Writing 3 Handout 5

Writing 3 Handout 5

Writing 3 Handout 5 revised

40. In contrast to English, in various other languages as Italian, French and German you can set the tone of a conversation simply by using either the familiar or a more deferential form of address. Sometimes this linguistic variety may lead to embarrassing or bewildering situations. Do you address your employer or the people you work with, or casual acquaintances as "Du" or "Sie", and when is the right moment to switch from the deferential to the familiar form of address? In my opinion this distinction instead of being inhibiting can be used as a deliberate means to express your relation to the addressee. In Portuguese and particularly in some of its various archaic dialects still spoken in some rural areas, there are an infinite number of politeness levels that are conditioned by the identity of the speaker and of the addressee. If you are introduced to friends of the person who introduces you and they are of your age and you kiss on the cheeks then you can use "tu" which is the familiar form of address. But if you are introduced to someone who is not a friend of the one who introduces you and he/she is approximately of your age you use "vosé", the polite singular form of address. But if the person is of a higher social status or there is a striking age difference between the speaker and the addressee, as for example your friend´s employer or his\her grandparents, then you may address that person as "vome-sé", the second-person plural polite form of address. "Vosé-me sé", a particularly deferential form of address, is exclusively used by members of a family for their grandparents or other family members of old age. This linguistic variety in Portuguese and various other languages enables the speaker to create a wide range of potentially subtle degrees of address. For foreigners this may be bewildering but for someone reared within such a culture and familiar with these clearly defined rules, no faux-pas are possible and politeness in every imaginable situation is guaranteed. Of course, social change caused a shift from nonreciprocal patterns of address to more reciprocal or symmetrical patterns. Today forms of address that denote class differentiation are obsolete and I am glad that they are. Language should not be a means of degrading a person because of their social status. In German or Italian these distinctions have vanished. To some, the distinction in German between "Du", the second-person familiar form of address, and "Sie", the polite form of address seems fastidious and they regard it as a constant source of embarrassing faux-pas. But being brought up with such a distinction, I could not imagine living without it. I agree that choosing the right moment for switching from "Sie" to "Du" may be difficult sometimes and that is accompanied by hesitations and uncertainties. But I cherish the distinction and use it deliberately to create distance or intimacy. Due to my upbringing, I am used to address older persons as "Sie", regardless of my affection for them and the length of our acquaintance. To me, it is a sign of my respect for them and I could not do otherwise. But on some occasions the choice between the two forms of address can be a deliberate one. To me addressing someone as "Du" is a sign of my sympathy for the addressee. As a speaker my choice of "Sie" as form of address can express on the one hand my deepest respect for the addressee, on the other hand my dislike and my desire for distance. So I appreciate this linguistic diversity concerning the pronominal forms of address even if the possibility to choose may be risky sometimes and a source of embarrassing situations. (628 words)

