Степанова Мария Сергеевна, ЯЛНбд-07-19

1. How to be a winner
Some people consider that failure is the way to success, while others claim that
disappointments are detrimental for ones who want to succeed. For me this
statement means that you can’t always get what you want immediately.
As a society, we tend to see failure to be detrimental to our success. Ever since we
are young, we are taught to avoid failure. In school, we aim to be straight-A
students, so that we can get into a good university. Instead of seeing failure as a
natural part of life, we see it as being very negative.
In my opinion, nobody can gain success without facing some difficulties. It can be
explained by the fact that failures temper one’s spirit. Nevertheless, one can
consider this problem from another angle. There are people that claim failures as
barriers to success. They believe that when failing, a person becomes less
confident and loses aspiration to making any efforts on the way to success.
Let’s look at the example of Steve Jobs. In 2005, he delivered a commencement
address at Stanford university, where he told three stories of his life. He dropped
out of college after first 6 months and took up calligraphy classes. He thought it
was not applicable to real life but, 10 years later, engineering the first Macintosh,
he used these skills to make beautiful typology. After some time, he was fired from
the company he started, which was devastating, but he made great success in Pixar
and NeXT, creating the first ever computer-animated film. Later on, Apple bought
NeXT, and he came back to his CEO position. He was diagnosed with incurable
pancreatic cancer and was told that he had 3-6 months left. He decided not to live
someone else’s life and not to waste time. After a punction he was told that it is a
very rare case of pancreatic cancer which is curable with surgery.
His message was clear: it is only possible to connect the dots looking backwards. If
he hadn't dropped out of college, Mac would never have beautiful typology. If he
hadn’t got fired from his own company, he would never get the idea to start fresh
and contribute to Pixar and NeXT. If he hadn’t been diagnosed with cancer, he
would not realise the value of life. Concluding, he said “stay hungry. stay foolish”.
To sum up, I would like to emphasize that there are no people who succeeded
without difficulties on their way up. Any failure should be a good lesson for
anybody who is willing to become successful.
 Степанова Мария Сергеевна, ЯЛНбд-07-19
2. Globalisation
As we all know, globalization affects our way of living from many perspectives.
But the question is – does it make our life easier, or does it influence us badly?
Let’s look at its pros and cons to find it out.
The first advantage is that due to globalisation people have become more tolerant
of cultural and religious diversity, because we have more opportunities to interact
and communicate with people from other cultures. Secondly, people have more
freedom in terms of travelling, getting higher education, getting healthcare, and
building a career abroad as it is easy just to get on the plane and go wherever you
want. What is more, nowadays people have more choice and more access to global
market – we can watch the same films, listen to the same music, eat the same food
and wear the same clothes, which gives us a sense of unity.
However, even the brightest advantages can lead to major problems. First,
globalisation tends to favour big international brands or companies, as a result,
local businesses suffer. We do not see low-budget films and do not listen to local
musicians as they stay in the shadow of global giants, even though they can be
brilliant. Secondly, owing to globalisation people tend to lose their ethnic/cultural
identity. It happens because of immigration and because of the invasion of global
brands. We tend to prefer Italian cuisine or fast food and we completely forget
about the richness of Russian cuisine. What is more, we are more vulnerable to
global financial crises, it means that if an economic crisis happens somewhere,
other countries will be affected too. Another disadvantage of globalisation is brain
drain of talented people going to work abroad, which happens due to lack of
budget or equipment necessary for their work.
Last but not least, English has become the global tongue which enables people to
communicate, travel, do business etc. Nevertheless, it has drastic consequences.
English language itself suffers from being simplified to respond to the non-natives’
needs, and people speaking English tend to underestimate the history and richness
of their mother tongue. Another point is that English actually influences other
languages providing international words, neologisms etc.
To conclude I’d like to say that the topic of globalisation is quite controversial and
can be pondered over for hours. I tried to give a brief overview on the problem.
 Степанова Мария Сергеевна, ЯЛНбд-07-19
3. Expressing emotions across cultures
It is undeniable that facial expressions are used as an instrument of
communication. However, not everything is so simple when it comes to reading a
person’s emotions, especially in different cultures. Despite the universality of basic
emotions, a person, as a rule, more accurately assesses the facial expressions of
people of his or her own culture. This can be explained by the specifics of non-
verbal communication in different cultures. These cultural "accents" are formed
under the influence of nature, on the one hand, and the cultural context, on the
other. They also influence our perception and interpretation of emotions.
