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2. Discuss the following. 1. Read and translate the text using a dictionary if needed. 4. What do you feel when you see someone begging? Do you feel sad or angry?
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2. Discuss the following.
1. Are there many homeless people in your country?
2. How do the poor survive?
3. Why do people become homeless, do you think?
4. What do you feel when you see someone begging? Do you feel sad or angry?
5. Do you give them money or walk on by?
6. Are you frightened by beggars?
7. Should begging be banned?
8. What can we do to make the situation better for homeless people?
Text 2
1. Read and translate the text using a dictionary if needed.
THE COFFEE SHOP SITUATION
In 1976, Holland decided that the crime around selling drugs was a greater threat than the health problem caused to the drug user. So to separate marijuana from the underworld, they decriminalized it and cannabis became tolerated - but not technically legalized - by the government. Respectable coffee-shop owners cheered this approach and welcomed the stability and security of being legitimate, even if it meant paying more taxes.
The Paroot, Amsterdam's leading newspaper, asked the mayor how much a gram of marijuana costs in his city. 'fl5 a gram, ' he answered. In other countries people would be surprised the mayor knows how much a bag of weed is, but in Holland, the man shaping an intelligent drug policy knows the facts. Meanwhile, the rest of the world continues its unending 'war on drugs'. French President Jacques Chirac blamed Holland for its drug troubles, even though, according to Time magazine, Holland has fewer addicts per thousand than France and supplies fewer drugs to France than Spain, Pakistan and Morocco. This year it was the U. S. drug-czar Barry McCaffery who came to celebrate America's successful drug policy. Although one may have expected him to be curious about coffee shops here, he found no need to visit one because it was a 'bad photo opportunity. ' He went further, calling Holland’s progressive drug policy 'an unmitigated disaster*, citing higher crime in Holland as proof. Huh? I don't know what he smokes, but this country is safe, and there is no place in the western world with more violence than America. But I guess when you're fighting a ‘war’, the truth sometimes has to be suppressed. So in a bow to foreign pressure, the government reduced the amount of soft drugs an individual can possess from 30 grams to five. But maybe Holland should go further. If they recriminalize drugs, maybe they can wipe them out altogether, just like France and America. While we're at it, maybe France can give us some advice on how to end strikes and reduce unemployment, and the U. S. about stopping violence in schools. No matter what happens in the long run, you can still go into any 'coffee shop', proudly march up to the bartender, and announce in a loud voice: want to buy some hashish, and then I'm going to smoke it. ' Most places will even have rolling papers and filter tips on the bar. There are several types of hash and pot, which have been bred to produce different highs. Each coffee shop has its own name for its weed, even if it comes from the same place. Just don't let the big menu scare you. (Yes, they'll have a menu. ) Hash comes in two basic varieties: blond and black. The black hash hits a little harder and knocks you out a little more. Locals smoke the lighter stuff. Any place that calls itself a ’coffee shop' is saying three things: 1) I have pot and hash for you to buy. 2) For the price of a coffee or beer, you may sit here and smoke your own as well. 3) You may also smoke on my outdoor terrace, even in front of the police.
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2. Discuss the following.
1. The author seems to think a relaxed approach to the drugs problem is best - do you agree with him? Why? Why not?
2. Do you think drugs are more acceptable now than a generation ago?
3. Why do you think people are drawn to taking drugs?
4. Do you think there's a relationship between drug use and crime?
5. Do you think use of soft drugs inevitably leads to use of heroin and cocaine? Why, why not?
6. Do you think there should be any difference made between those who use drugs and those who sell drugs, and what would be a suitable punishment in each case?
7. Which policy do you agree with most - zero tolerance, as is the case in America, or the more relaxed attitude in Holland? Why?
8. Do you think drugs can ever be completely wiped out? Why, why not?
Text 3
1. Read and translate the text using a dictionary if needed.
GIRLS ARE TURNING TO VIOLENT CRIME
Girls commit more than one in four of all juvenile crimes and are becoming increasingly involved in violence, according to a Government study published yesterday.
In 1957 girls accounted for only one crime in 11. This striking change was highlighted in a report into anti-social behaviour in adolescents. It shows that the criminal activities of so-called girl gangs arc part of a worsening trend. Over the past 10 years, the number of arrests of girls for violence has more than doubled and juvenile crime is increasing at a faster rate among girls than boys. This is said to be almost entirely the result of the post-war period - particularly family breakdown - that is evident across the western world. In the past, girls were effectively supervised and were less likely to be exposed to anti-social influences. Anne Hagell. one of the authors of the report, said: 'Parents are less likely to supervise daughters as they once did. Young girls are spending increasing amounts of lime at school. Also, where once a 13-year-old would sit in her own bedroom listening to records with a friend, now there is a trend towards girls doing the same as boys have always done, which is going around on the streets in groups of five or more. ’
Boys are more likely to be involved in burglary and drug offences but the ratio falls for criminal damage, robbery, violence and theft. The report says that poor parental supervision is a major factor in delinquency and the increase both in juvenile crime and the involvement of girls has coincided with high divorce rates and family breakdown. There is also a vicious circle at play, with anti-social girls more likely to become teenage mothers and to be less in a position to give their own offspring the care and that can prevent the next generation sliding into criminality.
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