Vocs:

honest
you observe not only the written law but also the unwritten law and social rules for a peaceful coexistence.

dishonest
the opposite of honest.

heir
If the king die will his son or daughter heir the throne.

petty cash box
a small cashier box

whistleblower
An informant. Who uncovers hidden scandals.

law-abiding
to respect all laws and regulations.

bribe
An illegal benefit

a slush fund
Often the fund what is covering the financial bribe.

a con artist
a thief who steals in support of disreputable tricks.

a fraudster
A con artist whith more money.

Lecture:
Ethics was the topic in the 2nd English lecture after the very short summer break, again.

To classify the “world” into honest and dishonest was our first exercise.

After them we discuss the headline of an Austrian newspaper: “The conservative Austrian governing party starts an ethic debate”. The cause of this ethic debate was the demonstration against a build-up of an Islamic centre in the 20. district of Vienna. The demonstration was planned from a civil initiative but as the demonstration took place, has it taken over by a xenophobic political party, which stands on the very right political side. The leader of this party was very close to groups which have been endorsed the Nazi ideology as he was young.

This demonstration and the slogans which there sung from a group was big shame for Austria.

The weekly presentation was hold by Werner and dealt with “Homos”.

It dealt with English homophones and homographs words more precisely.

Homographs are words which have the same spelling but the meaning is also different. Werner has brought up the example of the word “live”. “I live in vienna" and “Guns and Roses WAS the best live band ever”, but this is a myth. Metallica was better on live stage. Another example was "bathing the baby" and "No bathing".

Homophones are words which have same pronunciation but a different meaning. Werner has shown us the example "break" and "brake".
Other examples are “night” and “knight”, “son” and “sun”, “sail” and “sale”, “air” and “heir”.

Homework: Page 96 / Exercise A,B,C,D

A) (Without listening)

e) The R&D department tested the product.
d) We launched the product.
h) The product sold well.
g) People started to complain.
a) The newspapers asked questions.
f) The number of complaints doubled.
b) We recalled the product.
c) The company lost a lot of money

B) (With listening)

e) The R&D department tested the product.
d) We launched the product.
h) The product sold well.
g) People started to complain.
a) The newspapers asked questions.
f) The number of complaints doubled.
b) We recalled the product.
c) The company lost a lot of money

C)

1) A Face cleaning product
2) The product was burning the Skin, caused red marks on face.

D)

a) (Past simple) Well, so what was the problem?
b) (Past continuous) I mean, it was going really well.
c) (Past perfect) You see, we’d tested it for over six months, and, you know, there’d been no bad reaction to it.
d) (Present perfect) Since then, we’ve kept away from skin-care products.

Weekly outside classroom activity:

I am reading the comic-book “The Dark Tower”, based on a novel by Stephen King.

What does you mean?

The first English lesson after the very short summer break dealt with the issue of "Ethics".
What does ethic mean?
It is a very difficult question. I guess, everyone knows what ethic is but to find a perfectly description is not so easy.
In my opinion are ethics are social rules which depends on education, standard of living and gender. And the line between ethic, law and religious standard is blurred.

After this basic discussion we should find a typical Austrian ethic standard and to answer the question if Austria more ethical than other countries.

The “DreamTeam”; Werner, Mr. Lutz and I have not found a typical Austrian ethical code. Also we could not answer the question if Austria more ethical than other countries. It is depend which country you will compare with Austria was our opinion. Well, the “DreamTeam” has failed in the face of this difficult question. :o(.

I want remind me of some vocabulary before the mainly homework begins.

The Ten Commandments

The base for the law and ethic. Dictated by god; forwarded by Moses and bedded at the ark of covenant.

Termination gratuity

You get money if you will fire by your boss without legal cause. The amount depends on the duration of your employment.

Civil servant

Mr. Breitfuß and Mr. Weber are typical representatives for this species.

Estate agent

This is a house and apartment seller.

Starting as apprentice

Begin with your first job and you have no ideas what you should do.

Obesity

If you eat and eat and eat and do no sports you will be very fat. This word means the same but it is more sophisticated and will often use in medical context.

Litigation

A trial

Sue

For instance: To sue for money or to sue for damages means you fight for your right with all power of the law.

Is it ethical for President Verzetnitsch to claim termination gratuity?

According to the law have President V. the right on his side, but for the point of view of moral and ethic he is to adjudge. The point is you can not compare a normal labour with the President of a labour union. The President is responsible for the all heavy labours and not for stock jobbers.

The labours have trust him. With his decision to protect the wrong people he abused this trust. If he has a spark of decency he should abandon his claim.

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You find my answer to the "Ethical Orientation Questionnaire" above. You can also find this questionaire if you click this link.

1. Which is worse?

X hurting someone's feelings by telling the truth

• telling a lie and protecting their feelings

Sweet little lies do not hurt and you will get more friends if you consider the feelings of other persons.

2. Which is the worse mistake?

• to make exceptions too freely
  
  X to apply rules too rigidly

Some rules do not make sense. But the best will be the happy medium in this case.

3. Which is it worse to be?

• unmerciful

X unfair

This is a difficult decision, but after due consideration I have selected unfair. The reason why I have took unfair is not so easy to explain. I think in some case is it justifiable to be unmerciful. Unfair is never justifiable.

4. Which is worse?

X stealing something valuable from someone for no good reason

• breaking a promise to a friend for no good reason

Stealing is a crime. It does not matter whether you have a good reason or not. And a good friend will forgiven a broken promise if it is not happen all too often.

5. Which is it better to be?

• just and fair

X sympathetic and feeling

An unfair person can not be sympathetic and felling. From my point of view the above mentioned personal attributes complement another.

6. Which is worse?

X not helping someone in trouble

• being unfair to someone by playing favorites

It depends on the situation. But if is anybody seriously in danger for life and lamb it is your obligation to help.

7. In making a decision you rely more on

• hard facts

X personal feelings and intuition

The last decisions that I made were just a result of personal feelings and intuition and have not regretted one of them.

8. Your boss orders you to do something that will hurt someone. If you carry out the order, have you actually done anything wrong?

X yes

• no
  

You have the right to challenge the orders by your boss. In particular in such situations as above described. (Except you are a soldier.)

9. Which is more important in determining whether an action is right or wrong?

X whether anyone actually gets hurt

• whether a rule, law, commandment, or moral principle is broken

There are no excuses if you hurt anybody. Except for your life is in danger.

My Score was:

• Care Score: 6
• Justice Score: 3