40. In contrast to English, in various other languages, such as Italian, French and German, you can set the tone of a conversation simply by using either the familiar or a more deferential form of address. Sometimes this linguistic variety may lead to embarrassing or bewildering situations. Do you address your employer or the people you work with, or casual acquaintances, as "Du" or "Sie" and when is the right moment to switch from the deferential to the familiar form of address? In my opinion, this distinction, instead of being inhibiting, can be used as a deliberate means to express your relation to the addressee. In Portuguese, and particularly in some of its various archaic dialects still spoken in some rural areas, there are an infinite number of politeness levels that are conditioned by the identity of the speaker and of the addressee. If you are introduced to friends of the person who introduces you and they are your age and you kiss on the cheeks, then you can use "tu", which is the familiar form of address. But if you are introduced to someone who is not a friend of the one who introduces you, and he/she is approximately of your age, you use "vosé", the polite singular form of address. But if the person is of a higher social status or if there is a striking age difference between the speaker and the addressee-- for example, if she is your friend´s employer or grandparent, then you may address that person as "vome-sé", the second-person plural polite form of address. "Vosé-me sé", a particularly deferential form of address, is used exclusively by members of a family for their grandparents or other family members of old age. This linguistic variety in Portuguese and various other languages enables the speaker to create a wide range of potentially subtle degrees of address. For foreigners this may be bewildering, but for someone reared within such a culture and familiar with these clearly defined rules, no faux-pas are possible and politeness in every imaginable situation is guaranteed . Of course, social change has caused a shift from non-reciprocal patterns of address to more reciprocal or symmetrical patterns. Today, forms of address that denote class differentiation are obsolete, and I am glad that they are. Language should not be a means of degrading people because of their social status. In German and Italian these distinctions have vanished. To some, the distinction in German between "Du", the second-person familiar form of address, and "Sie", the polite form of address, seems fastidious, and they regard it as a constant source of embarrassing faux-pas. But having being brought up with such a distinction, I could not imagine living without it. I agree that choosing the right moment for switching from "Sie" to "Du" may be difficult sometimes, and that it causes hesitation and uncertainty. But I cherish the distinction and use it deliberately to create distance or intimacy. Due to my upbringing, I am used to addressing older people as "Sie", regardless of my affection for them and the length of our acquaintance. To me, it is a sign of my respect for them, and I could not do otherwise. But on some occasions the choice between the two forms of address can be a deliberate one. To me, addressing someone as "Du" is a sign that I like him or her. My choice of "Sie" as form of address can thus express respect or a desire for distance , or, , on the other hand, degree of friendliness. So I appreciate this linguistic diversity concerning the pronominal forms of address, even if the possibility to choose may be a source of embarrassing situations.

41. Is the use of Ritalin a good solution?

Ritalin is a medicine which is usually prescribed to pacify hyperactive children. It calms children down. Hyperactivity is an illness which is caused by a disfunction in the brain. In most cases it has to be treat with Ritalin. In the USA Ritalin is a very popular drug which is daily taken by millions of american children. It is not only taken by hyperactive children althoug Ritalin was definetely not made to reduce or to stop all unwanted behaviour. There are many reasons for a bad or striking behaviour. Not all children who are loud, restless or insolent are hyperactive.

A high number of children take, or get, Ritalin in order to improve their learning abilities. When they take it they are quiet and peaceful. Their concentration becomes much better. For adults it is a very easy solution. When a child gets Ritalin every problem is gone . The child behave in a way that teaching becomes pleasant for the teacher and the parents are also satisfied with their childs behaviour.

Sure, teachers and parents have to react when a child´s behaviour is striking or when a child get out of controll, but they are not doctors nor psychologists. Often the symtomes of a child are interpreted wrong. To avoid wrong diagnosis the decision, whether Ritalin is the right medicine to prescribe or not, should be made by an expert.

Nobody can be completely certain that the treatment with Ritalin does not entail any after effects. It is really shocking how this medicine can change a child´s behaviour. In the USA the overuse of Ritalin among children is already a significant problem.

It is obvious that Germans take over a lot of american habits. In think that we better don´t take over the habit of using Ritalin. Maybe it is the easiest way to recommend it but in my opinion it is no desirable solution. 325words

41. Is the use of Ritalin a good solution?

Ritalin is a medicine which is usually prescribed to pacify hyperactive children. It calms children down. Hyperactivity is an illness which is caused by a dysfunction in the brain. In most cases it has to be treated with Ritalin. In the USA Ritalin is a very popular drug which is taken daily by millions of American children. Unfortunately, it is taken not only by hyperactive children but also by some healthy children who misdiagnosed as hyperactive. Not all children who are loud, restless or insolent are hyperactive.

A large number of children take, or get, Ritalin in order to improve their learning abilities. When they take it they are quiet and peaceful. Their concentration becomes much better. For their parents and teachers, this is a very easy solution. When a child gets Ritalin, every problem is gone . The child behaves in a way that makes teaching pleasant, and the parents are also satisfied with their child's behaviour.

Sure, teachers and parents have to react when a child´s behaviour is abnormal, or when a child gets out of control, but they are not doctors or psychologists. Often the symptoms are interpreted wrong. To avoid a wrong diagnosis, the decisionwhether to prescribe Ritalin or not should be made by an expert.

