Short Takes - Playing House

1.      The question in the first paragraph is “Do the chances of a successful marriage improve by cohabiting?” Leight’s answer to this question is “Not necessarily true”

2.      The characteristics of a cohabiting couple and a married couple are very different. Cohabiting couples lack both specialization as well as commitment in their relationship. They generally live more financially and emotionally independent of one another to allow themselves the freedom to leave. On the contrary, married couples pool their money, time, and other resources, creating a higher quality lifestyle.

3.      Leight thought that cohabiting does not necessarily lead to a successful marriage or a tragic end of a relationship. In the last paragraph, Leight said “If a couple wishes to have a successful marriage, they should show their commitment to each other from the beginning. If they trust each other enough not to cohabit before marriage, their marriage already has a higher probability of success.”

4.      I think it is very sufficient, because those references did support what the writer said in this essay and her ideas about cohabiting.

5.      I haven’t thought of any loopholes yet.   

Short Takes - Living on Tokyo Time

1.      The examples that Butler gave are very effective to support her statement. Butler said that Japanese people are unbelievably busy by saying they work ten hours a day, and often come in even on days off. Also, the Japanese rarely take a vacation of more than three of four days. A straight week is a hedonistic luxury. Students in Japan have less than a month for summer vacation, and they have all kinds of assignments to do.

2.      Butler raised a question that why doesn’t this cradle-grave, manic scheduling bother the Japanese people. The answer to this question is that the Japanese people grow up with a sense of time as a communal resource, like the company motor pool.

3.      The Japanese attitude toward time is that time is a communal resource, like the company motor pool. However, the American toward time is that time belongs to individuals.

4.      I think Butler prefers the Japanese attitude. Because in the last paragraph she said all the convenience of life and the richness of culture are invaluable that she would not trade for a lifetime of free hours.

5.      She pointed out that most of the Americans take it for granted that their spare hours are none of their teachers’ or bosses’ business.