Who Would You Choose and Why?

I teach a conversational English class here in Novosibirsk at the institute I work for. Today, we participated in a little activity to both test their English and their critical thinking skills. As you read through it, you decide who you would choose. Might be interesting to see if twenty somethings here in Russia have the same opinion as....whoever reads this blog.

Here is the way it went.

Who to Choose?

An asteroid is heading toward earth. It will strike the earth and destroy everyone on the earth in 24 hours. A special space capsule for two people has been designed by world leaders to take two people to a special new planet which can sustain human life. They will need to prepare their own home there, find food, and deal with the natural elements of weather, animals, etc. Their goal is to start the human race all over again. You must choose two people, a man and a woman, to begin the human race all over again. Here are the people:

A young girl who is pregnant, 16 years old and lives in an asylum. She has no knowledge of her parents, brothers or sisters. She is all alone in this world. She is Russian and her name is Masha.

A woman, 42 years old, who plays guitar, piano and cello. She is not Russian. She is Argentinean. She has a non-hereditary disease that is causing her to lose her eyesight. When she was a university student, she was chosen to be a cosmonaut in the Argentinean Space Program. She dropped out of this program after 4 years. Her name is Kim.

A woman, 32 years old, who is a house keeper, is in perfect health and has two young children she loves very much. She has no husband as he died in a car wreck last year. She speaks only a tribal Nigerian dialect. She is from Nigeria and her name is Lucy.

A man, 59 years old, who is a very talented surgeon. He has saved many people in his life. He is married to a woman and they have 3 children and 5 grandchildren. He is Russian and his name is Alex.

A man, 36 years old, who has an illness that has not been diagnosed. It makes him very, very weak physically and it gets worse month after month. Mentally, his health is perfect. He speaks 4 languages. He is American and his name is Gerry.

A man, 19 years old, has no education, is an orphan, is very strong physically and accustomed to living alone in the mountains and finding food for himself. He has no health problems at all. He does not know how to read or write. He is not Russian. He is Kenyan and his name is Oday.

Based on this information, choose two people (a man and a woman) who will start the new human civilization all over again. After you have chosen two people, be ready to report your decision to the larger group.

Hint: Be sure to consider issues of age, health, education, existing family, race, ethnicity, experience, etc.