Nobody can be completely certain that the treatment with Ritalin does not have any after-effects. It is really shocking how this medicine can change a child´s behaviour. In the USA the overuse of Ritalin among children is already a significant problem .

It is obvious that Germans take on a lot of American habits. I think that we had better not take on the habit of using Ritalin. Maybe it is the easiest way to handle children, but in my opinion it is not the best.

42. Should fertility specialists help HIV-infected patients have children?

In America a debate arose on the question whether it is the duty of fertility specialists to help HIV- infected patients also to have children or not. In my opinion, this is a rather difficult question. There are definitely good arguments that should be considered, when it comes to an official solution, on both sides of the discussion.

For most of the people in the U.S. it is dangerous and irresponsible to help HIV-positive people to bear children, because this includes medical risks not only for the patient but also for the child, since there is no definite proof of the fact that the child will not get the HIV-virus. Opponents state that there are therapies, which reduce the risk of passing this virus to the baby. Therefore this prenatal care would allow patients to bear children who will not be condemned to illness or death.

Another argument is that everybody should have the right to decide whether or not they want to have children. In general, I totally agree on this opinion, but for a HIV-positive person there are several aspects that play an important role when it comes to this decision. HIV-positive does not necessarily mean that an affected person has to die. Therefore many people are in the opinion that AIDS should be seen as a chronic illness rather than a terminal one. Even though this is true for a small percentage of HIV-positive people, there is and will always be the danger of an outbreak of this disease and when it comes to it, right now there is no cure available.

This fact is of high importance in my opinion. Even though I totally understand that people, living happily and healthy, although they are affected by HIV, also have the wish to have their own children, I would rather agree on the opinion of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. So far, they discouraged those treatments for HIV-positive people who wanted to have a child. It is not only that nobody can guarantee that the virus will not be passed to the child, but even if the child is born healthy, for how long will it have both parents, just one or even remain an orphan? Therefore, I would like to appeal to the affected people and ask them to make a decision that is not only for themselves, but also for their future children. (407)

42. Should fertility specialists help HIV-infected patients have children?

In America a debate has arisen on the question whether fertility specialists should help HIV- infected patients to have children or not. In my opinion, they should not.

For most people in the U.S., it is dangerous and irresponsible to help HIV-positive people to bear children, because this entails medical risks not only for the patient but also for the child. Some say there are ways to reduce the risk of passing the virus on to the baby, but it is far from guaranteed that HIV-infected couples can bear children free of AIDS.

. In general, I feel that everybody should have the right to decide whether or not to have children, but for HIV-positives are a special case. Being infected does not necessarily mean that you have to die, and therefore some people think that AIDS should be seen as a chronic illness rather than a terminal one. But even though this is true for a small percentage of HIV-positive people, for the great majority right now there is no cure.

Even though I understand that HIV people can be happy and relatively healthy I agree with the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. So far, they have discouraged HIV-positives from having fertility treatments. It is not only that nobody can guarantee that the virus will not be passed on to the child, but even if the child is born healthy, how long will it have both parents, or even one, before becoming an orphan? Therefore, I would ask all HIV-positives to make their decision not only for themselves, but also for their future children.

43. Should football-clubs be subsidized?

Eintracht Frankfurt, a German football-club in the second division, is bankrupt. Therefore, the "Liga-Ausschuß", which decides whether a club gets a licence to play in the German professional football league or not, has decided to disobey this licence.

As a consequence, the presidency of Eintracht Frankfurt has called a lawyer in, because they claim that Eintracht Frankfurt was not bankrupt on June 17 , when all documents had to be handed over to the Liga-Ausschuß.

The Hessische Landesbank was willing to give a surety of four million Euro to save the club from playing in.an amateur league. I don`t want to discuss this lawsuit. In my opinion it is more interesting to talk about whether a state-controlled bank should support an enterprise that has wasted its money on overpaid football professionals and incompetent managers or not. Roland Koch, the Hessian prime-minister, insists on treating the club like any other enterprise in this situation, which means to refuse financial support.

