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2021年2月9日发(作者：流星飞呀)

01-A. What Is a Decision?

A decision is a choice m

ade from among alternative courses of action that are available. The purpose

of making a decision is to establish and achieve organizational goals and objectives. The reason for m

aking a

decision

is

that

a

problem

exists,

goals

or

objectives

are wrong,

or

som

ething

is

standing

in

the

way

of

accom

plishing them.

Thus the decision-m

aking process is fundam

ental to managem

ent. Almost everything a manager does

involves

decisions,

indeed,

som

e

suggest

that

the

m

anagement

process

is

decision

m

aking.

Although

managers cannot predict the future,

m

any of their decisions require that they consider possible future events.

Often

managers

m

ust

make a best guess at what the

future will be and try to leave as little as possib

le to

chance, hut since uncertainty is always there, risk accom

panies decisions. Som

etim

es the consequences of a

poor decision are slight; at other tim

es they are serious.

Choice is the opportunity to select am

ong alternatives. If there is no choice, there

is no decision to be

made. Decision m

aking is the process of choosing, and

m

any decisions have a broad range of choice. For

example, a student

may be able

to choose am

ong a num

ber of

different courses in order to im

plem

ent

the

decision

to

obtain

a

college

degree.

For

m

anagers,

every

decision

has

constraints

based

on

policies,

procedures, laws, precedents, and the like. These constraints exist at all levels of the organization.

Alternatives

are

the

possible

courses

of

action

from

which

choices

can

be

m

ade.

If

there

are

no

alternatives, there is no choice and, therefore, no decision. If no alternatives are seen, often it

m

eans that a

thorough

job

of

exam

ining

the

problem

s

has

not

been

done.

For

exam

ple,

managers

som

etim

es

treat

problem

s

in

an

either/or

fashion;

this

is

their

way

of

sim

plifying

com

plex

problem

s.

But

the

tendency

to

sim

plify blinds them

to other alternatives.

At the

managerial level, decision m

aking includes lim

iting alternatives as well as identifying them

, and

the range is from

highly lim

ited

to practically unlim

ited.

Decision m

akers

m

ust have som

e way of determ

ining which of several alternatives is best

--

that is,

which contributes the m

ost to

the achievem

ent of organizational goals. An organizational goal is an end or a

state

of

affairs

the

organization

seeks

to

reach.

Because

individuals

(and

organizations)

frequently

have

different

ideas

about

how

to

attain

the

goals,

the

best

choice

may

depend

on

who

m

akes

the

decision.

Frequently, departments or units within an organization m

ake decisions

that are good for them individually but

that are less than optimal for the larger organization. Called suboptim

ization, this is a trade

-off that increases

the advantages to one unit or function but decreases the advantages to another unit or function. For

exam

ple,

the

m

arketing

manager

m

ay

argue

effectively

for

an

increased

advertising

budget.

In

the

larger schem

e

of

things,

however,

increased

funding

for

research

to

im

prove

the

products

m

ight

be

more

beneficial

to

the

organization.

These

trade-offs

occur

because

there

are

m

any

objectives

that

organizations

wish

to

attain

sim

ultaneously.

Som

e

of

these

objectives

are

m

ore

im

portant

than

others,

but

the

order

and

degree

of

im

portance often vary from

person to person and from

departm

ent to department. Differen

t

managers define

the sam

e problem

in different term

s. When presented with a common case, sales m

anagers tend to see sales

problem

s, production managers see production problem

s, and so on.

The ordering and im

portance of multiple objectives is also based, in part, on the values of the decision

maker. Such values are personal; they are hard to understand, even by the individual, because they are so

dynam

ic and complex. In many business situations different people's values about acceptable degrees of risk

1

and profitability cause disagreem

ent about the correctness of decisions.

People often assum

e

that a

decision is an isolated phenom

enon.

But

from a system

s point of view,

problem

s have m

ultiple causes, and decisions have intended and unintended consequences. An

organization

is an ongoing entity, and a decision m

ade today

may have consequences far into the future. Thus the skilled

manager looks toward the future consequences of current decisions.

01-B. Secrets of Success at an Interview

The subject of today's talk is interviews.

The key words here are preparation and confidence, which will carry you far.

Do your hom

ework first.

Find out all you can about the job you are applying for and the organization you hope to work for.

Many of the em

ployers I interviewed made

the sam

e criticism

of candidates.

the

day

to

day

work

of

the

job

brings

about.

They

have

vague

notions

of

the

com

pany's

prospects’

or of 'serving the community', but have never taken the trouble to

find out

the actua

l tasks they

will be required to do.”

Do not let this be said of you. It shows an unattractive indifference to your em

ployer and to your job.

Take the time to put yourself into the interviewer's place. He wants som

ebody who is hard-working with

a pleasant personality and a real interest in the job.

Anything that you

find out about

the prospective em

ployer can be used to your advantage

during the

interview to show that you have bothered to m

aster som

e facts about the people who you hope to work for.

Write

down

(and

rem

em

ber)

the

questions

you

want

to

ask

the

interviewer(s)

so

that

you

are

not

speechless when they invite your questions. Make sure that holidays and pay are not the first

things you ask

about.

If

all

your

questions

have

been

answered

during

the

interview,

reply:

fact,

I

did

have

several

questions, but you have already answered them

all.”

Do not be afraid to ask for clarification of som

ething that has been said during the interview if you want

to be sure what was im

plied, but do be polite.

Just

before

you

go

to

the

interview,

look

again

at

the

original

advertisem

ent

that

you

answered,

any

correspondence from your prospective employer, photocopies of your letter of application or application form

and your resum

e.

Then you will rem

ember what you said and what they want. This is very im

portant if you have applied

for many jobs in a short tim

e as it is easy to becom

e confused and give an impression of inefficiency.

Make sure you know where and when you have to report

for the interview. Go to the buil

ding (but not

inside the office) a day or two before, if necessary, to find out how long the journey takes and where exactly

the place is.

Aim

to arrive five or ten m

inutes early for the actual interview, then you will have a little tim

e in hand and

you will not panic if you are delayed. You start at a disadvantage if you arrive worried and ten m

inutes late.

Dress in clean, neat, conservative clothes. Now is NOT the time

to experim

ent with the

punk look

or

(girls)

to wear low

-cut

dresses with

m

iniskirts.

Make sure

that

your

shoes,

hands

and

hair

(and

teeth)

are

clean and neat.

Have

the

letter

inviting

you

for

an

interview

ready

to

show

in

case

there

is

any

difficulty

in

2

communication.

You m

ay

find yourself facing one interviewer or a panel. The latter is far more intim

idating, but do not

let it worry you too m

uch. The interviewer will probably have a table in front of him

/her. Do not put your things

or arm

s on it.

If you have a bag or a case, put it on the floor beside your chair. Do not clutch it nervously or, worse

still, drop it, spilling everything.

Shake hands if the interviewer offers his hand first. There is little likelihood that a panel of five wants to

go though the process of all shaking hands with you in turn. So you do not be upset if no one offer

s.

Shake

hands

firm

ly

--

a

weak

hand

suggests

a weak

personality,

and

a

crushing

grip

is

obviously

painful. Do not drop the hand as soon as yours has touched it as this will seem

to show you do not like the

other person.

Speak politely and naturally even if you are feeling shy. Think before you answer any questions.

If

you

cannot

understand,

ask:

you

m

ind

rephrasing

the

question,

please?

The

question will

then be repeated in different words.

If

you

are

not

definitely

accepted

or

turned

down

on

the s

pot,

ask:

m

ay

I

expect

to

hear

the

results of this interview?

