Listening to BBC. Учебное пособие по аудированию для студентов неязыковых факультетов

6 Minute English. Compulsory voting

in treatments for cancer and respiratory diseases. Moreover, cleaning costs would be reduced.

Cons of banning smoking in public places:

yDemonization of smokers: prohibiting smoking cigarettes contributes to the stigmatization of smokers.

yComparative disadvantage: there are other annoying or potentially

dangerous habits for which regulation is not so strict. For instance, in many countries it is allowed to drink alcohol in public places.

yTaxes: tobacco is a great source of income for governments. Cigarettes are heavily taxed and the money collected from tobacco consumption can be used to fund research projects against the diseases caused by it or even education programs to raise awareness about the dangers of tobacco.

yPleasure: smoking has been considered a pleasure for centuries. Humans

are often willing to undertake some risks for their health for the sake of enjoyment.

y Freedom: public spaces belong to us all. Banning smoking in public areas means limiting individual liberties.

6 Minute English. Compulsory voting1

To vote or not to vote — is it your choice?

You are going to listen to a discussion why we should all exercise our right to vote and especially by young people. For those who are able to vote, should we be made to do it? Before you listen, check you understand the following words and word combinations.

Vocabulary you can use to talk about this topic

right — (here) somebody’s legal claim to vote

general election — a vote for a government that runs the whole country compulsory — something that you have to do

duty — something you have a responsibility to do engender — give rise

1 See Appendix Transcript 2.2 Compulsory voting. P. 141. URL: https://www.bbc. co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/6 minute-english/ep-150813, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ea5ZWYsSKY&t=12s.

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slapdash — doing something quickly and carelessly

national service — compulsory government service that usually means military service

pick (a political party) out of a hat — to choose randomly rather than making an informed choice

spoil — waste

1.Recall the situations in which this vocabulary is used in the story. Use them in sentences of your own.

2.Complete the following sentences using this vocabulary in proper forms.

1.I’d feel guilty if I didn’t exercise my … to vote.

2.In a … we vote for a government that runs the whole country.

3.In some countries voting is …..

4.In Australia the government passed a law that made voting ….

5.The Australian government believes that voting is a duty and not just a …

6.Michael is cautious about the idea of introducing … voting.

7.He thinks forcing young people to vote will … a slapdash attitude.

8.… the system of making all men serve in the army for a limited time, whether the country is involved in a war or not.

9.… the practice of making people join the army, navy etc. (=National service)

10.When it’s something you haven’t chosen to do, or which you actively don’t want to do — it’s a case of getting it ….

11.Young people might just … rather than making an informed choice.

12.… voting would mean a responsibility for the politicians too.

13.Reluctant voters may deliberately … their votes.

3. Listen to the story again and decide if the following statements are true or false.

1.In a general election in the UK we vote for local authorities.

2.Voting in the UK is optional.

3.In New Zealand the government passed a law that made voting compulsory.

4.Michael Yip, student at Warwick University is quite happy about the idea of introducing compulsory voting.

5.Michael Yip thinks forcing young people to vote will make them proud of their country.

6.National service is compulsory government service that usually means medical service.

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6 Minute English. Compulsory voting

7.Some people think that politicians need to ban political education.

8.Compulsory voting would mean a duty for the politicians.

9.The politicians need to engage and enforce obedience on young people.

10.The government should prevent including a ‘none of the above’ option on the ballot paper.

4. Answer the following questions.

1. What is a constituency?

2. Why will you have to pay a fine for not voting in Australia?

3. Why is Michael Yip, student at Warwick University, quite cautious about the idea of introducing compulsory voting?

4. What is common between voting and national service?

5. Why would compulsory voting mean a responsibility for the politicians?

5. Here is a list of 13 Strongest Pros and Cons of Compulsory Voting.

Read them and give your own pros and cons of compulsory voting. Discuss them in small groups.

1.Are you proor anti-compulsory voting?

2.Do you always exercise your right to suffrage?

