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Word study. Tories say marriage is key to ending social problems. Pre-reading task
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WORD STUDY
1. Find in the article the words to match the following definitions.
a. discussion of a particular subject that often continues for a long time and in which people express different opinions;
b. someone who is not accepted by the people they live among, or who has been forced out of their home;
c. crazy or behaving in a very strange way;
d. the attention that someone or something gets from newspapers, television etc;
e. to express feelings of great sadness about something; to express annoyance or disappointment about something you think is unsatisfactory or unfair;
f. to become worse
g. a situation in which there is a lot of angry disagreement between two people or groups; h. to try to make someone angry or upset by saying unkind things to them;
i. to defeat or control a person or group, especially using force;
j. to honour or respect someone or something because they are old, holy, or connected with the past;
k. very shocking and immoral;
l. always believing what you are told, and therefore easily deceived;
m. behaving in a very honest and moral way;
2. Give the synonyms to the words.
To deteriorate, subdue, credulous, mandatory, encompass.
3. Insert the pre- and postpositions.
1. The unsatisfying conclusion often reached -- endless debates --- this dilemma is that there seems to be no single answer -- it.
2. There is also an almost universal lament --- the quickly deteriorating moral fiber -- today’s society.
3. There is finally recognition that the perpetrators were ostracized -- their teenage peer community.
4. There are also -- that refrain vestiges -- the primeval instinctive drive -- dominance -- the physically fittest -- the herd, pack, or tribe.
5. That’s a part -- being “civilized”, and culture is one -- the instruments we use to do so. 6. It is not the loss -- belief -- a religious dogma that brings -- the crisis.
7. Is there any hope -- rejuvenating the moral and ethical development -- Western man after centuries -- neglect?
8. Before a program -- instruction -- the moral duties -- schools is possible, there must be a cadre -- teachers trained to give it.
4. Match the words to make phrases.
1. publicity a. confrontation
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2. deteriorating b. campaign
3. serious c. crime
4. a heinous d. economy
5. Insert the words.
1. He was accused of a ---crime.
2. Quinn charmed ---investors out of millions of dollars.
3. Drug smuggling carries a ---death sentence.
4. She considered herself very ---because she neither drank nor smoked
5. There has been widespread public ---over the introduction of genetically modified food.
6. Smokers are often treated as social---.
7. She was almost ---with grief.
8. Standards in education have received much ----over the last few years.
9. He ---that people had expected too much of him too soon.
10. If the dispute drags on, conditions in the city could---.
11. She had stayed in her room to avoid another----.
12. The other children ---him about his weight.
13. Police managed to ---the angry crowd.
Publicity, virtuous, confrontation, outcasts, heinous, mandatory, demented, subdue, lamented, debate, credulous, taunted, deteriorate.
COMPREHENSION
1. Give the answers to the following questions.
1. What testifies that American children are not raised with the right values?
2. What reasons explain the behaviour of unpredictable young men?
3. Are Western societies in a hopeless moral crisis?
4. Are societies in need of religious dogma?
5. What is proposed to implement at secondary schools?
6. What other institutions could help to rejuvenate moral duties?
FOLLOW-UP
Think over and tell to your group mates what ideas you could propose for such school subject as” Moral values and duties”.
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TORIES SAY MARRIAGE IS KEY TO ENDING SOCIAL PROBLEMS |
PRE-READING TASK
1. Answer the questions.
1. What can you say about a modern family?
2. In what way do modern families differ from the families 20-30 years ago?
3. What are family values?
David Cameron, the Conservative leader, has endorsed a 300-page report published today by former leader Iain Duncan Smith which claims that family breakdowns cause social problems costing more than £ 20 billion a year. And campaigners for lone parents said the Tories risked stigmatising people who did not live in a traditional family set-up while one think-tank warned that it was naive to think that supporting marriage was the key to easing society’s ills. Mr. Duncan Smith had been shaken to discover that nearly half of cohabiting couples had broken up by the time their first child was five, whereas the figure for married couples was much lower. This supported his belief that the Conservative Party must ensure their policies supported marriage and encouraged couples to stay together. “If marriage rates went up, if divorce rates came down, if more couples stayed together for longer, would our society by better off? My answer is yes. And so I will set a simple test for each and every one of our policies: does it help families? ” Family breakdown - fuelled by Government policies such as tax credits - had led to the creation of a growing underclass in society and a violent crime wave that was tearing communities apart, according to Mr. Duncan Smith. “As this report shows, children from a broken home are twice as likely to have behavioural problems, perform worse at school, become sexually active at a younger age, suffer depression and turn to drugs, smoking and heavy drinking. ” Launching the Breakdown Britain report in central London today, the former leader said some of the issues he had raised might cause colleagues in the party to “swallow hard”, but they would also realise they needed addressing. He said: “This is not about finger-wagging, or telling people they’ve done wrong. What I’m trying to say is that there is a better way. “The modern society, the 21st century society we wish to live in, needs to be more cohesive and balanced than I believe it is at the moment. ” The interim report describes five “pathways to poverty” - family breakdown, educational failure, economic dependence, indebtedness and addictions. It paints a bleak picture of a society which is “breaking down on the margins”, and where the “social fabric of many communities is being stripped away”. The group - which has consulted more than 800 experts and organisations - is expected to propose specific policies when it delivers its final report next year. [28]
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GUIDE
COMPREHENSION
1. Answer the questions.
1. Family values are part of common moral values. Is it true?
2. Can you agree that family breakdowns cause social problems?
3. Why do people avoid having a traditional family set-up today?
4. In what way can society benefit from stable marriages?
5. How does family breakdown affect children?
6. Is it possible to make the modern society more cohesive and balanced?
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