If you do receive a letter offering you the job, you

m

ust reply by letter (keep a photocopy) as soon as

possible.

Good luck!

02-A. Black Holes

What is a black hole? Well, it's difficult to answer this question, since the term

s we would norm

ally use

to describe a scientific phenom

enon are inadequate here. Astronom

ers and scientists think that a black hole

is a region of space (not a thing ) into which m

atter has fallen and from which noth

ing can escape ?not even

light. So we can't see a black hole. A black hole exerts a strong gravitational pull and yet it has no m

atter. It is

only space -- or so we think. How can this happen?

The theory is that som

e stars explode when their density increases to a particular point;

they collapse

and som

etimes a supernova occurs. From

earth, a supernova looks like a very bright light in the sky which

shines

even

in

the

daytim

e.

Supernovae

were

reported

by

astronomers

in

the

seventeenth

and

eighteenth

centuries. Som

e people think that the Star of Bethlehem could have been a supernova. The collapse of a star

may produce a White Dwarf or a neutron star

-- a star, whose m

atter is so dense that it continually shrinks by

the force of its own gravity. But if

the star is very large (m

uch bigger than our sun) this process of shrinking

may be so intense that a black hole result

s. Im

agine the earth reduced to the size of a marble, but still having

the sam

e

mass and a stronger gravitational pull, and you have som

e idea of

the

force of a black hole. Any

matter near the black hole is sucked in. It is im

possible to say what happens inside a black hole. Scientists

have

called

the

boundary

area

around

the

hole

the

horizon.

We

know

nothing

about

events which

happen once objects pass this boundary. But in theory, m

atter must behave very differently inside the hole.

For exam

ple, if a man fell into a black hole, he would think that he reached the center of it very quickly.

However an observer at the event horizon would think that the man never reached the center at all. Our space

and time laws don't seem to apply to objects in the area of a black hole. Einstein's relativity theory is the only

3

one which can explain such phenom

ena. Einstein claim

ed that

m

atter and energy are in

terchangeable, so that

there is no

e and space. There are no constants at all, and

m

easurem

ents of

tim

e and space

depend on the position of

the observer. They are relative. We do not yet

fully understand the im

plications of

the

relativity

theory;

but

it

is

interesting

that

Einstein's

theory

provided

a

basis

for

the

idea

of

black

holes

before astronomers started to find som

e evidence for their existence. It is only recently that astronomers have

begun specific research into black holes. In August 1977, a satellite was launched to gather data about the 10

million black holes which are thought to be in the Milky Way. And astronom

ers are planning a new observatory

to study the individual exploding stars believed to be black holes,

The

m

ost

convincing

evidence

of

black

holes

com

es

frown

research into

binary star system

s.

Binary

stars,

as

their

nam

e

suggests,

are

twin stars whose

position

in space

affects

each

other.

In

som

e

binary

system

s, astronom

ers have shown that there is an invisible com

panion s

tar, a

can see in the sky. Matter from the one which we can see is being pulled towards the companion star. Could

this invisible star, which exerts such a great force, be a black hole? Astronomers have evidence of a few other

stars too, which m

ight have black holes as companions.

The story

of

black

holes

is

just

beginning.

Speculations

about

them

.

are

endless.

There

m

ight

be

a

massive black hole at the center of our galaxy swallowing up stars at a very rapid rate. Mankind m

ay one day

meet this

fate. On

the other hand, scientists have suggested that very advanced technology could one day

make use of

the energy of black holes

for

mankind. These speculations sound like science fiction. But

the

theory of black holes in space is accepted by m

any serious scientists and astronom

ers. They show us a world

which operates in a totally different way from

our own and they question our most basic experience of space

and tim

e.

02-B. Worlds within Worlds

First of all let us consider the earth

(that is to say, the world) as a planet revolving round the sun. The

earth

is

one

of

nine

planets which

m

ove

in

orbit

round

the sun.

These

nine

planets,

together with

the sun,

make

up

what

is

called

our solar system.

How

this wonderful system

started

and

w

hat

kept

it

working with

such wonderful accuracy is largely a m

ystery but astronomers tell us that it is only one of

millions of sim

ilar

system

s in space, and one of the sm

allest.

The stars which we see glittering in the sky on a dark and cloudless night are alm

ost certainly the suns

of other solar system

s

m

ore or less like our own, but they are so far away in space that it is unlikely that we

shall ever get to

know very m

uch about

them

. About our own solar system, however, we are learning more

every day.

Before

the

Am

erican

and

Russian

astronauts

m

ade

their

thrilling

journeys

into

outer

space

it

was

difficult

for

us

to

realise

what

our

earth

looked

like

from

hundreds

of

thousands

of

m

iles

away,

but

the

photographs which the astronauts were able to take show

us the earth in space looking not very different from

what

the

m

oon

looks

like when we

look

at

it

from

the

earth.

The

earth

is,

however,

very

different

from

the

moon, which the Am

erican astronauts have found to be without life or vegetation, whereas our e

arth is very

much alive in every respect. The

moon,

by the way, is called a satellite because it goes round our earth as

well as round the sun. In other words, it goes round the sun with our earth.

The surface of our earth is covered by m

asses of land and

larger areas of water. Let us consider the

4

water areas first. The total water area is about three tim

es as large as the land area. The very large separate

areas of water are called

and the lesser areas are called

In

m

ost

of

the oceans and seas som

e of

the water is found to be

flowing in a particular direction

--

that is to say, from

one part towards another part of the ocean or sea concerned. The water which is flowing

in this m

anner is said to be moving as a

ands of currents in the waters of the

oceans

and

seas,

but

only

certain

of

the

stronger

and

better

marked

currents

are specially

nam

ed

and

of

great

im

portance.

These

currents

are

im

portant

because

they

affect

the

clim

ate

of

the

land

areas

close

to

where they flow and also because they carry large quantities of

m

icroscopic anim

al and vegetable life which

form

s a large part of the food for fishes.

The nature and characteristics of the surface of the land areas of the earth vary a great deal from area

to

area

and

from

place

to

place.

The surface

of

som

e

areas

consists

largely

of

high

m

ountains

and

deep

valleys

whilst,

in

other

areas,

most

of

the

surface

consists

of

plains.

If

one

made

a

journey

over

the

Continents one would find every kind of surface including

mountain ranges, plains, plateaux, deserts, tropical

forestlands and em

pty areas covered perm

anently by ice and snow.

When thinking and learning about the world we should not forget that our world is the hom

e of a very

great many different people

-- peoples with different coloured skins, living very different lives and having very

different

ideas

about

a

great

many

im

portant

things

such

as

religion,

governm

ent,

education

and

social

behaviour.

The circum

stances under which different people live make a great difference between the way in which

they

live

and

the way

in which we

live,

and

it

ought

to

be

our

business

to

try

to

understand

those

different

circum

stances so that we can better understand people of other lands. Above all, we should avoid deciding

what we think about people different

from ourselves without first having learned a great deal about them

and

the kind of lives they have to live. It is true to say that

the

more we learn about other people,

the better we

understand their ideas and, as a rule, the better we like those people them

selves.

03-A. Euthanasia: For and Against

We

m

ustn't

delay

any

longer ...

swallowing

is

difficult ...

and

breathing,

that's

also

difficult.

Those

muscles are weakening too ... we m

ustn't delay any longer.”

These were

the words

of

Dutchm

an

Cees

van

Wendel

de

Joode

asking

his

doctor

to

help

him

die.

