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

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Planning

"Keep your ear to the ground"
If you keep your ear to the ground, you keep informed about something, especially if there are rumours or uncertainty.

Example: I will keep my ear to the ground and tell you if I hear of any vacancies in our apartment building. I always keep my ear to the ground when I hear the news about earthquake.

"Keep your eyes peeled"
If you keep your eyes peeled you are watching carefully for someone or something. Origin: This is another way of saying keep your eyes open as in keep your eyes lids open or peeled. When you peal something you take its cover off like the eyes and their eyelids.

Example: keep your eyes peeled for the bus. We wouldn't want to miss it while we are busying our coffee. My friend keep his eyes peeled while he is waiting for me.

Planning: [n] the act or process of drawing up plans or layouts for some project or enterprise.

Questions:

1. Discussion the following:
Good fortune is what happens when opportunity meets with planning. ~Thomas Edison

In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable. ~Dwight D. Eisenhower

2. Do you often make plans for the things you need to do? Why or why not?

3. Why do you think planning is important?

4. When we make plans for ourselves, we focus on what we need to get done and how we can best achieve our goals and meet those needs. When we makes plans for others - like planning a party for our friends, or plans for our children - what do we need to consider?

5. Group Activity: In your groups, please plan a party for your friends. Please describe the steps required to finalize your plan.

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Theatre

Idioms:

"out of sorts"
To be out of sorts means you are feeling a bit upset and depressed. Example; "I am sorry I was rude to you. I am feeling a little out of sorts today."

My brother was out of sorts yesterday. He yelled at me when I asked him for help. Whenever I can't understand English I feel out of sorts.

"gravy train"
To be gravy train means you have found an easy way to make lots of money. Example: "With this job I have to do so little to get paid so much. It is a real gravy train."

Jack works only five hours a day to get much paid. He rides on gravy train. Some people are lucky, they are not working hard but they get a lot of money. They are always on gravy train.

Theatre: [n] the art of writing and producing plays. [n] a building where theatrical performances or motion-picture shows can be presented.
Play: [n] a dramatic work intended for performance by actors on a stage. [n] a theatrical performance of a drama.

Questions:

1. Discuss the following:

-I regard the theatre as the greatest of all art forms, the most immediate way in which a human being can share with another the sense of what it is to be a human being. ~Oscar Wild

-You need three things in the theatre -- the play, the actors and the audience, and each must give something. ~ Kenneht Haigh

2. What form of live theatre exist in your own culture?

3. Have you ever performed in a play? If so, can you describe your experience?

4. Can you describe some of the plays you have seen? What did you enjoy most about them?

5. With the increasing popularity of movies do you feel live theatre is still a relevant art form? Why or why not?

6. What types of plays do you enjoy to watch? Would you be interested in doing to a play as a group?

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Culture

Idiom:

"knee-jerk reaction"
To have a knee-jerk reaction means to have an instant or instinctive response to a situation. Example: "Sorry, I didn't mean to yell. It was a knee-jerk reaction. You scared me."

"cutting edge"
When something is cutting edge it is at the forefront of progress in its area. Example: "His cell phone is cutting edge. It has all the latest technology."
..........

Culture: [n] the taste in art and manners that are favored by a social group.
[n] all the knowledge and values shared by a society.

Questions:

1- Discuss the following:

The individual is able to think, feel, strive, and work by himself; but he depends on much upon society --in his physical, intellectual, and emotional existence--that it is impossible to think of him, or to understand him, outside the framework of society. It is 'society' which provides man with food, clothing, a home, the tools of work, language, the forms of thought, and most of the content of thought; his life is made possible through the labor and the accomplishments of the many millions past and present who are all hidden behind the small word 'society'. ~Albert Einstein

2- Can you think of some of the characteristics of the own culture?

3- What are some of the benefits a strong culture provides? What are some drawbacks?

4- Is it possible for these cultures to adapt to the needs of our present day society?

5- How will you teach your children about your culture? Why will you teach them this way? ..........

Vocabularies

1- strive [v] to exert much effort or energy
2- society [n] an extended social group having a distinctive cultural and economic organization
3- framework [n] a structure supporting or containing something
4- drawback [n] negative result
5- adapt [v] adjust

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Food & Nutrition

Idioms:
"Take something with a grain of salt"
If you take something with a grain or a pinch of salt, you consider that thing not to be completely true or accurate. Origin: This idiom is based on the idea that food tastes better and is easier to swallow if you add a little salt. So, if you add a little salt to an idea it will be easier to accept. Example: "You should take everything that he says with a grain of salt, because everyone knows that he likes to exaggerate(1) things when he is speaking."

"eat your cake and have it too"
To have your cake and eat it or to eat your cake and have it too is to want more than you can handle or deserve, or to try to have two incompatible(2) things. This old English Proverb(3) means that if you eat your cake you won't have it any more, so you need make a choice. Example: "Rick wants to have his cake and eat it too. He wants to be single but he does not want me to date anyone else."

Food: [n] any solid that is used as a source of materials in living things.
Nutrition: [n] the scientific study of food and drink

Question:
1- Discuss the following:

-It's amazing how pervasive(4) food is. Every second commercial is for food. Every second television episode takes place around a meal. In the city, you cannot go ten feet without seeing or smelling a restaurant. There are twenty food high hamburgers up on bill boards. I am acutely aware of food, and its omnipresence(5) is astounding(6). ~Adam Scott

-He that takes medicine and neglects diet, wastes the skill of the physician. ~Chinese Proverb

2- What is your favourite food? Can you make it yourself?
3- Is there a kind of food you would like to learn to cook?
4- How important is it for you to eat healthy foods?
5- What eating habits will you teach your children?
Why will you teach them these habits?
6- What role do you feel food plays in your family and culture?
7- Would you like to try new food from different culture? would you like to go to a restaurant together as a group or have pot-luck dinner where everyone can bring their favourite food?
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Vocabularies

1- exaggerate [v] To enlarge or overstate the truth about something.
2- incompatible [adj] not able to exist adn act together in harmony
3- Proverb [n] a saying about some important fact of experience that is accepted as true
4- pervasive [adj] most frequent or common
5- omnipresence [n] the condition of being everywhere at once (or appearing to be everywhere at once)
6- astounding [adj] so surprisingly impressive that is stuns.

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Please share your idea on the idioms, quotes, proverb and answers any questions you want to share from your experience and your thought! Your ideas will be much helpful for world wide!

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