Unit 7
Language & Literature
Reading 1 :
King’s March on Washington Address
/
77
Reading 2 :
Desiree’s Baby
By Kate Chopin
/
83
Unit 8
Space & Exploration
Reading 1 :
The Space Race
/
89
Reading 2 :
Asteroid
Impacts on Earth
/
95
Unit 9
Sports & Fitness
Reading 1 :
Cheating in Sports
/
101
Reading 2 :
Gi
/
107
Unit 10
People & Opinions
Reading 1 :
Barack Obama’s Keynote Address at the Democratic National
Convention
/
113
Reading 2 :
Anita Roddick
/
119
Unit 11
Cross-Cultural Viewpoints
Reading 1 :
Ideas About Beauty
/
125
Reading 2 :
Bribery or Business as Usual?
/
131
Unit 12
Business & Economics
Reading 1 :
Adventure
Tours for Charity
/
137
Reading 2 :
Rating Companies
/
143
Vocabulary Preview
Match each word or phrase with the correct definition.
1. clover
a. inclined to believe in chance or magic
2. conduct
b. a small plant with white berries; a Christmas decoration
3. confess
c. a small flowering plant, usually with three leaves
4. optimistically
d. to do
5. mistletoe
e. to admit
6. superstitious
f. positively;
in a positive way
Pre-Reading Questions
Think about the following questions.
1. What are some good-luck superstitions?
2. What are some bad-luck superstitions?
3. Do you follow or believe any of these superstitions?
American
Superstitions
S t r a n g e & U n u s u a l 1
U N
I
T
1
6
American Superstitions
5
10
15
20
25
E
very culture has superstitions. Some people
believe them more than others. Even in our
modern technological society, superstitions
still hold a powerful influence. Most people seem to
outgrow them. But
how many people continue to
believe (or at least act like they believe) these
superstitions as adults?
A survey conducted for the journal
American Demographics by the research
firm Market Facts found some surprising results. In modern America, where
superstitions are seen as nothing more than the beliefs of a weak mind, 44
percent of the people surveyed still admitted they were superstitious. The other
56 percent claimed to be only “optimistically superstitious,”
meaning they were
more willing to believe superstitions relating to good luck over ones related to
bad luck. For example, 12 percent of those who said they were not really
superstitious confessed to knocking on wood for good luck. And 9 percent
confessed they would pick up a penny on the street for good luck. A further
9 percent of non-believers also said they would pick a four-leaf clover for luck if
they found one. And some still believed in kissing under the mistletoe for luck.
Of the 44 percent of Americans who admit their superstitious beliefs, 65
percent said they were “only a little” superstitious, 27 percent were “somewhat”
superstitious, and 8 percent were “very” superstitious.
Among this group of
believers, some interesting differences appeared when the men and women were
considered separately. In the survey, women
comprised 60 percent of the
entire superstitious group, seeming to
indicate that women tend to be more
superstitious than men. However, more than half (64 percent) of the “very”
superstitious believers were male.
Additionally, age also showed
significant differences between the believers
and non-believers. More young people admitted their
superstitious nature than
23
comprise --- to make up
24
indicate --- to show; to suggest
27
significant --- major; large
