Taiwanese people are very generous and sympathetic because most of us donate money to charities, set aside some time to do volunteer work and try to help people in need whenever natural disasters happen around the world. However, in our daily lives, we see a lot of car accidents on the streets and it seems that not many people are willing to give a helping hand because some con men or real victims take advantage of people's sympathy and accuse them of the source of the car accidnet. Some stories like this really discourage most people from helping strangers in need.
So, in this week's class, Let's talk about "helping others." Think about the following questions beforehand and feel free to share your opinions with us in class.
Q1: Do you know any courageous or generous people who do good deeds and help people in need?
Q2: Do you think helping strangers is a good idea? Which of the following ideas do you agree on?
(1) I really believe we should help others – friends or strangers. If we don’t, how cold and depressing this world would be!
(2) People should never help strangers for any reason. It’s not a good idea.
(3) We should help others, but there is a limit to how much we should help.
(4) Why help others? We’re all busy and have enough problems ourselves.
Q3: Suppose you were walking down the street. A woman suddenly screams, “Help! A thief! Somebody get him!” and you see a man running away with the woman’s purse. What would you do?
(1) run after the thief and try to catch him
(2) call the police
(3) scream, “Help! A thief!”
(4) ignore the whole thing and keep walking
(5) other
Q4: Assume you were driving your car and see somebody on the roadside with a car problem. What would you do?
(1) stop and help, but only if it’s a woman
(2) stop and help, but only if it’s a woman or an old man
(3) stop and help, no matter who it is
(4) drive by without helping
(5) phone the police
(6) other
Q5: Assume you were driving your car and see a car accident in the suburbs. What would you do?
(1) stop and check if there is anything you can do
(2) stop only when someone is injured and then drive him/her to the hospital for medical treatment.
(2) phone 119 and drive by
(3) drive by without helping
(4) other
Q6: If you were in the shoes of the three people in questions 3-5 and you needed others to give you a helping hand, how would you like them to help you?
Q7: Do you have any similar experience of helping strangers? If you do, please try to tell the story.
Q8: Read the following article and make a summary.
Q9: If you were Mr. Yang, would you do the same thing? Why or why not?
If you have any questions, let me know. See you in class at 9:00 p.m. on May 23.