Close-up p 89. Money and Morality. Speaking

 

 
PART ONE. MONOLOGUE. Use the pictures above and the questions below to do a five-minute presentation on the topic of money and morality.

1. Are fare dodging, tax evasion, and illegal downloads the same as stealing?
Why? / Why not?

2. What affects people's behaviour if they receive money by mistake. Is it the difference between right and wrong? Their need to be honest? Or their belief in luck?

3. What would you do if your bank credits your account by mistake? What should be done?

4. How do you feel if a shopkeeper or taxi-driver gives you too much change?

5. What would you do if a restaurant forgot to charge you for something?

6. What affects people's behaviour when they find something valuable? Does the ability to put ourselves in the owner's position play a significant role?

7. Do you believe in the expression: "Finders keepers, losers weepers" 

8. Have you ever returned something to its owner?

9. What can you do if you find a lost wallet or credit card?

10. Is wealth distributed fairly? Why? / Why not?

11. Is it money or lack of money that is the root of all evil?

12. What is a black market and why does it exist? 

13. What gives rise to the informal economy? 

14. What economic activities are examples of an informal economy in your area? 

15. Do many Spaniards live at or below the poverty line? 

16. Are food banks and soup kitchens reporting giant spikes in demand in your country?

17. Are we losing the war on poverty? Should we give homeless people homes?

17. Has COVID-19 taken a heavy toll on employment and businesses? Is the place where you live a hard-hit area?

18. Why are wages so low?

19. What is your take on the common perception that somebody who is poor or living below the poverty level is lazy and is simply living off government handouts? 

20. Do even working people sometimes need handouts to make ends meet?

21. Has the gap between the haves and the have-nots turned into a chasm?

 

 

PART TWO. INTERACTION.  Have a natural conversation with your examiner about these questions.

1. Is it better to earn money than to win it? Why? / Why not?

2. Are the best things in life free? Why? / Why not? 

3. Do we have a moral responsibility to reduce inequality for the next generation? 

4. Which do you think is more important: earning less to do a job you love or having a higher income in a job that does not satisfy you?

 

 

Vocabulary
fare dodging       the action or practice of travelling on public transport without paying the required fare. E.g. there were posters on the bus about fare dodging and I began to get a guilty conscience.

Finders keepers, losers weepers: used, often humorously, to assert that whoever finds something by chance is entitled to keep it.

A car guard is an informally employed person in charge of finding parking spots for cars and ensuring the safety of those cars until their owners return. These self-employed individuals often charge a nominal fee. They may euphemistically be called parking attendants, parking assistants or car valets.

spike: a sudden large increase in the number or rate of something. E.g. a spike in interest rates.

take a heavy toll (on somebody/something)/ take its toll (on somebody/something): to have a bad effect on somebody/something; to cause a lot of damage, deaths, suffering, etc. E.g. The recession is taking its toll on the housing markets.

live off: to get your income or food from a supply of money or from another person. Survive on. E.g.  Mum used to live off the interest from her savings.  Dad lost his job and we had to live off welfare.  Most people in the countryside live off the land (=live by growing or finding their own food).

handout (sometimes disapproving) food, money or clothes that are given to a person who is poor

• I don't want to be dependent on handouts.

chasm: /ˈkæzəm/ 1. a deep crack or opening in the ground. E.g. They leaned over the rails and peered down into the dizzying chasm below. 2. chasm (between A and B) (formal) a very big difference between two people or groups, for example because they have different attitudes. Sp. abismo. E.g. There is still a vast economic chasm between developed and developing countries. 

 

dumpster-dive verb [no object] (Am E) Search through dumpsters or similar rubbish containers for edible food or items of value.

 

dumpster diver: A person who searches through dumpsters or similar rubbish containers for edible food or items of value. 

 

have a clear conscience (about someone or something) and have a clean conscience (about someone or something) to be free of guilt about someone or something. I'm sorry that John got the blame. I have a clean conscience about the whole affair. I have a clear conscience about John and his problems. I didn't do it. I swear to that with a clean conscience.

 

underground economy noun also called shadow economy, the part of a country's economic activity that is unrecorded and untaxed by its government; the black market. Transaction of goods or services not reported to the government and therefore beyond the reach of tax collectors and regulators. The term may refer either to illegal activities or to ordinarily legal activities performed without the securing of required licenses and payment of taxes. Examples of legal activities in the underground economy include unreported income from self-employment or barter. Illegal activities include drug dealing, trade in stolen goods, smuggling, illegal gambling, and fraud.