Check the meaning of the words in the box. Then read and complete the text.
consequences – deceived – envious – identities – reward – trust – unfair |
A moral dilemma
Life is full of decisions, but some are more difficult than others. Sometimes we have to make a decision where every option seems like a bad one, and those are the most difficult of all.
Marc and his sister Jasmine had important exams at school recently. Marc studied hard, but he found the exams difficult and his results were poor. However, Jasmine’s results were much better. Her parents were delighted and bought her a new computer as a (1) _____. Marc was a bit (2) _____ – he’d worked hard, too – but he was pleased for his sister. However, a few weeks later, Jasmine admitted to Marc that she had cheated in the exams. She made him promise not to say anything. Marc was shocked and angry that Jasmine had (3) _____ everyone, particularly their parents. However, he knew that Jasmine would hate him if he broke his promise. In the end, although he felt that it was completely (4) _____, he decided to keep quiet.
In situations like this, the action that a person takes will depend on their moral values. These are the principles that make us decide what are the right and wrong things to do. In the same way that people have different appearances and personalities, we have different moral (5) _____. A value that is extremely important to one person, such as honesty, might not be as important to another person. In Marc’s situation, he faced a moral dilemma, but his moral values helped him to make a decision. He strongly wanted Jasmine to face the (6) _____
of her actions, but he felt that breaking his sister’s (7) _____ would be even worse. Jasmine was lucky – other people might feel that uncovering her dishonesty was the most important thing.