For a more accurate idea of the expression of emotions in different cultures, it is
worth giving an example. How we express recognition or respect towards others is
very different in different cultures. One example is how we give gifts. In many
Western cultures, it is customary to open gifts in front of the giver and express
gratitude immediately. But, for example, in China or Japan, it is customary to open
gifts only if the giver has already left. In China, it is even customary to refuse a gift
several times before accepting it. For Western culture, that would be very rude.
As for other emotions, embarrassment and shame, for example, are very unique
cultural elements because they are experienced in completely different ways
depending on where you are. In many Western cultures, embarrassment is a
negative emotion. It's something to hide. You don't want to create an awkward
situation and you don't want to show others that something is embarrassing you.
But in other cultures, like the Arabs, embarrassment and shame are positive
emotions because it means you are decent.
Culture-specific rules for expressing human emotions are learned in childhood.
They can tell us whether it is appropriate to increase, suppress, hide, or neutralize
our emotional manifestations, as well as prescribe when and how to demonstrate
them. It is very important to understand what emotions are acceptable for a
particular culture in order to successfully communicate with representatives of
different cultures. This helps to avoid awkward pauses and be more culturally
aware.
 Степанова Мария Сергеевна, ЯЛНбд-07-19
4. Technological advances
The technological progress of mankind comes alongside with the social. New
inventions and new technologies appear with the development of the society to
satisfy its new demands. Robots, artificial intelligence, new medicine,
biotechnologies, and much more answer the needs of humanity. Nevertheless,
there’re two sides to this coin.
We all know that laziness is the engine of progress because its aim is to make our
life easier. Therefore, it is worth noting that one of the most important branches to
improve is computer technologies. They are introduced to our life on all the levels.
We cannot wake up without an alarm, then we are checking our messages and e-
mails, then we pass on to the news and weather and it ends only when we go back
to sleep. It seems like people can’t live without their smartphones.
What is more, what scares me the most, we are followed and watched everywhere.
The introduction of CCTV cameras and other devices which follow every our step
is terrifying. What is worse, all of these systems may be easily hacked. For
example, my iPhone camera got hacked when I was 12 and I had a panic attack
from the number of messages with detailed description of my room and the clothes
I was wearing that day. I was so traumatized that now I always put a sticky note on
my computer camera.
Speaking about AI, on the one hand, robots can work day and night. They don’t
need breaks, vacations, or medical insurance. They don’t have conflicts with their
bosses or colleagues and take no personal time to deal with their problems.
Therefore, employers would be happy to have a staff consisting solely of smart
machines, while employees have many fears regarding the robotics-based
workforce and its impact on employment.
On the other hand, the AI is already invading our daily routine. The AI is used in
speech recognition and production, in cameras, microphones and controllers, in
analytics, in ads and many more. We are already living with it side by side.
In conclusion, I would like to say that technological progress is a blessing which
can be harmful, so we need to be responsible and thoughtful walking this path.
 Степанова Мария Сергеевна, ЯЛНбд-07-19
5. Modern family
Let me begin by saying that moral values, including family values are rapidly
changing and vary from country to country. However, today we can see the
tendency of devoting one’s life to career.
Of course, there are people still guided by the common thing of getting married
and having kids as they think that it is an essential part of their lives. Earlier this
was common knowledge that every person should get married and have many kids,
but now this tradition starts to fade.
First of all, in the era of technological progress everything is becoming digital,
even our lives. Every day we spend hours and hours surfing through internet, we
don’t even notice what’s happening around us, we are too busy to pay attention to
that. Moreover, during the global pandemic of Covid19 all our activities were
transferred to online where we even don’t get to see each other sometimes. Thus,
the lack of real personal communication doesn’t give us the chance to get to know
each other and simply fall in love.
Secondly, the numerous lockdowns during the pandemic made families stuck
together in one place. Normally kids go to school, their parents go to work, and
they don’t see each other that much. In the conditions of pandemic all the even
smallest imperfections emerged out of the blue and made many families fall apart.
Finally, now we can see that many people are consciously choosing not to get
married or/and not to have kids as it would be an obstacle on their career path.
Some people are so obsessed with being rich, famous, and successful that they
don’t even have friends. Thus, many people choose not to marry, in many cases
they choose civil marriage in order not to go through all the paperwork.
However, for those who opt for marriage, modern families differ drastically from
family models that we used to see even 10-15 years ago. Nowadays, families do
not necessarily have to be nuclear, sometimes couples decide to be childfree and
get a dog instead. In some countries families may consist of two women or two
men, where it is allowed. What is interesting is that in most cases women are not
perceived as housemaids anymore. Men started to take partial responsibility for the
household chores, childcare, cooking and other things. Earlier, men were
responsible only for their work, and women – only for housekeeping. Now, in most
modern families both partners work AND share domestic responsibilities.
