Unit 5 Responsibility

LISTENING 1 Corporate Social Responsibility (P.88)

Professor: This morning I'd like to talk to you about CSR or (1) ……….. social responsibility.
That is, the belief that companies need to be responsible for the economic, and (2) …………….
impact of their actions. Of course companies want to make money. There’s nothing wrong

with that. However, increasingly people are asking, at what cost? What is the cost to us, the (3)

………, and the society we live in? It is this balance between profit and social responsibility
in (4) ………… world that I want to look at today.
Believe it or not, this issue affects everyone -including you- directly. We are all happy to buy
our clothes more cheaply but do we stop to think where they were made, and who made them?
Do you know who made your jeans, your shirt, or your running shoes? There are over (5)

………… million children around the world in employment today. They are working often in
dangerous and difficult (6) ………….. Some of these children might have produced the clothes
you are wearing right now. How does that make you feel? Worried? Well, you should be (7)
……………., because the fact is, there are companies that show little or no interest in social (8)
…………. They employ children because they learn quickly and they're cheap. They don't care
about their safety. They don’t (9) …………. health care. They save money by polluting our
rivers and oceans. Yes, these companies may make their (10) …………. in countries in the
developing world. But they are owned and managed by companies in the United States, (11)
…………, and elsewhere; countries that claim to have higher standards of social and
environmental care. What’s more, people living in developed countries seem quite happy to
(12) ………….. these standards when they want to buy products cheaply. But things are
changing. (13) ………….. social responsibility is becoming a big issue these days. Consumers
are starting to take a greater interest in the companies they buy products from. More and more
consumers are (14) …………. that companies pay their workers a fair (15) …………. As for
workers, they also expect companies to protect their safety, and perhaps provide health care and
other (16) …………... In addition, governments are starting to demand that companies reduce
the pollution they cause. They are beginning to stop companies behaving in a way that harms
the health of local (17) ……………. and the environment. Thanks to pressure from all of these
sources-consumers, workers, and governments-things are changing for the better. This brings
us to an important part of responsibility: the question of who is responsible. Imagine a company
is polluting the environment. Who is responsible? Is it the company itself, or the (18)
………..manager that is to blame for allowing the pollution? It’s not an easy question to
answer. Take another example. A big brand-name clothes company uses a local (19)
………….. in a developing country to produce their running shoes. The local company
employs children in terrible conditions. They work for less than a dollar a day, up to sixteen
hours a day in (20) ………….. and dangerous conditions. Who is responsible this time? Is it the
local manufacturer, or the big brand-name company that buys from them? Or are we
responsible, as consumers who are happy to buy the running shoes at a cheap price? And
exactly how can you (21) …………. any company to be responsible? Huge (22) …………..
will help, and the negative effect on public opinion of media reports...but it's not easy.
Nevertheless, some companies are socially responsible in the way they run their business. We
shouldn’t forget that. As consumers demand higher (23) …………., more companies are trying
to improve the lives of their workers and the society they live in. These companies show that
(24) …………… and social responsibility can go together. I’d like to consider a few important
case studies now, beginning with the example of the (25) …………… movement that goes
back to 19th-century Britain..

LISTENING 2 Personal Responsibility (P.92)

Professor: So, you’re all ready to discuss this week's (1) …………., I hope..."Individual
responsibility I’d like to start with our personal experiences, and focus on home life. Naomi,
would you like to begin? .
Naomi: Sure. well, speaking for myself, I live with my parents and so I think it's important to
help out as much as possible. For example, I'm in charge of taking out the (2) ……………., and
sorting all the bottles, papers, and plastic things for recycling.
Professor: Hmmm. How important do you think that (3) …………. is?
Naomi: Recycling? It's really important. I mean, my mom and dad don’t really (4) …………,
so that's why I do it all.
Professor: And Michael, how about you?
Michael: Oh, I help out around the house. I do the (5) …………….. after meals, and wash the
car every weekend, on Saturday mornings. Those are my main responsibilities.
Professor: And you, Neil?
Neil: Oh, um, I have to look after my little sister when my parents aren’t around. They both
work. She's seven, so when I get back home, I usually make her dinner and help her with her
homework, that kind of thing.
Professor: Maria? What are you responsible for at home?
Maria: I take care of our pets. We have two (6) ………… and a cat' and they are quite a lot of
work.
Professor: So it seems as if you all feel responsible for helping out at home in some
way. ..OK, let’s (7) ………….. this out a little now, and think a little more about parents and
children. How many of you have Parents who always want to know where you are? . . .I see.
Quite a few! How do you feel about that. ..Maria?
Maria: Well, I know they worry about me when I go out. I guess that means they feel
responsible for me, but I wish they would, you know like, relax. They should just trust me to be
(8) ……………. They don’t need to check up on me, where I go, or the friends I have, but they
do. They phone me all the time when I'm out. It makes me really (9) ……………. sometimes.
Professor: It’s not always easy for parents, is it? Do any of you sometimes (10) ………… to
your parents? Maybe tell your parents you're going to one place when in fact you go
somewhere else? Neil? Neil: Uh, sometimes, yeah.
Professor: Can you give an example?
Neil: Well, I mean, they don’t like me to play computer games at home so sometimes I say I
am going to the park, when I really go to Jason’s house and play games. I feel kind of (11)
………….., but...
Professor: Why do you think your Parents don’t like you playing computer games, Neil?
Neil: They say they're too (12) …………., you know. And they think there's too much bad
language. All that.
Professor: Are they right?
Neil: Yeah, I guess so. But playing those games doesn’t mean I become violent and use bad

language all the time! They should (13) …………… me more. Trust me to be responsible. I'm
old enough to make my own decisions.
Professor: How do the rest of you feel about that? So you want your parents to trust you to be
responsible. Does age have something to do with it? The amount of responsibility your parents
think is (14) ……………. might depend on how old you are. Yes, Naomi?
Naomi: Yes, I think that’s right. But by the age of sixteen, you’re old enough to know the
difference between right and wrong.
Professor: Neil? Do you agree with that?
Neil: Yes, I'd say around fifteen, sixteen. You should be responsible for what you do by then.
Maria: I don’t agree at all.
Professor: Really, Maria. Why not?
Maria: You’re still too young at sixteen. People can (15) …………… you in the wrong way. I
know people who changed a lot in high school, in a bad way, because they met the wrong
people, had the (16) …………….. friends. I think you have to be twenty before you re really
responsible.
Professor: Michael? Michael I think you can be responsible from a much younger age. I mean,
from the age of five or six your Parents can teach you what is right and wrong, how to behave,
how to (17) …………… other people and...