, in part through the techniques of paleopathology, the study of signs of disease
in the remains of ancient peoples.
9.
One straightforward example of what paleopathologists have learned from
skeletons concerns historical changes in height. Skeletons from Greece and Turkey
show that the average height of hunter-gatherers toward the end of the ice ages was
175 cm for men and 165 cm for women. With the adoption of agriculture, height
crashed, and by 3000 B.C. had reached a low of only 160 cm for men and 152 cm for
women. By classical times, heights were very slowly on the rise again; but modern
Greeks and Turks have still not regained the average height of their distant ancestors.
10.
Another example of paleopathology at work is the study of Indian skeletons
from burial mounds in the Illinois and Ohio River Valleys. At Dickson Mounds,
archaeologists have excavated some 800 skeletons that paint a picture of the health
changes that occurred when a hunter-gatherer culture gave way to intensive corn
farming around 1150 A.D. Studies show that these early farmers paid a price for their
new-found livelihood. Compared to the hunter-gatherers who preceded them, the
farmers had a large increase in various diseases and physical defects. Life expectancy
in the pre-agricultural community was longer than in the post-agricultural community.
11.
The evidence suggests that Indians at Dickson Mounds, like many other
primitive peoples, took up farming not by choice but from necessity in order to feed
their constantly growing numbers. "I don't think most hunter-gatherers farmed until
they had to; and when they switched to farming, they traded quality for quantity,"
says Mark Cohen of the State University of New York.
12.
There are at least three sets of reasons to explain the findings that agriculture
was bad for health. First, hunter-gatherers enjoyed a varied diet, while early farmers
obtained most of their food from one or a few starchy crops. The farmers gained
cheap calories at the cost of poor nutrition. Second, because of dependence on a
limited number of crops, farmers ran the risk of starvation if one crop failed. Finally,
the mere fact that agriculture encouraged people to live together in crowded societies
led to the spread of parasites and infectious disease.
54
13.
Besides malnutrition, starvation, and epidemic diseases, farming helped bring
another curse upon humanity: deep class divisions. Only in a farming population
could a healthy, non-producing elite set itself above the disease-ridden masses.
Skeletons from Greek tombs at Mycenae around 1500 B.C. suggest that royals
enjoyed a better diet than commoners, since the royal skeletons were two or three
inches taller and had better teeth.
14.
At this point, it is instructive to recall the common complaint that archaeology
is a luxury, concerned with the remote past and offering no lessons for the present.
Archaeologists studying the rise of farming have reconstructed a crucial stage at
which we made the worst mistake in human history. Forced to choose between
limiting population or trying to increase food production, we chose the latter and
ended up with starvation, warfare and tyranny.
55
SKIMMING
Ethnocentrism
1.
Culture shock can be an excellent lesson in relative values and in
understanding human differences. The reason culture shock occurs is that we are not
prepared for these differences. Because of the way we are taught our culture, we are
all ethnocentric. This term comes from the Greek root ethnos, meaning a people or
group. Thus, it refers to the fact that our outlook or world view is centered on our own
way of life. Ethnocentrism is the belief that one’s own patterns of behavior are the
best: the most nature, beautiful, right, or important. Therefore, other people, to the
extent that they live differently, live by standards that are inhuman, irrational,
unnatural, or wrong.
2.
Ethnocentrism is the view that one’s own culture is better than all others; it is
the way all people feel about themselves as compared to outsiders. There is no one in
our society who is not ethnocentric to some degree, no matter how liberal ad openminded he or she might claim to be. People will always find some aspect of another
culture distasteful, be it sexual practices, a way of treating friends or relatives, or
simply a food that they cannot manage to get down with a smile. This is not
something we should be ashamed of, because it is a natural outcome of growing up in
any society. However, as anthropologists who study other cultures, it is something we
should constantly be aware of, so that when we are tempted to make value judgments
about another way of life, we can look at the situation objectively and take our bias
into account.
3.
Ethnocentrism can be seen in many aspects of culture--myths, folktales,
proverbs, and even language. For example, in many languages, especially those of
non-Western societies, the word used to refer to one’s own tribe or ethnic group
literally means “mankind” or “human”. This implies that members of other groups
are less than human. For example, the term eskimo, used to refer to groups that
inhabit the arctic and subarctic regions, is an Indian word used by neighbors of the
Eskimos who observed their strange way of life but did not share it. The term means
“eaters of raw flesh,” and as such is an ethnocentric observation about cultural
practices that were normal to one group and repulsive to another. On the other hand,
if we look at one subgroup among the Alaskan natives we find them calling
themselves inuit, which means “real people” (they obviously did not think eating raw
flesh was anything out of the ordinary). Here, then, is a contrast between one’s own
group, which is real, and the rest of the world, which not so “real.” Both terms,
eskimo and inuit, are equally ethnocentric--one as an observation about differences,
the other as a self-evaluation. However, inuit is now seen as a more appropriate term
because of its origin.
4.
Another example of ethnocentrism in language can be found in the origin of
the English term barbarian. Originally a Greek word, the term was used to refer to
tribes that lived around the edge of ancient Greek society. The Greeks referred to
these people as barbars because they could not understand their speech. Bar-bar was
the Greek word for the sound a dog makes, like our word bow-wow. The Greeks, in a
classic example of ethnocentrism, considered those whose speech they could not
understand to be on the same level as dogs, which also could not be understood. They
56
did not grant such people the status of human being, much as the word eskimo gives
those people subhuman status.
5.
Shifting from language to myths and folktales, we find a good example of
ethnocentrism in the creation myth of the Cherokee Indians. According to this story,
the Creator made three clay images of a man and baked them in an oven. In his haste
to admire his handwork, he took the first image out of the oven before it was fully
baked and found that it was too pale. He waited a while and then removed the second
image; it was just right, a full reddish brown hue. He was so pleased with his work
that he sat there and admired it, completely forgetting about the third image. Finally
he smelled it burning, but by the time he could rescue it from the oven it had already
been burnt, and it came out completely black!
6.
Food preferences are perhaps the most familiar aspect of ethnocentrism.
Every culture has developed preferences for certain kinds of food and drink, and
equally strong negative attitudes toward 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,
upon which they turned green and hurriedly asked to be excused from the table.
57
Ethnocentrism
Comprehension Questions
1. Find two definitions of the term “ethnocentrism” in the text.
a) _________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
b) _________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
2. What is the etymology of this term?
____________________________________________________________________
3. What are the consequences of enthnocentric attitudes?
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
4. “Sexual practices, a way of treating friends or relatives, or simply a food etc.
(Paragraph 2) are categorized as ________________ of ________________
5. Why should one be aware of one’s ethnocentric tendencies?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
6. What three kinds of examples of ethnocentrism does the writer present?
a) ___________________________
b) ___________________________
c) ___________________________
Study the following expressions from the text:
Culture shock (2)
Distasteful (12)
To take x into account (18)
Preferences (51)
World view (5)
Repulsive (26)
Bias (18)
Subhuman (40)
58
Inconceivable (61)
Repugnant (55)
Attitude (73)
Value judgments (17)
The Primary Aims of Government
Read the passage and answer the questions that follow:
1.
The primary aims of government, I suggest, should be three: security, justice,
and conservation. These are things of the utmost importance to human happiness, and
they are things that only government can bring about. At the same time, no one of
them is absolute; each may, in some circumstances, have to be sacrificed in some
degree for the sake of greater degree of some other good. I shall say something about
each in turn.
2.
Security, in the sense of protection of life and property, has always been
recognized as one of the primary purposes of the State. Many states, however, while
safeguarding law-abiding citizens against other citizens, have not thought it necessary
to protect them against the State. Wherever there is arrest by administrative order, and
punishment without due process of law, private people have no security, however
firmly the State may be established. And even insistence on due process of law is
insufficient, unless the judges are independent of the executive. This order of ideas
was the fore in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, under the slogan “liberty of
the subject” or “rights of man.”
3.
For inhabitants of Western countries in the present day, a more interesting
kind of security is security against attacks by hostile states. This is more interesting
because it has not been secured and because it becomes more important year by year
as methods of warfare develop and evolve.
4.
Security, though undoubtedly a good thing, may be sought excessively and
become a fetish. A secure life is not necessarily a happy life; it may be rendered
dismal by boredom and monotony.
5.
Justice, especially economic justice, has become, in quite recent times, a
governmental purpose. Justice, like security, but to an ever greater degree, is a
principle that is subject to limitations. There is justice where all are equally poor as
well as where all are equally rich, but it would seem fruitless to make the rich poorer
if this was not going to make the poor richer. The case against justice is even stronger
if, in the pursuit of equality, it is going to make even the poor poorer than before. And
this might well happen if a general lowering of education and a diminution of fruitful
research were involved.
6.
Conservation, like security and justice, demands action by the State. I mean by
‘conservation’ not only the preservation of ancient monuments and beauty spots, the
upkeep of roads and public utilities, and so on. These things are done at present,
except in time of war. What I have chiefly in mind is the preservation of the world’s
natural resources. This is a matter of enormous importance, to which very little
attention has been paid.
59
The Primary Aims of Government
Comprehension Questions
1. How many kinds of security are discussed in the passage? __________
a) List and number them.
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
b) Which of them does the writer relate to the issue of human rights?
_____________________________________________________________________
c) What are the two necessary conditions for this kind of security to obtain?
i _____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
ii______________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
2. When would the pursuit of justice be “fruitless” (Paragraph 5)?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
3. What type of conservation has been essentially neglected by the government?
____________________________________________________________________
60
Why Women Are Paid Less Than Men
By Lester Thurow
1.
In the 40 years from 1939 to 1979 white women who work full time have with
monotonous regularity made slightly less than 60 percent as much as white men.
Why? Over the same time period, minorities have made substantial progress in
catching up with whites, with minority women making even more progress than
minority men.
2.
Black men now earn 72 percent as much as white men (up 16 percentage
points since the mid-1950s), but black women earn 92 percent as much as white
women. Hispanic men make 71 percent of what their white counterparts do, but
Hispanic women make 82 percent as much as white women.
3.
As a result of their faster progress, fully employed black women make 75
percent as much as fully employed black men while Hispanic women earn 68 percent
as much as Hispanic men.
4.
This faster progress may, however, end when minority women finally catch up
with white women. In the bible of the New Right, George Gilder’s Wealth and
Poverty, the 60 percent is just one of Mother Nature’s constant like the speed of light
or the force of gravity.
5.
Men are programmed to provide for their families economically while women
are programmed to take care of their families emotionally and physically. As a result
men put more effort into their jobs than women. The net result is a difference in work
intensity that leads to that 40 percent gap in earnings. But there is no discrimination
against women – only the biological facts of life.
6.
The problem with this assertion is just that. It is an assertion with no evidence
for it other than the fact that white women have made 60 percent as much as men for a
long period of time.
7.
Discrimination against women is an easy answer but it also has its problems as
an adequate explanation. Why is discrimination against women not declining under
the same social forces that are leading to a lessening of discrimination against
minorities? In recent years women have made more use of the enforcement provisions
of the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission and the courts than minorities.
Why do the laws that prohibit discrimination against women and minorities work for
minorities but not for women?
8.
When men discriminate against women, they run into a problem. To
discriminate against women is to discriminate against your own wife and to lower
your own family income. To prevent women from working is to force men to work
more.
9.
When whites discriminate against blacks, they can at least think that they are
raising their own incomes. When men discriminate against women they have to know
that they are lowering their own family income and increasing their own work effort.
10.
While discrimination undoubtedly explains part of the male-female earnings
differential, one has to believe that men are monumentally stupid or irrational to
explain the entire earnings gap in terms of discrimination. There must be something
else going on.
11.
Back in 1939 it was possible to attribute the earnings gap to large differences
in educational attainments. But the educational gap between men and women has
been eliminated since World War II. It is no longer possible to use education as an
explanation for the lower earnings of women.
61
12.
Some observers have argued that women earn less money since they are less
reliable workers who are more apt to leave the labor force. But it is difficult to
maintain this position since women are less apt to quit one job to take another and as a
result they tend to work as long, or longer, for any one employer. From any
employer’s perspective they are more rather than less reliable than men.
13.
Part of the answer is visible if you look at the lifetime earnings profile of men.
Suppose that you were asked to predict which men in a group of 25-year-olds would
become economically successful. At age 25 it is difficult to tell who will be
economically successful and your predictions are apt to be highly inaccurate.
14.
But suppose that you were asked to predict which men in a group of 35-yearolds would become economically successful. If you are successful at age 35, you are
very likely to remain successful for the rest of your life. If you have not become
economically successful by age 35, you are very unlikely to do so later.
15.
The decade between 25 and 35 is when men either succeed or fail. It is the
decade when lawyers become partners in the good firs, when business managers make
it onto the “fast track,” when academics get tenure at good universities, and when blue
collar workers find the job opportunities that will lead to training opportunities and
the skills that will generate high earnings.
16.
If there is any one decade when it pays to work hard and to be consistently in
the labor force, it is the decade between 25 and 35. For those who succeed, earnings
will rise rapidly. For those who fail, earnings will remain flat for the rest of their lives.
17.
But the decade between 25 and 35 is precisely the decade when women are
most apt to leave the labor force or become part-time workers to have children. When
they do, the current system of promotion and skill acquisition will extract an
enormous lifetime price.
18.
This leaves essentially two avenues for equalizing male and female earnings.
Families where women who wish to have successful careers, compete with men, and
achieve the same earnings should alter their family plans and have their children
either before 25 or after 35. Or society can attempt to alter the existing promotion and
skill acquisition system so that there is a longer time period in which both men and
women can attempt to successfully enter the labor force.
19.
Without some combination of these two factors, a substantial fraction of the
male-female earnings differentials are apt to persist for the next 40 years, even if
discrimination against women is eliminated.
62
Why Women Are Paid Less Than Men
Comprehension Questions
1.
a) “In the bible of the New Right” (Paragraph 4). Why is the word “bible” not
capitalized?
_____________________________________________________________________
b) What is the tone of the statement “But there is no discrimination against women –
only the biological facts of life” (Paragraph 6)? _______________________
2.
a) Whose claim is presented in Paragraph 5? _________________________________
b) Why does the writer believe this claim to be problematic?
_____________________________________________________________________
3. Does the writer believe that discrimination against women accounts for wage
differences? YES / NO (circle the correct answer)
List the writer’s arguments in support of his position.
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
4.
a) What do the explanations stated in Paragraphs 11 and 12 meant to account for?
_____________________________________________________________________
b) Does the writer consider these explanations satisfactory?
YES / NO (circle the correct answer)
Support your answer with relevant quotes.
i.
_____________________________________________________________________
ii.
_____________________________________________________________________
5. What are the writer’s suggestions for improving the situation?
i.
_____________________________________________________________________
ii.
_____________________________________________________________________
63
6.
a) Why are the statistics in Paragraphs 1-4 paradoxical?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
b) Which of the explanations is disproved by this information?
_____________________________________________________________________
7. “Why is discrimination against women not declining under the same social forces
that are leading to a lessening of discrimination against minorities?” (Paragraph 7)
Based on your general knowledge, what “social forces” may the writer be referring
to?
_____________________________________________________________________
64
The Brain and the Computer
Based on skimming, summarize the following passage in one sentence. Incorporate
the writer's thesis and two supporting arguments.
1.
