PASSAGE 1: NURTURING TALENT WITHIN THE FAMILY

What do we mean by being ‘talented’ or ‘gifted’? The most obvious way is to

look at the work someone does and if they are capable of significant success,
label them as talented. The purely quantitative route - ‘percentage
definition’ - looks not at individuals, but at simple percentages, such as the
top five per cent of the population, and labels them - by definition - as gifted.
This definition has fallen from favour, eclipsed by the advent of IQ tests,
favoured by luminaries such as Professor Hans Eysenck, where a series of
written or verbal tests of general intelligence leads to a score of intelligence.
The IQ test has been eclipsed in turn. Most people studying intelligence and
creativity in the new millennium now prefer a broader definition, using a
multifaceted approach where talents in many areas are recognised rather
than purely concentrating on academic achievement. If we are therefore
assuming that talented, creative or gifted individuals may need to be
assessed across a range of abilities, does this mean intelligence can run in
families as a genetic or inherited tendency? Mental dysfunction - such as
schizophrenia - can, so is an efficient mental capacity passed on from parent
to child?
Animal experiments throw some light on this question, and on the whole
area of whether it is genetics, the environment or a combination of the two
that allows for intelligence and creative ability. Different strains of rats show
great differences in intelligence or ‘rat reasoning’. If these are brought up in
normal conditions and then mn through a maze to reach a food goal, the
‘bright’ strain make far fewer wrong turns that the ‘dull’ ones. But if the
environment is made dull and boring the number of errors becomes equal.
Return the rats to an exciting maze and the discrepancy returns as before -
but is much smaller. In other words, a dull rat in a stimulating environment
will almost do as well as a bright rat who is bored in a normal one. This
principle applies to humans too - someone may be born with innate
intelligence, but their environment probably has the final say over whether
they become creative or even a genius.
Evidence now exists that most young children, if given enough opportunities
and encouragement, are able to achieve significant and sustainable levels of
academic or sporting prowess. Bright or creative children are often
physically very active at the same time, and so may receive more parental
attention as a result - almost by default - in order to ensure their safety.
They may also talk earlier, and this, in turn, breeds parental interest. This
can sometimes cause problems with other siblings who may feel jealous
even though they themselves may be bright. Their creative talents may be
undervalued and so never come to fruition. Two themes seem to run
through famously creative families as a result. The first is that the parents
were able to identify the talents of each child, and nurture and encourage
these accordingly but in an even-handed manner. Individual differences
were encouraged, and friendly sibling rivalry was not seen as a particular
problem. If the father is, say, a famous actor, there is no undue pressure for
his children to follow him onto the boards, but instead their chosen interests
are encouraged. There need not even by any obvious talent in such a family
since there always needs to be someone who sets the family career in
motion, as in the case of the Sheen acting dynasty.
Martin Sheen was the seventh of ten children born to a Spanish immigrant
father and an Irish mother. Despite intense parental disapproval he turned
his back on entrance exams to university and borrowed cash from a local
priest to start a fledgling acting career. His acting successes in films such as
Badlands and Apocalypse Now made him one of the most highly-regarded
actors of the 1970s. Three sons - Emilio Estevez, Ramon Estevez and Charlie
Sheen - have followed him into the profession as a consequence of being
inspired by his motivation and enthusiasm.
A stream seems to run through creative families. Such children are not
necessarily smothered with love by their parents. They feel loved and
wanted, and are secure in their home, but are often more surrounded by an
atmosphere of work and where following a calling appears to be important.
They may see from their parents that it takes time and dedication to be
master of a craft, and so are in less of a hurry to achieve for themselves once
they start to work.
The generation of creativity is complex: it is a mixture of genetics, the
environment, parental teaching and luck that determines how successful or
talented family members are. This last point - luck - is often not mentioned
where talent is concerned but plays an undoubted part. Mozart, considered
by many to be the finest composer of all time, was lucky to be living in an
age that encouraged the writing of music. He was brought up surrounded by
it, his father was a musician who encouraged him to the point of giving up
his job to promote his child genius, and he learnt musical composition with
frightening speed - the speed of a genius. Mozart himself simply wanted to
create the finest music ever written but did not necessarily view himself as a
genius - he could write sublime music at will, and so often preferred to lead
a hedonistic lifestyle that he found more exciting than writing music to
order.
Albert Einstein and Bill Gates are two more examples of people whose
talents have blossomed by virtue of the times they were living in. Einstein
was a solitary, somewhat slow child who had affection at home but whose
phenomenal intelligence emerged without any obvious parental input. This
may have been partly due to the fact that at the start of the 20th Century a
lot of the Newtonian laws of physics were being questioned, leaving a fertile
ground for ideas such as his to be developed. Bill Gates may have had the
creative vision to develop Microsoft, but without the new computer age
dawning at the same time he may never have achieved the position on the
world stage he now occupies.
 PASSAGE 2: ALL THE WAYS WOMEN ARE STILL PRESSURED TO PUT
FAMILY BEFORE CAREER

