phrases. Moral values. Pre-reading task. Word study

PRE-READING TASK

1. Answer the questions.

1. How can you interpret the title of the article?
2. What global changes of the world can you name?
3. Were the last changes good?

Twenty years ago the world was different from today’s. We were still locked into the Cold War; and although the signs of thaw were there few believed that the geopolitical situation would soon change to such an extent that some even talked about ‘the end of history’.
A decade and a half later, the world threatens to become as polarized as before—though the line of schism is defined differently by different people. Some see themselves as championing democracy against the scourge of terrorism; others see the need to defeat the Satan of western neo-imperialism and materialism. Yet others see the great divide as between the rich ‘North’ and the poor ‘South’. Or perhaps it’s a male-female or black-white thing.
The fundamental battle in the world is between good and evil—and this divide runs through every man and woman, believer, atheist and agnostic, black and white, whether they recognize it or not.

Nowadays people are so often blamed for being enslaved by self-interests, consumerism, greed, deviant behaviour, inability to interact with others that it is high time for us to stop and think what kind of society are we living in and moreover, what legacy are we going to hand in to our future generations.

Massacre and stabbing in the streets of many cities (when adults and children are slain for nothing and human life costs nothing as well), sleaze, fraud, promiscuity, rampant acquisitiveness in the governments – all these inseparable characteristics of our life have spawned plethora of discussions about moral values, the future of the society as a whole and a human being in particular.

 On the one hand, we are the children of civilization: science and technology have brought many blessings to human existence, including mankind’s ability to meet basic human needs. But the benefits of these advances have been spread unjustly, as 20 percent of the world’s population consumes resources at a rate that robs poorer nations and future generations of what they need to survive. 30 000 people die each day from poverty which results from human behaviour. Such behaviour is driven by values, priorities and decisions which don’t see human life as a paramount concern. Lust, bitterness and hate among people should be wiped out as they are very parlous, can’t be justified by any reasons and may lead to unpredictable consequences.

On the other hand- it should be natural for people to help others, to put their hearts into something useful and important, to contribute of their time and talents, to have a sense of worth. In stead of alienating from each other, we should improve our society to make it friendly, united and cohesive. When it is necessary, we must be able to respond with individual and collective acts of self sacrifice for the greater good, of self denial in the midst of convenient choices, of choosing simpler lifestyles in the consumer society.    

We have to live in the real world. Armies, police, firefighters and intelligence gatherers are as essential to our survival as potatoes and overcoats. But rather than just hunker down in defence of our lives and life-styles could we not take every opportunity for honest dialogue with those who see things differently from us? This can sometimes lead to reconciliation and a shared vision of how society should be. [31]

                                                  GUIDE

WORD STUDY

1. Match the words with their definitions.

1. the separation of a group into two groups, caused by a disagreement about its aims and beliefs, especially in the Christian church;
2. something that causes a lot of harm or suffering;
3. the belief that it is good to buy and use a lot of goods and services - often used to show disapproval;
4. a strong desire for more food, money, power, possessions etc than you need;
5. different, in a bad way, from what is considered normal;
6. when a lot of people are killed violently, especially people who cannot defend themselves;
7. to push a knife into someone or something;
8. to kill someone - used especially in newspapers;
9. immoral behaviour, especially involving sex or lies;
10. the crime of deceiving people in order to gain something such as money or goods;
11. having many sexual partners;
12. wanting to have and keep a lot of possessions;
13. a very large number of something, usually more than you need;
14. more important than anything else;                                                             
15. to make it difficult for someone to belong to a particular group or to feel comfortable with a particular person;
16. a situation in which two people, countries etc become friendly with each other again after quarrelling; the process of finding a way that two beliefs, facts etc that are opposed to each other can both be true or successful;
17. an influence that makes something happen or makes it happen more quickly;
18. very strong desire to have something, usually power or money;
19. feeling angry, jealous, and upset because you think you have been treated unfairly;
20. to dislike something very much;

Massacre, to alienate, to hate, consumerism, to slay, plethora, lust, schism, fraud, paramount, bitter, scourge, sleaze, greed, acquisitive, reconciliation, deviant, impetus, to stab, promiscuous.

2. Give the synonyms to the following words.

Schism, to slay, to spawn, to wipe out, parlous, impetus.

3. Make derivatives of the words.

To consume, to stab, to slay, promiscuous, to reconcile, bitter, hate.

4. Insert the particles.

to stab sb. - sth.                           to slay sb. -/- sth.

a plethora- sth.                           to wipe sth. -  

to alienate sb. -sth.                      reconciliation-/-sb.

a lust- sth.                                  to hate sb. -sth.

5. Match the words to make phrases.

the scourge of                               a. power 

the growth of                                b. importance

deviant                                          c. impetus  

a fatal                                            d. disappointment

tax/insurance/                                e. fraud

paramount                                        f. consumerism

provide                                          g. stabbing 

lust for                                           h. war  

a bitter                                            i. behaviour

6. Insert the words.

1. Rumors spread through the school that Jill was---.

2. He had never previously thought of himself as ---or even as particularly materialistic.

3. Despite a ---of changes, the new models are just £ 295 more expensive.

4. Women’s role as mothers is of ---importance to society.

5. Gina had become increasingly ---from her family.

6. The meeting failed to achieve a ---between the two groups.

7. The report may provide further ---for reform.

8. He was a man possessed by greed, jealousy and---.

9. I feel very ---about what has happened.

10. I--- to see you unhappy.

11. In 1827, a fierce ---had shaken the community.

12. Sustained international terror has been a ---on civilized society.

13. Green--- is a hopeful token of more substantial change.

14. He is driven by ---and envy.

15. Certain practices that once were condemned as ---are now considered fairly normal.

16. The bombing of Dresden was one of the worst ---in European history.

17. She had been ---in the chest repeatedly.

18. Detectives are investigating the possibility that a woman may have been ---by the retired Army sergeant.

19. ---and corruption in politics don’t surprise anyone.

20. She was found guilty of---.

Bitter, schism, acquisitive, consumerism, lust, deviant, slain, hate, promiscuous,

paramount, scourge, impetus, fraud, stabbed, plethora, alienated, greed, reconciliation, massacres, sleaze.