Some recent developments in the computer industry make scientists predict
that the gap between human beings and machines will be closed about the year 2000.
2.
To understand the significance of this prediction let us compare the human
brain with existing computers. An average brain weighs three pounds. It consumes
electrical energy at the rate of 25 watts and occupies a volume of one tenth of a cubic
foot. Within this volume the brain houses between 10 billion and 100 billion items of
information. The most powerful computers today have memories that hold 'only' a
few million items of immediately accessible information. Such a machine consumes
100,000 watts of electrical power and occupies hundreds of cubic feet of space. Its
capacity, however, is far less than that of the brain. A machine matching the human
brain in memory capacity would occupy most of the space in the Empire State
Building.
3.
The qualitative superiority of the brain is even more striking than its
compactness. Every brain cell is directly connected to many other cells. As a result,
the cells in which information is stored communicate on a subconscious level with
thousands of other cells. The fruits of this subconscious activity are intuition, insight,
perception, and creative inspiration. The computer memory, in contrast, is like a cell
of pigeonholes stacked against a wall, with no thinking capacity in any pigeonhole
and no connections elsewhere.
4.
On almost every count, the world's most powerful electronic brains are
hopelessly inadequate in comparison with the one tenth of a cubic foot of gray matter
that resides in the human brain.
Adapted from "Post-Human Intelligence," by Robert Jastrow, in bolts, C.J., and
Thompson, M.G.R., Language and Reality: A Rhetorical Reader (pp. 132-133).
Sherman Oaks, Calif.: Alfred Publishers, 1979.
Summary:
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
65
IN-DEPTH READING
Forget what you know about H2O
By Robert C. Cowen
1.
We take the properties of water for granted. Yet scientists assure us that we
have a lot to learn about our biologically essential old friend. Research supporting the
counterintuitive claim that hot water freezes faster than cold illustrates this point.
2.
The claim made news in 1969 when Erasto Mpemba, a Tanzanian schoolboy,
said that his ice cream mixture froze faster when it started out hot than when it started
out cold. Never mind that others have reported this strange behavior of water for
centuries. Skeptics scoffed. The boy's teacher spoke derisively of "Mpemba's
physics." It's time to rethink the derision. Jonathan Katz at Washington University
has studied the "Mpemba effect" and finds the claim valid. He explains that it has to
do with the hardness of water. Dissolved bicarbonates of calcium and magnesium,
which make water hard, also depress the water's freezing point and slow its rate of
cooling compared to softer water that has less of the bicarbonates. Heating water
causes the bicarbonates to precipitate out. This forms the deposits in hot water kettles,
for example. Thus, preheating water (or Mpemba's ice cream mix) softens the water,
allowing it to freeze faster and at a higher temperature than cold, hard water.
3.
Dr. Katz speculates that the Mpemba effect doesn't always show up because
experimenters are using soft water to begin with, according to a report in New
Scientist. In that case, there would be no advantage to preheating the water.
4.
Reviewing the physics of water in Science two years ago, Yan Zubavicus and
Michael Grurze at the University of Heidelberg in Germany explained why "liquid
water is one of the most mysterious substances in our world." Water can form 13
known forms of ice crystal "or probably [an] infinite number of its amorphous
modifications," they wrote. Research at the molecular level is showing that the
traditional image of water molecules as pyramid-like tetrahedrons holding hands with
one another is grossly oversimplified.
5.
For example, Greg Kimmel and colleagues at the Pacific Northwest National
Laboratory in Richland, Wash., have made a film of water that repels other water like
a water-repellent layer of paint. They spread a layer one molecule thick on a platinum
surface. Instead of leaving attachment points free where other water molecules could
bind, the molecules in the first layer fixed all their attachment points to the platinum.
Any new incoming water was repelled as decisively as raindrops bouncing off a wellwaxed automobile.
6.
How about freezing water at room temperature? Heon Kang and colleagues at
Korea's National University in Seoul have shown that strong electric fields can force
water into a solid form. This is especially effective when water is confined in small
channels such as those involved in biological processes at the cellular level.
Meanwhile, Harald Reichert and others at the Max Planck Institute in Stuttgart,
Germany, have developed methods to explore how water molecules rapidly rearrange
their networks on microscopic scales. This can affect water's behavior in ways
scientists have only begun to imagine. Water is one of the most important substances
66
shaping our environment and sustaining organic life. Yet all we can say to this
familiar substance is, "H2O, we hardly know you."
Forget what you know about H2O
Comprehension Questions
1. The phenomenon whereby water freezes ___________________ when it is
___________________ is called 'the Mpemba effect.' Its cause has to do with the
___________________ of ___________________ and ___________________ that
are dissolved in ___________________ , making it ___________________ , and
thereby ___________________ its freezing point. When water is heated, these salts
___________________ out, and consequently the freezing point of water
___________________ . The reason that the Mpemba effect is not always observable
is that _______________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________.
2. a) How are water molecules usually portrayed?
____________________________________________________________________
b) Is this image scientifically accurate? YES / NO Choose the correct answer and
justify it by quoting from the text.
_________________________________________________
3. a) What enabled the production of a water-repellent layer of water?
____________________________________________________________________
b) This experiment SUPPORTS / CONTRADICTS (circle the correct answer) the
"traditional image of water." Why? ________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
4. Study the expressions below and answer the questions that follow.
Paragraph
Expression
1
our biologically essential old friend
the counterintuitive claim
2
sceptics scoffed
4
its amorphous modifications
5
all their attachment points
any new incoming water
67
Who is the 'friend'?
Which claim?
Translate
Whose modifications?
Whose attachment points?
Translate
The Chemistry of Coal
1.
Most energy experts agree that in the next several decades the energy needs of
the United States will require increased use of coal. If this is to be done with minimal
environmental impact, both to the land that yields the coal and to the atmosphere that
receives the combustion products, we must greatly increase our knowledge of the
structure and properties of coal.
2.
Despite its long history of use, relatively little is known about the chemical
composition of coal. This is due in large part to the highly complex and variable
nature of coal. Coal is composed of fossilized plant fragments together with minerals,
water and gases trapped in a porous matrix. There is tremendous variation in the
composition of coal from different deposits and even within a given deposit. This
makes it difficult to develop general procedures for processing raw coal.
3.
The chemical structure of coal remains controversial. Some scientists believe
that coal has a three-dimensional network of carbon atoms, while others believe that
the primary structure involves planes of carbon atoms. In either case it is clear that
coal is composed of very large molecules containing at least 30 to 75 carbon atoms
and having molecular weights of 500 to 1000. While the composition of coal is highly
variable, it is mostly carbon, although large amounts of oxygen and hydrogen are also
present. Coal has a relatively small nitrogen content.
4.
One of the more abundant and troublesome atoms in coal is sulfur. Although
the original plants that formed coal are thought to have had only about 0.5% sulfur
content, some coal, particularly that mined in the Midwest of the United States,
contains more than 10 times this much sulfur. This high sulfur content is thought to be
the result of bacterial action. Apparently the plants were submerged in brackish water
containing large amounts of sulfate ions. As the bacteria living in the water consumed
the sulfate, which served as a source of oxygen for them, the sulfur that remained was
deposited in the sediments and became trapped in the coal.
5.
One important reason for understanding the composition and structure of coal
is so we can carry out the combustion of coal efficiently with minimum pollution.
Coal combustion is not completely understood, but the mechanism appears to involve
two distinct stages. Initially, the heat causes a breakdown of the coal structure,
releasing smaller volatile fragments; these then burn, leaving behind a char of
virtually pure carbon, which subsequently burns. In the combustion reaction carbon
and hydrogen are converted to carbon dioxide and water, nitrogen to nitric oxide, and
sulfur to sulfur dioxide. Most of the mineral matter in the coal becomes part of the
ash, which drops into the ash pit of the burner, but some of the minerals become tiny
particles that accompany the exhaust gases from the smokestack and contribute to
pollution. However, the main pollutants are the nitrogen and sulfur oxides that are
thought to be the main causes of acid rain.
6.
In addition to its direct use as a fuel, coal will become increasingly important
in replacing petroleum as a source of gaseous and liquid fuels. An even more
important use may be to provide raw materials for the chemical industry, which
requires huge quantities of carbon-based molecules to produce the plastics and
synthetic fibers on which we have become so dependent. Presently, petroleum
68
furnishes these raw materials. However, as petroleum supplies dwindle, pyrolysis (i.e.,
decomposition into smaller fragments by heating) of coal will become more important
to industry.
7.
Although many uncertainties remain, one thing about coal is clear. Coal will
be a primary raw material in the next several decades. As a result, research concerning
its structure and properties will become increasingly important.
From: Chemistry by Steven S. Zurndahl (1989)
The Chemistry of Coal
Comprehension Questions
1.
The composition of coal:
a) What physical ingredients is coal composed of?
_____________________________________________________________________
b) What chemical elements is coal composed of?
_____________________________________________________________________
c) Over which specific issue related to the composition of coal do scientists disagree?
_____________________________________________________________________
d) On which issue do scientists agree?
_____________________________________________________________________
2.
What is the major difficulty in coal processing?
_____________________________________________________________________
3.
How does the writer account for the relatively high sulfur content of coal?
_____________________________________________________________________
4.
What three pollutants result from the combustion of coal?
i _____________________ ii _____________________
iii_____________________
5.
List three major uses of coal.
i
_______________________________________________________________
ii
_______________________________________________________________
iii
_______________________________________________________________
69
Working hand in hand with Africa
By Judith Sudilovsky
1.
Checking for mosquito larvae in a village in Senegal. Two Israeli scientists
from Ben Gurion University of the Negev are out to change the way the scientific
Western World deals with Africa.
2.
One of the biggest hurdles Africa faces is overcoming the numerous infectious
diseases it contends with, note BGU colleagues Dr. Leslie Lobel, 52, of the
Department of Virology, and Professor Robert Marks, 47, of the Department of
Biotechnology engineering.
3.
Until now most diagnostic kits, vaccines and drugs used to test for and counter
viral diseases have been for the most part purchased and sent to African countries
from Western countries. But in most cases they are too expensive for the budgets of
African countries and so only a limited number of people are diagnosed. Some
vaccines against viral disease do not include the local African strains and treatments
are either too costly or not formulated to function under African reality which
includes lack of available refrigeration and clean water.
4.
In addition, the emphasis has been on diseases of concern and interest to the
Western world such as the HIV virus and malaria - which do not necessarily correlate
with the diseases which the Africans themselves are most concerned about, according
to American-Israeli Lobel who immigrated six years ago, giving up a position at the
Columbia University School of Medicine to set up his own lab in the virology
department at BGU.
5.
In general Africans take a pragmatic approach to infectious diseases and are
more worried about disease which affect their livestock and limit their food
production and more directly affect the vitality and productivity of their citizens, he
tells ISRAEL21c.
6.
The problem is rooted in a colonial mentality which sees the issues of Africa
through the eyes of the developed world. In part that happens, says Lobel, because
very few westerners actually spend time in Africa and even less ask Africans what
they themselves need and want.
70
A world-class consortium
7.
By working hand-in-hand with African scientists, Lobel and Marks hope to
create a world-class consortium based in Africa, which will transfer existing
technology and develop new technologies for treatment and diagnosis of infectious
diseases prioritized by the African scientists themselves.
8.
The new BGU initiative - the Bio-Africa Research Network (BARN) - was
launched at the ViralCheck workshop and hands-on conference held in Dakar,
Senegal in June. It is meant to turn the traditional pattern 180 degrees around and get
the African scientists themselves involved in determining what are the medical and
scientific needs for each community.
9.
With world-renowned virologist Dr. Robert Webster of St. Jude Children's
Research Hospital of Memphis, Tenn., in attendance, the conference was an
auspicious start for the network.
10.
A book which will be published by BARN following the conference will detail
all aspects of viral diseases. Contributors include scientists from the US, Europe,
Israel and Africa thereby providing a global perspective on various aspects of viral
disease and diagnostics.
11.
"This allows me to do amazing science while at the same time doing
something great for humanity. This is the most important thing in my life right now. It
is very exciting," says Lobel.
12.
BARN is to include a core nucleus in both English and French speaking
African countries including Senegal, Uganda, Ethiopia, Cameroon, Kenya and South
Africa who will work together, facilitated by the network, to do research and
exchange information between the research teams. So far teams in Senegal, Ethiopia,
Uganda and South Africa area actively involved in research for BARN, with scientists
from the other countries due to join this year.
13.
"There are a lot of smart African scientists who much of the rest of the world
don't appreciate," says Lobel. They intend to seek these people out to become part of
their network, he added. "We want to select people who are ready to accomplish
things and want to work under this philosophy. We are not planning to simply send
money to Africa. We want to send people and technical know-how to help the
Africans help themselves."
14.
Already, notes Marks, an Israeli-American raised in France who immigrated to
Israel in 1995, they have met a number of impressive scientists from Ghana at the
Dakar conference and are hoping to recruit them for the BARN network in Ghana.
15.
Under the BARN initiative there will be one lab in each country that will
include personnel from governmental institutions, universities, research institutions
and hospitals. Research will focus on detection of viruses, treatment and the reduction
of bio-environmental threats.
71
16.
In addition to building on the good relations Israel has with Muslim Senegal
and other African countries, as dual American citizens he and Marks are also able to
build some good will for the United States in Africa, says Lobel, and the US State
Department provided partial funding for the conference in Dakar with this in mind.
''Israelis understand the African mentality''
17.
He adds that while working in Africa he has had to put aside his American
way of thinking and rely more on his newly acquired Israeli mentality.
"Israelis do well in Africa. They know how to help Africans help themselves.
Americans and Europeans don't understand the African mentality," he explains.
18.
Seed money for the project has been raised through a private American
foundation and will allow Lobel, Marks and their students to travel to Africa on a
rotating basis to work with scientists there, as well as bring over African scientists for
training at BGU labs. Funding will also enable African BARN scientists to visit each
other's labs for collaboration and sharing of research data for joint multi-national
research projects.
19.
"It won't be easy, but we have enough experience on the ground which enables
us to make the least number of mistakes," says Lobel.
20.
The main goals of the initiative are threefold: to develop new technologies for
diagnostics of infectious diseases in keeping with the African reality, developing
African intellectual property, and setting up start-ups.
21.
"The problem is they get everything from the US and Europe. Africans can
make their own vaccines (which would be less expensive and more suited to African
viral strains), but nobody is helping them do that because the companies want to sell
them their vaccines," says Lobel. "We want to change the whole philosophy."
22.
The challenge, say the Israelis, is not just setting up the network but
establishing it in such a way that it is sustainable in the long term, creates jobs, and
succeeds in showing Africans how to help themselves.
23.
"The whole idea is not just to publish, which obviously Leslie and I need to
do, but to help African scientists write patents and apply for grant money," says
Marks. Once scientists begin receiving their own grant money they will eventually be
able to be weaned from BARN resources, he explains.
24.
It is hoped the network will provide jobs in BARN laboratories in each
country, as well as in the start-up companies which will be established to produce
various diagnostic kits, drugs and vaccines resulting from the research.
25.
Lobel and Marks hope to be able to raise money for the first five year phase of
the initiative by which time they will be able to set up start-up companies.
72
26.
"After they complete their scientific studies African students don't really get
(scientific) jobs. There is no chance to benefit from their education. The moment we
create the first corporation people will understand the benefit of such a network,"
Marks said.
