Profession

A profession is an occupation that requires extensive training and the study and mastery of specialized knowledge, and usually has a professional association, ethical code and process of certification or licensing. Examples are law, medicine, finance, the military, nursing, the clergy and engineering.

Classically, there were only four professions: the church, the military, medicine, and law. All these held a specific code of ethics, and members were almost universally required to swear some form of oath to uphold those ethics. Each ____________also provided and required extensive training in the meaning, value and importance of that oath in the practice of the profession.

Sociologists have been known to define ­________________ as self-defined power elitism or as organised exclusivity along guild lines, much in the sense that George Bernard Shaw characterised all professions as "conspiracies against the laity". Sociological definitions of _______________involving checklists of perceived or claimed characteristics (altruism, self-governance, esoteric knowledge, special skills, ethical behavior, etc.) became less fashionable in the late 20th century.

A member of a profession is termed a professional. However, __________is also used for the acceptance of payment for an activity, in contrast to amateur. A professional sportsperson, for example, is one who receives payment for participating in sport, but sport is not generally considered a profession.

Task 10. Make up sentences according to the example.

Example: Graduate from the University - you will get a diploma. – If you don’t graduate from the University, you won’t get a diploma.

Get a diploma - you will find a job.

Practise your skills - you will become a professional.

A doctor gets a medicine license - he will be able to practise.

People of many professions get accreditations - they will not be forbidden to work by law.

Task 11. Read the text and answer the question Why do people work? Find as many reasons as possible (your ideas are welcome).

Why do people work?

So, in our society, is MONEY the NUMBER ONE reason for working ! ! ! ???A lot of people might agree with this statement, but is money the main reason why so many people spend so much of their time working? Surely does work give us other things as well as money? Go back to your farm for a second . . . and think of all the things you would have to do for yourself. What would happen if, for example, you weren't able to repair your hand-plough if it broke down? Now, some other farmers probably discovered that they were particularly good at repairing broken down ploughs, and when everyone found this out, they all would ask this farmer to repair theirs. Soon a thriving business had been set up-ploughs repaired in exchange for corn, or milk or rugs or any other thing the repairer needed. Pretty soon, other people began specialising in all sorts of things, and they didn't have to worry about doing everything for themselves, as they were able to trade their special skills for the things they wanted. So, the main reason why "work'' exists today is since we cannot possibly do everything for ourselves, we get other people to do things for us, and pay them for their work. In order to do that, we must also do things for other people so that we can earn money. Think of everything you do-all of it costs money. Electricity isn't free, nor is water, food, housing, clothing, etc. So, we appear to be back at the point again where money is still the MAIN REASON for working, but now probably not in the original way you were thinking. In fact, although money might appear to be the main reason for working, it isn't always the main "thing" people get from their job. In fact, many people stay in low paid jobs because they get a lot of personal satisfaction from other aspects of those jobs.

Task 12. Divide the reasons into the suggested categories.

Skills, knowledge	Satisfaction	Character of a person	Freedom at work	Chance of promotion	Social security	Your life style	Feeling of power

WORK:

1. lets me use my special abilities, skills and knowledge

2. makes me feel that I'm doing something useful

3. keeps me busy and helps fill in time

4. lets me be creative

5. involves doing a variety of tasks

6. allows me to meet a lot of people

7. lets me experience new things and learn more

8. lets me see something for my efforts

9. allows me to be responsible

10. gives me power/influence over others

11. provides opportunities to make friends

12. lets me help people

13. provides money

14. allows me to be with others

15. provides physical activity for me

16. allows me to contribute to the community

17. lets me control my own time

18. allows me to satisfy my other needs

19. offers me chances for improvement and/or promotion

20. allows me to be known and liked by many people