Voting is a right and a responsibility. As a citizen of one’s country, it is important that you exercise your right to suffrage to help ensure that the government officials who are placed into office are the ones that the people actually voted. For many years in several countries, voting is non-compul- sory. However, there are a number of nations that impose mandatory voting. These include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Greece, and Singapore.

List of Pros of Compulsory Voting

1. Increase Voter Turnout

It is not democracy if there is only 50 percent of voter turnout. If only half of the population turns out at voting precincts at an election, it can’t be called a democracy.

2. It Broadens Representation and Legitimacy

If voting is made mandatory, it will ensure that the government will be represented by a majority of the population, not just a few individuals.

3. Lessen the Need for Large Sums of Money in Campaigns

Whether people admit it or not, money plays a significant role in politics. But if compulsory voting becomes law, there will be no need for politicians to be backed by billionaires to fund their political campaigns.

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4. Make Campaigns Broader

Compulsory voting will assist in not targeting specific subgroups. If it is guaranteed that everyone will vote, then politicians would stop creating campaigns that are only targeted to certain people.

5. Promote Political Stability

Where there is division there is instability. So when a nation has an alarmingly low voter turnout, it could increase the risk of political instability brought about by crises or leaders with hidden agendas.

6. Encourage Voters to Better Educate Themselves

If people are obliged to vote in every election, they will most likely want to make the most of their votes. So, they would want to research more on each candidate to ensure they’ll be able to make the right choice.

7. More Serious Elections

Compulsory voting would compel the people to be more proactive in building a government that will serve the majority, not only a few groups. This will lead to a better and more united nation.

List of Cons of Compulsory Voting

1. Violate Freedom of Choice

A democratic type of government can be violated if voting is made mandatory because people would not have the freedom to not express their opinion.

2. Decrease Interest

This could push people to choose candidates randomly, forfeiting the purpose of an election, which is to place deserving people in key positions. In other words, votes and consequently the budget spent on the polls will go to waste.

3. Minimize Right to Express Religion

It could take away people’s right to express their religion. There are religious sectors that discourage their members from participating in political events.

4. Wrong to Punish Those Who Refuse to Vote

It would be unacceptable and unlawful to punish those who would choose not to vote. It would be a violation of fundamental rights to punish people who refuse to practice their right to suffrage.

5. Encourage Informal Votes

This means that ballot papers with no appropriate markings of voting rules could be used to cater to a large number of voters every election.

6. Increase Law Enforcement Costs

It will require a considerable amount of money to enforce such a law.

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6 Minute English. Women’s right to vote

6 Minute English. Women’s right to vote1

You are going to listen to a story about British suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst and her struggle to get women a better life. Before you listen, check you understand the following words and word combinations.

Vocabulary you can use to talk about this topic

role models — people looked to by others as examples to be followed suffragettes — women who campaigned for the right for women to vote lobbied — tried to persuade

electorate — people who are allowed to vote plight — bad situation

raised their profile — get noticed impromptu — unplanned militant — aggressive

direct action — the use of demonstrations, strikes, or violence to achieve a goal

1.Recall the situations in which this vocabulary is used in the story. Use them in sentences of your own.

2.Complete the following sentences using this vocabulary in proper forms.

1.I have many female ….

2.I have a great admiration for the ….

3.In Britain women’s groups … parliament for decades before eventually winning the right for all women to vote in 1928.

4.Politicians are worried about losing popularity with the ….

5.She had a deep compassion for the … of women.

6.Professor of Women’s and Gender History at the University of Portsmouth in the UK talks about how the suffragettes started to … with deeds not words.

7.An … meeting is one that hasn’t been planned.

8.The suffragettes started small with teashop talks but they began to take more … direct action.

9.And … means using demonstrations, strikes. The suffragettes chained themselves to railings, broke shop windows.

1 See Appendix Transcript 2.3 Women’s right to vote. P. 147. URL: https://www.bbc. co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/6 minute-english/ep-161124.

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3. Listen to the story again and decide if the following statements are true or false.

1.The US was the first country to give all women the right to vote in public elections.

2.The suffragettes are the women who fought for the right to drive in the UK.

3.Parliament saw votes for women as a priority.