The initiative will be deemed a success, adds Marks, when those who initiated it can
leave the network in the capable hands of a strong team of African scientists who
keep the project moving forward.
Working hand in hand with Africa
Comprehension Questions
1. Based on the article,
a) what languages is Dr. Lobel likely to speak?
________________________________
b) what languages is Dr. Marks likely to speak?
_______________________________
2. What local conditions render vaccines from Western countries inappropriate for
Africa?
a) _______________________________________________________________
b) _______________________________________________________________
c) _______________________________________________________________
d) _______________________________________________________________
3. a) Which two infectious diseases especially preoccupy Western scientists at the
moment? i) _______________________ ii) ________________________
b) What kind of infectious diseases preoccupy the Africans themselves?
__________________________________________________________________
4. What must Western scientists do in order to overcome the “colonial mentality”
(Paragraph 5)? _______________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
5. One of the reasons BARN received partial funding for the Dakar conference from
the U.S. State Department was that ________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
6. a) What does the writer mean by saying that Leslie and Marks would like to
“wean” (Paragraph 23) African scientists from BARN?
_____________________________________________________________________
b) What will such “weaning” enable African scientists to achieve?
_____________________________________________________________________
73
MATERIALS PROVIDED
BY TIRTSA HARIF
74
Thursday, Apr. 08, 2010
Management, Plain and Simple
By Andrea Sachs / Bird-In-Hand
1.
The Amish are famous for what they don't do. That includes driving cars,
using electricity and having phones in their homes. But it turns out that the Amish
understand as much as or more than their English (i.e., non-Amish) neighbors do
about getting businesses off the ground. A new study in the Global Business and
Economics Review says the failure rate of Amish businesses is less than 10% in the
first five years, compared with 50% of small businesses in the U.S. over the same
time period.
2.
How can a people whose preferred mode of transportation is a horse and
buggy do so well in the modern marketplace? That question intrigued Erik Wesner, a
former sales manager. His exploration of the Amish approach to business can be
found in his fascinating book Success Made Simple: An Inside Look at Why Amish
Businesses Thrive (Jossey-Bass). Despite the group's insular nature, Wesner was able
to live and work among its members for three years. "We're not going to become
Amish," he says, "but I think some of the cultural values that the Amish display
consistently are things that non-Amish people can adopt and incorporate."
3.
Some of those values will seem foreign to harried urban workers. The Amish
are known for their plain lifestyle, marked by simplicity. That carries over to an
employer's relationship with his employees. A typical example, says Wesner, is an
owner occasionally working alongside his employees: "One thing I heard consistently
was 'I'd never ask an employee to do something that I wouldn't be willing to do
myself.' It's like a mantra. They will exhibit that by jumping in sometimes and doing
the dirty work." Though it's below the boss's pay grade, he says, "that helps align their
interests with yours. It makes an impact." A builder Wesner interviewed occasionally
takes his 18 employees out for breakfast, on the clock. The result? In the highturnover construction industry, his employees have stayed with him an average of
nine years each. So do the customers, because Amish businesses value relationships
over onetime deals.
4.
The Amish also deliver detailed craftsmanship born of another era. Jonas
Stoltzfus Jr., 42, and his brother David manufacture luxury leather goods for Ralph
Lauren in a converted barn in East Earl, Pa. The incongruity isn't lost on Stoltzfus.
But having been a dairy farmer, he'd rather work higher up the value chain. "We're
trying to make a living," he says.
5.
A rigorous work ethic is another norm. Daniel Fisher, 36, painstakingly
manufactures wire hairpins at his home workshop in the village of Bird-in-Hand, Pa.
The hairpins are intended for Amish and Mennonite women, who keep their hair
swept up. The work is "extremely tedious," he admits, but adds, "I enjoy being with
my wife and kids so we can work together." Large Amish families provide a ready
source of labor as well as a financial incentive.
75
6.
The Amish have also learned to work outside their enclave--outside their
comfort zone, in B-school parlance. That takes the kind of flexibility displayed by
Moses Smucker, 59, the owner of two businesses in Reading Terminal Market in
Philadelphia. Smucker, a big man with a bushy beard and a straw hat, starts his day a
55-mile (about 90 km) van ride away in Lancaster County, waking at 4 a.m. to feed
the horses. "I come down here, and I adapt to this," he says. "I go home, and I adapt to
that." Doling out packages of liverwurst, headcheese and beef jerky, Smucker is a
born salesman. "This place doesn't know what hit 'em," he says. "I yodel, I whistle, I
sing."
7.
America is unlikely to see an Amish CEO of a Fortune 500 company. The
Amish leave school after eighth grade and eschew the Internet. The pacifistic Amish
also don't believe in lawsuits. Yet, says Wesner, their success proves that "you don't
need an M.B.A. to run an effective business." There's life in commerce for those more
dedicated to the Golden Rule than the golden calf.
76
Why I Quit the Company
1.
When I tell people that I quit working for the company after only one year,
most of them think I'm crazy. They can't understand why I would want to give up a
prestigious and secure job. But I think I'd have been crazy to stay, and I'll try to
explain why.
2.
I started working for the company after graduating from university. It's a big,
well-known trading company with about 6,000 employees all over the world. There's
a lot of competition to get into this and other similar companies, which promise young
people a wealthy and successful future. I was set on course to be a Japanese "yuppie".
3.
I'd been used to living independently as a student, looking after myself and
organizing my own schedule. As soon as I started working, all that changed. I was
given a room in a company dormitory, which is like a fancy hotel, with a twenty-four
hour hot bath service and all meals laid on. Most single company employees live in a
dormitory like this, and many married employees live in company apartments. The
dorm system is actually a great help because living in Tokyo costs more than young
people earn – but I found it stifling.
4.
My life rapidly became reduced to a shuttle between the dorm and the office.
The working day is officially eight hours, but you can never leave the office on time. I
used to work from nine in the morning until eight or nine at night, and often until
midnight. Drinking with colleagues after work is part of the job; you can't say no. The
company building contained cafeterias, shops, a post office, a doctor's office, a
barber's … I never needed to the leave the building. Working, drinking, sleeping, and
standing on a horribly crowded commuter train for an hour and a half each way; this
was my life. I spent all my time with the same colleagues; when I wasn't involved in
entertaining clients on the weekend, I was expected to play golf with my colleagues. I
soon lost sight of the world outside the company.
5.
Overtiredness and overwork leave you little energy to analyze or criticize your
situation. There are shops full of "health drinks", cocktails of caffeine and other drugs,
which will keep you going even when you're exhausted. "Karishi" (death from
overwork) is increasingly common and is always being discussed in the newspapers. I
myself collapsed from working too hard. My boss told me: "You should control your
health; it's your own fault if you get sick." There is no paid sick leave; I used up half
of my fourteen days annual leave because of sickness.
6.
The company also controls its employees' private lives. Many company
employees under thirty are single. They are expected to devote all their time to the
company and become good workers; they don't have time to find a girlfriend. The
company offers scholarships to the most promising young employees to enable them
to study abroad for a year or two. But unmarried people who are on these courses are
not allowed to get married until they have completed the course! Married employees
who are sent abroad have to leave their families behind in Japan for the first year.
77
7.
In fact, the quality of married life is often determined by the husband's work.
Men who have just got married try to go home early for a while, but soon have to
revert to the norm of late-night work. They have little time to spend with their wives
and even on the weekend are expected to play golf with colleagues. Fathers cannot
find time to communicate with their children and child rearing is largely left to
mothers. Married men posted abroad will often leave their families behind in Japan;
they fear that their children will fall behind in the fiercely competitive Japanese
education system.
8.
However, there are some signs that things are changing. Although many
employees in my company were quickly brainwashed, many others, like myself,
complained about life in the company and seriously considered leaving. But most of
them were already in fetters – of debt. Pleased with themselves for getting into the
company and anticipating a life of executive luxury, these new employees throw their
money around. Every night they are out drinking. They buy smart clothes and take a
taxi back to the dormitory after the last train has gone. They start borrowing money
from the bank and soon have a debt growing like a snowball rolling down a slope.
The banks demand no security for loans; it's enough to be working for a well-known
company. Some borrow as much as a year's salary in the first few months. They can't
leave the company while they have such debts to pay off.
9.
I was one of the few people in my intake of employees who didn't get into
debt. I left the company dormitory after three months to share an apartment with a
friend. I left the company exactly one year after I entered it. It took me a while to find
a new job, but I'm working as a journalist now. My life is still busy, but it's a lot better
than it was. I'm lucky because nearly all big Japanese companies are like the one I
worked for, and conditions in many small companies are even worse.
10.
It's not easy to opt out of a life-style that is generally considered to be
prestigious and desirable, but more and more young people in Japan are thinking
about doing it. You have to give up a lot of superficially attractive material benefits in
order to preserve the quality of your life and your sanity. I don't think I was crazy to
leave the company. I think I would have gone crazy if I'd stayed.
New Internationalist
Tomoyuki Iwashita, 1992
(edited text)
78
Why Doctors Should Be More Empathetic − But Not Too Much More
1.
If possible, think back to a time you or a loved one had to be in a hospital for a
significant amount of time. What do you remember from the experience?
2.
Many people report an eerie feeling about their stays in hospitals. Even if
everyone treating you was kind, attentive, hard working, efficient and competent, you
may still have had a sense that—compared to other situations in which people were
intensely looking after you—something was different about being in the hospital.
With all the measuring, palpating, listening for abnormal body sounds, injecting, and
imaging of your internal organs, you may have felt treated like a kind of object, rather
than a complete person. You may have felt, in a word, dehumanized.
3.
Dehumanization is generally a negative state of affairs. Few patients like to be
objectified, and when in a hospital, most desire empathy from their caregivers. It is
for these reasons that the regular reaction to dehumanization in medicine is to
absolutely condemn it. The medical establishment regularly organizes empathyawareness programs.
4.
A curious observer might ask a more basic question: why is a lack of empathy
a recurrent problem in clinical settings in the first place? Why the permanent need for
empathy education? Certainly not every profession has these difficulties, nor requires
such a measure.
5.
Recent research on how medical professionals’ brains function sheds light on
these questions. Specifically, two experiments by Jean Decety and colleagues of the
University of Chicago have examined the neuroscientific basis of pain empathy in
physicians.
6.
In one experiment, physicians who practice acupuncture (as well as matched
non-physician controls) underwent brain imaging while they watched videos of
needles being inserted into another person’s hands, feet and areas around their mouth
as well as videos of the same areas being touched by a cotton bud. Compared to
controls, the physicians showed significantly less response in brain regions involved
in empathy for pain. In addition, the physicians showed significantly greater
activation of areas involved in executive control, self-regulation and thinking about
the mental states of others. The physicians appeared to show less empathy and more
of a higher-level cognitive response.
7.
This finding raised a further question. Perceiving pain in others typically
involves two steps. First people emotionally share the pain with another person, and
then they make a cognitive appraisal of the emotion. Do physicians automatically feel
empathy for the pain of others, but then quickly suppress it? Or is the cognitive
suppression of empathy even deeper; has it become more automatic? Is it possible that
the physicians no longer even experience the first step of empathy for pain that
regular people show on their brain scans?
79
8.
In a slightly different brain-scanning experiment, the researchers found that
when the physicians viewed the painful needle sticking, they did not even show the
early empathy response. The physicians had apparently become so good at empathy
suppression that there was no early response to worry about.
9.
Why might these effects exist? It could be that, compared to other professions,
the people that gravitate to healthcare tend to be less empathic. This seems unlikely.
Furthermore, studies of physicians show that they are often the most empathic and
caring towards the beginning of medical school, and that they become steadily less
empathetic with more clinical training. The more likely culprits are therefore the
nature of medical training and the intrinsic demands of the profession.
10.
Whether during a surgery, biopsy, physical exam, or even a simple blood
draw, healthcare professionals routinely must inflict pain on others to make them
better in the long run. Physicians also need to have daily communication with patients
who are physically injured, bleeding or otherwise suffering. Being too focused on the
patient’s pain can make the doctor less effective. Suppressing the response to others’
pain may in fact free up information processing resources to more effectively solve
clinical problems. This argument explains the finding that physicians get less
empathic as they see more patients and progress through their training. In addition, a
recent study of hospital nurses found that they cope with stress on the job by
dehumanizing patients, which presumably makes them more effective at their jobs.
11.
Despite these findings, there can be no doubt that empathy is crucial to a
successful healthcare system. Empathy is invaluable for motivating the whole process
of delivering care, for ensuring effective communication (who wants to talk about
embarrassing symptoms to a frigid doc?), and for building long-term relationships of
trust between doctors and patients.
12.
The job of any physician is therefore part empathic and part problem solving.
This constitutes an inherent trade-off in medicine because the human brain does not
have infinite computational resources or time to perform both tasks equally well. One
must be caring while also figuring out a proper diagnosis, prognosis and treatment,
often under conditions of uncertainty.
13.
Just as only using one’s cognitive problem-solving skills would not
necessarily lead to the best outcomes for patients, only employing one’s empathic and
emotional skills doesn’t lead to the best outcomes, either. Empathy is not an inherent
good in medical care, but a relative one. As with deliberative reflection and
abstraction, empathy is also useful only in certain degrees and in certain contexts, but
can be unproductive or destructive in others. A surgeon, for instance, should be highly
empathic when discussing surgical options with an upset patient, but will need to
regulate empathy during the surgery.
14.
The key is knowing when empathy is called for and when it is detrimental. It
should not be the goal of physicians, then, to be more empathetic. They should aim
instead to find the right balance, the golden mean that optimizes care.
By Omar Sultan Haque and Adam Waytz
Tuesday, April 26, 2011 (edited text)
80
To Conquer Burnout, Think Smaller
1.
It was the defining moment of Mary Lou Quinlan's career: While in a taxi on
her way to work two years ago, Ms. Quinlan, then chief executive of the N. W. Ayer
ad agency in Manhattan, fantasized about breaking all her limbs in a traffic accident or at least a leg or two. "I thought to myself, 'Maybe if I jump in front of this cab, I
can go to the hospital and finally get some peace and quiet,'" she said.
2.
That dark thought jolted her out of the rat race. "After 20 years of manic
working," she said, "I realized I had hit total burnout."
3.
She received permission for a five-week sabbatical, and for the first time in
two decades, she said, she felt like a human being again.
4.
"For once, I was able to wake up and drink my morning coffee after the sun
had already risen, instead of before," she said.
5.
When the five weeks were up, she resigned from the agency, which had 500
employees, to start her own company, Just Ask A Woman, a low-key marketing
company in Manhattan with a staff of a dozen. She says she has never looked back.
6.
Ms. Quinlan is somewhat of a trend setter, career experts say. In the recently
rocky economy, burnout among managers has been rising - so much so that many
have quit jobs without the slightest clue as to what they will do next.
7.
A study by Challenger, Gray & Christmas, the outplacement firm in Chicago,
showed that more than 470 chief executives of major companies left their jobs in the
first half of 2001. Though poor performance can never be ruled out, many of the
chiefs cited stress and burnout as reasons for their departures.
8.
"The pressure managers feel to perform is higher than it's ever been," said
William Byham, chief executive of Development Dimensions International, a human
resources consulting firm in Pittsburgh. "It used to be that you'd have a couple of
years to make mistakes before you were really under the gun. Now, you're under
immediate pressure to show results."
