Discussion

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 541.

1. D. Waitley opens this chapter with the "three glimpses of life" in which three different characters reveal the same quality that he describes as "integrity". What human traits make up facets of integrity, as the episodes show?

2. How does D. Waitley define integrity? Is this quality of being honest and upright often met nowadays? What is the author's opinion? Is your opinion different from his?

3. What are the global youth problems the present-day world has to face? What or who is responsible for the youth crises, in . D. Waitley's opinion? (In speaking about how the adult world is reflected in the habits of the youth, use the structures:

If it's good enough for...

If grown-ups can...

Young people think...)

4. D. Waitley is sure that if integrity is a standing trait of your character, you can respect yourself. If you lose integrity you lose self-respect. Why does D. Waitley think it is dangerous? How are "wants" and self-respect connected?

5. D. Waitley devotes a special paragraph to students who sometimes think that it is just okay to cheat; they see nothing wrong about that. Yet, whatever their attempts to justify themselves ( speak about how they do it), such behavior has a name. It is lack of Integrity, or, rather, dishonesty. What do you think of it and of the motto, "Why fail if you can cheat?"

6. What does D. Waitley mean by saying that integrity (like charity) begins at home? Find at least six recommendations he gives to the parents who care and who wish their children to become the best they can be.

How does he re-word the familiar saying "Actions speak louder than words"? How is it related to the parents' modeling good behavior? What would his most important commandment for parents be if he were to write the whole ten of them?

7. Why does D. Waitley use so strong a word ("tragically") when speaking about the mistake parents make when they raise their children with a special-group mentality?

Improving Your Cross-cultural Competence

“…..national spelling contest"

National Spelling Contest (Spelling Bee) is a national competition by an individual or a team who spelled the greatest number of words correctly. The bee is run for kids 15 years and under
Winners at the county contest go on to National Spelling in Washington, D. C.

Here are some problem words offered to contest in 2003: sacrilegious, macerate, incisor, ormolu, milieu ( site http://www.funtrivial.com).

Americans place great emphasis on correct spelling; it has become not merely an element of school program but a very important piece of American cultural environment. Unsurprisingly, American English embraced numerous words from different languages, those of Native American tribes, French, German, Dutch, Spanish, Hebrew, etc, for example: succotash, enchilada, tortilla, frankfurter, pretzel, sachet, strudel, schnitzel, mischugene, macho, Massachusetts, Mississippi, etc.

This made English spelling which had always been challenging enough, even more confusing, so that today a lot of people (among them college instructors, business executives, stenographers) have "inaccuracies" in spelling. In a national survey, conducted among colleges and universities, more than 25% of the students, seniors as well as freshmen, turned out to have serious spelling troubles.

Thus it is small wonder that parents, grandparents, nannies seldom miss a chance to bring up the subject and to coach the children to spell correctly, even when the situation has nothing or little to do with homework.