‫الموضوع اﻷول‬

Nepotism is defined as individuals showing favoritism to the family members and friends by providing them with
jobs or giving them promotions based on their relationships, not competence. Many employees regard nepotism
as an unfair workplace practice.
Nepotism could result in a lawsuit if an employee has proof that a company is using unfair hiring practices.
Also, there could be a legal risk if employers or managers show favoritism when it comes to salary, benefits and
promotions towards their family members and friends, neglecting the needs of their other employees.
When nepotism has a negative effect on a workplace, employee morale will decrease. Employees may feel
unappreciated, and as a result, they may lose their motivation to achieve their goals and accomplish their daily
tasks. When managers or business owners have a pre-existing relationship with an employee, they often get
accused of favoritism. For example, managers and business owners may be more lax when it comes to company
rules and regulations or they may promote employees because of relationship, instead of merit.
When employees are hired at a company because of nepotism, other employees may question whether the
family members or friends have the necessary knowledge and skills to perform their jobs. If employees question
their abilities to do their jobs, they may show them less respect, ignore their ideas and instructions or comment
to the employees that they were only hired because of their relationships with the business owner. Getting shown
little-to-no respect can cause conflicts between employees hired because of nepotism.
(Adapted from: http://www.ehow.com/info_12115748_consequences-nepotism.html)

A/ COMPREHENSION
1. Choose the general idea of the text.
a. Giving fair advantages to family and friends if you are in a position of power.
b. The advantages of being completely honest with employees.
c. The consequences of the act of treating one person better than others.

2. Are these statements true or false? Write T or F next to the letter corresponding to the statement.
a. Nepotism is giving individuals jobs and promotions based on competence and merit.
b. Lawsuit is one of the results of showing favoritism towards family members or friends.
c. Due to nepotism, company rules and regulations are not equally applied over workers.
d. Hiring workers that is based on relationships may lead to conflicts between employees.

3. Answer the following questions according to the text.

a. What would happen if a company used unfair hiring practices?
b. How do employees lose their motivation?
c. Why do employees show less or no respect to those hired due to their relationships?

4. In which paragraph is it mentioned that employers may not be strict or severe enough with some
employees?

5. Who or what do the underlined words refer to in the text?

a. unfair workplace practice (§1) b. their (§2) c. they (§3) d. them (§4)
B / TEXT EXPLORATION
1. Find in the text words closest in meaning to the following.
a. occupations (§1) b. corporate (§2) c. purposes (§3) d. employed (§4)

2. Which nouns can be derived from the following?

a.legal b. negative c. know d. perform
3. Join each pair of sentences using one of the following link words.
as long as – so/such … that – although
a. The company is using unfair hiring practices. The manager wasn’t accused of favoritism.
b. Employees morale will not decrease. Giving jobs and promotions will be based on merit.
c. Business owners are corrupt. They hire only their family members.
4. Classify the following words according to their stressed syllable.
Provide – promotion – salary – beneficial –individual – ramification
1st stressed syllable 2nd stressed syllable 3rd stressed syllable 4th stressed syllable

5. Match statements from column A with statements from column B.

A B
1. When a person is in a position of power, a. because they are gained illegally.
2. Ill-gotten profits never prosper b. as long as they are well-treated.
3. Managers like some employees better than others c. he gives advantages to his own family.
4. Employees will not complain d. as a result, they increase their salaries.

Part two: Written Expression

Choose one of the following topics.
Topic1: Nowadays we see that nepotism has turned into a social disease. We see that the majority of public
services are polluted by nepotism from top to bottom. Use the following notes to explain how nepotism spread
in a society and affects its development.
 Being appointed to an important and powerful position
 Giving priority to relatives and friends while appointing new applicants
 Discouraging and frustrating competent and qualified candidates
 Creating different kinds of corruption to make appointments
 Nepotism being as an obstacle to the overall development of a country

Topic2: You went on an interview for a job that was already filled by one of the boss relatives. Tell us the story
in less than 120 words.