Problem You’re watching your little cousins play, making sure they don’t get into too much trouble. Nikki, a feisty six-year-old, cries out, “The floor is lava!” and scrambles ont...

Background You’re writing a short story for a class assignment. You switch drafts with your classmate Robert and proofread each other’s work. Upon returning your pages, Robert rem...

Background Your friend Jamie expresses distaste for another fellow student, Alex. When you suggest that this might be the result of a simple misunderstanding, Jamie indignantly re...

Introduction Isao wants to convince his coworker Tazuki that their company needs to focus on reorganizing their marketing sector. Their ads are played at terrible hours, the graph...

Background You’re walking home from school when you hear two people having an argument. It seems to be a very heated debate over the existence of God. Not wanting to get caught up...

Have You Ever? Have you ever gotten something just because it was new? Maybe you were one of hundreds of people who waited in line for the latest smartphone release despite alread...

Introduction A group of parents are watching their children play ball. One little boy however manages to hit the window of the mayor’s office, completely breaking the glass. The b...

Background You’re having an argument with your classmate Yumi over who gets to play with the basketball during recess. Yumi insists that she should get to play with it for the who...