9.
David N. Rosen also escaped from the rat race. As the technical team leader of
the technology consulting division at Oracle, he had been working for a year and a
half on a project that required him to fly every week from Los Angeles to Portland,
Oregon.
10.
Working through the night at the client's office early last year, he witnessed
the emotional meltdown of a colleague at 2 a.m. The project was not going well, and
the client had complained to Oracle's top management. The colleague "basically had a
nervous breakdown," Mr. Rosen said.
11.
"He sank into the wall and began crying and saying he couldn't take it
anymore," Mr. Rosen said. "All that was running through my mind was, "This could
be me soon".
81
12.
Within days, Mr. Rosen persuaded his companion, Stacy Van Heusen, to leave
her management position at an ad agency in Los Angeles and go with him to Italy.
They spent five months drinking red wine, trolling farmers' markets and discussing
their next career moves. They recently moved back to the Los Angeles area, set up a
television production company, Stubs the Cat Productions, and have vowed never to
return to work as executives at large companies.
13.
"We were both washed up in our late 20's," said Ms. Van Heusen, 28, who
worked 100- hour weeks creating campaigns for Levi Strauss. "We knew something
had to change."
14.
Taking a breather can help managers put their careers in perspective. Joseph
B. Weintraub, an organizational psychologist and management professor at Babson
College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, recommends that executives on the verge of
burnout take a few weeks off before making any drastic moves. "Don't do anything
intellectual," he said. "Relax, get some exercise and try to see things in a new light."
15.
He also urged managers to do some soul searching to make sure that the stress
is not self-inflicted.
16.
Managers who change to more tranquil careers should be wary of falling back
into old ways. Ms. Quinlan, the ad executive, realized that her inability to say no had
also hurt her. "Now I say no a lot, and I have a lot more energy, which I use to garden
instead of sitting in some meeting," she said.
17.
Mr. Rosen and Ms. Van Heusen now force themselves to do yoga several
mornings a week and to take weekends off.
18.
"It took us a lot of personal upheaval to get where we are," Mr. Rosen said.
"We're not about to go back to being the maniacs we used to be."
The New York Times
Melinda Ligos, 2002
(edited text)
82
Keep it Clean
06 Apr 2009 HotelManagementNetwork
1.
It is the nightmare of every restaurateur, head chef and F&B manager. When
diners fall ill, health and safety get involved and the doors to your establishment are
closed, the long-term effects can be devastating.
2.
Never mind the money lost through weeks of enforced closure; the damage
caused to the brand's reputation can be fatal, undermining years of effort and
investment in the time it takes to publish a single news article.
3.
The experience of the Fat Duck from late February into early March was a
stark reminder that these problems are not merely the preserve of fast food joints,
low-end eateries and street vendors. Heston Blumenthal's renowned restaurant – one
of only three establishments in the UK to hold Michelin's highest accolade – was
closed for 17 days following an initial 40 diners falling ill.
4.
By the time it had reopened for service on 12 March – with food poisoning
ruled out as a cause but the outbreak's origin still unclear – the story had garnered
international press attention, seen the number of supposed sufferers jump by 360 and
cost the restaurant an estimated £100,000 in lost revenue.
5.
Blumenthal's reputation as the most scientific and meticulous of chefs lent the
story particular resonance; if a man who runs his kitchen in a manner akin to a
chemistry lab fails to keep Health and Safety away from his restaurant, nobody is free
from risk.
6.
"It is important to understand that you cannot ever fully eliminate risk," Pedro
Chidichimo tells me.
7.
"What one should be aiming towards is finding the critical points of control
and guaranteeing as significant a reduction as possible."
8.
The EMEA president of JohnsonDiversey, a leading global provider of
commercial cleaning and hygiene products and solutions, holds a bachelor's degree in
chemical engineering and has been with the company since 1994. He has seen the
damage that a failure to get to grips with hygiene can cause.
9.
"Most restaurants will have their business and marketing plans in place from
day one," Chidichimo explains, "but if they don't have the right processes in place to
manage food safety and minimize risk, the entire enterprise is in danger. The
discussion needs to be elevated beyond mere hygiene and cleaning and into the wider
arena of risk management."
10.
This becomes even clearer when one looks at the sheer complexity of the
supply chain going into putting food on a diner's plate – something Chidichimo neatly
summarizes as "farm-to-fork". The Fat Duck, for example, sources thousands of
ingredients from more than 30 suppliers. Simply taking responsibility for the
standards of hygiene within one's own kitchen is never enough.
83
11.
"One must drive compliance into one's suppliers," Chidichimo believes. "It
doesn't matter if you're taking all the requisite measures in-house; a failure to
appreciate what your partners should be doing and whether those standards are being
met puts your restaurant in danger."
12.
With the pressures and time restraints placed on a working kitchen, external
assistance in this area can be invaluable. It is a demand JohnsonDiversey has sought
to meet through the implementation of a consultation group dedicated to analyzing
and detailing the hot spots and risk management issues kitchens face on a client-byclient basis.
13.
"We cannot recommend particular suppliers," Chidichimo acknowledges, "but
we can outline the standards they should be meeting and, through a series of audits,
controls and analysis, whether they are performing as they should. It goes beyond
meeting minimum regulatory demands; we help customers move forward with their
suppliers on the basis of the infrastructures in place and internal compliance. An
ability to push hard on these guys is critical."
14.
As the global economic downturn continues to bite, an increasing number of
restaurants are struggling to move forward. However, with the pressure to slash
overheads increasing, Chidichimo insists that this is one area where corners must not
be cut.
15.
"Lose perspective on the short term and you'll lose a lot of ground going
forward," says the Argentinean. "Amid all the current turmoil, companies should be
focusing upon building and consolidating as strong a brand as possible in order to
emerge on the other side in a powerful position. Food hygiene is a critical investment
in this regard."
16.
That does not necessarily equate to a considerable spend, and Chidichimo
believes savings can be made without success being compromised. "We are doing a
lot of work with customers helping them become more productive," he explains,
"reducing chemical usage and driving efficiency into systems, applications and
training. It is also our responsibility to bring in products and solutions that help
further drive these improvements."
17.
The JohnsonDiversey regional president has seen more than his fair share of
kitchens over the years and acknowledges that standards can vary widely. Despite all
the company's efforts, his ability to make improvements is dependent on one thing.
18.
"It all comes down to leadership," Chidichimo declares. "A conscious
criterion to drive risk management into operations must come from the top. The best
kitchens I see are those where the leaders are genuinely aware of the potential risks
and see hygiene as a critical priority not only in terms of survival, but as part of their
overall risk portfolio. This drives behaviour throughout the chain of command."
19.
Getting leaders informed is a task that JohnsonDiversey takes very seriously
and it is a message an increasing number clearly want to hear: food hygiene is the
company's highest growth sector across the globe. "We are committed to creating a
culture that delivers a safer world," Chidichimo explains.
84
20.
"We've a responsibility to drive our business and the behaviour of others. If
we cannot deliver advice and solutions that help our customers and the population in
general towards this goal, we've failed."
85
Smoke Screens
Giant health warnings are taking over cigarette packaging around the world.
By Ruth Altchek
From the March 2004 issue of I.D.
(Edited Text)
1.
Europeans can't smoke enough, but not without opposition. New regulations
adopted by the European Union's 15 member nations state that tobacco companies
must cover 30 percent of the front of a cigarette pack and 40 percent of the back with
one of four official warnings: "Smoking seriously harms you and others around you,"
"Smokers die younger," "Smoking causes ageing of the skin," and the matter-of-fact
"Smoking kills." Translated into a variety of languages, the warnings appear in severe
bold type on a white background. The point-of-sale attack on smoking is
transcontinental. Canadian health ministers decided that threatening words weren't
frightening enough. Since 2001, cigarettes sold in Canada have had to bear one of
several full-color graphic depictions of cancer's effects on the mouth, lungs, heart, and
brain. According to a study by the Canadian Cancer Society, 58 percent of
respondents said that these nasty visuals had made them pause before lighting up.
from left to right Noblesse from Israel (warning: "The ministry of health states
that smoking causes serious diseases"); Silk Cut and Dunhill from England;
John Silver from Sweden (warning: "Smoking seriously harms you and those
around you"); Nobel from Spain (warning: "Smoking can kill"); Du Maurier
from Canada (warning: "Cigarettes cause mouth diseases"); Hope from Japan
(warning: "Please take care to avoid excessive smoking since it could damage
your health"); Caballero from Holland (warning: "Your doctor or pharmacy
can help you stop smoking ").
2.
Some health-risk-resisting puffers are annoyed by these tactics. The British
website Fakefags (www.fakefags.co.uk) sells stickers to cover the horrid messages on
standard U.K. packs. The labels mimic the original warnings in looks but not in
sentiment. "Social smoking doesn't count," they state cynically, and "You've got to die
of something." Customers are also invited to submit their own messages to blanket the
wet-blanket advertising.
3.
Across France, meanwhile, a million defiant smokers (or thereabouts
according to Le Monde) have slipped on the Crazypack, a sleeve that conceals
warnings on cigarette boxes. Of the eight Crazypacks available, one features a portrait
of Che Guevara and another a decorative checkerboard. In Spain, governmentlicensed tobacco shops sell similar message-concealing cases. Some look like
ordinary Marlboro or Ducados packs, but without the doomsday warning.
86
4.
The supply side couldn't agree more that the new warnings are an
infringement-if not on personal freedom, then on branding opportunities. With a
worldwide ban on television cigarette ads and an extension of the EU prohibition to
radio, print media, and the Internet by July 2005, tobacco brand managers will have to
come up with new promotional strategies to cajole cigarettes into the hearts (and
lungs) of customers.
Ruth Altchek is associate editor of I.D..
87
Conguitos
April 21, 2009
by Ernest Beck
A Spanish candy mascot with a bad reputation
1.
When british formula one
driver Lewis Hamilton, who is
black, was poised to win a title last
year, angry Spanish fans
bombarded websites with racial
slurs against him. Besides calling
Hamilton a “nigger” and a “halfbreed,” one wrote “Conguito, you
are going to die,” referring to a
popular Spanish candy whose
package features a pygmy-like
character with thick red lips and
bulging eyes. The brand was
launched in 1961 with the
character created by Spanish
graphic artist Juan Tudela Férez at a time when such racist stereotypes were
commonplace, even in the U.S.
2.
The name, which freely translated means “little Congo boys,” was apparently
chosen because of heightened interest in Africa—the Congo had recently become
independent—and for that continent’s exotic appeal when selling chocolate. But while
we’ve entered the age of political correctness, Spaniards continue to munch through
30 million bags of chocolate-covered-peanut Conguitos a year. The label, notes
design critic Steven Heller, “is seen in Spain as innocent as it was in the past for
Americans to eat ‘black babies’ chocolate, which was discontinued in the ’60s.”
3.
In 2003, a Spanish professor launched a letter-writing campaign to the
company denouncing the packaging as “racist and insulting,” especially to Spain’s
many African immigrants. In response, a company spokesman was quoted in a local
paper saying that consumers have shown only “affection and support” and that the
Conguito character “respects everyone.” Still, there have been alterations to the little
Congo boy in the past decade to make him more “urban,” according to the
spokesperson, rather than a character “located in the jungle”: He lost his spear, his
belly button, and his huge red lips, and gained a white twin.
88
‫על סף‬
‫להשיק‬
‫משיכה‬
‫להפגיז‬
‫ השמצה‬,‫הכפשה‬
‫שינוי‬
‫מעליב‬
‫צרכן‬
‫חיבה‬
‫מהגר‬
‫בולט‬
‫לגנות‬
‫ להרוויח‬,‫להשיג‬
‫ גמד‬,‫ננס‬
‫להציג‬
bombard (v.)
appeal (n.)
immigrant (n.)
bulging (adj.)
pygmy (n.)
alteration (n.)
insulting (adj.)
gain (v.)
consumer (n.)
affection (n.)
feature (v.)
denounce (v.)
poised (adj.)
launch (v.)
slur (n.)
89
Is the truth too hot to handle?
The Sunday Times Tim Rayment, 2005 (edited text)
1.
Confession time. When did you last lie? Was it to your employer, to your
spouse, client or friend? Or to yourself? And when were you last lied to?
2.
Lying is a survival mechanism and without it society cannot function. The
world would be a less interesting place without lies, says one opinion.
3.
Evidence of dishonesty is all around. A survey of office workers found a
greater willingness to lie in the UK than elsewhere. 11% of Britons admit denying
receipt of emails, much higher than Spaniards (4%), French and Italians (3%) and
Germans (1%). A poll found that on average, the British tell as many as 20 untruths a
day. According to Robert Feldman, a psychologist at the University of Massachusetts,
Americans lie once for every three minutes their mouths are open.
4.
People were asked to carry hidden video cameras and record their
conversations. Watching the tapes, they counted the deceptions. The average tally was
three for every 10 minutes conversation. "One woman heard herself on the telephone,
sympathizing with her boyfriend, who was sick," Feldman says. "At the time, she told
us, all she was thinking was "What a big baby!"
5.
We have all done that. (Don't lie). We think it's trivial, even necessary; this is
the famous white lie. But we go further. Until recently, chronic lying was seen mostly
as manipulative, to bring about personal gains, or as part of mental illness. Now, it
seems, there is a tendency even among very successful people to weave fact and
fiction for no obvious benefit and without mental illness, either.
6.
According to Dr. Charles Dike, researcher at Yale University, there are some
highly functional people who base their lives almost entirely on spectacular lies. He
tells the story of Joseph Ellis, the Pulitzer prize-winning historian, who regaled
students and colleagues with war stories until it was revealed that he had never been
in combat. A judge in California was removed from the bench in 2001 after claiming
under oath that he had carried out secret CIA operations in Asia and Africa and that
he had a master's degree in psychology when he had never been in the CIA and had
no psychology degree. And these are just a few examples.
7.
Many of us teach our children that white lies are acceptable. Parents have two
motives for this; one is to protect people's feelings as telling Grandma that she
brought the wrong present is rude. Better to lie than upset Grandma. The other is to
ensure that children are liked. The children become adults who continue to believe
that these lies are desirable. We make excuses to avoid a social commitment, or to end
it early; as we leave we say we have enjoyed ourselves.
8.
There are grounds for unease about the degree of dishonesty around us. But
are there still good reasons to lie? If you get the degree of deception right, you attract
a better mate. You might not deserve the mate, but that is another question. You lie
about the experience you have had, get the job and it works out well. But it is based
on deceit.
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9.
Children supposedly start fibbing at three or four, to do what they want and
protect themselves from punishment. My son was two when he was obsessed with
dragging a chair to the sink so that he could reach the taps and must have had a
vocabulary of about 30 words. Even with such limited resources, he managed to put
five words together when we were going outside one day to explain why he was going
inside. "Very sunny, close the door." Shielded by the closed kitchen door, he was at
the taps moments later.
10.
Children's use of fantasy to deny reality is an important stage in selfdevelopment and self protection, but when this persists into adulthood it becomes
pathological, as if the ego is fixed at the childhood level. Putting all this together, it is
no surprise to learn that liars often start out as confident children who lie to stay out of
trouble. If they are good liars, for whom the benefit of dishonesty exceeds the mental
strain, they carry on. According to studies published in the Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology, pathological liars are as likely to be confident, attractive and
popular as they are to be introverted and withdrawn. It also seems the better educated
a person is, the higher their level of deceit. "People who are most likely to lie are
those who care deeply about what others think of them," says Deborah Kashy, coauthor of the research.
