When Mr. McAllister (Matthew Broderick) is explaining the difference between morals and ethics to his class, he asks a student to explain the differences. He selects Tracy Flick (Reese Witherspoon) and she begins with saying "Ethics are rules of conduct" and then Tracy reflects on her activities and when the movie flashes forward to the present, Tracy continues her definition of ethics, "determined by a culture at a certain time in history." There is a pause between definitions when Tracy reflects on her relationship with her teacher, Dave and when the movie flashes forward to the present, Tracy then begins to give the definition for ethics again rather than morals. "And ethics are the basis of..."