From an economic point of view he is right, but I think there is more to it than the economic aspect.

Football is not just sports, it`s a kind of drug for a huge part of the masses. As we can see during this World Championship, it makes people from different social classes and ethnic groups come together. This is exactly what politicians try to reach by various social institutions and expensive programs, especially in Frankfurt. In this city with its huge number of unemployed people and lots of people from foreign countries, the stadium is a meeting-point, the game and the team make them become a family, forget their problems and feel good, even if it is only for 90 minutes. In my opinion, four million Euro is very little money, if you take a look at it from this angle.

Of course, not everyone is interested in football and does agree with plans to subsidize a football-club with taxes – that`s what it is at least- but, on the other hand, who is interested in subsidized stage-plays and movies? 343

43. Should football-clubs be subsidized?

Eintracht Frankfurt, a German football club in the second division, is bankrupt. Therefore, the "Liga-Ausschuß", which decides whether a club gets a license to play in the German professional football league or not, has decided to revoke this license.

The Hessische Landesbank was willing to give a guarantee of four million Euro to save the club from having to play in.an amateur league. I don`t want to discuss this lawsuit. In my opinion it is more interesting to talk about whether a state-controlled bank should support an enterprise that--in the opinion of some-- has wasted its money on overpaid football professionals and incompetent managers or not. Roland Koch, the Hessian prime-minister, insists on treating the club like any other enterprise in this situation, which means refusing financial support.

From an economic point of view, he is right, but I think there is more to it than the economics. Football is not just sports, it`s a kind of drug for a huge portion of the population. As we can see during this World Championship, it makes people from different social classes and ethnic groups come together. This is exactly what politicians try to achieve by various social institutions and expensive programs, especially in Frankfurt. In this city, with its huge number of unemployed people and lots of people from foreign countries, the stadium is a meeting point. The game and the team make them become one family , forget their problems and feel good, even if it is only for 90 minutes. In my opinion, four million Euro is very little money, if you take a look at it from this angle.

Of course, not everyone is interested in football, and not everyone agrees with plans to subsidize a football-club with taxes – which is what it amounts to.- On the other hand, not everyone is is interested in theater and opera, so why should they be subsidized? In my opinion, the money is well spent in both cases.

44. Why Jürgen Möllemann is stupid – but probably successful

For three to four weeks now, the German public has been discussing the so-called anti-Semitism controversy. Although Möllemann pretends to speak on behalf of many people, arguing that he is something like a pioneer in criticising Israeli policies and breaking taboos, he obviously forgets that he is almost alone among respectable politicians. Fortunately, the majority of high-ranking politicians dissociates itself from him - for good reason. Möllemann is stupid, insensitive and ignorant.

Firstly, Möllemann is simply wrong when saying that it has not been allowed to criticise Israel, because this has been done since the escalation of the conflict. Secondly, he is totally ignorant and not very reasonable when siding solely with the Palestinian position, because the matter is just not as easy as that, as there are always two sides of the story.

What’s probably more however, is that he is simply stupid when he accuses the vice-president of the German central council of Jews, Michel Friedmann, of causing and provoking anti-Semitism. Here, Möllemann steps on to a stage where he proves his lack of quality and that he is everything but a respectable politician.

I don’t think that he is an anti-Semite, but what can be concluded from his remarks is that he somehow plays with anti-Semitism. Either his comments reveal a tactical purpose in order to increase the number of votes for his party, or he is simply – or wants to be - ignorant of the sensitiveness of this matter. Anyway, both cases show that he is an idiot and that he has no business on the political scene.

What makes this man a risk is that many people believe him. Elderly people, especially, think that Germany finally has found a voice that speaks on behalf of them, e.g. on behalf of those who have always persuaded themselves that they have never been allowed to say their opinion frankly. The second group which appreciates Möllemann’s remarks consists of predominantly younger people who have been told by their parents that respecting taboos was a heavy burden to them. They see Möllemann, just as the elderly do, as a revolutionary or a liberator.