11.
Now we arrive at British research. Dr. Sean Spence, of Sheffield University,
used brain scans to identify what happens inside our heads when we decide to fib. He
found that the same regions of the prefrontal cortex light up each time. These are the
areas that suppress automatic responses such as aggression. So the brain has to stop
our first instinct which is to tell the truth. To lie is not to follow the brain's line of
least resistance; it takes huge mental resources.
12.
The problem with lying beyond a certain level is that you lose the right to lie
in the way that everyone else does. Once you have crossed the line that is judged
acceptable, you cannot employ the manipulations and evasions that are part of
ordinary social norms. "Most people you meet lie about their age – but they know
when to stop, and that's the difference," says Br. Mike Berry, a lecturer in forensic
psychology at Manchester Metropolitan University. "You might impress somebody in
the first few days, but there comes a point where you will tell the truth and only lie
about small things."
13.
We do need to lie. But just as there are good reasons for lying, there are good
social reasons for a moral disapproval of dishonesty. We are hopeless at spotting
deception. Even people who are paid to detect it, police officers, therapists and
judges, perform, on average, little better than if they had tossed a coin. A review of
253 studies, reported this summer in New Scientist, found that the accuracy of
professional lie inspectors is about 53%.
14.
How do you tell if someone is lying? Most people get this wrong. 75% of
professionals think that liars avert their eyes when the opposite is true. Liars need eye
contact to monitor how the story is coming across.
15.
Enough. Some lies are necessary – especially to ourselves. But there are
limits. If a degree of lying is a survival mechanism, a degree in lying is not.
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Infestation: Nightmare on Bedbug Street
1.
An hour after falling asleep in a hotel in Bologna, Italy, I woke up to a
nightmare. Flicking on the bedside lamp, I saw a dozen or more small reddish-brown
bugs on the crisp white linen near my pillow. The bugs were moving slowly,
apparently in a state of blood-gorged euphoria, and I was able to trap a few under an
ashtray with one hand while dialing the front desk with the other as I tried to
remember the Italian word for bug. A hotel manager bustled up and assured me in
accented English that the creatures were "just from the garden," but he moved me to
another room anyway.
2.
The next night, with red, itchy welts from head to foot, I identified my little
bedmates by going to Google and looking up pictures of bedbugs.
3.
Nearly eradicated for the past half-century in the industrialized world, Cimex
lectularis (the second word stems from the Latin for small bed) is on the rise and
presenting a 21st century environmental challenge. In the Mad Men days of pest
control, the local bug specialist would visit a house with a gleaming sprayer and leave
every surface soaked, bedding included. If little Susie and Johnny subsequently
developed a headache or cough, well, they just needed to get a little sunshine and
fresh air. "You could go down to the local drugstore, buy a DDT bug bomb, and
everybody could slay their own bedbugs," says Michael F. Potter, a University of
Kentucky entomologist who spends hours pouring poisons on bedbugs in his lab,
seeking the elusive potion that kills them without harming humans or pets.
4.
The bugs developed a resistance to DDT decades ago, but Potter says there is
still at least one pesticide, propoxur, that kills adult bedbugs within 24 hours and
keeps killing newborns as they hatch. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
however, banned propoxur for in-home use in the 1990s, on the basis of animal tests
and ill effects on adult workers who were exposed to it. "We believe the window
between a safe dose and a dangerous dose for a toddler is very small," says EPA
pesticide chief Steven Bradbury.
5.
All over the world, national and local governments are mobilizing strategies to
control infestations of the resilient insects, which can hide in almost any crack or
crevice--not just in houses and hotels but also in offices, churches, libraries and
restaurants--and can go a year or more without eating. On Aug. 10, the EPA issued a
consumer alert about off-label bedbug treatments, warning in particular of the dangers
of using outdoor pesticides in homes. This summer, New York City allocated
$500,000 to a bedbug battle plan that includes a Web portal to educate a freaked-out
public and training for pest-management professionals. Similar defenses have been
mounted in other U.S. cities, including San Francisco, Chicago and Cincinnati, where
the problem is so dire that the city created a Bedbug Remediation Commission in
2007 and some people with infested apartments have resorted to sleeping on the
streets.
6.
Concerns about propoxur's health effects on children didn't stop the Ohio
Department of Agriculture from petitioning the EPA for an exemption to allow inhome use of the neurotoxicant. Although the EPA rejected Ohio's propoxur plea in
June, the agency scheduled an Aug. 18 meeting with state and municipal leaders to try
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to formulate an abatement strategy everyone could live with. Among the meeting's
participants: representatives from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and,
no joke, the Department of Defense.
7.
But before we join Ohioans and hit the streets with "Spray, baby, spray"
placards, it's worth noting that scientists don't agree on whether a silver-bullet
pesticide exists. "Propoxur might work for a few years, but then we would select for
the genetically resistant bedbugs, and they would be right back," says Dini Miller, an
entomologist at Virginia Tech and the state's urban-pest-management specialist.
8.
That leaves behavioral lines of defense as the most durable strategies. Dogs
have been trained to sniff out bedbugs, and specialized pest companies can haul in
machines that heat entire rooms to well north of 113°F (45°C), at which point the
bugs die. Heat treatments cost thousands of dollars per room, but the lower-cost
alternative of simply throwing out your infested mattress or furniture likely won't
solve the problem--and may spread it to your salvaging neighbor.
9.
For home infestations, the EPA recommends reducing clutter, sealing cracks
and crevices, vacuuming often, drying infested clothes at high heat and using a special
mattress cover so you can sleep tight without letting the bedbugs bite. Travelers
should inspect hotel mattresses, box springs and headboards for the pests and the inklike streaks of their droppings.
10.
Bedbugs don't transmit disease, but they can be harmful to mental health, as
many Ohioans (and I) can attest. "We are hopeful that the outcome of this meeting
provides a solution," Ohio agriculture secretary Robert Boggs says of the Aug. 18
session. "Quite frankly, something needs to happen, and it needs to happen quickly."
11.
To my great relief, the bedbugs Bolognese didn't follow me home. I carefully
inspected my luggage for stowaways and tossed my clothes into an outdoor shed upon
arrival. But I haven't slept quite as soundly in a hotel bed since. On my to-do list:
buying a mattress cover that can fit in my carry-on.
By NINA BURLEIGH
Saturday, Sep. 04, 2010
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Is the office really necessary?
Ben Thompson, 2010
Business Management
1.
The times, sang Bob Dylan, they are a-changin’. And while Dylan may argue
that his words were addressing much greater societal concerns, there’s no denying
that both businesses and individuals currently face one of the greatest periods of
socio-economic reorganization in a generation as the how and the where of our
working lives shifts to a new model: that of the dispersed workforce.
2.
Signs of the shift are everywhere. Demand to work anywhere, anytime is
stronger than ever before, while the rise of mobile solutions has meant that an
increasing number of employees expect IT to allow access to corporate information
with any device - personal or company-issued - and thus further enable remote
working. Consumer hardware such as smartphones, tablets and netbooks have become
common currency within the enterprise, while communication tools such as Skype
and social media channels like Facebook and LinkedIn have rapidly advanced the
cause of the mobile worker.
3.
Indeed, just last month, Cisco announced the results of an international
workplace study that discovered three out of every five workers around the world feel
they do not need to be in the office anymore to be productive. In fact, their desire to
be mobile and flexible in accessing corporate information is so strong that the same
percentage of workers would choose jobs that were lower paid but had leniency in
accessing information outside of the office over higher salaried jobs that lacked
flexibility.
4.
The report provides real-life insight into how the expectations, demands and
behavior of the global workforce are influencing the way information is accessed, as
well as how business communications are changing. "It is clear from the research
findings that the desire among employees to be more mobile and flexible in their work
lifestyles is extremely strong throughout the world - as strong as salary," says Marie
Hattar, Vice President of Borderless Networks at Cisco. "It is also evident that
organizations need to embrace a borderless IT infrastructure to capture competitive
advantage and increase employee satisfaction."
Sign of the times
5.
The study, which involved surveys of 2600 workers and IT professionals in 13
different countries, revealed that three of every five employees believed it was
unnecessary to be in the office to be productive. This was especially the case in Asia
and Latin America. More than nine out of 10 employees in India (93 percent) said
they did not need to be in the office to be productive, and it was a sentiment prevalent
in China (81 percent) and Brazil (76 percent) as well.
6.
Indeed, two out of every three employees surveyed expect IT to allow them to
use any device - personal or company-issued - to access corporate networks,
applications, and information anywhere at anytime, and they expect the types of
devices to continue diversifying. In the future, employees expect their choice of
network-connected endpoints to broaden to non-traditional work devices like
televisions and navigation screens in cars.
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7.
For employees who can access corporate networks, applications and
information outside of the office, about half of the respondents (45 percent) admitted
working between two to three extra hours a day, and a quarter were putting in four
hours or more. However, extra hours do not translate to always-on, on-demand
employees. They simply want the flexibility to manage their work-life balance
throughout their waking hours.
8.
Employees also feel strongly that having the flexibility to work anywhere
would dictate their company loyalty, choice of jobs and morale. For example, two out
of every three employees worldwide said they would rather take a job with less pay
and more flexibility in device usage, access to social media and mobility than a
higher-paying job without such flexibility. Somewhat surprisingly, this percentage
remained high even in countries such as Spain (78 percent) that have experienced
significant economic woes over the past couple of years.
9.
Dave Evans, Futurist and Chief Technologist for Cisco's Internet Business
Solutions Group, feels that the findings reflect the fact that remote and mobile
workforces are now considered business-as-usual for most firms. "Employee mobility
is a fact of life, and the business advantages are clear across many industries," he
says. "While this report does identify real challenges for businesses, it also spotlights
an opportunity for IT to enhance its relationship with employees and its role as an
adviser and educator."
Meeting employee needs
10.
However, not everyone is rushing to embrace the mobile revolution. Indeed,
there must be some doubt as to whether businesses can meet employee needs in
regards to flexible working, given that almost half of the IT respondents in the Cisco
survey said they are not prepared - from either a policy or technology standpoint - to
support a more borderless, mobile workforce. Not surprisingly, security is the top
concern.
11.
And although many of the IT respondents felt security, budget and staff
expertise were the biggest barriers to enabling a more distributed workforce,
employees often felt that the IT department itself was the main obstacle. This
perception among employees was extremely prevalent in India, where more than half
(58 percent) felt IT was the barrier to a more flexible work style. "The companies that
figure out how to unleash user know-how and consumer technologies while managing
the risks will win this high stakes game," suggests RSA Chief Operating Officer Tom
Heiser. "This is the moment for information security teams to step up and be the most
valuable players."
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12.
Recent employee behavior indicates that education and corporate policies - not
least around the areas of security and risk management - are equally as important as
the technology itself. According to the Cisco survey, one in five employees globally
said they have noticed strangers looking at their computer screens in public, while an
additional 19 percent admitted that they never think to check their surroundings. Even
worse, 17 percent of employees admitted leaving devices unattended in public, while
almost three out of every five employees globally admitted that they have allowed
non-employees to use their corporate devices unsupervised.
13.
Certainly, as workforces become more distributed the potential for data loss
increases. A staggering one in four IT respondents said a quarter of the devices issued
to employees in the past 12 months have already been lost or stolen. And as
workforces become increasingly mobile, security and risk management concerns
inevitably grow. The findings indicate the real need for better corporate policies, enduser education and stronger, trusted relationships between employees and IT
departments. How well IT brokers these relationships will impact a company's
growth, productivity, competitive advantage, as well as its risk management.
14.
"Simply put, this report serves as a call-to-action for IT organizations," says
Evans. "Work is not a place anymore. It's a lifestyle, and the IT profession's role is
only going to get more strategic as it tries to help businesses stay agile and increase
productivity."
15.
One firm embracing mobility is Gaurdian Life Insurance. "We have an
initiative called 'any device anywhere', in which the concept is that we can enable our
business and our IT folks to be able to do their work wherever they choose to be using
whatever device they are most comfortable with," says Richard Scott, the company's
CTO. "Essentially, we're changing the paradigm around having to have a thick client
device for everything. Of course, there are still going to be cases where we need
those, but we're starting to move towards virtualization of the desktop to change the
way people use the office, and also so we can have more mobile users, greater
flexibility, better disaster recovery, alternative worksite strategies and business
continuation. It really is about ultimate flexibility for people to get the work done
where and when they need to."
16.
Indeed, Scott's firm is one of a growing legion of companies facing up to a
new business paradigm - that of the office-less worker. And how businesses respond
to that paradigm will be key to their success over the long-term.
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Tuesday, May. 17, 2011
Should Drug Companies Get to See What Your Doctor Is Prescribing?
By Dr. Zachary F. Meisel
1.
An e-mail has been making the rounds among some of my physician
colleagues. "I am shocked that information about the prescriptions I write for my
patients is being sold (along with my name!) to drug companies for marketing
purposes," begins the missive. "This is a violation of my privacy as a physician and an
intrusion into the doctor-patient relationship!"
2.
The note implores doctors to support laws that restrict the sale of physicianprescribing information to drug companies and to sign up with the American Medical
Association (AMA) to have our prescription information blocked from sale for
commercial purposes.
3.
The trigger of this e-mail was a court case, Sorrell v. IMS Health, which was
argued last month in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. The case challenges a Vermont
law prohibiting the commercial sale of doctor-prescription records without the
physician's express approval. IMS Health, the company that brought the suit on the
grounds that the law violates free commercial speech, is a data miner: it buys
prescription data from pharmacies, removes the patients' (but not the doctors') names,
then aggregates, sorts and sells the information to drug companies who use it to tailor
their "detailing" marketing operations to specific doctors and locations.
4.
The way pharmaceutical-detailing works is complex, but it often involves
sending representatives to doctors' offices — sometimes with goodies like cookies,
free drug samples for patients and "educational" materials, which usually reference
drugs and devices sold by the representative's company. Detailing is expensive —
companies spend more than $7.5 billion per year on it — but it is also considered a
very effective way to promote drugs and other medical goods.
5.
So what was the reasoning behind the Vermont law? The e-mail I received
focused on physician privacy. Indeed, the law was spurred by the Vermont Medical
Society, which issued resolutions in 2006 over concerns about doctors' privacy as well
as the privacy of patients, in situations in which the medical identifiers were not
removed fully.
6.
This is curious because very little about the practice of medicine — a highly
regulated and monitored profession — is truly private. As a physician, nearly every
medical decision I make, every care note I write and every test I order is subject to
review and evaluation (and sometimes even public reporting) by various public and
private entities. Yet despite this, the culture of medicine elevates the sanctity of the
doctor-patient encounter; so for many, the commercial sale of prescription
information — a byproduct of that encounter — just feels wrong, even if the patients'
names are scrubbed. This, I suspect, is why so many doctors feel that their
prescription data should be kept private.
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7.