I am happy to see this tendency and I will try to choose my husband so that he
won’t be household-wise disabled.
 Степанова Мария Сергеевна, ЯЛНбд-07-19
6. Live and learn
In the era of rapid changes and technological progress nothing stays still. For this
reason, we are forced to opt for lifelong learning in order to keep up with new
demands. However, education is sometimes taken for granted by those who are not
interested in it. They claim that it is useless. But what skills should we develop
with the help of the educational system?
No matter which level of education we are talking about – school, college,
university – they all give us something useful that might come in handy throughout
different periods of our life. In my opinion, the most valuable skill which may and
must be developed during school years is the ability to learn by yourself. Self-
learning is a crucial technique which will make you successful even if the
knowledge provided by the institution seems to be not sufficient. You will always
find a way to amplify your knowledge and skills in the long run, which is
especially appreciated in the IT sphere, for example.
Another aim of education is to develop social or soft skills. As we live in a social
environment (and humans as a species can’t live outside the society), children need
to be taught how to communicate properly. It is also highly important to explain
the value of social etiquette and the significance of tolerance on all the levels.
Moreover, education broadens the students’ horizons by providing a solid
theoretical base on numerous subjects. Even if it seems that some of them are not
applicable to real life, it develops critical thinking and improves the overall brain
capacities.
Finally, a well-rounded education helps to find out what you are interested in and
to reveal your natural talent or potential. Getting through many years of education
will certainly set the record straight. Only by gaining experience in different
spheres is it possible to decide upon a life's work.
I think that it is vital to get an education, maybe even a degree, as there is no such
thing as useless knowledge. I have already decided to learn as many things as I
can, and I am not afraid of trying new things. I think it’s not a shame not to know
something. It is a shame not to want to.
 Степанова Мария Сергеевна, ЯЛНбд-07-19
7. Equality of opportunity
Nowadays, almost everyone is speaking about gender equality – whether it is a
good thing or not, whether it is possible or not. People express different opinions
on this topic, but I believe that there is not and there cannot be any gender equality.
Men and women are not equal, we are different. However, in my opinion, we
should have equal opportunities. I have heard a lot of thoughts on this problem, but
I’ll try to produce a more or less balanced view.
I managed to group people into three camps. The first one is ardent fighters for
rights equality – most of the time they are radical feminists. The second group is
people who would like to see a different picture but admit that it is impossible for
now. The third camp is happy with the actual picture and don’t want any change.
I think the case of the first camp is quite obvious, so let’s pass over to the second
group. A lot of people claim that for the moment it is impossible to change the
situation as we are conditioned to gender roles since the cradle – the choice of blue
or pink in clothes, buying dolls or guns as toys, choosing the dream job… We are
not perceived as equal since the childhood. What is more, women do not usually
get the job as easily as men do, and stereotypes are to blame here. Women are
thought to be not as devoted to their job because they eventually will have babies
end review their priorities. Women are thought to be emotional because of periods.
Women are thought to be either too tough or not tough enough. Women are even
thought to be less intelligent than men. All of these preconceptions stop us from
getting to the top.
As for the third group, even some of my friends declare that they don’t need
equality nor feminism as they need gentlemen to take care of them. They insist that
men should treat them like porcelain cups – they must hold doors, they must help
you put on your coat, they must help you sit in a restaurant etc. Yep, I get it, but
good manners and equal opportunities do not exclude each other!
I think that women should stick together and help each other. I strongly believe
that feminine community might be a beautiful and powerful weapon in the fight
against misconceptions. I think being a mother is a real job and being a female
secretary with the same duties as male manager is unfair. I hope that someday we
will find a way to a peaceful conversion of our society for the better.
 Степанова Мария Сергеевна, ЯЛНбд-07-19
8. The image business
Nowadays image plays a huge role in our life as people are used to judging the
book by its cover. When we meet someone for the first time, it is the appearance
that speaks for the person even before we start the conversation. Some people
become so obsessed with maintaining a good image that they even hire image
consultants. But what does the notion “image” imply and is it worth the hype?
Some of the most image-obsessed people are politicians. They know that
everything about you – clothes, posture, voice and smile – influences what people
think of you and hence has to be carefully managed. For example, British Prime
Minister Margaret Thatcher had to change her image before she could become
electable – she was taught to speak in a less shrill voice and wear less frumpy
clothes. Even makeup and body fat can influence how people perceive you.
