167
and that the benefits – hours, holidays and salary – would be the
most important aspects. Presumably, at an interview, candidates
would have to show they had the correct qualifications (driving
licence for a bus) and a spotless driving history. However, the
designers of the advert decided to stress only what candidates could
get from the job, not what was expected of them.
LESSON 10.5
EXERCISE 8B (P.105)
be interested in job satisfaction or career advancement
LESSON 11.3
EXERCISE 12 (P.111)
I
n many parts of the world, it is becoming more common for parents to
have only one child. An obvious reason for this is that people are tending
to marry at a later age than they did some years ago. This is an important
area of discussion because some people think that being an only child
is a big disadvantage in life.
Others take a different view. This essay
discusses the arguments and considers whether, on balance, it is truly an
advantage to be the only child in a family.
A major advantage of being an only child is that the child gets more
attention and financial support from his or her parents. They will help the
child with his or her homework, so that the child achieves above-average
results at school.
In addition, because the only child is the sole focus of
the parents’ love, he or she develops more confidence and becomes
more mature at an early age. Another advantage of being an only child
is that they are on their own a lot more.
As a result, they learn how to
occupy themselves and to become more independent than other children.
They are also more able to cope with feelings of loneliness.
On the other hand,
some people argue that only children miss out on
brother and sister relationships as they do not have siblings to share
their joys and sorrows.
It is said that children who have siblings are
less selfish and learn at an early age how to get on with other people – an
important life skill.
Even though this is probably true, it is a fact that
brothers and sisters often quarrel a lot.
Only children may well have
quieter and more peaceful childhoods.
A study of China during the time when it had a one-child policy
supported the view that there are disadvantages to being an only
child.
The study was published in
Science
by Professor Lisa Cameron
and colleagues from Australian universities. It investigated the impact of
one-child families in China.
The researchers compared the behaviour
of Chinese people born before and after the one-child policy was
adopted.
Their results showed that children born after the one-child
policy, in other words ‘only children’, had certain characteristics. They
were less willing to take risks, less conscientious, less trustworthy and
more pessimistic. According to Professor Cameron, the amount of
contact that subjects had with other children, such as their peers, did not
affect the results of the study.
While this research seemed to confirm
that only children in China were at a disadvantage, this may not be
the case in other countries.
The results, therefore, are not conclusive.
On the whole, in spite of the research on only children in China, evidence
seems to suggest that it is an advantage to be an only child. However, the
key point, surely, is that a child has the love and support of his or her
parents.
This is the most important influence which will determine a
child’s development, happiness and future success in life.
A
B
C
D
E
Local cultures reflect
ordinary people’s feelings of
appropriateness, comfort and
correctness. Given the strength of
local cultures, it is hard to argue
that one global culture exists.
Look, everyone’s basically the
same. I mean, at work nearly
everyone wears the standard
man’s business suit with a
coloured tie and a buttoned shirt.
It’s worn just about everywhere.
Those who deny the importance
of cultural diversity may refer to
the universal business suit. But
local variations have appeared.
Iranian parliamentarians do not
wear ties and Saudi diplomats
alternate the business suit with
traditional robes.
You can see that most hotels in the
world have become standardised.
I mean, they now have western-
style beds, toilets and showers. A
lot of them have fitness centres and
restaurants. They all fit a sort of
global standard.
The Davos group is an elite
group of highly educated people
operating in finance, media and
diplomacy. They share common
beliefs about individualism and
market economy. However, they
are too small a group to count as
a coherent cultural system.