Affected with a serious disease, van Wendel was no longer able to speak clearly and he knew there was no

hope of recovery and that his condition was rapidly deteriorating.

Van

Wendel's

last

three

m

onths

of

life

before

being

given

a

final,

lethal

injection

by

his

doctor were

film

ed and first shown on television last year in the Netherlands. The programme has since been bought by 20

countries and each tim

e it is shown, it starts

a nationwide debate on the subject.

The Netherlands is the only country in Europe which perm

its euthanasia, although it is not

technically

legal

there.

However,

doctors

who

carry

out

euthanasia

under

strict

guidelines

introduced

by

the

Dutch

Parliam

ent

tw

o years ago are usually not prosecuted. The guidelines dem

and that the patient is experiencing

extrem

e

suffering,

that

there

is

no

chance

of

a

cure,

and

that

the

patient

has

m

ade

repeated

requests

for

euthanasia. In addition to this, a second doctor must confirm that these criteria have been m

et and the death

5

must be reported to the police departm

ent.

Should doctors be allowed to take the lives of others? Dr. Wilfred van Oijen, Cees van Wendel's doctor,

explains how he looks at the question:

m planning to murder a crowd of people with a m

achine gun. In that case, killing is

the worst thing I can im

agine. But that's entirely different from my work as a doctor. I care for people and I try

to ensure that they don't suffer too m

uch. That'

s a very different thing.”

Many people, though, are totally against the practice of euthanasia. Dr. Andrew Ferguson, Chairm

an of

the organisation Healthcare Opposed to Euthanasia, says that

the

patient

is

actually

asking

for

is

som

ething

else.

They

m

ay

want

a

health

professional

to

open

up

communication for them

with their loved ones or fam

ily

--

there's nearly always another question behind the

question.”

Britain also has a strong tradition

of hospices

-- special hospitals which care only for the dying and

their special needs. Cicely Saunders, President of the National Hospice Council and a founder m

ember of the

hospice

m

ovement,

argues

that

euthanasia

doesn't

take

into

account

that

there

are ways

of

caring

fo

r

the

dying. She is also concerned that allowing euthanasia would underm

ine the need for care and consideration of

a wide range of people:

that

they

are

burdens,

and

therefore

that

they

ought

to

opt

out.

I

think

that

anything

that

legally

allows

the

shortening of life does m

ake those people more vulnerable.”

Many

find

this

prohibition

of

an

individual's

right

to

die

paternalistic.

Although

they

agree

that

life

is

im

portant

and

should

be

respected,

they

feel

that

the

quality

of

life

should

not

be

ignored.

Dr.

van

Oijen

believes

that

people

have

the

fundam

ental

right

to

choose

for

them

selves

if

they want

to

die:

those

people who oppose euthanasia are telling m

e is that dying people haven't the right. And that when people are

very ill, we are all afraid of

their death. But there are situations where death is a friend. And in those cases,

why not?

But

ight cause strong em

otion. The film sh

owing Cees van Wendel's

death was both moving and sensitive. His doctor was clearly a fam

ily friend; his wife had only her husband's

interests at heart. Som

e, however, would argue that it would be dangerous to use this particular exam

ple to

support

the

case

for

euthanasia.

Not

all

patients

would

receive

such

a

high

level

of

individual

care

and

attention.

03-B. Advantage Unfair

According

to

the

writer

Walter

Ellis,

author

of

a

book

called

the

Oxbridge

Conspiracy,

Britain

is still

dom

inated by the old-boy network: it isn't what you know that

m

atters, but who you know. He claim

s that at

Oxford and Cambridge Universities (Oxbridge for short) a few select people start on an escalator ride which,

over

the

years,

carries

them

to

the

tops

of

British

privilege

and

power.

His

research

revealed

that

the

top

professions all continue to be dominated, if not 90 per cent, then 60 or 65 per cent, by Oxbridge graduates.

And yet, says Ellis, Oxbridge graduates m

ake up only two per cent of the total number of students who

graduate from Britain's universities. Other researches also seem

to support his belief that Oxbridge graduates

start with an unfair advantage in the em

ployment

market. In the law, a recently published report showed that

out of

26 senior judges appointed to

the High Court last year, all of

them

went to private schools and 21 of

6

them

went to Oxbridge.

But can this be said to am

ount to a conspiracy? Not according to Dr. John Rae, a form

er headm

aster

of one of Britain's leading private schools, Westm

inster:

there was a bias in som

e key areas of British life, but

that bias has now gone.

Som

e

tim

e

ago

--

in

the

60s

and

before

?entry

to

Oxford

and

Cam

bridge

was

not

entirely

on

m

erit.

Now,

there's absolutely no question in any objective observer's

m

ind that, entry to Oxford and Cam

bridge is fiercely

co m

petitive.

However,

m

any

would

disagree

with

this.

For,

although

over

three

-quarters

of

British

pupils

are

educated in state schools, over half the students that go to Oxbridge have been to private, or

Is this because pupils from

Britain's private schools are m

ore intelligent than those from

state schools, or are

they sim

ply better prepared?

On average, about $$ 5,000 a year is spent on each private school pupil,

m

ore

than twice the amount

spent on state school pupils. So how can the state schools be expected to com

pete with the private schools

when they have far fewer resources? And how can they prepare their pupils for the special entrance exam

to

Oxford

University, which requires extra preparation, and for which m

any public school pupils traditionally stay

at school and do an additional term?

Until

recently,

many

blamed

Oxford

for

this

bias

because

of

the

university's

special

entrance

exam

(Cam

bridge abolished its entrance exam

in 1986). But last February, Oxford University decided to abolish the

exam

to

encourage

m

ore

state

school

applicants.

From

autum

n

1996,

Oxford

University

applicants,

like

applicants

to

other

universities,

will

be

judged

only

on

their

A

level

results

and

on

their

perform

ance

at

interviews, although som

e departments m

ight still set special tests.

However, som

e argue that there's nothing wrong in having elite places of learning, and that by their very

nature, these places should not be easily accessible. Most countries are run by an elite and have centres of

academ

ic excellence from

which the elite are recruited. Walter Ellis accepts that this is true:

in

France,

for

exam

ple,

there

are som

ething

like

40

equivalents

of

university, which

provide

this

elite through a m

uch broader base. In Am

erica you've got the Ivy League, centred on Harvard and Yale, with

Princeton and Stanford and others. But again, those universities together

-- the elite universities -- are about

ten or fifteen in num

ber, and are being pushed along from behind by other great universities like, for exam

ple,

Chicago

and

Berkeley.

So

you

don't

have

just

this

narrow

concentration

of

two

universities

providing

a

constantly replicating elite.”

When it com

es to Oxford and Cambridge being elitist because of the number of private school pupils

they

accept,

Professor Stone

of

Oxford

University

argues

that

there

is

a

simple

fact

he

and

his

associates

cannot ignore:

certain

schools

do

better

than

others

then we

just

have

to

accept

it.

We

cannot

be

a

place

for

rem

edial education. It's not what Oxford is there to do.”

However, since

academ

ic

excellence

does

appear

to

be

related

to

the

amount

of

money

spent

per

pupil, this does seem

to imply that Prim

e Minister John Major's vision of Britain as a classless society is still a

long way off. And it

m

ay be worth rem

embering that while John Major didn't him

self go to Oxbridge,

m

ost of

his m

inisters did.

