Matriz plan de acción

b y R I C H A R D M A R T I N

a

ver the last * least many parts o f it have. In some ways, however, very little has 25 years, British society has changed a great deal—or at changed, particularly where attitudes are concerned. Ideas about social class—whether a person is ‘working-class’ or ‘middle-class’—is one 5 area in which changes have been extremely slow.

In the past, the working-class—that is those people w ho do manual w ork —tended to be paid less than middle-class people, sucli as teachers and doctors. As a result o f this and also o f the fact that workers' jobs were generally much less secure, distinct differences in life-styles and attitudes 10 came into existence. The typical working man w ould collect his wages on Friday evening and then, it was widely believed, having given his wfife her ‘housekeeping’, w ould go out and squander the rest on the 3 B's— beer, ‘baccy’ and betting.

The stereotype o f what a middle-class man did with his m oney wras 15 perhaps nearer the truth. He w as—and still is—inclined to take a longer- term view. N o t only did he regard buying a house as a top priority, but he also considered the education o f his children as extrem ely important. Both o f these provided him and his family with security. O nly in very fewr cases did workers have the opportunity (or the education and training) 20 to make such long-term plans.

Nowadays, a great deal has changed. In a large number o f cases factory workers earn as much, if not more, than their middle-class supervisors. Social security and laws to im prove job-security, combined with a general rise in the standard o f living since the mid-fifties, have made it less necessary 25 than before to worry about ‘tomorrow'’. Working-class people seem slow ly to be losing the feeling o f inferiority they had in the past. In fact there has been a grow ing tendency in the past few years for the middle-classes to feel slightly ashamed o f their position.

The changes in both life-styles and attitudes are probably most easily 30 seen amongst younger people. They generally tend to share very similar tastes in music and clothes, they spend their m oney on having a good time, and save for holidays or longer-term plans when necessary. There seems to be much less ditference than in previous generations. Nevertheless, w*e still have a wide gap between the well-paid (whatever the type o f job they 35 may have) and the low-paid. As long as this gap exists, there will always be a possibility that new conflicts and jealousies will emerge, or rather that the old conflicts w ill re-appear, but between different groups.

23

GENERALISATIONS

a

| Exercises o n the text

1 V O C A B U L A R Y ®

F in d words or phrases in the text th a t m ean:

a) safe

b)

very clear, easily seen

c) to spend w astefully

d)

typical pictu re o f som eone or som ething

e) being not as good, n ot as im p o rta n t j ) enjoying themselves

g) disagreem ents an d fights h) to a p p e a r slowly

2 T A L K I N G P O I N T S (R)

Say w h eth er the following statem ents a b o u t the text are tru e or false. I f you th ink the answ er is false, give y o u r reasons.

a) In B ritain over the last q u a rte r cen tu ry little things have changed.

b)

Differences in life-style an d a ttitu d es betw een m iddle-class people an d w orking-class people cam e into existence p a rtly because o f different levels o f pay.

c) T h e typical w orking m an was p aid in cash.

d)

O n Fridays the typical w orking m an told his wife w h at was to be done a t hom e over the next week.

e) O w ning a house a n d ed u catin g his ch ildren well m ade the typical

m iddle-class m an feel safe.

f ) In the past w orkers did not buy houses because they sim ply d id not

earn enough.

g) These days people are h ard ly concerned a t all a b o u t the n ear future. h) T h e re are dangers for the fu tu re due to the big differences in pay

betw een the low -paid an d the w ell-paid.

3 W R I T I N G P O I N T S ®

A nsw er the following questions w ith com plete sentences.

a) W hy did differences o f life-style an d attitu d es em erge betw een the m iddle-class an d the working-class?

b)

W h a t were the differences in the ways m iddle-class m en an d w orking- class m en spent th eir m oney?

c) H ow has the situation changed over the last 25 years?

4 C O N T E X T Q U E S T I O N S (K)

a) ‘I t ’ in line 2 refers to . . .

b)

‘T h is’ in line 8 refers to . . .

c) ‘H is fam ily’ in line 18 refers to . . .

d)

‘T h e ir’ in line 28 refers to . . .

e) ‘W e’ in line 33 refers to . . . 50

GENERALISATIONS

5 S U M M A R Y W O R K

U sing the relev an t in fo rm atio n from y o u r answers to 3 above, w rite a letter (in a b o u t 100 words) p a rtly agreeing, an d p a rtly disagreeing w ith the views expressed in a new spaper article entitled w e ’r e a l l m i d d l e-

c l a s s n o w .

b

|Revision-test

1 C om plete the blanks w ith f e w, a f e w, h a r d l y a n y, etc.

a) ____ people w ent to M a rk S im ’s concert a t the tow n hall, w hich was

very sad.

b) M ark is n o t a very p o p u la r m usician, so he does ____ earn ____

m oney.

c) ____ people w ent to M a rk ’s co n cert th a n to the o rchestral concert the

week before.

d) ____ people said they enjoyed his concert, w hich m ad e him very

h ap p y . (4 m arks)

2 J o in the follow ing pairs o f sentences using w h o, w h i c h, etc. Y ou m ust use th e correct p u n c tu a tio n .

a) H a m le t is a tragedy.

It was w ritten by WTilliam Shakespeare.

b) A n acto r once played the p a r t o f H a m le t in a film.

I know him .

c) T h e play is very serious.

I t is a very long play.

d) T h e king gets killed in the end.

T h e king is a b ad m an . (4 m arks)

3 C om plete the blanks in the follow ing letter. D e a r J o h n ,

I was sorry to h e a r a b o u t y o u r pro b lem . As far as (1)______ y o u r best (2) w ould be to try an d get a divorce. Y ou can certain ly consult m e a b o u t it. I w ould be very pleased if you cam e ro u n d to m y office. (3) F rid ay m o rn in g be (4) ?

In o rd er to get divorced, you (5) be able to prove th a t the b reak -u p o f y our m arriag e is y o u r wife’s fault. T h is is often very difficult. T h e law should be changed. T h e g o v e rn m e n t____ (®)____ a responsibility (7) do som ething a b o u t it.

A nyw ay, I hope som ething can be done.

Y ours sincerely, (7 m arks)

4 U sing the language o f o b l i g a t i o n , w rite sentences a b o u t the following.

a) A m an w ith a gun stopped F red in the street an d told F red to give him

GENERALISATIONS

b) W h a t do you have to do to o b ta in a passport?

c) T h e police stopped a m an in the street an d asked him to go to the

Police Station.

d) A m o th er o rd ered h er son to w ash his hands before d inner. W h a t did

she say ?

e) W h a t do you have to do to get in to university in your co u n try ?

(5 m arks)

. # # ( T o ta l: 20 m arks)

In document Diseño de un plan de mercado para la empresa S.I.A (soluciones integradas de aseo) en la ciudad. de Santiago de Cali. Juan David Castro Correa (página 72-90)