A Document from MySkylines, Express Yourself - Issue 09

Jobs   
    Most people in modern society spend more than eight hours a day working. Some are successful in their jobs, but many more are under stress. Workers are classified into two group; self-employed and employees. An interesting fact is that the self-employed envy the employees, and vice versa. The reason? People tend to exaggerate the others' benefits they don't have.
    Businessmen seem to have greater satisfaction from their jobs than ordinary workers do. They have the power to decide things by themselves. That's why ordinary workers are envious of them. But businessmen must take responsibility for their decisions, and if something goes wrong they could go bankrupt.
    Every employee has a certain job responsibility, but if he does what he is expected to he is usually exempt from bad consequences. He has a stable position. On the other hand, a competent worker may enjoy many promotions and raises, but still be at the mercy of the manipulations of corporate executives.
    Who is happier is not the quetion. The important thing is that people must decide which category they should belong in by evaluating themselves honestly.
exempt from : free from a duty or an obligation
at the mercy of : without any protection against
manipulate : influence or message (sb) or (sth) in a clever or dishonest way

Comprehension
1. What advantage do businessmen have?
2. What disadvantage do workers have?
3. Which is better, being the employer or the employee?

Express Yourself
1. Would you want to be a businessman or an employee?
2. Are you satisfied with your job?
3. Would you want your children to do your job?
4. What are your priorities in getting a job?
5. Would you take a night job if it were better paid?
6. When do you feel like giving up your job?
7. Why don't you start your your own business?
8. Do you have any ideal of starting a new business?
9. What are the obstacles to starting your own business?

More Talking Points
Talk about the good and bad aspects about having the following jobs.
a). physicians  b).teachers  c).politicians  d). the nation's president  e).farmer  f). professional athletes
g). judges  h).soldiers  i). panhandlers

Opinion Samples
1. People have different priorities in getting job. Some put their emphasis on making more money, others want job security, promotion opportunities, work they are comfortable with. As for me, I want my own business. After I quit my first job I never thought about working for anyone again. When I work for someone else and can't sell my ideal to the boss, that disappoints me. And often employees become scapegoats for marketing failures. I love to work alone with my ideals and plans, knowing whether my business succeeds or not is up to me.
2. I really want to have my own business, as most employees do. But a boss must have special characteristics. First of all, he must have creative ideals and know when, where and how to apply them. Of course, he must have the never to go ahead with his plan against difficult markets. He must cultivate customers, because success largely depends upon human relationships. If he has solid relationships with his business partners, he may be able to make up for temporary financial strait.

A Document from MySkylines, Express Yourself - Issue 08

Hobbies
    One of the main reasons people have hobbies is to kill time. many of the great developments in science and technology have given us all a lot of time beyond that which we fill with necessary activity. But few of us use that extra time creatively, so we get bored. So we need a hobby to make the time pass enjoyably. we collect stamps or learn how to cook or just listen to our CDs.
    One of the problems, though, is with having expensive hobbies. Usually they are intended to show off our wealth or our being up-to-date with some supposed trend, rather than supporting any genuine interest. Too often, we can't really afford it; but even if we can, we just feed our general discontent because we are spending a lot of money but not relieving our boredom.

up-to-date : based on the latest information, changes, improvements, or styles
feed : nourish

Comprehension
1. What are two reasons given for having a hobby?
2. Why are hobbies necessary in the modern world?
3. What is wrong with having expensive hobbies?

Express Yourself
1. What are your hobbies?
2. How much money do your bobbies cost you?
3. With whom do you enjoy your hobbies?
4. How often do you engage in your hobbies?
5. Do you make friends with people who have the same hobbies?
6. What are the best things about your hobbies?
7. Are there any hobbies you would like to try soon?
8. Are there any hobbies you have given up? Why?
9. did you ever recommend that family members share your hobbies with you?

Opinion Samples
  1. having a hobby is supposed to be an enjoyable way to relax. On weekend or at ight, too many people have no interest in going anyehre or doing anything, so they just stay at home watching TV or nagging their families. but if they could develop an interest in something else, they would be too absorbed in it to bother the other people at home. Domestic tranquility would be achieved! Even better would be something the entire family could enjoy together. A fun, stimulating, inexpensive hobby would help keep the family close and comfortable with each other.
  2. I'm happy whenever I meet someone who shares my interests. We usually become friends right away because we often have similar characteristics. We can immediately understand each other, and we have something vital to talk about. In fack, talking itself is one of the greatest hobbies we can enjoy, don;y you think so? And it's certainly one of the least expensive - is that waht people mean when they say "talk is cheap"?

nag : bother or annoy
absorbed in : completely interested in
tranquility : calmness

Useful Expressions
1. Finishing stimulates the brain - also the imagination.
2. Many a problem will solve itself, if we forget about it and go fishing.
3. A lot of singers on TV are worth watching. Too bad they're not worth listening to.
4. Finding a simple life is today's most complicated job.
5. The greatest pleasure in life is doing what other people say can't be done.
6. Nothing grows faster than a fish from the time he bits until he gets away.
7. Why not learn to enjoy the little things - there are so many of them?
8. What we enjoy, not what we have, constitutes our abundance.

constitute : be the elements or parts of

Ex-Leader: Khmer Rouge Not 'Bad People

    The Former number two leader of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge regime is denying responsibility for the deaths of an estimated 1.7 milion people during the 1970, insisting that he and his comrades were not "bad people." Noun Chea's testimony cam Monday in a packed courtroom in Phnom Penh, as a United Nations-backed war crimes tribunal began hearing evidence in the long-waited trial.
    The 85-year-old Nuon Chea, who was chief ideologue for communist movement, and his co-defendants((former foreign minister Ieng Sary and ex-head of state Khieu Samphan)) all deny charges of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity during the regim's 1975-1979 reign. Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot died in 1988. Nuone Chea insisted that no Cambodian was responsible for atrocities. He sought to shift the blam to Vietnam, which invaded Cambodia in 1978 and toppled the Khmer Rouge regime a year later. Khieu Samphan also is expected to testify within the next weeks. In opening remarks last month, he indentified himself as a Cambodia patriot who was unware of the mass killings at the time.