Chapter 1: Critical Thinking (Brain Stimulants and Mental Push Ups)
Part 1: Developing a Thinking Mindset
I. Critical Thinking (Brain Stimulants and Mental Push Ups)
As you delve into this chapter, be prepared for your brain stimulants to be activated and be ready to do your mental push-ups! At its core, this chapter will help you to develop your critical-thinking skills to stimulate your thought processes and gauge your focus on the 12 passages carefully designed to challenge your mind through creative and imaginative story telling. Furthermore, the content presented in this chapter will help you to expand your ability to explore Bahamian text through sociocultural lenses. Doing so will help you to address and assess the very essence of your Bahamian heritage. The stories and conversation in this chapter are designed to enhance your intellectual capacity to evaluate the shared cultural connections deeply ingrained in the foundation of your Bahamian roots. More importantly, as you progress throughout this chapter, you will discover that every piece of writing will serve as a building block to maximize and strengthen your capacity to achieve the competence to think and to function critically while you read its content.
Chapter 1
The Race of a Lifetime Open matching workbook questions
Ready or not, here I come! My heart is racing and the blood is pumping through my veins. When I woke up this morning, I was never so excited to embrace today’s events. I quickly jumped out of bed, picked out some clothing, took a shower, and went down stairs to have breakfast. Breakfast consisted of, orange juice, toast bacon and eggs, cereal and fruit. As I devoured breakfast, I eagerly thought about the exciting time that awaited me and my friends at the Thomas A. Robinson Sporting Complex.
A few minutes after eating my breakfast the school bus arrived. I quickly picked up my Valley Boys Junkanoo themed backpack and darted for the bus. Everyone on board was so elated. Today was going to be a great day! I felt it in my bones! As we made our way to the Thomas A. Robinson Sports Centre we all laughed and talked with delight. Because the mood was so jovial, the ride to the sport center, felt like a breeze. Suddenly, the engine stopped, and the driver yelled, “it’s time to go win those races y’all.” I jumped off the bus and ran towards the complex.
Moments later, I was crouched at the starting line, waiting for the race to begin. “Take your marks, get set, go!” the announcer yelled. The sound of a loud bang rang in my ears. As I propelled from my starting position like a falling coconut from a coconut tree on a windy day, in pursuit of a 400 meter pay day. My rush of adrenaline carried me over the finish line in first place. although I twisted my ankle, while trying to break my speed to prevent myself, from knocking into hundreds of screaming fans, I achieve my goal of being a 400 meters champion.
Five Fingers Open matching workbook questions
I have five fingers on each hand. If I were to name each one, I would begin by naming each finger after the islands of The Bahamas. When considering how much I love my hometown, there would be no better fitting tribute for my appreciation. After all, how many people do you know would do this? Well, not many or maybe none at all. Being the true patriot that I am, Nassau and Grand Bahama would be the names given to both my thumbs.
The Bahamian Beggar Open matching workbook questions
His clothes were rather filthy, and His hair unkempt. From the looks of his appearance, he was homeless and hard hit by life’s misfortunes. Panhandling had become his lot in life. As I sat on my porch gazing at the beggar, my heart ached to reach out to him. Growing up in The Bahamas, my mother always taught me to never look down on anyone and to always be willing to help others in need. As I reflect on her words, I am moved to act accordingly.
Spare Change Open matching workbook questions
Isn’t it amazing how a small sum of change can excite a child? I remember those childhood days when my neighbours used to send me to the store in the Big Pond neighbourhood to run errands. Most of the time when I went to the store, Mr. jack, and Mrs. Jill would give me a tip. Sometimes I got 2 dollars, sometimes I got 1 dollar and sometimes I got 50 cents. No matter what they gave me, I was always happy. On a few occasions, I recall shopping for Uncle Bob and Aunty Loo. Whenever they sent me to the store, they always told me to keep the change. One time the change was, a whopping 5 dollars! Could you imagine my excitement? My piggybank and I were both very happy.
Footprints in the Snow Open matching workbook questions
While traversing the cold and snow ridden streets of New York, I noticed that people everywhere were leaving footprints in the snow. As a Bahamian, I had never before experienced this event, for life in the Bahamas is normally one of sunny days, rainy weather, liquid sunshine or humidity, especially during the summer months. Admittedly, I was both intrigued and fascinated by the moment of excitement. Needless to say, my desire to become a part of what seemed to be the norm caused me to begin acting and behaving just like everybody else. Could I be leaving footprints as well? As I walked along the snow-covered streets, I gazed down at my feet, and there they were, my very own footprints.
High School Dropouts Open matching workbook questions
Since the pandemic, the Bahamas as well as the rest of the world have been challenged to keep students in schools. This problem, however, is more prevalent among high school students. Unlike primary school students, many seniors are left unmonitored or unsupervised, causing them to become delinquent. Of course, this problem is nothing new, but I feel that it has now reached crisis point. Everyday evidence of my observations are seen as students from all schools in different neighborhoods hanging about in the streets, playing games, drinking, smoking, and getting themselves into trouble. If something isn’t done to address this problem soon, our future generation of educated young leaders will be lost.
