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9 Complaints, Complaints 9 Reading Before Reading 1. Have you ever heard of Murphy's Law? Find out if any of your classmates know about it. 2. Read the article and underline all the sentences that talk about something that went wrong. 3. Write a sentence to state what the writer is trying to say. رابط الدرس الرقمي www.ien.edu.sa MURPHY'S LAW You invite your friends over to watch a final football match on TV. There are plenty of juices in the refrigerator, you have bowls filled with your favorite snacks on the table, and you are all set to watch the big match. You turn on the TV set, and all you get are fuzzy images on the screen. Could this be Murphy's Law at work? Murphy's Law states: If anything can go wrong, it might go wrong! Similar situations occur all the time. When you're in a hurry to open the door and you try several keys on the key ring, the last remaining key is usually the one that works. When you're late meeting your friends and they're all waiting for you at the mall, all the traffic lights are red. When you get in a line at the supermarket, you find you've chosen the slowest one, and it just doesn't move. Is this bad luck or coincidence? According to British physicist Robert Matthews, it's neither one nor the other. He explains that our selective memories tend to remember the bad episodes more readily than the things that usually work out. Also, the law of probability is more against us than in our favor in many situations. For example, in the supermarket with five cashiers, the chances of getting the fastest lane are 20 percent, and 80 percent for a slower lane. Matthews became a popular scientist when he proved that a piece of toast doesn't necessarily fall on the floor on the buttered side. BBC Television gathered 300 people to throw pieces of buttered toast up in the air and observe on which side they fell. Half fell on the buttered side, and half didn't. Just remember that you cannot blame Murphy's Law for everything that goes wrong. If the hot water runs out while you're taking a shower, it's probably because the hot water heater needs to be fixed. If you miss the bus and are late getting to school, it's probably because you didn't wake up early enough. And if you lose all your files on the computer, let's be honest— it's your fault for not having a backup of your files. ་་ وز144عليم Ministry of Education 2024-1446 MG_01_COMBO_TEXT_2024.indb 144 30/4/24 2:03 AM

Have you ever heard of Murphy's Law? Find out if any of your classmates know about t

وزارة التعليم Captain Edward A. Murphy Captain Edward A. Murphy, Jr., was an engineer at Edwards Air Force Base in the United States. In 1949, he was working on a machine to measure the heartbeat and breathing of pilots. But something was malfunctioning in the equipment as the result of human error. Murphy blamed the lab technician and said, “If there is any way to do it wrong, he will." One person's failure can bring a whole project crashing down. And Murphy's view was that some failure or something negative will typically happen. Murphy's phrase became popular in all areas to explain the failures of everyday things. After Reading Answer the questions about the reading. 1. What does the example of the final football match illustrate? 2. What does Murphy's Law state? 3. According to Robert Matthews, how does the law of probability work against us in the supermarket line? 4. Why did Matthews do the buttered bread experiment? What did it show? Discussion 1. Give examples of Murphy's Law using your own experience. 2. Do you believe in Murphy's Law? Why, or why not? Ministry of Education 2024-1446 MG_01_COMBO_TEXT_2024.indb 145 wwwww 145 30/4/24 2:03 AM

Captain Edward A. Murphy

Answer the questions about the reading. 1. What does the example of the final football match illustrate?

Give examples of Murphy's Law using your own experience.