7

04-A. Slavery on Our Doorstep

There are estim

ated to be

more than

20,000 overseas dom

estic servants working in Britain (the exact

figure is not known because the Hom

e Office, the Governm

ent department that deals with this, does not keep

statistics). Usually, they have been brought over by foreign businessm

en, diplomats or Britons returning from

abroad. Of these 20,000, just under 2,000 are being exploited and abused by their em

ployers, according to a

London-based cam

paigning group which helps overseas servants working in Britain.

The

abuse

can

take several

form

s.

Often

the

dom

estics

are

not

allowed

to

go

out,

and

the

y

do

not

receive any paym

ent. They can be physically, sexually and psychologically abused. And

they can have their

passports removed, making leaving or

possible.

The sad

condition

of

wom

en

working

as

dom

estics

around

the world

receiv

ed

m

uch

m

edia

attention

earlier this year in several highly publicised cases. In one of them, a Filipino m

aid was executed in Singapore

after being convicted of m

urder, despite protests from various quarters that her guilt had not been adequately

established.

Groups like

Anti-Slavery

International say

other,

less

dram

atic,

cases

are

equally

deserving

of

attention, such as that of Lydia Garcia, a Filipino m

aid working in London:

was

hired

by

a

Saudi

diplom

at

directly

from

the

Philippines

to

work

in

London

in

1989.

I

was

supposed to be paid $$ 120 but I never received that amount. They always threatened that they would send m

e

back to my country.”

Then there is the case of Kumari from Sri Lanka. The main breadwinner in her fam

ily, she used to work

for a very low wage at a tea factory in Sri Lanka. Because she found it difficult to

feed her four children, she

accepted a job working as a dom

estic in London. She says she felt like a prisoner at the London house where

she worked:

-- ever, no breaks at all, no proper food. I

didn't have

m

y own room

; I slept on a shelf

with a spad0 of only three feet above m

e. I wasn't allowed to talk to anybody. I wasn't even allowed to open

the window. My employers always threatened to report me to the Home Office or

the police.”

At the end of

1994

the British Governm

ent introduced new m

easures to help protect dom

estic workers

from

abuse

by

their

em

ployers.

This

included

increasing

the

m

inim

um

age

of

employees

to

18,

getting

em

ployees

to

read

and,

understand

an

advice

leaflet,

getting

em

ployers

to

agree

to

provide

adequate

maintenance

and

conditions,

and

to

put

in

writing

the

m

ain

term

s

and

conditions

of

the

job

(of

which

the

em

ployees should see a copy).

However, m

any people doubt whether this will successfully reduce the incidence of abuse. For the main

problem

facing overseas m

aids and dom

estics who try to com

plain about cruel living and working conditions

is that they do not have independent immigrant status and so cannot change em

ployer. (They are allowed in

the

United

Kingdom

under

a

special

concession

in

the

imm

igration

rules

which

allows

foreigners

to

bring

dom

estic staff with them

.) So if they do com

plain, they risk being deported.

Allowing dom

estic workers the freedom

to seek the sam

e type of work but with a different em

ployer, if

they so choose, is what groups like Anti-Slavery International are campaigning the Governm

ent

for. It is, they

say, the right to change em

ployers which distinguishes em

ployment from slavery.

04-B. Return of The Chain Gang

Eyewitnesses say it was a scene straight out of a black and white

m

ovie

from

the 1950s. As the sun

rose over the fields of Huntsville, Alabam

a, in the American South, the convicts got down from the trucks that

had brought

them

there. Watched over by guards with guns, they raised their legs in unison and m

ade their

8

way

to

the

edge

of

the

highway,

Interstate

65.

The

BBC's

Washington

correspondent

Clare

Bolderson was

there and she sent this report:

s

with

the words

Gang'

on

their

backs

and,

in

groups

of

five,

were

shackled together in leg irons joined by an eight-foot chain. The prisoners will work for up to

90 days on the

gang: they'll clear ditches of weeds and m

end fences along Alabam

a's m

ain roads. While they are working on

the

gang,

they

抣

l

also

live in som

e

of

the

harshest

prison conditions

in

the

United

States.

There'll

be

no

televisions or phone calls; m

any other day

-to-

day privileges will be denied.”

The authorities in Alabam

a say there is a lot

of support

for

the re-introduction

of chain gangs in the

State

after

a

gap

of

30

years

(the

last

gangs were

abolished

in

Georgia

in

the

early

1960s).

Many

people

believe it is an effective way to get crim

inals to pay back their debt to society.

The prisoners stay shackled when they use toilets. They reacted sharply to the treatm

ent they are given:

Prisoner one:

als now.

Prisoner two:

barrassing.”

Prisoner three:

Six

out

of

every

ten

prisoners

in chains

are

black, which

is why

the

chain

gangs

call

up

im

ages

of

slavery in centuries gone by, when black people were brought from Africa in leg irons and

m

ade

to work in

plantations owned by white m

en. Not surprisingly, although three- quarters of the white population of Alabama

supports

chain

gangs,

only

a

sm

all

num

ber

of

black

people

do.

Don

Claxton,

spokes

m

an

for

the

State

Governm

ent of Alabama, insists that the system

is not racist:

ething that's done for racial reasons, for political reasons. This is som

ething that's going

to help save the people of Alabama tax

money because they don't have to pay as m

any officers to work on

the highways. And it's going to help clean up our highways and it's going to help clean up the

State.”

However,

the

re-introduction

of

these

m

easures

has

caused

a

great

deal

of

strong

disagreem

ent.

Hum

an rights organizations say that putting prisoners in chains is not only inhum

ane but also ineffective. Alvin

Bronstein, m

ember of the Civil Liberties

Union, says that study after study has shown that you cannot prevent

people

from

committing

crim

es

by

punishm

ent

or

the

threat

of

punishm

ent:

they

will

do

is

m

ake

prisoners m

ore angry,

more hostile, so that when they get out of prison, they will increase the level of

their

crim

inal behaviour.”

Civil

liberties

groups

say

that

chaining

people

together

doesn't

solve

the

causes

of

crim

e,

such

as

poverty

or

disaffection

within society.

What

it

does

is

punish

prisoners

for

the

ills

of

society.

They say

the

practice takes the United States back to the Middle Ages, and that it is a sham

e to American society. But that

抯

not

an

argum

ent

likely

to

win

favour

am

ong

many

people

in

the

Deep

South

of

the

United

States.

Alabam

a's experim

ent is to be widened to include

m

ore prisoners, and other States, such as Arkansas and

Arizona, will very probably introduce their own chain gang schem

es.

05-A. The New Music

The

new

m

usic

was

built

out

of

materials

already

in

existence:

blues,

rock'n'roll,

folk

music.

But

although the form

s remained, som

ething completely new and original was m

ade out of

these older elem

ents

-- more original, perhaps, than even the new m

usicians them

selves yet realize. The transform

ation took place

in

1966--1967.

Up

to

that

tim

e,

the

blues

had

been

an

essentially

black

m

edium

.

Rock'n'roll,

a

blues

derivative, was

rhythm

ic

dance

m

usic.

Folk

m

usic,

old

and

m

odern,

was

popular

am

ong

college

students.

The

three

form

s

rem

ained

m

usically

and

culturally

distinct,

and

even

as

late

as

1965,

none

of

them

were

9

expressing

any

radically

new

states

of

consciousness.

Blues

expressed

black

soul;

rock

was

the

beat

of

youthful energy; and folk music expressed anti-war sentim

ents as well as love and hope.