It wasn't just that one e-mail. Other doctor colleagues have told me that they
are shocked that their prescription histories can be traced in order to make them
targets for pharmaceutical marketing. Although many doctors welcome the attention
(and the pens, free samples and cookies) that comes when a detailer shows up at the
office, evidence shows that these doctors believe that detailing does not change their
own personal prescription habits. In other words, these doctors think, "I am happy to
hear what the representative has to say, but that doesn't mean I will do what she
recommends." So then it feels sneaky and unfair if the detailers somehow have secret
information about our personal prescribing history that they use to craft persuasive
messages.
8.
The actual reasoning behind the Vermont law (and similar legislative efforts in
other states) goes beyond protecting doctors from privacy invasion. These laws were
written, in part, to lessen the impact of drug-company tactics that are understood to
have limited medical value. Because detailers tend to promote newer and expensive
treatments and tests, their efforts come at the expense of older, well-tested, less
expensive and often equally effective options. These less promoted remedies —
which are often off patent and no longer generate big profits — don't have the same
type of well-financed champions to compete with the detailers for the expensive
treatments. That is why Vermont and other states have passed legislation to try to
level the playing field.
9.
But it appears that these laws may be doomed. In oral arguments last week, the
Supreme Court Justices appeared to be highly skeptical of the constitutionality of the
Vermont law, worrying aloud that it unfairly restricts commercial free speech. Legal
analysts have since predicted that the law will be struck down.
10.
But even if the data-mining law is voided, it's possible that the attention
brought to it — at least among physicians — may spur some good. For example, it
may motivate doctors to sign up with the AMA to have their prescription histories
blocked from use by pharmaceutical sales representatives. This plan, known as the
prescription-data restriction program (PRDP), is the product of a privacy deal struck
between pharmaceutical companies and the AMA in 2006. The problem with the
PDRP, however, is that few of us doctors know about the plan, so it has been
undersubscribed. Another issue is that it doesn't completely block the use of
individual physician-prescription data by drug companies. But perhaps articles on this
topic and e-mails like the one I received will induce more of us to sign up for PDRP,
which might go some of the way to reducing the use of our prescription histories for
marketing.
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11.
More importantly, I hope the attention will motivate policymakers to think
about better ways to get the best available evidence about patient care to busy doctors;
we don't always have the time to scour every medical journal to fully vet the
information that comes our way from pharmaceutical detailers. The federal recovery
act and health care reform law both supported efforts to promote comparative
effectiveness research to doctors and other health care providers. One such effort
includes "academic detailers," who go to doctors' offices to share up-to-date
comparative evidence about treatment options for particular conditions. Unlike their
pharmaceutical-company counterparts, academic detailers are not burdened by
economic incentives to promote particular drugs. These programs are expensive but
probably effective.
12.
In the end, doctors may have to be more proactive about keeping their
prescription histories from marketers. And legislators may have to scale back their
efforts to unilaterally limit access to information. The most promising solutions to
leveling the field are ones that expand the dissemination of good information to as
many people (doctors, patients and families) as possible. There are many creative
programs out there to spread evidence-based health care information (both private and
public), but it can get lost in a cacophony of conflicted and confusing voices. Even if
the Vermont law fails, it will be important to figure out and support the best of these
efforts, so information that is free of conflicts of interest can rise to the top.
Dr. Meisel is a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation clinical scholar and an emergency
physician at the University of Pennsylvania.
Spas: a hotel's best medicine
25 Aug 2011 HotelManagementNetwork
Can a hotel really offer services more synonymous with those provided by a hospital
clinic? Dr Paulo Malo certainly thinks so. Cass Chapman meets the medical spa
pioneer to discuss empire building, fine wines, dental implants and Botox.
1.
Despite spas having long been annexed to the luxury hotel industry, a growing
number of guests are looking for more than a massage and a manicure to enhance
their stay. As a result, some hoteliers have recently turned their attention to medical
spas in a bid to boost revenue, particularly from high-end clientele.
2.
Marrying elements of the traditional spa and a medical clinic, medical spas
appeal to a considerable demographic, delivering a range of treatments from
sclerotherapy and eyelash extensions to more preventative and integrative specialities,
such as general check-ups and more specific screening tests.
99
3.
Administered by licensed medical professionals, guests also seeking
diagnostic testing and outpatient surgery can do so within the opulent and spacious
surroundings of a fine hotel as opposed to the impersonal confines of a hospital ward.
The great Malo empire
4.
There has perhaps been no greater proponent and pioneer of this recent trend
than Dr Paulo Malo, a world-renowned dental surgeon. In the three short years since
launching his first clinic, his luxurious medical spas – where patients can receive
everything from dental treatment and medical screenings to Botox injections and
pedicures – have been popping up all over the world, including clinics in New Jersey,
Sao Paulo and Milan.
5.
Malo's empire is spreading hard and fast. Recently, his flagship medical spa,
located within the Venetian Hotel, Macao, won Best Medical Spa at the Asia Spa
Awards. At 250,000ft², it is by far the largest in the world and is something of which
its owner is very proud.
6.
"It's a resort, basically," says Malo, referring to the Venetian. "It has one of the
largest shopping malls in Asia, the biggest casino in the world, and now it has the
largest medical spa on Earth."
7.
My first experience of a Malo spa was the stunning 3,000-square-metre space
he occupies below the Corinthia Hotel in Lisbon.
8.
Epitomising its creator's well thought-out, beautifully designed creations, it is
replete with sweeping marble corridors leading to endless, apartment-sized treatment
rooms. Highly skilled therapists are also at hand, ensuring guests float out of the spa
physically de-kinked and mentally recharged.
9.
On the back of a significant career in dentistry – he is credited with pioneering
the revolutionary 'All-on-4' dental implants, which replace teeth without the need for
bone transplants in just a day – Malo branched out into luxury medical spas in 2008,
combining his medical background with a keen entrepreneurial eye.
10.
"As it had never been done before, it was a dream because it obviously needed
a lot of investment," he says. "So, at a certain point, about three years ago, I decided I
had enough money to risk it and I built the first medical spa in the world."
A more hospitable environment
11.
Understandably, Malo is quick to differentiate between the purpose of a
medical spa and a hospital. A large chunk of his reasoning behind the concept stems
from a strong belief that hospitals are places for treatment and not for check-ups or
preventative medicine.
12.
"My strategy involves prevention through screening, that is only performing
medical work and surgery that is non-invasive," he explains. "Everything we do is
about quality of life, not about treatment. My dream was always to integrate
specialities. I believed that full body screenings and check-ups should not be done
100
inside a hospital. Why? Because in hospitals there is always the danger of crossinfection and the spread of bacteria."
13.
Having said that, Malo confesses that some of the services provided in his
spas aren't too dissimilar to the kind of clinical treatment you would expect to receive
in a hospital; however, he is unswerving in his argument that a spa is a safer and less
contaminated environment than a hospital.
14.
"In some cases, I suppose you could say there is something of a grey area," he
admits. "For example, we can actually treat conditions such as cataracts, but don't
consider it to be invasive – instead, it boils down to well-being and quality of life."
15.
The aesthetic sterility of hospitals also offends Malo's sensibilities; he believes
clients enduring full body screenings should be able to spend a day in a relaxed
atmosphere rather than enduring the "psychologically upsetting" mood of a hospital
waiting room.
16.
"They're [hospitals] not made for healthy people and certainly don't make you
feel at home," he says. "Instead, our spas allow clients undergoing full body
screenings to be able to spend a day in a relaxed atmosphere. I wanted to develop a
mega-spa with facilities for full screenings where guests could also enjoy hair salons,
massages and a swim or Jacuzzi, as well as the medical services."
Naked ambition
17.
Despite his considerable success in a professional capacity, life for Malo
hasn't always been defined by luxury and privilege. Born in Angola in 1961, he was
forced to move to South Africa at 14 years old due to the outbreak of civil war.
Having already demonstrated a natural aptitude for the sciences, he was initially
attracted to the idea of studying nuclear physics before turning to medicine. Outside
the classroom, he also excelled at sport, playing professional basketball and later
becoming a member of the Springbok rugby team. To make a bit of extra money he
also modelled on the side with enormous success.
18.
As South Africa underwent considerable political upheaval, culminating in the
end of apartheid, Malo moved to Coimbra in Portugal, where an uncle was based. It
was there that he decided on dentistry as a career, safe in the knowledge that he could
work for his family's dental clinic upon graduation. Thanks to his previous medical
degree, he was able to complete dental school in just three years.
19.
Twenty years on, Malo's ambitious nature has not waned. Over the course of
our meeting, the way in which he talks of his success and the string of events that led
to it makes such a path sound simple; he has a positive, quietly determined nature that
no doubt seduced those around him. For example, when asked about other medical
spas in the world, he is almost dismissive of them – there really are none as large in
structure or as extensive in scope of treatment as Malo's.
20.
"A medical spa, like ours in Asia for instance, has six operating rooms
completely equipped with general anaesthetics, a full image centre with scanners, 36
consultation rooms, 16 dental rooms and a spa with over 100 treatment beds, " he
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says. "That is a medical spa. One is not a medical spa because it offers Botox. We
brought a totally new concept to the table."
21.
It is this indefatigable and youthful vigour that seems set to drive Malo in the
coming years. When asked where he sees himself in ten years' time, the answer is
typically sanguine.
22.
"There is no reason to stop," he tells me. "I have created something that has
just been valued at $500m and was created from scratch. There is still reason to grow
and, as long as it's profitable and fun, we will succeed."
Peace of mind
23.
While being on course to have 20 clinics by the end of 2011, including a new
spa in London – although he won't tell me where – Malo has also somehow,
incredibly, found the time to launch a successful wine franchise, producing around a
million bottles a year; however, it is only within the confines of his adopted
homeland, Portugal, that he finds total peace of mind. Lisbon has remained his home
since his early career, despite whimsical fancies of moving to New York as a younger
man.
24.
"I live on a plane, but Portugal is home," says Malo. "It is comfortable – it has
great food, security and a good climate. Thousands of people here have second homes
– that has to mean something, right?"
25.
That he thinks in such a way, in spite of his insurmountable success, is telling.
He is extremely confident as a man, but still considers his quality of life, which would
surely be good anywhere considering his business. Something tells me he'll have
several second homes if he continues at this rate.
26.
Where his explorations will take him next remains to be seen, although it is
clear he's nowhere near satisfied just yet.
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Monday, Aug. 29, 2011
The Night-Weekend Effect: Why Medical Outcomes Can Be Worse Depending
on What Day You Get Sick
By Dr. Jesse M. Pines and Dr. Zachary F. Meisel
1.
You've crashed your car on rural road at 2 a.m. on a rainy Saturday. Seriously
injured and in pain, you are hauled into a noisy ambulance, then, because you're so far
from the nearest trauma center, into a waiting helicopter. You finally make it through
the hospital doors just before 3 a.m. and are greeted by a team of able doctors and
nurses wearing blue paper gowns and masks who descend on you like a swarm of
bees. As you drift into a deep chemically induced sleep, you feel thankful that a wellorganized, coordinated system was in place to save you in the middle of the night.
And on a weekend, no less.
2.
It turns out, however, that your confidence may not be so justified. For years,
studies have shown that health outcomes — like recovery from heart attacks or
procedures requiring time in intensive-care units — for patients who are rushed to
emergency rooms at night or on weekends aren't as good as for those who are treated
during so-called working hours. But a recent study in the Archives of Surgery found
that outcomes for injured patients in Pennsylvania are remarkably similar when
comparing weekdays with weeknights, and that they are actually slightly better on
weekends compared with weekdays. It was one of the first to demonstrate that for
trauma, there is no "night-weekend effect" whatsoever, at least in Pennsylvania,
which has a well-developed trauma system.
3.
The reason for the effect is no mystery — smaller staffs with slightly less
experience are more common during nonbusiness hours. On Monday afternoon, for
example, hospitals are typically teeming with regular activities, so the add-on
"emergency" heart attack can be squeezed in easily. But on Saturday night, there is a
well-trained skeleton crew working the ER, but if coordination with other services is
needed, groggy doctors summoned from home may have long drives to the hospital,
delaying definitive treatment.
4.
So why are trauma patients like the ones in the Pennsylvania study different?
The answer is smart system design and strict standards on the treatment of trauma
patients. Trauma systems are planned so that patients are taken or quickly transferred
to hospitals that specialize in treating serious injuries. And there are explicit criteria
for designating such centers as, for example, a Level 1 trauma center that can handle
sick, injured patients.
5.
In more common types of emergencies, like stroke, patients can experience a
wider range of care, depending on the type of hospital in which they find themselves.
A study published this week documented a weekend effect in stroke patients in New
Jersey hospitals: the chances of dying within 90 days of the stroke was 17.2% for
patients admitted on weekends vs. 16.5% for patients admitted on weekdays — a
small but statistically significant difference. But that weekend effect was limited to
hospitals that were not comprehensive stroke centers and therefore not able to deliver
a full spectrum of care to stroke patients.
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6.
Establishing such a full range of emergency care, however, comes with a high
price tag. The use of CT scans for injured patients has more than doubled in the past
decade. Indeed, trauma specialists tend to rely heavily on the results of expensive tests
to make medical decisions, as do neurologists for strokes. Such costs are often
prohibitive, explaining why the night-weekend effect continues to exist in most
hospitals. For example, some hospitals can't afford to keep their intensive-care doctors
in the hospital around the clock, so patients who get sicker in the middle of the night
often don't have an intensive-care doctor who can immediately manage their care.
Sometimes the ER doctor downstairs has to respond to internal hospital emergencies
overnight, and many issues are managed by intensive-care doctors over the phone. In
addition, maintaining a full staff of experienced health care workers on duty 24/7
doesn't justify the reimbursement from the few patients trickling in who may need
critical treatment off-hours.
7.
On the other hand, there's an argument in favor of both trauma centers and
comprehensive stroke centers that transcends such economic concerns — studies
show they save lives, the ultimate justification.
8.
The solution? Many hospitals are working toward a happy medium to address
both medical and economic needs by creating trauma-like networks for heart attacks
and other critical-care needs. For stroke, they are developing programs that take
advantage of telemedicine to increase the "comprehensiveness" of stroke care in rural
communities where both specialized resources and personnel are scarce. Hospitals are
also creating rapid-response teams that replicate the ER experience in which patients
who are already admitted to the hospital can take advantage of a swarm of resources
that is deployed to their bedside when they take a turn for the worse. This might help
make up for lower staffing levels at night or on weekends. But the jury is still out:
reports have not proved that these rapid-response teams save lives — yet.
9.
The key is figuring out how to provide better night-weekend care for patients
without dramatically increasing the costs of care. We are hopeful: with efforts to
regionalize medical emergencies and efforts within hospitals, someday emergency
care may be the same at 2 a.m. on a Saturday as it is at 2 p.m. on a Monday,
regardless of whether you're injured or having a stroke or some other medical
emergency.
10.
At least, you would be justified in feeling that way if you happened to have
been injured in Pennsylvania.
Dr. Pines is the director of the Center for Health Care Quality, an emergency
physician and an associate professor of emergency medicine and health policy at
George Washington University Medical Center.
Dr. Meisel is a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation clinical scholar and an emergency
physician at the University of Pennsylvania.
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The Art of Influence: Secrets to complaining effectively, motivating loved ones,
and getting what you want without being a jerk.
1.