4.Emmeline Pankhurst campaigned fearlessly for women’s rights for aristocratic ladies.

5.Emmeline Pankhurst wanted wider reforms for women, an improvement in women’s status and position.

6.Working class women had little hope of improving their lives.

7.Women were afraid to interrupt public events to talk about their right to vote.

8.Suffragettes used demonstrations, strikes, chained themselves to railings, broke shop windows.

4. Answer the following questions.

1.Which was the first country to give all women the right to vote in public elections?

2.Why didn’t Parliament see votes for women as a priority?

3.What movement gave women a voice?

4.Who was the most famous activist in the Suffragette Movement?

5.Come up with a Project about Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the most important feminist lawyer in the history of the American republic.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a U. S. Supreme Court justice and singularly influential legal mind, was appointed by Bill Clinton in 1993, the court’s secondever female justice, and served for nearly 30 years. She spent her extraordinary career fighting for women’s rights and ensuring the promise of the constitution applied to all.

6. Here is a list of her famous quotations. Discuss them with your partners. Choose one quotation that appeals to you and comment on it.

y“Women belong in all places where decisions are being made. It shouldn’t be that women are the exception”

y“Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.”

y“We live in an age in which the fundamental principles to which we subscribe — liberty, equality and justice for all — are encountering

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6 Minute English. Women’s right to vote

extraordinary challenges,… But it is also an age in which we can join hands with others who hold to those principles and face similar challenges.”

y“Anger, resentment, envy, and self-pity are wasteful reactions. They greatly drain one’s time. They sap energy better devoted to productive endeavors.”

y“Reading is the key that opens doors to many good things in life. Reading shaped my dreams, and more reading helped me make my dreams come true.”

y“We should learn… to do our best for the sake of our communities and for the sake of those for whom we pave the way.”

y“So now the perception is, yes, women are here to stay. And when I’m sometimes asked when will there be enough [women on the Supreme Court]? And I say when there are nine, people are shocked. But there’d been nine men, and nobody’s ever raised a question about that.”

y“My mother told me to be a lady. And for her, that meant be your own person, be independent.”

y“Sometimes people say unkind or thoughtless things, and when they do, it is best to be a little hard of hearing — to tune out and not snap back in anger or impatience.”

y“Work for the things that you care about.”

y“Women’s rights are an essential part of the overall human rights agenda, trained on the equal dignity and ability to live in freedom all people should enjoy.”

y“I didn’t change the Constitution; the equality principle was there from the start. I just was an advocate for seeing its full realization.”

y“Feminism … I think the simplest explanation, and one that captures the idea, is a song that Marlo Thomas sang, ‘Free to be You and Me.’ Free to be, if you were a girl — doctor, lawyer, Indian chief. Anything you want to be. And if you’re a boy, and you like teaching, you like nursing, you would like to have a doll, that’s OK too. That notion that we should each be free to develop our own talents, whatever they may be, and not be held back by artificial barriers — manmade barriers, certainly not heaven sent.”

y“Dissents speak to a future age. It’s not simply to say, ‘My colleagues are wrong and I would do it this way.’ But the greatest dissents do become court opinions and gradually over time their views become the dominant view. So that’s the dissenter’s hope: that they are writing not for today but for tomorrow”.

y“Whatever community organization, whether it’s a women’s organization, or fighting for racial justice… you will get satisfaction out of doing something to give back to the community that you never get in any other way.”

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y“If there was one decision I would overrule, it would be Citizens United. I think the notion that we have all the democracy that money can buy strays so far from what our democracy is supposed to be.”

y“If we gave up our freedom as the price of security, we would no longer be the great nation that we are.”

y“If you have a caring life partner, you help the other person when that person needs it. I had a life partner who thought my work was as important as his, and I think that made all the difference for me.”

y“Generalizations about the “way women are” and estimates of what is appropriate for most women no longer justify denying opportunity to women whose talent and capacity place them outside the average description.”

y“I am a judge born, raised, and proud of being a Jew. The demand for justice runs through the entirety of the Jewish tradition. I hope, in my years on the bench of the Supreme Court of the United States, I will have the strength and the courage to remain constant in the service of that demand.”