In 1966 -- 1967 there was spontaneous transformation. In the United States, it originated with youthful

rock groups playing in San Francisco. In England, it was led by the Beatles, who were already established as

an extrem

ely fine and highly individual rock group. What happened, as well as it can be put into words, was

this. First, the separate musical traditions were brought together. Bob Dylan and the Jefferson Airplane played

folk rock, folk ideas with a rock beat. White rock groups began experim

enting with the blues. Of course, white

musicians had always played the blues, but essentially as im

itators of the Negro style; now it began to be the

white bands’

own m

usic. And all of

the groups

m

oved

towards a broader eclecticism and synthesis. They

freely

took

over

elem

ents

from

jazz,

from

American

country

m

usic,

and

as

tim

e

wen

t

on

from

even

more

diverse

sources.

What

developed

was

a

m

usic

readily

taking

on

various

form

s

and

capable

of

an

almost

lim

itless range of expression.

The second thing that happened was that all the

m

usical groups began using the full range of electric

instrum

ents and the technology of electronic amplifiers. The electric guitar was an old instrum

ent, but the new

electronic effects were altogether different

-- so different that a new listener in 1967 might well feel that there

had never been any sounds like that in the world before. Electronics did, in fact,

make possible sounds that

no instrum

ent up to that tim

e could produce. And in studio recordings, new techniques m

ade possible effects

that

not

even

an

electronic

band

could

produce

live.

Electronic

am

pli

fiers

also

m

ade

possible

a

fantastic

increase in volum

e, the

m

usic becom

ing as loud and penetrating as the hum

an ear could stand, and thereby

achieving a

total participants, feeling the m

usic in all of their senses and all of their bones.

Third, the

music becom

es a

m

ulti

-m

edia experience; a part of a total environm

ent. The walls of

the

ballroom

s were covered with changing patterns of light, the beginning of the new art of the light show. And the

audience did not sit, it danced.

With records at home, listeners im

itated these lighting effects as best they

could,

and

heightened

the whole experience

by

using

drugs.

Often

m

usic

was

played

out

of

doors,

where

nature provided the environm

ent.

05-B. Different Types of Composers

I

can

see

three

different

types

of

composers

in

m

usical

history,

each

of

whom

creates

m

usic

in

a

som

ewhat different fashion.

The type that has fired public im

agination

most is that of

the spontane

ously inspired composer --

the

Franz

Schubert

type,

in

other

words.

All

com

posers

are

inspired,

of

course,

but

this

type

is

more

spontaneously inspired. Music sim

ply wells out of him. He can't get it

down on paper fast enough. You can

alm

ost tell this type of composer by his fruitful output. In certain months, Schubert wrote a song a day. Hugo

Wolf did the sam

e.

In a sense, m

en of this kind begin not so m

uch with a m

usical them

e as with a com

pleted composition.

They invariably work best in the shorter form

s. It is m

uch easier to im

provise a song than it is to im

provise a

sym

phony.

It isn't easy to be inspired in that spontaneous way for long periods at a stretch. Even Schubert

was m

ore successful in handling the shorter form

s of m

usic. The spontaneously inspired m

an is only one type

of composer, with his own lim

itations.

Beethoven belongs to the second type

--

the constructive type, one m

ight call it. This type serves as

10

an

exam

ple

of

m

y

theory

of

the

creative

process

in

m

usic

better

than

any

other,

because

i

n

this case

the

com

poser really does begin with a m

usical them

e. In Beethoven's case there is no doubt about it, for we have

the

notebooks

in which

he

put

the

them

es

down.

We

can

see

from

his

notebooks how

he worked

over his

them

es -- how he would not let them

be until they were as perfect as he could

m

ake them. Beethoven was

not a spontaneously inspired com

poser in the Schubert sense at all. He was the type that begins with a them

e;

makes it a prelim

inary idea; and upon that composes a m

usical work, day after day, in painstaking fashion.

Most com

posers since Beethoven's day belong to this second type.

The third type of composer I can only call, for lack of a better name,

the

traditionalist type. Men like

Palestrina and Bach belong in this category. They both are characteristic of the kind of composer who is born

in a particular period of musical history, when a certain m

usical style is about to reach its fullest developm

ent.

It is a question at such a tim

e of creating music in a well-known and accepted style and doing it in a way that

is better than anyone has done it before you.

The traditionalist type of composer begins with a pattern rather than with a them

e. The creative act with

Palestrina is not the

thematic conception so

m

uch as

the personal treatment

of a well- established pattern.

And

even

Bach, who com

posed

forty

-eight

of

the

most

various

and

inspired

them

es

in his

Well

Tempered

Clavichord,

knew in advance the general form

al

mold that they were to fill. It goes without saying that we are

not living in a traditionalist period nowadays.

One m

ight add, for the sake of completeness, a fourth type of composer -- the pioneer type: men like

Gesualdo in the seventeenth century, Moussorgsky and Berlioz in the nineteenth, Debussy and Edgar Varese in

the twentieth. It is difficult to summarize the com

posing m

ethods of so diversified a group. One can safely say

that

their approach to com

position is the opposite of the traditionalist type. They clearly oppose conventional

solutions of

m

usical problem

s. Inm

any ways,

their attitude is experim

ental ?they seek to add new harm

onies,

new

sonorities,

new

form

al

principles.

The

pioneer

type

was

the

characteristic

one

at

the

turn

of

the

seventeenth century and also at the beginning of the twentieth century, but it is m

uch les

s evident today.

06-A. Improving Industrial E

fficiency through Robotics

Robots,

becom

ing

increasingly

prevalent

in

factories

and

industrial

plants

throughout

the

developed

world, are programmed and engineered to perform industrial tasks without hum

an inte

rvention.

Most of

today's robots are em

ployed in

the automotive industry, where they are programmed to

take

over such jobs as welding and spray painting automobile and

truck bodies. They also load and unload hot,

heavy m

etal form

s used in m

achines casting autom

obile and truck fram

es.

Robots, already taking over hum

an tasks in the automotive field, are beginning to be seen, although to

a

lesser

degree,

in

other

industries

as

well.

There

they

build

electric

m

otors,

s

m

all

appliances,

pocket

calculators,

and

even watches.

The

robots

used

in

nuclear

power

plants

handle

the

radioactive

m

aterials,

preventing

hum

an

personnel

from

being

exposed

to

radiation.

These

are

the

robots

responsible

for

the

reduction in job-related injuries in this new industry.

What

makes

a

robot

a

robot

and

not

just

another

kind

of

automatic

m

achine?

Robots

differ

from

automatic

machines in that after completion of one specific task, they can be reprogrammed by a com

puter

to

do

another

one.

As

an

example,

a

robot

doing

spot

welding

one

month

can

be

reprogrammed

and

switched

to

spray

painting

the

next.

Automatic

machines,

on

the

other

hand,

are

not

capable

of

many

different uses; they are built to perform only one task.

11

The next generation of robots will

be

able

to see

objects, will

have

a

sense

of

touch,

and will

m

ake

critical decisions. Engineers skilled in m

icroelectronics and com

puter technology are developing artificial vision

for

robots.

With

the

ability

to

robots

can

identify

and

inspect

one specific

class

of

objects

out

of

a

stack of different kinds of materials. One robot vision system

uses electronic digital cam

eras containing m

any

rows of light-sensitive m

aterials. When light

from an

object such as a m

achine part strikes the cam

era,

the

sensitive

m

aterials

m

easure

the

intensity

of

light

and

convert

the

light

rays

into

a

range

of

num

bers.

The

numbers

are

part

of

a

grayscale system

in

which

brightness

is

m

easured

in

a

range

of

values.

One scale

ranges from 0 to 15, and another from 0 to 255. The 0 is represented by black. The high

est num

ber is white.