(A) There’s no denying that women around the world have made great
strides toward equality in the past century. One hundred years ago, women
in the United States still didn’t have the right to vote, and very few were
allowed to pursue higher education or a meaningful career outside of their
household duties. Fast forward to today, and more than 70 percent of
women between the ages of 20 and 54 are active members of the national
workforce. On top of this, 2015 marked the first year when women were, on
average, more likely to have a bachelor’s degree than men, and this trend is
on the rise.

(B) But despite all this newfound opportunity, the prevailing societal
attitudes about what women are historically supposed to value still have a
long way to go. That’s why we’ve partnered with SK-II to learn more about
all of the ways women are still pressured to stick to outdated gender norms.
“Women have won unprecedented rights thanks to the feminist movement,
but as a society, we still expect women to prioritize family over career, or
even over their own needs,” says Silvia Dutchevici, president and founder of
the Critical Therapy Center in New York City. Dutchevici says many women
feel pressure to “have it all,” meaning both a thriving career and the perfect
family, but that can be very difficult to achieve.

(C) “Most women try to balance work and family,” Dutchevici says, “but that
balance is seldom equal.” In fact, she says working mothers ― even those
with partners ― often find themselves essentially working two full-time
jobs: keeping their career together while doing the brunt of housework,
cooking and child-rearing. This happens for a variety of reasons, but societal
expectations about the roles of women and men at home are still very much
to blame, says Tamra Lashchyk, a Wall Street executive, business coach and
author of the book “Lose the Gum: A Survival Guide to Women on Wall
Street.”
(D) “No matter how successful she is, the burden of running a household
still falls on the woman’s shoulders,” Lashchyk says. “Men get more of a pass
when it comes to these duties, especially those that involve children.”
Lashchyk says much of this pressure on women to conform to a more
domestic lifestyle comes from friends and family.

(E) “In many people’s minds, a woman’s career success pales in comparison
to having a family,” she says. “Especially if the woman is single, no matter
how great her professional achievements, almost every single one of her
conversations with her family will include questions about her romantic life
or lack thereof. I could literally tell my family I’d cured cancer and the
conversation would still end with, ‘But are you dating anyone?’” While
covert societal expectations might contribute to some of this inequality,
workplace policies on maternity and paternity leave can hold a lot of the
blame.

(F) “Unfortunately, many workplace policies regarding taking time off to

care for family do not the changing times,” Dutchevici says. “Both men and
women suffer in their careers when they prioritize family, but women carry
far harsher punishments. Their choice to take time off and start a family can
result in lower pay, and fewer promotions in the future. The right to family
leave is not a woman’s issue, it is a society’s issue, a family’s issue.” Lashchyk
agrees with this sentiment. “There should be more flexibility and benefits [in
the workplace], like longer periods of time for paternity leave….If paternity
leave was extended, men could share a greater responsibility in child care,
and they could also spend more time bonding with their infant children,
which is beneficial for the entire family.

(G) Another less visible way the modern workplace forces women to choose
family over career has to do with the fact that women are pushing back
pregnancy, says Jeni Mayorskaya, a fertility expert and CEO of Stork Club, an
online community for women dedicated to fertility issues. “Compared to our
parents, our generation is having children a decade later,” Mayorskaya says.
“Unfortunately, when we hit our mid-30s and we’re finally ready for that
managing position or that title of a partner at a firm we fought so hard for,
we have to think about putting our career on pause and becoming a mom.”

