MATCHING FEATURE
EXAMPLE
Chores for children
Assigning new jobs for children as they mature will develop their work ethic, says Gregg Murset,
CEO of BusyKid, a chore and allowance tracking app. “The most important thing is to challenge
them,” he says. “Once they have some proficiency you need to make them stretch to do the
next job.” Mr. Murset, a father of six children ages 10 to 20, believes parents should teach
children to do housework when they’re young, no matter if it yields imperfect results. “Even
though it’s easier to just clean the toilet by yourself and be done with it, you have to take the
long view and realise that these fundamental life skills are so important,” he says.
Attaching an allowance to chores teaches children not to expect handouts, says Michael
Eisenberg, a financial advisor and member of the National Financial Literacy Commission. “At
earlier ages, it instills within children the reality that you do something and you get paid for it,” he
says. “Later on in life, they learn that the only way we get money is if we produce stuff at our
jobs.” Some 68% of U.S. parents say they pay an allowance to their children, at an average rate
of $67.80 per month, according to a 2016 survey of 1,005 adults. More than 80% of
respondents who pay an allowance say they want to teach their child the value of money and
financial responsibility, the survey found.
Who expressed the four opinions below? Answer by choosing A, B or C.
1) Children should learn that you don’t get something for nothing.
2) Parents should give their children tasks of increasing difficulty.
3) Children should learn to manage their money carefully.
4) Parents should think about the future benefits of giving chores to their children.
A Gregg Murset
B Michael Eisenberg
C most American parents
PASSAGE 1
What is the potential for robots and computers in the near future? 'The fact is we still
have a way to go before real robots catch up with their science fiction counterparts.’ Gates says.
So what are the stumbling blocks? One key difficulty is getting robots to know their place. This
has nothing to do with class or etiquette, but concerns the simple issue of positioning. Humans
orient themselves with other objects in a room very easily. Robots find the task almost
impossible. 'Even something as simple as telling the difference between an open door and a
The M Paradox – By Michelle
window can be tricky tor a robot,’ says Gates. This has, until recently, reduced robots to fairly
static and cumbersome roles.
For a long time, researchers tried to get round the problem by attempting to re- create
the visual processing that goes on in the human cortex. However, that challenge has proved to
be singularly exacting and complex. So scientists have turned to simpler alternatives: 'We have
become far more pragmatic in our work,’ says Nello Cristianini, Professor of Artificial Intelligence
at the University of Bristol in England and associate editor of the journal of Artificial Intelligence
Research,' We are no longer trying to re- create human functions. Instead, we are looking for
simpler solutions with basic electronic sensors, for example.' This approach is exemplified by
vacuuming robots such as the Electrolux Trilobite. The Trilobite scuttles around homes emitting
ultrasound signals to create maps of rooms, which are remembered for future cleaning.
Technology like this is now changing the face of robotics, says philosopher Ron Chrisley,
director of the Centre for Research in Cognitive Science at the University of Sussex in England.
Last year, a new Hong Kong restaurant, Robt Kitchen, opened with a couple of sensor-
laden humanoid machines directing customers to their seats. Each possesses a touch-screen
on which orders can be keyed in. The robot then returns with the correct dishes. In Japan,
University of Tokyo researchers recently unveiled a kitchen 'android’ that could wash dishes,
pour tea and make a few limited meals. The ultimate aim is to provide robot home helpers for
the sick and the elderly, a key concern in a country like Japan where 22 per cent of the
population is 65 or older. Over US$1 billion a year is spent on research into robots that will be
able to care for the elderly. 'Robots first learn basic competence - how to move around a house
without bumping into things. Then we can think about teaching them how to interact with
humans,’ Chrisley said. Machines such as these take researchers into the field of socialised
robotics: how to make robots act in a way that does not scare or offend individuals, 'We need to
study how robots should approach people, how they should appear. That is going to be a key
area for future research,’ adds Chrisley.
Match each statement with the correct person, A, B or C.