Babies and psychopaths have one thing in common: They're excellent at
getting what they want. Many of us could learn a thing or two from these creatures,
tantrums and dirty tactics notwithstanding. That's not to say that, like these ingrates,
we should feel entitled to everything we want. Many argue that as a culture, we need
urgent lessons in giving, not getting.
2.
But for some, grabbing the brass ring is a constant source of stress and
confusion. Others have no trouble going for what they want, but fail to do so
effectively. Conflict-avoidant people are terrified to speak up—they miss out on their
own objectives, and often forfeit the respect of those around them. Conflict seekers
get a thrill from relentlessly asserting their agendas, even to their own detriment.
Optimists are more likely to persist in their efforts than are pessimists, who may
underestimate their odds of success at the outset.
3.
Were it uniformly advantageous to be aggressive, timid, positive, or negative
in pursuit of one's goal, evolution would have selected for only such types. In fact, it
takes all styles to get ahead. Whether you're lodging a complaint or trying to change
the world, begin by considering the impact of your goal on someone—or some
cause—beyond you.
Complain to Win − Not to Feel Worse
4.
Kvetch, Bitcher, Debbie Downer: No one likes a chronic complainer, and
we've got multiple derogatory terms to prove it. But if you master the art of effective
complaining, you'll get what you want while carping less often, says Guy Winch,
Ph.D., author of The Squeaky Wheel: Complaining the Right Way to Get Results,
Improve Your Relationships, and Enhance Self-Esteem.
5.
Complaining at inappropriate times (when other people are in the spotlight, for
example, or when they are focused on issues bigger than yours) can make you look
selfish and could further prevent you from being heard. And complaining excessively
about one situation can snowball into rumination—anxious and repetitive thoughts
that trigger depression.
6.
The first step to effective complaining, then, is deciding if you truly want a
concrete result or if you just need emotional validation. The former calls for a
complaint; the latter, a vent. Ideally, your interlocutor should know that as well, since
trying to "fix" a problem someone else just wants to cry about can cause a metaargument worse than the original annoyance.
7.
If you decide you want to lodge a complaint, make a plan, says Winch. First,
determine exactly what you want to achieve (don't let someone else pick a reparation).
Then, figure out who has the ability to provide what you want, and finally, ascertain
the best way to get that person to give it to you. Though it's all very logical, in the
heat of frustration people usually lash out at the first body in sight. Winch
recommends moving from the easiest complaint to the hardest when working on
problem-solving skills.
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8.
When people receive a grievance, they naturally grow defensive. They might
even throw the issue back at you, further dialing up your emotions. That's why you
need to be extra nice, against your instincts. "This is the existential dilemma of the
complaint," Winch says. "Do you want to be right, or do you want to get a good
result?"
9.
One way to avert the downward spiral of defensiveness is to make what
Winch calls a "complaint sandwich." The top slice of bread—the first thing you
should write in a letter or say to a person—is the "ear-opener," which prevents the
target of your complaint from feeling attacked. The "meat" of the sandwich is the
specific complaint or request for redress, and the bottom slice is the "digestive," or a
positive, grateful statement reinforcing the idea that you are a reasonable person
worthy of help.
10.
After suffering through months of loud construction from a building site near
his apartment, Winch delivered a complaint sandwich to his landlord. He started off
by saying how much he loves the building and appreciates the great job the
management company does. Then he asked for a decrease in his rent, in order to make
up for the blow to his productivity as a writer, caused by the incessant noise. Finally,
he added that he understood that the noise was in no way the landlord's fault, but
thought he would be concerned about its effect on his tenants. The result? A rent
reduction for six months.
Figure Out What Others Want
11.
"I once attended a New Year's Eve party," says Kevin Dutton, Ph.D., the
author of Split-Second Persuasion: The Ancient Art and New Science of Changing
Minds, "and the seven-year-old son of the hostess wanted to stay up late. His mother
said, 'You know what happens when you don't go to bed on time. You wake up late
and cranky and irritable.' The boy replied, 'Well, you don't want me running around
early when you're lying in bed with a headache, do you?' He framed his request in
terms of her desires, and was allowed to join the midnight reverie."
12.
After analyzing dozens of successful instances of persuasion, Dutton came up
with several key commandments, one of them being this wise child's tactic of leading
with the other person's perceived self-interest. Let's say you're trying to entice
someone to fund your new restaurant. Of course, you have to have a viable business
plan. But you should also think hard about why the potential investor would be
interested—beyond the obvious chance to make money. Is he a foodie who is
frustrated with the quality of the cuisine in your town? Then let him know that by
supporting your restaurant, he will be a gourmet superhero, bringing top-notch
ingredients and flavors to his fellow citizens. Is he a social maven who loves to
entertain? Mention that your restaurant will be his place to hold court and impress his
friends. Is he an aesthete? Tell him investors get major input on decor and remodeling
plans. Appeal to his greater goals and passions in life, and you'll make him feel like
he's part of an exciting cause, not just a human ATM.
106
13.
Divining someone else's motivations requires empathy. Consider the highly
charismatic individual, or even those master persuaders—psychopaths. Contrary to
popular belief, psychopaths possess impressive powers of empathy: "They can read
and gauge others' feelings very well, but they do it dispassionately." Dutton calls this
"cold" empathy. The takeaway for everyone: Be strategic when considering another
person's perspective. That makes you smart, not ruthless.
14.
Like empathy, confidence cuts both ways. "A lot of times, we don't want to
make demands, because we're embarrassed," says Dutton. "The psychopath isn't held
back by these insecurities and it serves him in getting what he wants." One way to
build and project confidence is to not be attached to the outcome of a request. That
way you'll be more assured when making it.
Figure Out What Others Need
15.
If you want a loved one to drop destructive or unproductive habits, it's usually
in part for your own sake. But commanding him to transform for you (even if it's
solely so that you won't have to worry and fret about him) violates the law of
psychological reactance: No one likes to be told what to do. "If you genuinely say to
someone, 'You don't have to do that, it's your choice,' their resistance melts away and
they start thinking about their own thought processes, instead of yours," says Michael
Pantalon, Ph.D., author of Instant Influence: How to Get Anyone to Do Anything—
Fast.
16.
Pantalon champions motivational interviewing, a structured way of talking to
people that gets them thinking about the reasons they might want to change. Coming
up with creative ways in which your agenda meshes with another's is effective in
many realms of persuasion. But when it comes to entrenched addiction and selfsabotaging behavior, the motivation really does have to come from those in its grip—
and not from your spin on the situation—in order to stick.
17.
Say you've been nagging your sister to stop drinking for a long time. You
might acknowledge that you've pressured her a lot in the past, and that you're not
going to do that anymore, because it is up to her if she wants to keep drinking. Then at
a later point, calmly ask your sister why she might want to stop. She'll likely share
some compelling reasons. And then, ask her how ready she is to change and what she
imagines the positive outcomes would be. Finally, ask what the next step would be if
she were to change. "The reasons she gives you might be the same ones you've been
giving her all along," Pantalon says. "But coming out of her mouth, they're much
more powerful."
18.
Motivational interviewing resolves lighter matters, too. A mom who is upset
because her teenage son never wipes down the sink after cleaning up from his ball
games can say, "Look, I've been getting on you for months and it hasn't worked.
You're 16 and it's up to you whether or not you do this." At this point, Pantalon warns,
the kid will look at his mother like she's crazy. Then the mother can continue, "I'd like
for you to wipe down the sink. But you don't have to. But let me ask you, what would
be in it for you if you did?" He might say "It would get you off my back!" and he
might also admit that he doesn't like the area to be dirty. Crucially, the mom should at
this point walk away without making any conclusive statements. "When conversations
107
are left undone, they are remembered better," says Pantalon. "If you leave things up in
the air, it makes people feel uneasy." And it might just make the teen uneasy enough
to clean up next time, merely to avoid another bizarre conversation with Mom.
19.
You can even use this technique on yourself. If you want to lose weight for a
reunion in a few months, ask yourself why and keep writing until you come up with a
reason that surprises you or perhaps seems deeper than the obvious answer: "I want to
look good." You might find that you want to avoid the nightly guilt you experience
after eating cookies, for example, even more than you want to fit into a particular
dress. Whatever your personal motivation is, pinpointing it will give you the energy to
make the next step—because you want to, not because someone told you to.
Tap a Vision that Surpasses Anyone's Wants and Needs
20.
Steve Jobs, (former) CEO and cofounder of Apple and Pixar, has been accused
of firing people in elevators, calling top designers and programmers idiots, and
reaming out salespeople in front of their colleagues. As biographer Leander Kahney
states in Inside Steve's Brain, "For Jobs, acknowledging you have an IQ higher than
100 is a glowing endorsement." Kahney adds that "Jobs is a control freak
extraordinaire. He's also a perfectionist, an elitist, and a taskmaster to employees. By
most accounts, Jobs is borderline loony." Yet as the world knows, the gadget guru is
obviously doing something right—Jobs pulled Apple from the brink of bankruptcy
and has made the company bigger and more profitable than it's ever been.
21.
Jobs reached his long-term goal of successfully turning Apple around. Since
it's in his employees' self-interest to work for a thriving firm, that same principle of
persuading individuals for their own sake applies to the group. But to change the
structure and tone of a complex organization, you must inevitably upset others along
the way.
22.
Jobs puts his salient personality traits—perfectionism and an obsessive
nature—in service of his goal: bringing the most innovative, easy-to-use tech products
to the masses. He also uses his natural political intelligence to judge people quickly
and get the most out of them. Since Jobs is comfortable turning on the charm when
he's negotiating or making presentations, but remains cold and aloof at other times,
employees are motivated to please him as they would a powerful-yet-distant father
figure.
23.
Some of these qualities and tactics seem abominable, and yet, Jobs and other
"great intimidators" get away with them for two primary reasons, says Roderick
Kramer, Ph.D., William B. Kimball Professor of Organizational Behavior at Stanford
University, who studied unsavory leaders who nonetheless inspire loyalty and respect
in others. The first reason is that they have talent and brains that far outweigh their
impatience and temper. Martha Stewart may be difficult, for example, "but she is
really good at what she does. So even if it's a little painful to work for her, you feel
like you are learning from a master," Kramer says.
24.
The second reason such abrasive leaders are able to succeed, Kramer found, is
that they have genuine passion and a compelling vision that transcend making a buck.
108
25.
For his part, Jobs has claimed he wants to "put a ding in the universe." Kahney
writes that "at every turn of his career, Steve Jobs has inspired employees, lured
software developers, and snagged customers by invoking a higher calling. Jobs knows
programmers don't work to make easy-to-use software; they're striving to change the
world." The secret, Kahney argues, is that "it's OK to be an asshole, as long as you're
passionate about it." Not everyone agrees that outsize talent excuses outsize tantrums.
"You can perform at all costs," says Ronald Riggio, Henry R. Kravis Professor of
Leadership and Organizational Psychology at Claremont McKenna College. "But
what are you going to be left with? If you run people ragged and achieve at their
expense, you're going to lose talented people." The ideal influencer, Riggio says, is a
"transformational leader" who brings out the best in underlings by developing their
strengths, holding them to high standards, and being totally transparent about goals
and strategies.
26.
Neither the gentle soul nor the great intimidator has a lock on persuasion. So if
you find your techniques up against an impenetrable wall, take comfort in an Old
World curse: May you get what you want.
Published on Psychology Today (http://www.psychologytoday.com)By Carlin Flora,
published on September 06, 2011 - last reviewed on January 11, 2012
109
Can Smokers Be Banned From Government Jobs? Or is refusing to hire people
based on off-duty behavior akin to lifestyle discrimination?
By Adam Cohen, April 30, 2012 Time
1.
If you are a smoker, you may want to rethink that plan to get a job with the
city of Fort Worth, Texas. There are already private
employers, including many medical centers, with
policies against hiring workers who smoke. But Fort
Worth may be about to become the first American
city to say categorically that it will not hire anyone
who smokes — on or off the job.
2.
The proposal has set off a heated debate in
Fort Worth. Supporters argue that in a time of tight budgets it would save on health
insurance costs while also sending a message about the importance of healthy living.
Critics say the proposed ban is unfair to job seekers who are addicted to nicotine —
and that the city could lose out on hiring the best people. What Fort Worth is debating
is “lifestyle discrimination,” refusing to hire — or refusing to promote, or firing —
people based on off-duty behavior.
3.
There has been lifestyle discrimination as long as there have been bosses. It
was Henry Ford, however, who turned it into a science. He established a Sociological
Department at Ford Motor Co. that investigated the private lives of workers to
determine which should receive the full $5 daily wage that the company offered its
best workers. To show that they deserved top pay, workers had to show that they were
“sober, saving, steady, industrious” — and that they would not waste their money on
“riotous living.”
4.
Ford was passing moral judgment on his workers, but today most employers
are narrowly focused on dollars and cents. In some cases, they can point to hard
evidence that people who engage in certain activities are more costly employees.
Smokers are more likely to take sick days, according to a 2009 study by the Journal
of Tobacco and Policy Research, and are likely to have higher medical bills, driving
up the cost of employer medical insurance. People who engage in other risky hobbies
— such as motorcycling or flying private planes — may raise the same concerns.
5.
It is not hard to see what is offensive about classifying workers in this way.
And if employers can discriminate against employees who smoke, why not ones who
are overweight, or who have high cholesterol, or who live in high-crime
neighborhoods? In the current economy, with jobs as scarce as they are,
discrimination of this sort could coerce people into living their lives the way big
business wants them to.
6.
While Fort Worth considers adopting a no-smokers hiring policy, other
employers already have such rules in place. Many hospitals and medical centers,
including the Cleveland Clinic, now engage in what they call “tobacco-free hiring.”
Even less health-focused work sites, such as the Hollywood Casino in Toledo, Ohio,
have adopted no-smoker hiring policies.
110
7.
At the same time, states have been pushing back against lifestyle
discrimination. At least 30 have laws prohibiting it in one form or another. Some,
such as Illinois and Minnesota, cover employees who use “lawful products,”
protection aimed in large part at smokers. Others, including New York and California,
prohibit discriminating against workers based on legal off-hours activity.
8.
Lifestyle discrimination is tricky because — unlike racial or religious
discrimination — there are a few instances in which a decent case can be made for it.
Some off-duty conduct really does impact workplace performance. The head of an
organization that counsels minority youth would rightly be disturbed to learn that one
of his counselors spends his weekends attending white supremacy rallies. The
Women’s Christian Temperance Union might want to take action if its new executive
director was spotted drinking up a storm at bars all over town.
9.
In cases like Fort Worth’s proposed ban on hiring smokers, though, the
employer’s need for the policy is minimal — it is just about saving a little money —
and the impact on job applicants would be substantial. In the Fort Worth debate, one
of the most passionate voices belongs to Rev. Fritz Ritsch, the Pastor of St. Stephen
Presbyterian Church. He wrote in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that the issue
reminded him of his father having to leave a college he had taught for 20 years
because it could not afford to insure his mentally ill mother. Fort Worth smokers
could soon be in a similar position. “It’s morally troubling,” Rev. Ritsch declared,
“that a city government might hire based on a person’s health risks to save money.”
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How Skype Is Changing the Job Interview
By Barbara Kiviat, Time
Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2009
1.
Get ready for a closeup: your next job interview might be on webcam.
Looking to save time and money, companies are turning to video-chat software as a
cheap, low-hassle way to vet job candidates. That means a growing number of people
looking for work are meeting their prospective new bosses not at the office but in the
comfort of their own home.