Burning Bridges Open matching workbook questions
It was not so long ago when Kim lost her job during the pandemic. As a result, she also lost her home, her car and a little money she had left in her bank account. When John learned about her misfortunes, he quickly came to her aid. He allowed her to stay in his home, made his car available for her use and provided her with financial support needed to survive. One day, John came home and found Kim going through his private items. Being caught by surprise, Kim dropped the papers she was reading. She quickly closed the volt and shut John a frightening gaze. "Why are you violating my privacy?" John aske! I don't appreciate you looking through my stuff. After all I’ve done to help you, this is how you repay me? Truthfully, I won't be able to trust you anymore. You have broken my trust.
Uneaten Breakfast Open matching workbook questions
In my haste to get to work this morning, I left home, inadvertently forgetting to turn off the stove in the kitchen. It was not until I was more than 30 minutes away from my home, I realized that something was wrong. I had forgotten to eat breakfast. After all, it was still on the stove being cooked. What a disaster it would be if a fire started in my home due to my forgetfulness.
Bruised and Battered Open matching workbook questions
My family and I live on a two-way Street in Yellow Elder Gardens called Graham drive. Our neighbors Jessica and John live next door. They often say their love for one another is true; however their actions are contrary to their verbal expressions. Every weekend, Jessica and John find themselves in very intense arguments. When the dust clears, Jessica is left in a trail of blood-her eyes black and blue-her face covered with bruises and blotches from the pounding of John’s fist. Every time I see her my poor heart bleeds with sorrow.
Missing Keys Open matching workbook questions
Realizing that I was already late for work, I picked up my lunch bag, locked the door, and hurried outside to my car. Reaching for my car keys, I discovered that they were nowhere to be found. I quickly scanned my Surroundings to make sure that my keys didn’t drop anywhere. After retracing my steps, the problem still remained, no keys. I started to worry, then, it donned on me, that the keys to my car were left on the kitchen table, and no one was home to let me inside the house. This was one morning, I couldn’t be late. I had a crucial meeting with some out-of-town clients to close a very important business deal that I had been working on for months.
Breaking the Rules Open matching workbook questions
Throughout the streets of Nassau, there is constantly movement of cars, trucks, and other vehicles. All day long, if you pay attention, you can hear the sounds of horns, loud engines, and the screeching of breaks. Yesterday, while driving with my father along East Street, I noticed a blue van driving behind us. At first glance, the vehicle appeared to be carrying the right amount of passengers. However, when I looked again for confirmation, I realized that the passengers in the vehicle exceeded its seating capacity.
As we waited for the light to turn green, the vehicle behind us swerved sharply and lunged forward in an attempt to overtake our vehicle. Moments later, the vehicle lost control and slammed into a nearby 10-foot wall. Realizing that the passengers in the vehicle could be terribly injured, I quickly removed my phone from my pocket and dialed 911. About 10 minutes later, I heard the sound of emergency vehicles approaching. Upon arriving at the scene, emergency and rescue personnel had to use the Jaws of Life to extricate the injured men and women from the overturned vehicle. What was so sad about the accident, several bottles of alcohol were found in the vehicle, and its driver was drunk.
The Battle Ground Open matching workbook questions
Many years ago, Nassau used to be a peaceful place. Bahamians went to bed with their windows and doors open. Our children played outdoors in a safe and loving environment. As parents, we always felt assured that our children would come to no harm because our neighborhoods were filled with people who really cared. Unfortunately, those good old days are now gone. We have become prisoners in our own homes, and the feeling of security has left us dangling like a kite in the wind. To make matters worse, our children are no longer safe to roam freely in their own neighborhoods. Sadly, blood and gang violence now permeate our streets, leaving many of our young children covered in pools of blood as the battle for the supremacy of well-known territories rages on.
Part 2: Breaking Down and Explaining Text
II. Finding The Main Idea (Evidence, Tracks and Trails)
An essential component to finding the main idea in text is the ability to take it apart. By doing this, you, the reader, are able to examine its different aspects more closely to better get the gist of the material. As you perform this task, it is important that you look for key pieces of evidence that address the over-all theme and central idea relevant to the subject matter. These pieces of evidence are known as the evidence, tracks and trails of the content. Like an investigator looking for clues at a crime scene, your task will be to uncover the clues in the text this will help you to arrive at the most logical conclusions to help you to make sense of what you read. If you follow this process during your examination of the ensuing 14 passages that have been designed to help you to develop this skill, you will discover that the challenge of finding the main idea will no doubt be a breeze. Furthermore, you will become more competent at explaining content you read.