The num

bers in between represent different shades of gray. The com

puter then

makes the calculations and

converts the num

bers into a picture that shows an im

age of the object in question. It is not yet known whether

robots will one day have vision as good as hum

an vision. Technicians believe they will, but only after years of

developm

ent.

Engineers working on other advances are designing and experim

enting with new types of

m

etal hands

and

fingers,

giving

robots

a

sense

of

touch.

Other

engineers

are writing

new

program

s

allowing

robots

to

make decisions such as whether. to discard defective parts in finished products. To do this, the robot will also

have to be capable of identifying those defective parts.

These future robots, assem

bled with a sense of touch and the ability to see and m

ake decisions, will

have plenty of work to do. They can be used to explore for

minerals on the ocean floor or in deep areas of

mines too dangerous for hum

ans to enter. They will work as gas station attendants, firem

en, housekeepers,

and

security

personnel.

Anyone

wanting

to

understand

the

industry

of

the

future

will

have

to

know

about

robotics.

06-B. Predicting Earthquakes

Can

earthquakes

be

predicted?

Scientists

are

working

on

program

s

to

predict

where

and

wh

en

an

earthquake

will

occur.

They

hope

to

develop

an

early

warning

system

that

can

be

used

to

forecast

earthquakes so that lives can be saved.

Earthquakes are the most dangerous and deadly of all natural events. They occur in m

any parts of the

world. Giant earthquakes have been recorded in Iran, China, Guatem

ala, Chile, India, and Alaska. Two of the

biggest earthquakes that were ever recorded took place in China and Alaska. These earthquakes

m

easured

about 8.5 on the Richter Scale. The Richter Scale was devised by Charles Richter in 1935, and compares the

energy

level

of

earthquakes.

An

earthquake

that

measures

a

2

on

the

scale

can

be

felt

hut

causes

little

dam

age.

One

that

m

easures

4.5

on

the

scale

can

cause

slight

dam

age,

and

an

earthquake

that

has

a

reading of over 7 can cause m

ajor damage. It is important to note that a reading of 4 indicates an earthquake

ten times as strong as one with a reading of

ists want to be able

to

predict

those earthquakes that

have a reading of over 4 on the Richter Scale.

How do earthquakes occur? Earthquakes are caused by the shifting of rocks along cracks, or faults, in

the

earth's

crust.

The

fault

is

produced when

rocks near

each

other

are

pulled

in

different

directions.

The

best-known fault in North Am

erica is the San Andreasfault in the state of California in the United States.

The nations that are actively involved in earthquake prediction program

s include Japan, China, Russia,

and

the

United

States.

These

countries

have

set

up

seism

ic

networks

in

areas

of

their

co

untries

where

earthquakes are known to occur. These networks are on the alert for warning signs that show the weakening

12

of rock layers that can precede an earthquake. Many kinds of seism

ic instrum

ents are used by the networks to

monitor

the

m

ovem

ents

of

the

earth's

crust.

The scientists

also

check water in

deep wells.

They watch

for

changes in the water level and temperature that are associated with m

ovem

ent along faults.

Scientists in China, Russia, and the United States m

easure radon in ground water. Radon is a gas that

com

es

from

the

radioactive

decay

of

radium

in

rocks.

The

gas

flows

through

the

ground

and

dissolves in

underground stream

s and wells. Scientists speculate that the amount of radon increases in the ground when

rocks layers shift, exposing new rock, and thus m

ore radon. Chinese and Russian scientists have reported that

in places where stress is building up, the radon levels of the water build up too. When the radon levels of the

water subside and drop back to normal readings, an earthquake m

ay occur. United States scientists have also

placed radon monitoring stations in earthquake zones, particularly California. However, all the scientist

s agree

that

more data is necessary to prove

that radon levels in water are associated with the possible bir

th of an

earthquake.

Earthquake prediction is still a young science. Everyone agrees that earthquakes cannot be predicted

with

any

reliability.

Scientists

have

only

a

partial

understanding

of

the

physical

processes

that

cause

earthquakes. Much m

ore research has to be done. New and m

ore up-to-date

m

ethods have to be found for

collecting

earthquake

data

and

analyzing

it.

However,

scientists

have

had

som

e

success

in

predicting

earthquakes. Several sm

all earthquakes were predicted in New York State, in the eastern part of the

United

States.

Chinese

scientists

predicted

a

m

ajor

one

in

Haicheng

in

1975,

and

Russian scientists

predicted

a

major one in Garm

in 1978. While this is a sm

all start, it is still a beginning.

07-A. Leisure and Leadership

Observations and research findings indicate that people in advanced industrial societies are increasingly

concerned with

opportunities

for

leisure

and what

they

can

do

in

their

leisure

tim

e.

The

importance

people

attach to paid holidays and the rapid developm

ent of services

for m

ass entertainm

ent and recreation are signs

of this increasing concern.

The term

to define. It covers a very wide scope such as living environm

ent,

health, em

ployment, food, family life, friends, education, m

aterial poss

essions, leisure and recreation, and so

on. Generally speaking, the quality of life, especially as seen by the individual, is m

eaningful in term

s of

the

degree to which these various areas of life are available or provide satisfaction to the individual.

As

activity

carried

out

as

one

thinks

fit

during

one's spare

tim

e,

leisure

has

the

following

functions:

relaxation, recreation and entertainm

ent, and personal developm

ent. The im

portance of thesevaries according

to the nature of one's job and one's life-style. Thus, people who need to exert

m

uch energy in their work will

find relaxation

most desirable in leisure. Those with a better education and in professional occupations m

ay

tend more to seek recreation and personal developm

ent (e.g., cultivation of skills

and hobbies) in leisure.

The specific use

of

leisure

varies

from

individual

to

individual. Even

the sam

e

leisure

activity

m

ay

be

used differently by different individuals. Thus, the following are possible uses of television watching, a popular

leisure activity: a change of experience to provide

the stress and strain of work; to learn more

about

what

is

happening

in

one's

environm

ent;

to

provide

an

opportunity

for

understanding

oneself

by

com

paring other people

抯

life experiences as portrayed in the programmes.

In

an

urban

society

in

which

highly

structured,

fast-paced

and

stressful

work

loom

s

large

in

life,

experiences of a different nature, be it television watching or bird-watching, can lead to a self-renewal and a

more

13

Since leisure is basically self-determ

ined, one is able to take to one's interest

s and preferences and

get involved in an activity in ways that will bring enjoym

ent and satisfaction.

Our

likes

and

dislikes,

tastes

and

preferences

that

underlie

our

choices

of

such

activities

as

reading

books,

going

to

the

cinem

a,

camping,

or

certain

cultural

pursuits,

are

all

related

to

social

contexts

and

learning experiences. We acquire interests in a variety of things and subject

s from our fam

ilies, schools, jobs,

and the mass m

edia. Basically, such attitudes am

ount to a recognition that leisure is an im

portant area of life

and a belief that leisure can and should be put to good use.

Professional workers in recreation services

, too, will find that

to impart positive leisure attitudes to

the

general public is essential for

motivating them

to use their leisure in creative and satisfying ways. Hence, it

can be argued that the people with whom

we com

e into contact in these various contexts are all likely to have

exerted som

e influence in shaping our attitudes, interests and even skills relevant to how we handle leisure.

Influence of this kind is a form

of leadership.

Parents, teachers in schools, work associates and communicators in or using the m

ass

m

edia are all

capable of arousing our potential interests. For example, the degree to which and the ways in which a school

encourages participation in gam

es, sports and cultural pursuits are likely to contribute to the shaping of leisure

attitudes on the part of the students.