It is good that most parties have rejected Möllemann’s comments and dissociated themselves from his personality. This shows that the German political climate seems to be healthy. The sad thing is that the closer the elections come, the more acceptable Möllemann will become again. 406 words

44. Why Jürgen Möllemann is stupid – but will probably be successful

For three to four weeks now, the German public has been discussing the so-called anti-Semitism controversy. Although Möllemann pretends to speak on behalf of many people, arguing that he is something like a pioneer in criticising Israeli policies and breaking taboos, he obviously forgets that he is almost alone among respectable politicians. Fortunately, the majority of the latter dissociate themselves from him - for good reason. Möllemann is stupid, insensitive and ignorant .

Firstly, Möllemann is simply wrong when saying that it has not been allowed to criticise Israel, because this has been done since the escalation of the conflict . Secondly, he is totally ignorant and not very reasonable when he sides completely with the Palestinian position, because the matter is just not as simple as that.There are always two sides of the story.

What’s more , he is simply stupid when he accuses the vice-president of the German Central Council of Jews, Michel Friedmann, of provoking anti-Semitism. Here, Möllemann steps on to a stage where he proves his lack of quality and that he is anything but a respectable politician.

I don’t think that he is an anti-Semite, but what can be concluded from his remarks is that he is playing with anti-Semitism. Either his comments reveal a tactical purpose in order to increase the number of votes for his party , or he is simply – or wants to be - ignorant of the sensitiveness of this matter. Anyway, both cases show that he is an idiot and that he has no business on the political scene.

What makes this man a risk is that many people believe him. Elderly people, especially, think that Germany finally has found a voice that speaks on their behalf of them, e.g., on behalf of those who have always persuaded themselves that they have never been allowed to say their opinion frankly . The second group who appreciate Möllemann’s remarks consists of predominantly younger people who have been told by their parents that respecting taboos was a heavy burden to them . They see Möllemann, just as the elderly do, as a revolutionary or a liberator.

It is good that most parties have rejected Möllemann’s comments and dissociated themselves from him. This shows that the German political climate is still healthy. The sad thing is that the closer the elections come, the more acceptable Möllemann will become again.

45. Immigration into Europe

Today one major task of the European Union (EU) is to handle immigration into the European member states. There are two forms of it, the legal and the illegal immigration especially from Africa and the East. Almost every day one can read in the newspaper about African refugees, who drowned in the Mediterranean Sea during the attempt to immigrate illegally into Italy or Spane; or there are stories about people, who were arrested while crossing illegally the boarder between Poland and Germany in night. However, these tragic news cannot turn the negative attitudes of the European public towards immigration.

In my opinion, illegal immigration must be stopped, but I have nothing against people who immigrate in a legal way. I even think that legal immigration is necessary from an economic point of view. For example, in the 1990s Germany and Great Britain supported the immigration of IT specialists from India, because their knowledge and abilities were needed. Furthermore, there are many low-wage service jobs and other manual work, which is done mainly by immigrants, because nobody else wants to do those jobs. This is a tendency particularly in Germany. Here the majority of the people is arguing about the high rate of immigrants. On the other hand they cannot answer the simple question, for example, who else would clean our schools and public buildings, when there were not any Russian or Polish women? Many unemployed Germans also refuse to work, because often they would earn less in a new job than they get via the unemployment benefit. This is the reason, why I think that it is only fair, when immigrants do their jobs. The majority of them comes into our country because they are looking for work.

Finally I want to add, that I can understand, why so may people try to immigrate illegally from Africa or the East, but this way of immigration into Europe is definitely inacceptable. Nevertheless, everybody of us only wants to live in freedom, security and prosperity. Many immigrants do not want anything else. They probably would not leave their country, either, if the living condtions would be better there. It is only a question of fairness, that we should give them a chance to lead here a life worth living. 380

45. Immigration to Europe

Today one of the major tasks of the European Union (EU) is to handle immigration into the member states. There are two forms of immigration: legal and illegal-- especially from Africa and the East . Almost every day one can read in the newspaper about African refugeeswho drowned in the Mediterranean Sea during an attempt to immigrate illegally to Italy or Spain; or who were arrested while crossing the border between Poland and Germany illegally at night. However, even such tragic news cannot alter the negative attitude of the European public towards immigration.

