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The Biggest Cheaters Upper-Intermediate - Vocabulary

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the ARTICLE (for teachers)

The Biggest Cheaters In the past year, 56% of MBA graduate students admitted to cheating, such as plagiarizing, copying the work of another student, or bringing answers into a test. This figure means that masters of business administration students cheat more than any other type of graduate student in any other field. More worrisome is the fact that many MBA students assume that cheating is okay. With the recent rise in corporate scandals in the last few years, cheating is looked at as an acceptable form of business practice. The authors of the report understand that something must be done, because ignoring the problem simply supports the belief that cheating is accepted and commonplace. The fear of lawsuits ties the hands of many professors, though; in this respect, the academic world has begun to mimic the corporate world. All you need is the threat and the muscle to sue in order to get what you want. More needs to be done to enforce ethical codes before cheating occurs. Graduate students need to be taught, and they need to understand, that ethics matter in business. Therefore, faculty should repeatedly talk with students about academic ethics that begins with recruiting, continues in orientation sessions and initiation ceremonies, and continues throughout the program. Others have suggested putting into practice a community based reward-punishment system; all the members of the community, in this case MBA students in a class, are punished in some way by a cheater. Experts say this copies the real business world, where a community of shareholders has a common interest. They are affected equally by the decisions of a company or company representative.

Teacher's Notes:

* Underlined words in red typeface are the answers.

The Biggest Cheaters Upper-Intermediate - Vocabulary

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the Article (for students) Fill in the blank with the correct word.

punished scandals mimic recruiting enforce admitted therefore students commonplace world assume initiation plagiarizing shareholders worrisome The Biggest Cheaters In the past year, 56% of MBA graduate students (a. _______________) to cheating, such as (b. _______________), copying the work of another student, or bringing answers into a test. This figure means that masters of business administration students cheat more than any other type of graduate student in any other field. More (c. _______________) is the fact that many MBA students (d. _______________) that cheating is okay. With the recent rise in corporate (e. _______________) in the last few years, cheating is looked at as an acceptable form of business practice. The authors of the report understand that something must be done, because ignoring the problem simply supports the belief that cheating is accepted and (f. _______________). The fear of lawsuits ties the hands of many professors, though; in this respect, the academic world has begun to (g. _______________) the corporate (h. _______________). All you need is the threat and the muscle to sue in order to get what you want. More needs to be done to (i. _______________) ethical codes before cheating occurs. Graduate (j. _______________) need to be taught, and they need to understand, that ethics matter in business. (k. _______________), faculty should repeatedly talk with students about academic ethics that begins with (l. _______________), continues in orientation sessions and (m. _______________) ceremonies, and continues throughout the program. Others have suggested putting into practice a community based reward-punishment system; all the members of the community, in this case MBA students in a class, are (n. _______________) in some way by a cheater. Experts say this copies the real business world, where a community of (o. _______________) has a common interest. They are affected equally by the decisions of a company or company representative.

The Biggest Cheaters Upper-Intermediate - Vocabulary

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STEP ONE Brainstorm: Brainstorm with a partner(s) words and ideas associated with "cheater" for 2 minutes. Spend another 5 minutes or less discussing the words and ideas together.

STEP TWO Vocabulary match: Individually or in pairs/groups, match the words in column A (from the article) with the best choice in column B. Use a dictionary for any words you don't know, but be sure to check your English-English dictionary, too.

a. admit q. copy b. plagiarize r. steal c. worrisome s. everyday d. assume t. guess e. scandal u. penalize f. commonplace v. urge g. mimic w. tell h. enforce x. troubling i. initiate y. begin j. punish z. abuse

STEP THREE Fill in the Blanks: Fill in the blank with the correct word.

plagiarizing mimic initiation worrisome enforce commonplace admitted scandals punished assume a. In the past year, 56% of MBA graduate students ( ) to cheating. b. Cheating means ( ), copying the work of another student, or bringing answers into a test. c. MBA students cheat more than any other type of graduate student, but there is a more ( ) fact. d. Many MBA students ( ) that cheating is okay. e. There has been a recent rise in corporate ( ) in the last few years. f. Ignoring the problem simply supports the belief that cheating is accepted and ( ). g. The academic world has begun to ( ) the corporate world. h. More needs to be done to ( ) ethical codes before cheating occurs. i. Teachers need to talk about academic ethics in orientation sessions and ( ) ceremonies. j. All the members of an MBA class should be ( ) in some way by a cheater.

The Biggest Cheaters Upper-Intermediate - Vocabulary

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STEP FOUR The Article: 1) Read the article, but don't worry about the missing words. 2) Fill in the blanks with today's vocabulary, followed by all the other words. 3) Read the article again, and circle any unknown words/phrases. In pairs/groups, use your dictionaries to understand the words or phrases your circled. 4) Answer the questions to check your comprehension.

a. How does the article define "cheating?" b. What happens if nothing is done about cheating in the classroom? c. Why are professors afraid to do much about the problem? d. What should faculty engage in? e. What options does the article mention to control cheating?

STEP FIVE Discuss: Write down five vocabulary words from today's article that you want to use.

a.

b.

c.

d.

e.

Now talk about the following questions in pairs/groups. Every time you use a vocabulary word, place a check next to it.

a. Did you like this article? b. What would you do if you were caught cheating? c. As a student, what would you do if you caught someone cheating? How about as a teacher? d. Why do you think so many MBA graduate students are cheating?

Score yourself: 10 or more times: Fantastic! Be sure to review the words at home. 6-9 times: Pretty good! You're on your way to acquiring today's vocabulary. Try writing your own sentences at home for additional practice. 5 or less times: Try harder next time! To acquire new vocabulary, you need to use the new words as much as possible.