A. Bill Gates
B. Nello Cristianini
C. Ron Chrisley
1. An important concern for scientists is to ensure that robots do not seem frightening.
2. We have stopped trying to enable robots to perceive objects as humans do.
3. It will take considerable time for modern robots to match the ones we have created in
films and books.
4. We need to enable robots to move freely before we think about trying to communicate
with them.
PASSAGE 2
The M Paradox – By Michelle
The literature on goal-setting theory suggests that managers should ensure that all employees
have specific goals and receive comments on how well they are doing in those goals. For those
with high achievement needs, typically a minority in any organisation, the existence of external
goals is less important because high achievers are already internally motivated. The next factor
to be determined is whether the goals should be assigned by a manager or collectively set in
conjunction with the employees. The answer to that depends on perceptions the culture,
however, goals should be assigned. If participation and the culture are incongruous, employees
are likely to perceive the participation process as manipulative and be negatively affected by it.
The way rewards ore distributed should be transparent so that employees perceive that rewards
or outcomes are equitable and equal to the inputs given. On a simplistic level, experience,
abilities, effort and other obvious inputs should explain differences in pay, responsibility and
other obvious outcomes. The problem, however, is complicated by the existence of dozens of
inputs and outcomes and by the fact that employee groups place different degrees of
importance on them. For instance, a study comparing clerical and production workers identified
nearly twenty inputs and outcomes. The clerical workers considered factors such as quality of
work performed and job knowledge near the top of their list, but these were at the bottom of the
production workers' list.
Similarly, production workers thought that the most important inputs were intelligence and
personal involvement with task accomplishment, two factors that were quite low in the
importance ratings of the clerks. There were also important, though less dramatic, differences
on the outcome side. For example, production workers rated advancement very highly, whereas
clerical workers rated advancement in the lower third of their list. Such findings suggest that one
person's equity is another's inequity, so an ideal should probably weigh different inputs and
outcomes according to employee group.
1. high achievers
2. clerical workers
3. production workers
List of Descriptions
A. They judge promotion to be important.
B. They have less need of external goals.
C. They think that the quality of their work is important.
D. They resist goals which are imposed.
E. They have limited job options.
PASSAGE 3
The increasing self-reliance of many elderly people is probably linked to a massive increase in
the use of simple home medical aids. For instance, the use of raised toilet seats has more than
doubled since the start of the study, and the use of bath seats has grown by more than 50%.
These developments also bring some health benefits, according to a report from the MacArthur
The M Paradox – By Michelle
Foundation's research group on successful ageing. The group found that those elderly people
who were able to retain a sense of independence were more likely to stay healthy in old age.
Maintaining a level of daily physical activity may help mental functioning, says Carl Cotman, a
neuroscientist at the University of California at Irvine. He found that rats that exercise on a
treadmill have raised levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor coursing through their brains.
Cotman believes this hormone, which keeps neurons functioning, may prevent the brains of
active humans from deteriorating.
As part of the same study, Teresa Seeman, a social epidemiologist at the University of Southern
California in Los Angeles, found a connection between self-esteem and stress in people over
70. In laboratory simulations of challenging activities such as driving, those who felt in control of
their lives pumped out lower levels of stress hormones such as cortisol. Chronically high levels
of these hormones have been linked to heart disease.
But independence can have drawbacks. Seeman found that elderly people who felt emotionally
isolated maintained higher levels of stress hormones even when asleep. The research suggests
that older people fare best when they feel independent but know they can get help when they
need it.
1. Home medical aids
2. Regular amounts of exercise
3. Feelings of control over life
4. Feelings of loneliness
A. may cause heart disease.
B. can be helped by hormone treatment.
C. may cause rises in levels of stress hormones.
D. have cost the United States government more than $200 billion.
E. may help prevent mental decline.
F. may get stronger at night.
G. allow old people to be more independent.
H. can reduce stress in difficult situations.
The M Paradox – By Michelle
