Question

activities outside of school can also give you information about your abilities. for example, if you play a sport, you might learn whether you are a good leader. do you want to be the captain of the team? do you enjoy leading or being in charge of others? feedback from others can be helpful. they can give you specific information on how well you are performing a task. you can also find out if you need to work on certain skills in order to get better at them.

lesson 2 review write your answers to these questions on a sheet of paper.

1. what is an ability?
2. what are your four strongest abilities?
3. how can your self-confidence affect your abilities?
4. what school subjects, out-of-school activities, part-time work, or volunteer activities can help you improve in an ability area? have you done any of these yet?

the economy
a current issue related to the u.s. economy is offshore outsourcing. in offshore outsourcing, american companies give work to employees in other countries. they hire the employees to do some specific jobs. for example, a computer company may hire workers in india. they pay the employees to help customers who call the company. the american companies save money because employees in india will work for less. but the american companies lay off the american workers who had done the job. some people feel that this type of outsourcing leads to more unemployment for americans. others believe that it helps american companies make more money. they say that strong companies help the american economy. lawmakers are currently debating the issue of offshore outsourcing.

Explanation:

1. An ability is a natural or learned skill to complete tasks well.
2. (Personal example) My four strongest abilities are: clear verbal communication, collaborative teamwork, critical thinking for problem-solving, and attention to detail for precise work.
3. High self-confidence lets you take on challenges to practice abilities, while low self-confidence may make you avoid opportunities to grow them.
4. (Personal example) To improve communication abilities, I can join school debate club, do volunteer event coordination, or take a part-time customer service job. I have done volunteer event coordination before.

Answer:

1. An ability is a capacity (natural or developed) to perform a task or activity effectively.
2. (Sample personal answer) Verbal communication, collaborative teamwork, critical problem-solving, and detail-oriented task completion.
3. High self-confidence can motivate you to take on challenges that let you practice and strengthen your abilities, while low self-confidence may hold you back from opportunities to develop or use your abilities to their full potential.
4. (Sample personal answer) To improve public speaking ability: school speech and debate club, volunteer emcee work, part-time retail customer service. I have participated in the school speech and debate club.