Mini-Debates

Corporate Responsibility
Pre-Reading
A. Warm-Up Questions

1. What is a corporation? What do you

think “corporate responsibility”
means?

I think it means that corporations should

be responsible of the processes and the
consequences of their operations and
actions.

2. Have you heard of any situations in

which a company has been responsible
for the injury or death of people in its
community? If so, share the information
with your classmates.

I do not have any specific example; however,

when some oil companies have problems, they
contaminate rivers, nature resources.
3. Have there ever been any major oil
or chemical spills or other environmental
disasters in the area in which you live?

No, i have never heard of that in this

area.

4. Have you heard of the environmental group

Greenpeace? What does this organization
do?
Yes, I have heard about those environmental
groups, the purpose of these is to protect,
conserve the world and its natural resources.
5. Look at a world map. Find Bhopal, India.
Do you know anything about the disaster that occurred there?
No, I have no idea about the disaster.

B. Vocabulary Preview

Match up as many words and meanings as you can.

Check this exercise again after seeing the words in context on page 2.

1. disastrous d 3. resolve h 5. toxic i

2. pesticide e 4. abandon c 6. contaminate l
7. estimate j 9. blame f
8. deformity k 10. scope a
11. rehabilitation g
a) the size or extent
12. ongoing b
b) continuing
c) to leave and not plan to return
d) terrible, horrible, causing
suffering
e) a chemical used to kill insects
f) to hold someone responsible
for something bad
g) a treatment to bring back to
good condition
h) to settle, to decide
i) poisonous
j) to give an approximate number
k) something that is not formed
properly (e.g., a part of the
body)
l) to make dirty
Reading “The Union Carbide tragedy
1. December 3, 2004, marked the 20th anniversary
is widely seen as the most
of a disastrous chemical spill from a Union serious industrial accident
Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, India. Up to in history.”
10,000 people died when over 40 tons of
poisonous gas leaked from the plant that night. —John Chalmers, journalist
The issue of corporate responsibility for this
disaster has yet to be resolved.

2. The Union Carbide plant sits empty today.

Although the company declared that it cleaned
up the site before abandoning it, unused
pesticides and toxic wastes were left behind
and continue to contaminate Bhopal’s water
supply. Government officials have been
responsible for cleaning up the site since 1998,
but they have done little, if anything. The
environmental group Greenpeace has
estimated it would take over $30 million to
make the area safe again.

3. The people of Bhopal continue to suffer

from the spill. It is estimated that more than
a half million people may have become ill or died
or suffered birth deformities from the
effects of Bhopal’s still contaminated
water supply.
4. Union Carbide accepted some responsibility
for the spill at first, but then blamed an angry
employee for causing the disaster. After paying the
government of India $470 million in 1989, it
felt that its corporate responsibility had been
met. However, this amount was far too little given
the scope of the disaster, and the Bhopal victims
have never received enough money to pay for
much-needed medical treatment or rehabilitation
services.
5. Dow Chemical bought Union Carbide in
2001. It refused to take responsibility for
either the ongoing suffering of the people
of Bhopal or for the condition of the
abandoned Union Carbide plant.

6. On the 20th anniversary of the disaster,

environmental activists joined the people
of Bhopal to demand that Dow
Chemical take full corporate
responsibility for the continuing horror
in Bhopal.
Comprehension
Discuss these questions in pairs and write the answers in your notebook.

1. When did the disastrous chemical spill occur in Bhopal, India?

The disastrous chemical spill occured on December 3, 1984.

2. What kind of factory did Union Carbide have in Bhopal, India?
A Chemical Plant.
3. How many people have been affected by the chemical spill in Bhopal?
A half million people have been affected, because they were ill or died.
4. How much did Union Carbide pay the government of
India for the disaster? Was that amount enough for the people
of Bhopal?
$470 million in 1989, However the people of Bhopal feels that they have never received enough money.
5. Why, after so many years, are the people of
Bhopal still suffering from the effects of
the spill?

They are suffering birth deformities due to the contamination of the water supply.

Vocabulary Review
Complete the sentences using a word from the vocabulary list on page 1.
You may need to change the word form.

1. Please don’t blame me for breaking the window. I didn’t do it!

2. Those cleaning supplies are contaminate. Keep the children away from them.
3. The effects of the chemical spill in Bhopal are disastrous. The
people there are still suffering.
4. He broke both his legs in the car accident.
He is going to need a lot of rehabilitation before he can walk again.
5. There was a terrible earthquake last week. Over 100 people were killed in the estimate.
Discuss
Work with a partner or in small groups. Discuss the following questions.

1. Give several examples of corporations that have

caused damage to the environment, to the communities
in which they operate, or to individual consumers.

For example, the oil corporations contaminate the water and affect a lot natural resources; we have several
companies in Colombia, for example: Ecopetrol.
2. List several reasons why companies may not be socially responsible.
Because it is going to cost some money and they are just thinking in profit; so, this is not profitable for them; so
the reasons are:
1. Not profitable.
2. much money
3. time
3. What are the advantages to a corporation of being socially responsible?
It is not just the advantages for them, it is the advantages for people, for the world; but I think we are really far
away for all companies to be aware of this.
4. Do you think that the government of India bears any
responsibility for the continuing suffering of the people of Bhopal?
Of course, the government of india should have guaranteed that this company was socially responsible; I think
that they did not follow the best protocols.

5. Do you think that governments should do more to prevent

companies from polluting or damaging the environment or
society?
Totally agree, governments should guarantee the protocols for these companies.

Debate
Below are two topics to debate in small groups or pairs.
Your teacher will tell you if you will be debating for or against the idea.
You will have ten minutes to prepare your arguments.

Topic #1 Topic #2
The executives of Union Carbide should have Dow Chemical, the corporation that
been sent to prison for the disastrous chemical bought Union Carbide, should be
spill in Bhopal. forced to pay for the clean-up of
the contaminated site in Bhopal as
well as the medical treatment of the
Bhopal victims.
 Write
Choose one of the questions from the Discuss section above.
Then write a paragraph in your notebook stating your own opinion.

• I agree with the statement that the executives should have been sent to prison; i think that they were aware that
the Company was not applying all the security protocols and they did not care; they blamed an employee,
however, if the investigations had been rigorous, I am sure they have been found some irregularities in its
operations.

Hi Stiffen Please check the words highlighted in yellow, keep up the good
work