Intro
1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.
2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.
Let’s face it. The money of the world isn’t exactly spread around evenly. Compare the lives of most people in the US or Europe to the lives of people in Africa, for example. While some people live in luxury, others work their whole lives and can barely feed their families.
But even the US, where people enjoy a higher standard of living than in most places, has homeless people. The US also is home for many hungry children, and millions of people who do not have access to health care.
The US is also home to some of the richest people in the world. It just doesn’t seem fair. They have more money than they can ever spend. Why aren’t they a little more generous?
Listen to Amanda and Mason debate the obligations of the rich.
Dialog
1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.
2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.
Amanda: So, right now, ‘tis the season. It’s the holidays.
Mason: Yeah.
Amanda: And there are a lot of charities, a lot of fund-raisers, and people are coming out to corporations and individuals to dig deeper into their pockets to give, right?
Mason: Right, which is probably bad timing because everyone’s thinking, “I gotta spend all this money to buy presents for everybody I know” but…
Amanda: That’s a good point. That’s a very good point.
Mason: But let’s, let’s… you, know… Let’s not talk about the timing, let’s talk about the issue.
Amanda: Right. What bothers me, um, in my… well, not my… a friend’s company. She happens to work on payroll, so she knows all the salaries. She said that what bothers her the most and what’s disappointing, that people that made the highest salaries, and I’m talking big bucks, were the ones that were opting not to give to these charities, these schools, these orphanages. How do you feel about that?
Mason: Um. Honestly, I don’t feel anyone is obligated to give.
Amanda: Right, nobody is.
Mason: You know, right? So it’s your own moral standing. So maybe that is making a moral statement about the people that are making more money, but…
Amanda: That could be.
Mason: It also may mean, you know, they were raised, you know, in places, in higher income situations where they’re not used to dealing with the people that are in suffering or in need.
Amanda: Could be.
Mason: So they don’t have the strings attached that would make them want to give.
Quizzes
Lesson MP3
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Discussion
Amanda says that during the holidays, charities look for donations for their causes. She says that sometimes the people who make the most money are the ones who are the least generous.
Mason doesn’t think that the rich are obligated to give to the poor. He says it’s up to the individual.
Mason suggests that wealthy people may not understand the needs of the poor because they have never been exposed to the poor.
Should rich people be required to share their money with the poor?
Do you give money to charities?