Schools

usually

set

as

their

educational

objective

the

attainm

ent

of

a

balanced

developm

ent

of

the

person.

The

m

ore

seriously

this

is

sought,

the

more

likely

positive

attitudes

towards

leisure

as

well

as

academ

ic work will be encouraged.

07-B. The Tim

e Message

You m

ay have been exposed to this idea before, but this tim

e

try to hear. There is a m

essage that is

trying to reach you, and it is im

portant that it get through loud and clear. The m

essage?

Tim

e m

anagement!

Tim

e is elusive and tricky. It is the easiest thing in the world to waste

--

the

most difficult to control.

When you look ahead, it m

ay appear you have m

ore than you need. Yet it has a way of slipping through your

fingers like quicksand. You

m

ay suddenly find

that

there is no way to stretch

the little time you have left

to

cover all your obligations. For example, as a beginning student looking ahead to a full term you may feel that

you have an oversupply of tim

e on your hands. But toward the end of the term you may panic because tim

e is

running out. The answer?

Control!

Tim

e is dangerous. If you don'

t control it, it will control you. If you don'

t

make it work for you, it will

work against you. You m

ust becom

e the m

aster of tim

e, not the servant.

Study hard and play hard is an old proverb, but it still makes sense. You have plenty of tim

e for classes,

study, work, and play if you use your tim

e properly. It is not how m

uch tim

e you allocate for study that counts

but how m

uch you learn when you do study.

Too

m

uch wasted tim

e is bad m

edicine. The m

ore tim

e you waste, the easier it is to continue wasting

tim

e. Soon, doing nothing becom

es a habit you can't break. It becomes a drug. When this happens, you lose

your feeling of accomplishm

ent and you fall by the wayside. A full schedule is a good schedule.

Som

e

students

refuse

to

hear

the

tim

e

message.

They

refuse

to

accept

the

fact

that

college

life

dem

ands som

e degree of

tim

e control. There is no escape. So what's the next step? If you seriously wish to

14

get

the time

message, this passage will give it to you. Rem

ember

?it will not only im

prove your grades but

also free you to enjoy college life m

ore.

Message 1. Tim

e is valuable -- control it from the beginning.

Tim

e is today, not

tomorrow or next week. Start your plan at

the beginning of the term

and readjust it

with each new project. Thus you can spread your work tim

e around a little.

Message 2. Get the notebook habit.

Go and buy a pocket-size notebook. There are

m

any varieties of these special notebooks. Select the

one you like best. Use it to schedule your study tim

e each day. You can also use it to note important dates,

appointments, addresses, and telephone num

bers. Keep it with you at all tim

es.

Message 3. Prepare a weekly study schedule.

The

m

ain

purpose

of

the

notebook

is

to

help

you

prepare

a weekly study schedule.

Once

prepared,

follow

the

sam

e

pattern

every week with

m

inor

adjustm

ents.

Sunday

is

an

excellent

day

to

make

up

your

schedule for the following week. Write in your class schedule first. Add your work hours, if any. Then write in

the hours each day you feel you m

ust allocate for study. Keep it sim

ple.

Message 4. Be realistic.

When

you

plan

tim

e

for

these

things,

be

realistic.

Don't

underestim

ate.

Overestim

ate,

if

possible, so

that em

ergencies thatarise don't hang you up. Otherwise your entire routine m

ay get

thrown off balance while

you devote night and day to crash efforts. Message

5.

Make study tim

e fit the course.

How m

uch study tim

e you schedule for each classroom

hour depends on tour factors:(l) your ability, (2)

the difficulty of the class, (3) the grades you hope to achieve, and (4) how well you use your study tim

e. One

thing, however, is certain: you should schedule a m

inim

um of one hour of study for each classroom

hour. In

many cases, m

ore will be required.

Message 6. Keep your schedule flexible.

A good schedule m

ust have a little give so that special projects can be taken care of properly. Think

out and prepare your schedule each week and do not becom

e a slave to an inflexible pattern. Adjust it as y

ou

deem

necessary.

Message 7. Study first ?fun later.

You

will

enjoy

your

fun

tim

e

m

ore

after

you

have

com

pleted

your

study

responsibilities.

So,

where

possible, schedule your study hours in advance of fun activities. This is a sound principle to follow, s

o keep it

in m

ind as you prepare your first schedule.

Message S. Study som

e each class day.

Som

e concentrated study each day is better than

m

any study hours one day and nothing the next. As

you work out your individual schedule, attempt to include a

m

inim

u

m of

two study hours each day. This will

not only keep the study habit alive but also keep you up to date on your class assignm

ents and projects.

Few

beginning

freshm

en

can

control

their

time

effectively

without

a

written

schedule,

so

why

kid

yourself into

thinking you don't need one? You do. Later on, when you have had

more experience and you

have the tim

e

-control habit, you

may be able to operate without it. Of course the schedule is only the

first

step. Once you have it prepared, you m

ust stick with it and follow it faithfully. You m

ust push away the m

any

temptations that are always present or your schedule is useless. Your schedule will give you control only if you

make it work.

15

08-A. Jet Lag: Prevention and Cure

The problem

of Jet Lag is one every international traveller com

es across at som

e time. But do you have

to suffer? Understand what it is, and how a careful diet can m

inimize its worst effects, and your flights will be

less stressful.

The effects of rapid travel on the body are actually far more disturbing than we realize. Jet Lag is not a

psychological consequence of having to readjust to a different

tim

e zone. It is due to changes in the body's

physiological regulatory m

echanism

s, specifically the horm

onal system

s, in a different environm

ent.

Confused?

So

was

John

Foster

Dulles,

the

Am

erican

Secretary

of

State,

when

he

flew

to

Egypt

to

conduct negotiations on the Aswan Dam

. He later blamed his poor judgem

ent on Jet Lag.

The effects can be used to advantage,

too. President Johnson once conducted an

im

portant

m

eeting

in Guam and kept the entire proceedings at Washington DC time. The White House working personnel were as

fresh

as

paint,

while

the

locals,

in

this

case, were

jet-lagged.

Essentially,

they

had

been

instantaneously

transported to Am

erica.

Now that we understand what Jet Lag is, we can go som

e way to overcom

ing it. A great number of the

body's events are scheduled to occur at a certain time of day. Naturally these have to be regulated, and there

are two regulatory system

s which interact.

One

tim

ing

system

com

es

from

the

evidence

of

our

senses

and

stom

achs,

and

the

periodicity

we

experience when living in a particular tim

e zone. The other belongs in our internal clocks (the m

ajor one of

which m

ay be physically located in a part of the brain called the suprachiasm

atic nucleus) which, left alone,

would tie the body to a

25 hour

-- yes,

25

-- rhythm. Normally the two tim

ers are in step, and the external

cues tend to regularise the internal clocks to the m

ore convenient 24 hour period.

If, however, you m

ove the whole body to a tim

e zone which is four hours different, the two clocks will

be out of step, like two alarm

clocks which are norm

ally set together, but which have been reset a few hours

apart.

Whereas the two clocks would norm

ally sound their alarm

s

together, now they ring at different

times.

Sim

ilarly, the body can he set for evening while the sun is rising.

In tim

e

the physiological system

will reset itself, but it

does take tim

e. One easily m

onitored rhythm

is

palm

sweating.

A

m

an

flown

to

a

tim

e

zone

different

by

10

hours will

take

eight

days

to

readjust

his

palm

sweat. Blood pressure, which is also rhythm

ical, takes four days to readjust.