In my opinion, illegal immigration must be stopped, but I have nothing against people who immigrate in a legal way . I think that legal immigration is even necessary, from an economic point of view. For example, in the 1990s Germany and Great Britain supported the immigration of IT specialists from India, because their knowledge and abilities were needed. Furthermore, there are many low-wage service jobs and other manual work, which is done mainly by immigrants, because nobody else wants to do those jobs. This is the case particularly in Germany. Here the majority of the people are complaining about the number of immigrants. On the other hand, these same people cannot answer the simple question, for example, who else would clean our schools and public buildings, if there were no Russian or Polish women to do it? Many unemployed Germans refuse to work because they would earn less in a job than they get via the unemployment benefit. This is the reason why I think that it is only fairif immigrants take their jobs. The majority of them comes into our country because they are looking for work.

Finally, I want to add that I can understand why so may people try to immigrate illegally from Africa or the East, but this way of immigration into Europe is definitely unacceptable. Nevertheless, every one of us only wants to live in freedom, security and prosperity. Many immigrants do not want anything different. They probably would not leave their country, either, if the living condtions were better there. It is only a question of fairness that we should give them a chance here to lead a life worth living.

46. More transparency in private pension offers

During the last century new medical techniques led to an enormous increase of the average life expectancy in our industrial countries. We live in an ageing society and this causes growing expense of pension schemes. Along with our current decline in birth rate our current state pension system can not be financed in future.

For that reason a dual pension scheme called "Riester" pension consisting of private pension and state pension was introduced and became law at the beginning of this year.

By following the discussions and problems about this new pension scheme the opinion arises that the state should give more submissions, in order to create transparency in offers.

Today, around 3500 different certificated offers of private pension provisions have emerged on the markets. "Certificated" means that it agrees with the legal demands, and that the state supports it. However, it is difficult for people to decide which one to take, because all offers are not transparent.

At the moment comparison of offers is difficult for people. Although, it is already law that the companies have to explain final expenses, complicated explanations disguise the true financing expenses. At the moment there are only a few rules for the companies, who offer these private pension provisions. Therefore it is not surprising that beneath the companies frauds betray people by not informing them enough. The companies have the legal submission that they have to inform people about for example notice, but there are no sanctions in case of inadequade information. Notice in general is a problem. People who have to stop the contract before its ending have high losses, because companies do of course not pay back the same amount.

Consequently, this pension scheme has not developed enough yet. People are quite unsure about that decision and this is probably the reason, why only nine percent of German population have agreed to a contract. 319

46. More transparency in private pension offers

During the last century, advances in medicine have led to an enormous increase in average life expectancy in industrial countries. We are living in an aging society, and this causes pension schemes to get more expensive. Given our current decline in birth rate, our current state pension system cannot be financed in the future.

For this reason, a dual pension scheme called the "Riester" pension, consisting of private pension and state pension was introduced and became law at the beginning of this year.

By following the discussions and problems about this new pension scheme the opinion arises that the state should give more submissions, in order to create transparency in offers.

Today, around 3500 different certified offers of private pension provisions have emerged on the markets. "Certified" means that it is fully legal, and that the state supports it. However, it is difficult for people to decide which one to take, because the offers are not all transparent.

At the moment, it is difficult to compare offers. Although it is already law that the companies have to explain final expenses , complicated explanations disguise the true financing expenses . At the moment there are only a few rules for the companies which offer these private pension provisions. Therefore, it is not surprising that beneath the companies frauds betray people by not informing them enough . The companies have the legal obligation to inform people about notice , for example, but there are no sanctions in case of inadequate information . Notice in general is a problem. People who have to stop the contract prematurely have high losses, because companies do of course not pay back the same amount.

Consequently, this pension scheme has not developed enough yet. People are quite unsure about that decision , and this is probably the reason- why only nine percent of Germans have agreed to a contract.

Hosted by www.Geocities.ws