Furthermore, famous stars also need to ensure a good public image. Lady Gaga is
said to have an entourage of up to 80 people who accompany her wherever she
goes, mostly dedicated to looking after her tightly controlled image. Such people
seek help from wardrobe and hair stylists, make-up artists, colour consultants, PR
consultants and more just to manage their profile, and these professionals don't
come cheap. But male stars won't admit that they have a stylist. It's not cool – a bit
like women and Botox.'
It's not just celebrities who need an image boost every now and then. Whole cities,
too, try to give themselves the marketing equivalent of a style makeover. They
come up with an advertising campaign, a celebrity endorsement or a catchy slogan
like 'New York: the city that never sleeps' and 'Malaysia: truly Asia'.
So, perhaps, in this race for an immaculate image, we should step back for a
moment from our image obsession and focus on what is important? Ignore the
gossip, ignore the hype, ignore the websites telling us to manage our online
reputation and build our 'personal brand ' and instead rely on facts rather than
image to reach decisions. All very sensible, but is it realistic? Is it normal for a 9-
year-old to hire an image consultant? As one of them has said, school is a
competitive place and image is important. This girl is just taking control of hers.
But I think that it’s not the school, it is the whole world that is cruel and
competitive, it is in our nature. So, for the moment, we can’t deny the fact that
image is quite important.
 Степанова Мария Сергеевна, ЯЛНбд-07-19
9. The advantages of striking a work-life balance
If we are speaking about normal grown-ups, we can say that nowadays our lives
consist of two main components – work and personal life. It is vital to find the
balance between these two spheres so that one of them doesn’t suffer. So, let’s
look at the advantages of work-life balance.
First of all, it helps in improving the employee productivity, morale, and health
condition. In fact, work-life balance should be a priority for all of us. An imbalance
in any of the spheres of life can make life difficult and can influence health,
happiness, and emotional stability.
Let’s finally enumerate the pros of such balance:
1. Supporting this balance will make you appreciate what you do without
decreasing your productivity. You will be happy both at work and at home.
2. Moreover, a balanced work-life scheme will help in reducing health related
problems, half of which are caused by stress, lack of sleep and fatigue.
3. In addition to that, work-life balance will improve the employee
performance at work.
4. Finally, work-life balance helps to smooth the relationship with family
members and friends. When there is a balance between both, you do pay
enough attention to your private life, so your relatives won’t feel abandoned
and unwanted.
Imbalance, on the contrary, leads to stress and may result in complete burnout or
mental collapse as it is difficult to be focused on so many things with a tight
schedule. It also provokes some physical consequences like indigestion, heart
diseases, insomnia, and depression. What is more, your relationships start to break
down when you overwork.
Taking all into consideration, it is obvious that work-life balance is an important
aspect of a healthy work environment.
 Степанова Мария Сергеевна, ЯЛНбд-07-19
10. Manners maketh man
Today, in the age of new technologies, it has become extremely difficult to be
polite. There is a special etiquette concerning new technologies – how and when to
use your phone, how to write a decent e-mail, and even how to use your
headphones. I would like to walk you through some universal points in this
etiquette that has emerged alongside with the technological progress.
First of all, it is highly disrespectful to do things on your phone when you are
socialising with other people. It can create a bad impression and be misinterpreted
as your interlocutor may think that he or she is less important to you than your
phone. If you received a really important message or call, the right thing to do is at
least to beg pardon or to ask permission. What is more, it is better to leave the table
in order to spare other people from listening to your conversation.
Secondly, timing is also of great importance in the etiquette, especially in
professional world. Try to avoid disturbing people outside of working hours as it’s
just unprofessional. Nobody wants to get a call or email from work during their
personal leisure time. It’s just not the done thing.
What bugs me the most is when people are too loud in the public. For example,
when someone comes to a quiet park with a speaker and start listening to his or her
music, but everyone in a radius of couple kilometers can hear it. It is a real turn-
off. Or when someone in the public transport switches the volume in their
headphones to the maximum – I mean, I am in my headphones with music on, but I
can still hear yours! I just can’t stand it! The same thing with people talking via
facetime in public – a complete taboo for me!
It is fair to say that there are lots more etiquette rules concerning modern
technologies, and these points are just the most obvious ones. I think everyone can
relate to these situations, so we need to learn how to behave properly in order not
to offend anyone.
 Степанова Мария Сергеевна, ЯЛНбд-07-19
11.To lie or not to lie
To lie or not to lie – that is the question that practically everyone has asked
themselves at least once in their lifetime. As House MD used to say, all people lie.
The thing is, lies can be different, and not all of them are as harmful as one may
think.
Let’s talk about different lie types from the most “innocent” ones to those that are
considered crimes.
A white lie – a lie that is told in order to be polite or to stop someone from being
upset by the truth. I can’t see anything bad in it, but I’d rather prefer my closest
friends not to tell me white lies.
