Tipping Etiquette, Stone Age Childcare, Uluru & Cultural Insights

Posted on Feb 18, 2026 in English

Tipping Is More Confusing Than Ever — How to Handle It

  1. When and how did the practice of tipping start in America? The practice of tipping began in America after the Civil War. It was brought by travelers and by people who paid formerly enslaved Black workers, many of whom worked for a pittance as porters for the Pullman Company.

  2. “Since the early days of the United States, people have routinely added a small bonus to their payments.” Americans have been leaving a small extra amount with the bill for almost as long as the country has existed.

  3. Explain the tip credit system that was created in the 1960s in your own words. The tip-credit system allowed businesses to pay employees a lower base wage on the assumption that customer tips would raise the workers’ total pay to the legal minimum or higher.

  4. Why are tips believed to be expected in more places now? Tips are expected in more places partly because of the digital era: pressing “No” on a digital tipping screen can feel ruder than simply not leaving any cash in a jar.

  5. “People’s tips might depend on how they look rather than the quality of their service.” Tips that workers receive can sometimes be influenced by a customer’s perception of the worker’s appearance rather than by the actual quality of service provided.

  6. Explain in your own words the second factor customers should consider when deciding whether to tip or not. The second factor to consider is whether the service you received is of sufficient quality or value relative to the money the worker is earning: in other words, did the level of service justify a tip?

Stone Age Babies Had Better Parenting Than Today

  1. Explain one fact that led evolutionary anthropologists to conclude that our Stone Age ancestors gave children better childcare than we do today. One key observation is that children were continuously looked after by many people, not just by their parents; babies received steady attention and comfort rather than being left alone for long periods.

  2. How did the researchers collect data on the childcare practices of the Mbendjele BaYaka? The researchers lived with the Mbendjele BaYaka community for several months and directly observed children during the day, carefully noting who cared for them and how frequently that care occurred.

  3. Why might older children and teens in the Mbendjele BaYaka community feel less anxious about parenting, according to the text? Because they regularly help care for younger children, they gain parenting experience early, which makes them more confident and less worried about becoming parents later in life.

  4. In what sense do parenting manuals contribute to high-quality child support being limited in Western countries? Many parenting manuals encourage practices that leave babies alone for long stretches, which reduces close contact and limits the amount of direct care and emotional support children receive.

  5. Rewrite the following sentence from the text in your own words: The study points out that in Stone Age communities, mothers were given more opportunities to rest and recover.

  6. Find a sentence in the text that means what has been paraphrased below: The study’s authors say that these findings suggest that modern parenting methods may be at odds with children’s evolutionarily programmed needs.

Uluru: Heart and Spirit of Australia

  1. It holds

  2. They think

  3. Through the erosion

  4. The sandstone oxidizes

  5. December to February

  6. Drinking water and using

  7. Insights into Anangu

  8. The many caves

30 by 30 Conservation Targets

  1. The changes in marine

  2. Large-scale exploitation

  3. Request a marine reserve

  4. Land animals’

  5. Their naturalness

  6. All three objectives

  7. Requires international

  8. Optimistic and hopeful

Michael Smith — Michelin Star Chef from Scotland

  1. Three witches

  2. In his hometown

  3. Yes, he spent four years

  4. Shirley Spear offered Smith

  5. Eleven years

  6. Yes, because he was happy

  7. She thinks it is appreciated

  8. He likes to cook and dreams of a Michelin star

Making Music After Brain Surgery

  1. Had a turning point

  2. Briefly after she

  3. It was a chat name

  4. No, because it represents

  5. She learned it through

  6. She mainly uses

  7. Because the sounds give

  8. She values music to

K-pop: More Than a Music Style

  1. Its fans prefer K-pop concerts

  2. K-pop substitutes

  3. After watching some

  4. All statements

  5. K-pop draws attention

  6. Asian artists are popular

  7. Work extremely hard and under a lot of pressure

  8. The maximum amount they can legally earn