2.
Naturally, the transition from in-person to online isn't without its hiccups.
Fuzzy transmissions, dropped calls (especially on wireless networks) and unusual
disruptions are all par for the course. Tip No.1: Get your dog out of barking range
before you start the interview. (We'll return to the pointers in a bit.)
3.
What's the draw? Largely money. Last year, as executives at online retailer
Zappos.com looked to cut expenses, they noticed how much the firm spent on travel.
In HR alone, it easily cost $1,000 a pop to fly out job candidates and put them up for
the night. The firm had used Skype internally, so about six months ago, recruiters
started trying it for interviews.
4.
Their opinion: a video link does a pretty good job of replacing an in-person
meeting — and in a way that a phone call can't. "If you see facial expressions and
body language, you have a different sense of what a person is saying," says recruiting
manager Christa Foley. Now, instead of flying out 20 finalists for a job, the company
first screens with Skype and then brings in only the best two or three candidates.
5.
Job seekers are hopping on board too. Last spring, after Stephen Bhadran got
laid off, he quickly realized there were more openings for computer programmers in
Dallas, Atlanta and Los Angeles than in South Florida, where he lived. So he cast a
wide net — and got a bite from the University of California, Los Angeles. The
university wanted to interview him but wouldn't pay the airfare. "I was laid off and
running out of funds," says Bhadran. "I couldn't fly on my own dime." He suggested
interviewing by Skype. He got his request — and the job.
6.
Things don't always run smoothly. Bobby Fitzgerald, a restaurateur who has
been interviewing job candidates by Skype since March, has had his share of
amusements. For instance: the candidate who leaned forward while he spoke, giving
Fitzgerald an intimate view of his nose. Another, a college senior, didn't bother
cleaning up his dorm room before the interview; the mess was painfully visible in the
background.
7.
And then there was the dog that wouldn't stop barking. Fitzgerald cut the
interview short and said he'd have to reschedule. Did the disruption influence his
decision? "Well," he says, "a big part of management is handling problems as they
arise."
112
8.
Still, webcam interviews are entirely worth it, he says. Fitzgerald runs
restaurants in four states and likes to hire from the nation's top culinary and
hospitality schools. It's rare that he, the job candidate and the job are all in the same
time zone. And the benefit of video-interviewing for him isn't just saved money — it's
also saved time. "More than once, I've flown someone in and within an hour, I realize
it's not a fit," he says. "But I'm stuck with that person for six more hours."
9.
So what should you do if you're asked to interview by Skype — or even brave
enough to suggest it yourself?
10.
First off, realize that we perceive people differently through a camera than we
do in person. Bill McGowan, a former news anchor who now trains people to go on
TV, starts his list of pointers with lighting: whether you're sitting in your kitchen or an
office borrowed from a friend, make sure there's no bright light (like from a window)
behind you. That will only darken your face. When your interviewer is talking, it's
fine to look at his image on the screen, but when you answer, look at the camera.
That's how to make "eye contact." Avoid wearing patterns and the color white, since
we notice white spots on a screen first — you want your interviewer drawn to your
teeth and eyes, not to your shirt. And don't forget that what's behind you is visible too.
"It's best to put away the Mad Men bar," says McGowan.
11.
Next, think about framing. Sitting flush with a plain white wall will make you
look like you're in a police lineup, so angle your knees to the corner of your computer
screen, and then turn your head slightly back to look at the camera. Sit tall in your
chair, but not too close to the camera: the first three buttons of your shirt should be
visible, or else you risk looking like a floating head, counsels Priscilla Shanks, a
coach for broadcast journalists and public speakers. Most important, do a dry run with
a friend to check your color, sound and facial expressions — neutral often comes off
as glum onscreen.
12.
After all that, don't forget that this is still a job interview. Even though you're
not meeting face to face, dress as though you are. When you "walk in," have your
résumé ready — this time, as an e-mail attachment. And don't forget to do all the
standard prep work. Are you ready to talk about your greatest weakness? "This adds
another layer, but people will still expect you to be prepared to have a conversation
with them," says career counselor Judith Gerberg.
13.
Though that's not to say you can't acknowledge the medium. This past
summer, Deanna Reed, principal of the Marie Murphy School in suburban Chicago,
started doing Skype interviews and has already considered candidates from as far
away as Asia. "The time difference was so great, it was like 1 in the morning for
him," she says about a teacher in Japan. "I said, 'Oh, you had to get on your suit in the
middle of the night?' And he said, 'No, I have my pajamas on the bottom.' He was fun
— he had a real sense of humor." Even over video, it's possible to make a great first
impression.
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Can We Be Trained to Like Healthy Foods?
By Brian Mossop July 13, 2011 Edited Text
1. Our diets are unhealthy, that much is clear. Now, an
increasing number of scientists and physicians wonder if
our propensity for unhealthy, fattening food might be tied
to the food choices made during our first weeks and
months of life. Indeed, the latest research indicates that
what we learn to like as infants paves the way for what we
eat as adults. If true, we might be able to deal with the
obesity epidemic in a new and more promising way, one
that starts with the very first spoonful.
2. Today, unfortunately, most of those early spoonfuls contain more sugar and salt
than is nutritionally wise. A recent study in the Journal of Public Health found that 53
percent of processed baby and toddler foods on supermarket shelves (at least in
Canada) have an excessive number of calories from simple sugars, and 12 percent of
them have too much salt. The authors note how overconsumption of these nutrients is
connected to diseases such as diabetes and heart disease and suggest that early
exposure to overly sweet or salty meals could promote a taste for these unhealthy
ingredients in the future.
3. There are, of course, some very real, deeply rooted evolutionary preferences for salt
and sugar. Basic tastes are largely predetermined by genetics and our primitive drive
to stay alive. In the wild most herbivores (animals that mainly eat plants) and
omnivores (animals that eat meat and plants) have developed ways to quickly sort the
good foods from the potentially harmful ones. Sugars in fruits, for example, are
natural sources of energy. And because of that, animals have strong inclinations for—
and receive great pleasure from—eating sweet foods.
4. Rather than focus on limiting the unhealthful aspects of diet, Gary Beauchamp, a
biopsychologist and a leading expert on chemosensory science, prefers to study the
promotion of good-for-you foods. Based on data he has collected in the past 40 years,
Beauchamp thinks ''that complex multisensory flavor profiles—even more so than
individual tastes such as sweet or bitter—are influenced by our experiences during the
first few months of life." And if parents introduce healthful tastes and flavors, such as
carrots or broccoli, early on, an infant will not only rapidly adapt, but will also
develop a preference for these flavors that could persist for a lifetime.
5. To be clear, there is a significant difference between tastes and flavors. Tastes are
one-dimensional, whereas flavors are multimodal. The five basic tastes (sweet, salty,
sour, bitter and umami) activate specific receptors—the taste buds—of the sensory
system. Flavors, on the other hand, arise when information from both the mouth and
the nose is combined. Think about the experience of enjoying a glass of fine wine.
Describing it as sweet would be a disservice to the complexity of the liquid before
you. While the taste of fruit may dominate, sweet does not exactly describe the
delicate vanilla and oak sensations. Nor does it explain the rich aroma that hits your
nose as you sip.
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6. Situated between the campuses of the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel
University in West Philadelphia, the Monell Center is the world's only independent,
non-profit institute studying the science of taste and smell. "Our hypothesis is that
flavors associated with various vegetables could be influenced by early exposure,"
says Beauchamp, who is the organization's director. So now he and his team are
trying to figure out how exposure to certain tastes and flavors early in life influences
the foods we choose to eat as we get older."
More of a bad thing
7. It seems logical that increasing the amount of sugar in an infant's diet would cause
the evolutionary drive to kick into high gear, intensifying his or her desire for sweets.
But even though science supports our evolutionary inclination for certain tastes, the
evidence is mixed on whether altering exposure to specific tastes can beat our
biology.
8. Children do have an increased affinity for sweet foods compared to adults,
probably due to their nutritional needs required for active growth. But there has been
little evidence to support the idea that increased sugar intake will affect preferences as
an adult. "The liking for sweets," Beauchamp says, "is a particularly strong case
where you have a very big biological component."
9. As we have developed an innate liking for sweet to get the energy we need, our
reactions to other tastes have developed to protect us. Bitter tastes often signal a food
might be toxic, whereas a sour taste may hint that something has spoiled. Both seem
to be evolutionary aversions that protected our ancestors when they hunted for food in
the wild.
10. Nevertheless, many plants that are good for us are quite bitter. Could our dislike
for these tastes also be leading to health problems? In a 2010 review article,
researchers at the Monell Center questioned whether over-consumption of bad foods
is fully to blame for many diet-related health problems. Although most are quick to
point the finger at high-sugar and salt diets as the cause for many diseases, the team
wondered whether our decreased intake of bitter vegetables—those that are known to
regulate the metabolic system—could be making the problems worse.
Bitter is better (than it tastes)
11. Since the 1930s, researchers have known that some people are more sensitive to
bitter tastes than others. Moreover, the sensitivity seemed to run in families, leading to
a hypothesis that there was a genetic component to taste preferences. In 2003, the
genetic component was identified and linked to a person's perception of a compound
that was bitter to some, and tasteless to others.
12. Shortly after the discovery of the genetic link to bitter taste sensitivity, researchers
at the Monell Center discovered that although genetics predispose certain people to be
vulnerable to bitter foods, the effect seemed to weaken with age. During one
particular study, the researchers found that 64 percent of children who were
genetically predisposed to be sensitive to bitterness were able to detect the lowest
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concentration of a bitter-tasting chemical. However, when it came to the adults with
the exact same genetic profile, only 46 percent of them were able to notice the subtle
bitter flavor. Acquired tastes for bitter foods, like coffee and beer, support the notion
that some tastes can change with exposure and age.
13. But even more striking evidence for adaptation through exposure to healthful badtasting foods comes from the Monell Center's work on flavors. In 2009 Beauchamp,
along with Julie Mennella and a few other colleagues from the Monell Center
published a study in which they recruited four- to nine- month-olds who, as infants,
were fed a hydrolyzed casein formula, which contains broken down proteins. This
type of formula is often given to babies who have problems digesting proteins. But
according to Beauchamp, the curious thing about it is its flavor: "To you and me, it
tastes absolutely awful."
14. Hydrolyzed casein is somewhat bitter, a little sour and oddly savory. But it is the
aftertaste that does people in. (Beauchamp says that many adults throw up the first
time they try it.) The team discovered that if babies had consumed hydrolyzed casein
early in life, their perceptions of flavor changed. Early exposure to the predigested
formula caused babies to eat more savory, bitter, sour or plain cereal than infants who
were brought up on breast milk or regular milk-based formula. Not only did the
babies familiarized with hydrolyzed casein formula consume more off-tasting foods,
but they also seemed to thoroughly enjoy their meal, making fewer disapproving
facial expressions than the standard formula or the milk drinkers.
15. "If you feed a baby this formula before he or she is four months of age,"
Beauchamp says, "most accept it readily. They seem to like it. But if you begin the
feeding at five to six months of age, by that time, something has happened." By that
age, the window of influence has closed, and eating the hydrolyzed casein formula is
not enjoyable at all. "They hate it just like you or I would," he notes.
16. As occurs with other senses, it seems that Beauchamp has uncovered a sensitive
period in early development for flavor preferences. Feed an infant a food in the first
few months, and they might just become a fan for life; miss that window, and the
liking for foods with sharp bitter flavors—no matter how good for you—might be
much more of a fight.
A case for conditioning
17. Adam Drewnowski, an epidemiologist and nutritional expert at the University of
Washington, wonders whether Beauchamp's finding that babies exposed to
hydrolyzed casein formula early in life develop a taste for sharp flavors is a form of
classical conditioning. "You have a nasty taste, but you are pairing it with calories,"
he says. So it is possible that with exposure, the infants learn to accept the bad taste
because the positive stimulus—the underlying need for a caloric energy source for
survival—is much stronger. He suggests that this powerful form of learning could be
put to use to introduce more nasty-tasting but healthful foods early on in a child's life.
What Beauchamp uncovered may be the infant equivalent of the phenomenon of
adults who develop a liking for bitter coffee or beer in part because they're drawn to
the underlying caffeine or alcohol buzz.
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18. Beauchamp's work is in agreement with the advice that many pediatricians,
including Wendy Sue Swanson, who is a staff member at Seattle Children's Hospital
and practices at The Evertt Clinic, give to parents. "You are setting your child up for a
lifetime," she tells families that visit her clinic. She recommends "offering them
whole foods and fresh foods" and training them so that "they are learning to crave
water when they're thirsty - not sports drink, not fruit juice." And so, Swanson
supports Beauchamp's work of promoting natural-tasting, healthy foods as soon as
babies are ready for solids.
19. Swanson's only concern is how and when to introduce these flavors, given that
most pediatricians suggest nothing but breast milk or formula early in life. "Babies
who were fed formula and rice cereal before four months of age had an increased
likelihood of being obese at the age of three," she says, citing previous studies. "So if
you're introducing a lot of food before four months of age that isn't breast milk or
standard 20 calorie-per-ounce formula, you may be setting them up for either
overeating or not regulating their hunger properly."
20. Obesity is a multifaceted problem; aside from the strong behavioral aspects, there
are equally prominent socioeconomic elements. And as Drewnowski points out,
getting people to eat more vegetables and less processed foods will only battle obesity
in middle-class America, where people can better afford to pay for more healthful
foods. "Beauchamp's work is a step in the right direction," Drewnowski says. But, he
notes, in practice, "many people don't eat the foods they like, they eat the foods they
can afford."
21. Despite the unresolved issues they point out, both Swanson and Drewnowski
agree that new, innovative approaches to battling obesity are needed. "Clearly,
whatever we are doing now isn't working," Swanson adds. And what makes
Beauchamp's theory so appealing is that it lays out a different plan of attack for
metabolic and cardiovascular disorders: Instead of telling people what they shouldn't
consume, it may work just as well if researchers and physicians can instead find ways
to train the senses to prefer healthful foods in the first place.
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Persuasive Buzzwords
Robert Cialdini, Ph.D., the Regents' Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Marketing
at Arizona State University, identifies six basic tendencies that are both effective and
exploitable, depending on which side of the equation you inhabit. Use these classic
salesperson's principles judiciously, and beware those who might use them on you:
 Reciprocation:
Consider the in-store wine tasting, or the free scone at the
coffee shop. We think we're coming out on top, but the expectation to give
back is strong within us, and leads us to buy something.
 Consistency: We like to see ourselves as consistent souls with unwavering
beliefs. So if you ask me to publicly declare my devotion to animal rights,
for example, I'm more likely to donate money to PETA later.
 Social Validation: Rugged individualist fantasies aside, we are more likely to
do something if we see that many other people like us have also done it.
 Liking: If you like someone, you are more likely to say "yes" to her request. If
she is pretty, you're even more likely. And if she compliments you, well,
that works, too.
 Authority: Four out of five dentists recommend using the reassuring gloss of
authority to sell this toothpaste.
 Scarcity: Anyone who has grabbed a plain, overpriced t-shirt from another's
hands at a "one-day-only" sale understands how persuasive limited-time and
limited-quantity offers are.
Source URL: http://www.psychologytoday.com/node/73451
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