Making an excuse – my favourite lie type as I use it almost on daily basis honestly.
I’m not a sociable person, so when my friends suggest going out, I make up an
excuse to stay home.
Exaggerating – means to overstate or overemphasize a story adding random details
and numbers to it.
Now on to the harmful ones.
Plagiarism – Presenting work or ideas from another source as your own, with or
without consent of the original author, by incorporating it into your work without
full acknowledgement. Although it is not a crime legally, to me it is a real ethical
crime.
Spreading malicious gossip – seems like something childish, but it can harm
someone’s reputation or even ruin someone’s career.
Committing forgery – a crime that generally refers to the false making or material
alteration of an object or document with the specific intent to defraud.
Committing perjury – the offence of wilfully telling an untruth or making a
misrepresentation under oath. To me it is one of the worst crimes ever!
Well, the decision whether to lie or not to lie is a free choice of each person, as
long as they are not committing a crime. I think that the world without lies would
pe simpler, more transparent and just, but also a lot rougher. So, a little white lie
won’t harm anyone.
 Степанова Мария Сергеевна, ЯЛНбд-07-19
12. How to detect lies
1 HOW THE ANCIENT CHINESE DID IT
The Chinese used rice. An examination for truthfulness might go something like
this: 'Is your name Chiang?' (They know the guy's name is, in fact, Chiang.)
'Yes. '
The interrogators hand Mr Chiang some rice. They have already
counted the number of rice grains.
'OK. Put this handful of rice in your mouth. Hold it for three
seconds. Spit it out.'
Then they count how many rice grains come out.
'Did you steal the chicken?'
' No.'
'OK. Put this handful of rice in your mouth. Hold it for three seconds. Spit it out. '
Again, they knew how many grains went in, and they count how many come out. If
more grains come out after the question about the stolen chicken than came out
after the 'easy' question, where the suspect truthfully gave his name, they know he's
lying. How? The stress of being caught lying makes the suspect's mouth drier.
Fewer grains stick. More come out. Mr Chiang stole the chicken.
2 MODERN LIE DETECTORS
Modern lie detectors, also known as polygraphs, rely on the same basic principle -
that lying causes bodily changes which can be detected and measured. Having
agreed to do the test (if the test is done under duress, the extra stress caused makes
the test unreliable), the suspect is connected to three devices measuring blood
pressure, breathing rate and electrodermal response (the increased amount of
electricity which flows to the skin when we sweat). Increased activity in these
areas suggests increased stress, which means the subject might be lying. Lie
detectors have been widely used in the USA since the 1950s, but they remain
controversial, and their results are not always accepted by courts. Nowadays,
polygraphs are used by the US police, the CIA and the FBI to screen job
applicants, but private employers are not allowed to subject job candidates to
polygraph examinations, except in a few high-security industries like
pharmaceuticals and money manufacturing.
3 YOUR VOICE
Cheaper and faster than a polygraph, the Voice Stress Analyse' or VSA, is based
on the premise that our voice changes when we are under stress - when we're lying,
for example. The VSA detects the changes and will work on a telephone, tape-
recording or from the next room via a wireless mike or bug. The analyser monitors
the subject's voice patterns and inflections, and electronically evaluates their
relative stress patterns to determine if they are lying or not. Now you can even buy
 Степанова Мария Сергеевна, ЯЛНбд-07-19
a 'Truth Phone', so when your other half rings to say they're working late at the
office, you can immediately know if it's true or not! Research indicates this
technology is not very precise a: picking up deceitfulness.
4 HESITATION
The period of time between the last word of an investigator's question and the first
word of the subject's response is known CE 'response latency'. Research tells us
that the average response latency for subjects who are telling the truth is 0.5
seconds, whereas the average latency for liars is 1.5 seconds. This is because the
subject is mentally considering whether to tell the truth, part of the truth or a
complete lie. Latencies of two or three seconds should be regarded as highly
suspicious; in other words, he who hesitates ... is probably lying!
5 BLUSHING
According to researchers in the USA, when someone lies, you get an instantaneous
warming around the eyes, commonly known as 'blushing'. Dr James Levine of the
Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, speculates that people who lie are afraid of
getting caught. 'That fear triggers a primitive response to run away. Blood goes to
the eyes so that the liar can more efficiently map out an escape route,' he says. A
high- definition, heat-sensing camera can detect such blushes. The new technology
has proved more reliable than conventional lie detectors and could offer a new tool
for mass security screening at places like airports, office buildings and high-profile
events.
• undercover police officer
• politicians
• PR agents
• Media people
• Psychologists