One reason for this discrepancy is that

different bodily events are controlled by different

factors. T

he

horm

one cortisol, which controls salt and water excretion, is m

ade in the

m

orning, wherever the body is. But

the

growth

horm

one

is

released

during

sleep,

whenever

in

the

day

that

sleep

occurs.

Norm

ally

these

two

horm

ones are separated by seven or eight

hours, but if the body arrives at a destination in the early m

orning

(local) and goes to sleep as soon as possible, the two horm

ones will be released sim

ultaneously.

What can we do about it? It is not feasible to wait four days until the body is used to th

e new tim

e zone.

Fortunately there is a short cut. It relies on two things

--

the power of the stom

ach to regulate the

tim

ing of

other events, and the pharm

acological actions of coffee.

The basic assumptions are:

Coffee

delays

the

body

clock

in

the

m

orning,

and

advances it

at

night.

Coffee

at

mid-afternoon

is

neutral.

Protein in m

eals stim

ulates wakefulness, while carbohydrates prom

ote sleep.

Putting food into an empty stom

ach helps synchronize the body clock.

16

08-B. Coetrolling Your Concentration

CONCENTRATION IS CENTERINC YOUR ATTENTION

Psychologically defined, concentration is the process of centering one's attention over a period of time.

In practical application, however, concentration is not as sim

ple to deal successfully with as the definition m

ay

im

ply. For this reason, it is helpful to keep the following points in m

ind.

Your attention span varies

Even with

the

greatest

effort,

oar

span

of

attention

fluctuates.

You can

dem

onstrate

for

yourself

this

fluctuation of attention.

In a quiet room, place a watch so that it can just scarcely be heard. Listen carefully

and notice how the ticking increases in apparent intensity, fades to a point where it cannot be heard, and then

increases again. This phenom

enon reveals how our span of attention fluctuates, for the intensity of the ticking

i s actually constant.

You pay attention to one thing at m

tim

e

Evidence to date indicates that you attend to one idea at a tim

e. It is possible for your attention to shift

so rapidly that it seem

s that you attend to several concepts at once. But apparently this is only an illusion. In

high concentration the shift from the focus of attention is of short duration and relatively infrequent.

An illustration of periods of high, moderate, and low attention

High attention has long periods of attending and short distraction periods. In low attention the periods

of

attending

are

short

and

the

distraction

periods

long.

In

moderate

attention

there

is

a

m

ixture

of

the

extrem

es.

Thus

it

is

easy

to

see

that

it

is

highly

unlikely

that

the

student

who

has

m

ost

of

his

attention

centered on fancying at large will be able to recall even the m

ajor points of a lecture.

Lack

of

concentration

is

a

sym

ptom,

not

the

cause,

of

difficulty.

When

a

student

says

can't

concentrate

to the

task at hand because

m

y distractors are too

strong.

DISTRACTORS ARE OF TWO SORTS --PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PHYSICAL

A distractor is anything which causes attention to vary from a central focal point. In the study situation

distractors m

ay be thought of as either psychological or physical in nature. Both types of distractors m

ust be

understood before the student can attempt to rem

edy his lack of concentration.

Em

otions are the m

ost powerful distractors

The angry m

an forgets the pain of injury the fearful man finds it difficult to enjoy pleasure and the tense

or

anxious

person

m

ay

react

violently

to

the

sm

allest

of

matters.

In

the

student's

life

there

are

m

any

psychological pressures and tensions which block effective productivity. The

fears about

making

the grade,

the doubts of the friendliness of a friend’

s behaviour and the pressures of lim

ited finances

-- these are only

a few of the em

otional forces which affect the student.

Em

otional reaction varies greatly from person to person. So

m

e persons gain goal and direction from

their tensions and actually do better because of them. Others fall apart under pressure, while a fewpeople do

well despite the pressure.

Physical distractors are always present and rarely understood

Our environm

ent is

m

uch

m

ore important

to how we feel and react than we often think. Particularly is

this

true

of

the

effect

of

physical

distractors

on

m

ental

tasks.

One

research

report

has

shown

that

com

prehension and retention of reading were decreased when students lis

tened to lively m

usic. However, rate

17

of reading was not affected, so that many students were not aware that they were affected by the background

distractor. Another study found that the ability to recall accurately was affected by distracting conditions. M

ost

of

the evidence indicates that noise affects adversely higher m

ental

task output. Still, the effect of distractors

is seldom

fully appreciated by students.

ROUTINE AND REASONING TASKS ARE AFFECTED DIFFERENTLY BY DISTRACTORS

Many routine tasks can be perform

ed with distraction in the background with little or no adverse effect

on output. Most students have found this fact to be true from

their own experience. They m

ay have had high

school

hom

ework which was

drill

or

m

erely

copying

assignm

ents.

It

was

pos

sible

to

do such work with

the

latest recordings or the television set playing in the background. In tim

e such students began to feel certain

that

they could do all work -- routine or problem-solving -- in

the sate

m

anner. The evidence indicates the

contrary conclusion.

EXCEPTIONS MAY MISLEAD YOU

Typically when

students

are

faced

with

the

evidence

on

distractors

the

argum

ent

is

given

that

their

cousin,

friend,

or

classm

ate

can

study

in

Central

Station.”

And

he

makes

A's

too!

There

is

evidence, of course, that

m

otivation plays an im

portant role in overcom

ing the effects of distractors and that

there are considerable differences in individual spans of attention. Either of

these factors could account

for

som

e individuals being able to do well using inefficient

m

ethods. The

fact

that som

e exceptional people do

well under adverse conditions scarcely justifies your assum

ing that you are exceptional in the sam

e

manner.

Your chances of success are higher if you avoid the distractors which are known to hi

nder the typical student.

09-A. Aging in European Countries

We have to realise how old, how very old, we are. Nations are classified as

per cent or more of

their people aged 65 or above, and by about

1970 every one of the advanced c

ountries

had becom

e like this. Of the really ancient societies, with over 13 per cent above 65, all are in Northwestern

Europe. At the beginning of the l980's East Germ

any had 15.6 per cent, Austria, Sweden, West Germ

any and

France

had

13.4

per

cent

or

above,

and

England

and

Wales

13.3

per

cent.

Scotland

had

12.3

per

cent.

Northern Ireland 10.8 per cent and

the United States 9.9 per cent. We know that we are getting even older.

and that

the nearer a society approxim

ates to zero population growth, the. older its population is likely to be

-- at least, for any future that concerns us now.

To

these

now

fam

iliar

facts

a

number

of

further

facts

may

be

added,

som

e

of

them

only

recently

recognised. There is the apparent paradox that

the effective cause of the high

proportion of the old is births

rather than deaths. There is the econom

ic principle that the dependency ratio ?the degree to which those who

cannot earn depend for a living on those who can ?is m

ore advantageous in older societies like ours than in

the younger societies of

the developing world, because lots of dependent babies are m

ore of a liability

than

numbers

of

the

inactive

aged.

There

is

the

appreciation

of

the

salient

historical

truth

that

the

aging

of

advanced societies has been a sudden change.

If

is a rapid resettlem

ent of the social structure, and if the age composition of the society

counts as a very important aspect of that social structure, then there has been a social revolution

in European and particularly Western European society within the lifetime of everyone over 50. Taken

together,

these

things

have

im

plications

which

are

only

beginning

to

be

acknowledged.

These

facts

and

circum

stances were well to the fore earlier this year at a world gathering about aging as a challenge to

science

and to policy, held at Vichy in France.

18

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