(H) So what can women do to combat these societal pressures? Finding

workplaces that offer flexible schedules, work-at-home opportunities and
ample maternity and paternity leave is a good first step, but Dr. Neeta
Bhushan, an emotional intelligence advocate and author, says women
should also learn to put themselves first. “The first step is being mindful of
your emotional health in your relationships with others and the relationship
you have with yourself,“ Bhushan says. “When you put yourself first, you are
able to make a bigger impact on your community. This is different than
being selfish ― think beyond you. You want to make sure that you are being
taken care of so that you can take care of others.”
PASSAGE 3:THE FAMILY OF GERMANICUS
Germanicus is not a name that many people are familiar with today, but the
man and his family are central figures in the story of one of the most
colourful imperial dynasties the world has ever known – the Julio-Claudians.
The Julio-Claudians get their name from two families of the old Roman
republic. Both families were old. The Julians had an impeccable aristocratic
pedigree, while the Claudians were one of the most politically powerful
families in the state. The two were thrown together into an alliance during
the troubles which gripped Rome during the fall of the Republic.
Julius Caesar, the most famous member of the Julian family, led his legions in
the conquest of Rome. Though Caesar was a great general, he lacked the
political skills to control the Roman Senate and Caesar was killed by the
senators during one of their meetings. Another round of civil wars followed,
and Caesar’s great-nephew, Augustus, became the ruler of Rome.
In contrast to Caesar, Augustus was a superb, uncompromising and ruthless
politician. Early in his career, he realized that his family could not rule alone,
and he allied himself with the Claudians by marrying a woman called Livia
Drusilla. Livia was not only a Claudian herself, but the former wife of
another Claudian. She had two children by her first marriage, Tiberius and
Drusus.
When he grew up, Drusus married Antonia, the daughter of Mark Antony.
They had two children, one called Claudius and the other named Tiberius
after his uncle and grandfather (Tiberius was a common Roman name, and
often used for members of the Claudian family.)
Tiberius joined the army while he was still a young man, and turned out to
be an excellent soldier. At the time, the Romans were busy with a major war
in Germany. This war had not been going well, and the Romans lost a
number of legions during a major battle in the Teutonwald forest. Tiberius
was one of the commanders who helped to restore the power of Rome, and
to celebrate his victories, and to distinguish him from his uncle, the soldiers
started calling him Germanicus.
Germanicus, or Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus to give him his proper
name, was not only an excellent commander, but one who took great care
that his soldiers were well supplied and looked after. He was loved by the
troops he commanded and this love helped him to bring the legions back
under control when they mutinied on hearing of the death of Augustus.
Since Augustus had no sons he had adopted Tiberius, the uncle of
Germanicus. As the son of Augustus, Tiberius became emperor after him.
Augustus had known how popular Germanicus was, and considered
adopting him instead of Tiberius, but instead adopted Tiberius and made
Tiberius adopt Germanicus. His plan was that power should go from himself,
to Tiberius and then to Germanicus and his sons. Germanicus had already
become closer to the Julian family by his marriage to Agrippina, the
granddaughter of Augustus.
Sadly, the glittering career of Germanicus did not happen. From Germany, he
went to Asia Minor where he again won victories for Rome, but on his return
from a trip to Egypt he became ill and died. Some modern historians believe
that Germanicus died of malaria, but Germanicus and his wife were both
convinced that he had been poisoned by his enemies. Among those they
suspected was Tiberius, the emperor, since it was felt he wanted power to
pass to his own son rather than to Germanicus.
With the clear line of succession destroyed, members of the imperial court
started to plot and scheme to see who would be emperor after Tiberius, who
was already an old man. The conspiracies drew in the surviving members of
the family of Germanicus, and the two eldest boys were accused of treason
and killed. One daughter, Julia Livilla, was married to the son of Tiberius and
is believed to have poisoned him – partly to help the plots of her lover and
partly to avenge the ‘poisoning’ of her father. Agrippina, the wife of
Germanicus was exiled and starved herself to death.
One boy survived, a young man called Gaius. Tiberius made him live in his
house where he could watch him carefully, but also because Tiberius was
true to his promise that when he died the children of Germanicus would
come to power. Gaius did indeed become emperor, but the mental stress of
the earlier years could not be undone, and he is known today as the mad
emperor Caligula.
Gaius Caligula was assassinated, but history had not done with the children
of Germanicus. The next emperor was Claudius, the brother of Germanicus.
He married, another daughter of Germanicus called Agrippina after her
mother. Agrippina, a direct descendant of Augustus, was thus the wife and
niece of Claudius, the sister of Caligula, and eventually, the mother of
another emperor. This was Nero, the tyrant emperor whose death marked
the end of the descendants of Germanicus and the Julio-Claudian dynasty of
emperors.