Subject Verb Agreement Activity:
It was January 17, 2005, and three cadets were training to become police detectives. The sergeant
decided to test they were skill at recognizing a suspect. He showed the first cadet a picture for five
seconds and then hid it. Then he said, “That was your suspect, how would you recognize
him?”
“That’s easy,” answered the cadet. “We would find him fast because he only has one eye.”
The sergeant thought a minute and then answered, “Well that’s because the picture I showed you
is a profile. It shows only a side view.” He couldn’t believe the cadet had given him such a
ridiculous answer, but he went on to the second cadet. Flashed the picture for five seconds to
him. Again, he asked, “That was your suspect, how would you recognize him?”
The second cadet smiled and said, “It would be easy to catch because he has only one ear!”
The police sergeant shook his head in disbelief. Then angrily responded, “What’s the matter
with you two? Of course, only one eye and one ear are showing, it’s a picture of his profile! Was
that the best answer you can come up with?!”
Extremely frustrated at this point, he showed the picture to the 3rd cadet and in a very testy voice
asked, “This is your suspect. How would you recognize him?” He quickly added, “Think hard
before giving me a stupid answer.”
The cadet looked at the picture intently for a moment. Then she said, “The suspect wears contact
lenses.”
The sergeant was speechless. He went to his office checked the suspected file on his computer and
came back. He was beaming. “It’s true! The suspect does indeed wear contact lenses. Tell us how
you were able to make such an astute observation!”
“It was easy,” said the cadet. “He can’t wear glasses because he only has one eye and one ear.”
Climate Change
I agree with Beidi’s responses to the climate change topic. Her idea inspired me of there are deeper issues than just the number of people do or do not believe in climate change. Her first idea is that once a topic, just like climate change, becomes a political conflict topic, it is not just simply about whether people believe it or not; the people in the political conflict will believe and support whatever is “benefiting” them in ways. Her second idea pointed out that believing and worrying about climate change also can relate to the living condition; rich people worry more and learn more about climate change because they have no problem of living, so they are able and willing to get to a larger perspective in the world. The poor people seem to worry less about climate change because they are more worried about their own lives, such as food. This idea is similar to mine because, in the poorer people’s perspective, climate change is not a thing to worry because it is too far from their life, however, just like I mentioned in my responses, once the climate change can actually affect their daily life and living condition, that would be a big problem for them to worry about.
