It’s just human nature – or is it?

Every day there are hundreds of stories in the newspaper – some of them are unusual stories about ordinary people. Sometimes those stories show us something about human nature, by which we mean ‘ways of behaving, thinking and feeling that are shared by most people and are considered to be normal'. Let's look at the stories here today from the point of view of human nature.

Read this interesting story about an ordinary person. Make sure you know the vocabulary words that are given and answer the questions following your story.

When you have finished, you will have a chance to tell your stories, explain the vocabulary words, and talk about your human nature questions. Feel free to ask questions of other students at ESL Monkeys Student Forum.

OUR STORIES FROM THE BANGKOK POST

Vets warn bird owners against releasing their pets

Apichit Jinakul

A huge number of pet birds have become victims of avian flu phobia — not from culling but from hunger and shock, a veterinarian said yesterday.

Rattapan Pattanarangsan of Mahidol University urged bird owners not to let their winged pets go free as animals raised in captivity did not know how to find food and were not likely to survive.

"That would complicate the matter for it reduces a chance for veterinarians to verify and locate the disease," he said.

It would be better if owners keep and observe their winged pets and contact authorities if they noticed any irregular condition.

The birds, mostly budgerigars and parrots, were dying from shock and starvation, not from the effects of bird flu.

phobia: a strong unreasonable fear
cull: to kill a particular number of animals of a group for a reason
complicate: to make a situation more difficult
verify: to check that something is true or accurate

• Is it human nature to do something unreasonable because of fear?
• What would you do if you had a pet bird now?

Boy, 16, pulled from rubble

A 16-year-old boy was pulled alive yesterday from the wreckage of an 11-storey apartment building in the central Turkish city of Konya that collapsed five days ago, media reported.

The teen survived five days after being trapped in an air pocket between concrete blocks in the building's basement.

"I kept saying to myself, 'They're coming to save me.' I cried out non-stop. I heard their [the rescuers'] voices from afar, and they gradually came closer," Anatolia quoted him as saying.

Doctors attributed Kalem's survival to the fact he had been able to sleep, instead of constantly fighting exhaustion and shock.

``He stayed alive because he didn't use up too much energy. This is truly a miracle, since a human being can go without water for only four days,'' Dr Riza Saribabicci, said.

attribute to: to say or believe that something is the result of a particular thing

• Is it human nature to remain positive in potentially fatal (death causing) situations?
• Do you think you could remain as positive as Kalem? Does it help to know how he stayed alive?

The good thief

Berlin — A remorseful thief sent $600 (23,400 baht) worth of stolen goods to the police and asked they be returned to their rightful owners, German authorities said on Thursday.

Police in the southern town of Darmstadt said the thief sent them a letter signed " mea culpa ", listing the return address as Ehrlichstrasse (Honest street) in apologising for the theft of $608 worth of CDs, cosmetics and other goods. A police spokesman said the contrite perpetrator had supplied the addresses of the shops plundered and enclosed personal letters of apology to the respective managers. — Reuters

Remorseful/contrite: feeling very sorry for something bad that you have done
mea culpa: a formal admission that you are have done something wrong
perpetrator: a person who does something wrong or evil
plunder: to steal

• Is it human nature to feel guilty when you have done something wrong?
• Have you ever done something good to make up for doing a bad deed?

Kung Fu granny floors thief

He quickly found himself on the ground when she knocked the daylights out of him.

Noi was jobless, homeless and hungry — and looking for an easy prey.

He set his eyes on the purse carried by a helpless-seeming granny, Prapai Sroysing. Noi zeroed in and grabbed her purse. Mrs Prapai was taken aback but held on tight and began yelling for help. Then she grabbed the thief's shirt, pulled him forward and brought her knee up into his groin as hard as she could.

Noi fell on all fours, curling up in agony as granny Prapai delivered a further barrage of kicks and punches. She stopped only when Noi had gone helplessly quiet. Bystanders rushed in to carry her assailant to the nearby police station.

• Is it human nature to want to protect yourself?
• Do you think you could attack a thief who was trying to rob you?