Competition and Cooperation

Idioms:

"get up on the wrong side of the bed"
Getting up on the wrong side of the bed means you wake up and start the day in a bad mood for no real reason.

Example: "He must have gotten up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. He is in a particularly nasty mood today." Today Sameth talks out loud to everyone who talks to him. He must have gotten up on the wrong side of the bed.


"pie in the sky"
When an idea or scheme is pie in the sky, it means it is utterly impractical.

Example: "His ideas are always of the pie in the sky sort." Errik told me that to learn English is not important for reading and talking. His idea is pie in the sky sort.

Competition: [n] the act of competing as for profit or a prize
Cooperation: [n] joint operation or action

Questions:

1. discuss the following:

- A horse never runs so fast as when he has other horses to catch up and outpace. ~Ovid -

Competition is a by-productive work, not its goal. A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others. ~Ayn Rand

- It seems as though all creatures can exist singly and alone. For example, a tree can exist solitary and alone on a given prairie or in a valley or on the mountainside. An animal upon a mountain or a bird soaring in the air might live a solitary life. They are not in need of cooperation or solidarity. Such animated beings enjoy the greatest comfort and happiness in their respective solitary lives. On the contrary, man cannot live singly and alone. He is in need of continuous cooperation and mutual help. For example, a man living alone in the wilderness will eventually starve. He can never, singly and alone, provide himself with all the necessities of existence. Therefore, he is in need of cooperation and reciprocity. ~Abdu'l-Baha

2. Can you think of an instance where you were involved in a healthy competition? Can you describe what made it healthy?

3. When do you feel competition ceases to be beneficial?

4. How can competition be protected from becoming unhealthy?

5. Can you think of a good example of people cooperation to achieve a common goal?

6. what are some ways in which cooperation can be improved in a group of people? It might be helpful to llok at the workplace, family or classroom as the group desiring to work together.

7. How can we contribute to developing group cooperation?
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Vocabularies

*outpace (v) surpass in speed
*by-product (n) a secondary and sometimes unexpected consequence *soaring (adj) moving to great heights with little apparent effort
*prairie (n) an extensive, level or slightly undulating, a tract of grassland; meadow
*solitary (adj) alone; without companions,; unattended
*solidarity (no) a union of interests or purposes or sympathies among members of a group
*animated (adj) having life or vigor or spirit
*starve (v) die of food deprivation
*reciprocity (n) a relation of mutual dependence or action or influence

Posted in: My School Works