y“Promoting active liberty does not mean allowing the majority to run roughshod over minorities. It calls for taking special care that all groups have a chance to fully participate in society and the political process”.

y“It is not women’s liberation, it is women’s and men’s liberation.”

y“I think our system is being polluted by money.”

y“Frankly I had thought that at the time Roe was decided, there was concern about population growth and particularly growth in populations that we don’t want to have too many of.”

y“The Second Amendment is outdated in the sense that its function has become obsolete.”

y“A constitution, as important as it is, will mean nothing unless the people are yearning for liberty and freedom.”

News Review: Could your smartphone be hacked?1

You are going to listen to a story telling how your mobile devices could be putting you in danger. Government crime prevention experts have warned that the rising number of gadgets being used by consumers puts them at a higher risk of being targeted by cyber criminals. Before you listen, check you understand the following words and word combinations.

1 See Appendix Transcript 2.4 Could your smartphone be hacked? P. 152. URL: https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6hNG07lt3E.

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News Review: Could your smartphone be hacked?

Vocabulary you can use to talk about this topic

rise of — growth of a significant or powerful phenomenon held to ransom — made to do something by threats targeting — directing something at someone

1.Recall the situations in which this vocabulary is used in the story. Use them in sentences of your own.

2.Complete the following sentences using this vocabulary in proper forms.

1.BBC news website: ‘Cyber security experts warn on … hacker ransoms’.

2.The … technology has really changed the way we live.

3.It’s the … Donald Trump. He has become very powerful and influential.

4.Smartphones, watches, televisions and even fitness trackers could be used to access private data so that users can be …

5.“Smartphones, TVs and watches could be … by hackers”, — cyber security chieves warn.

6.You … me … the other day.

7.Cyber security chieves warn over hackers … smartphones, watches and fitness devices.

8.The hackers are … the smartphones.

9.A lot of daytime television is … at women or retired people because a lot of them stay at home and watch TV.

10.This programme is … at international learners of English.

3. Listen to the story again and decide if the following statements are true or false.

1.‘Rise of’ is used when we are talking about numbers or rates.

2.When we say ‘rise of’ we talk about the idea of increase that influences the way people behave.

3.It’s often an insignificant increase causing a slight impact on what happens.

4.The rise of hacker ransoms means that we are happy about what we do because of this increase in hacker ransoms.

5.We use ‘rise of’ because something happened a lot in the past and then it stopped, then it happens again and the idea is some kind of phenomenon that really has an influence on the things we do.

6.We can use ‘rise of’ only for phenomenon, for social things.

7.‘Held to ransom’ is related to kidnapping.

8.“Held to ransom’ has the idea of payment because you’ve taken something away.

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9.The hackers are aiming at getting into people’s wallets.

10.We use ‘targeting’ often when we are talking about advertising campaigns or television programmes.

4. Answer the following questions.

1. What have Government crime prevention experts warned the consumers of smartphones, televisions, watches and even fitness devices about?

2. Why does a hacker get into private data of smartphones, watches, televisions etc.?

3. When can we use ‘rise of’ for people?

5. Here are some tips on how to protect your smartphone from hackers and intruders. Discuss them and share your opinion whether they are really helpful and effective. Offer your own protection measures.

1. Update your OS and apps

Software companies are constantly updating software, and not only for cosmetic reasons. Many software updates and bug fixes contain security improvements that help guard your smartphone against data breaches and intrusions, and close off vulnerabilities, making it harder for hackers to break through.

2. Avoid public Wi-Fi

By now, everyone should know about the dangers of using open Wi-Fi for anything, because free public Wi-Fi in shopping centres, cafes, airports, or any other public venue, is open season for all kinds of online mischief. Try to use only your private cell connection whenever possible and switch off Wi-Fi on your mobile phone altogether whenever you are in a public place. If that is not possible, consider using a VPN app, a utility that tunnels network communications through an encrypted connection. But choose carefully — not all VPNs are equal in quality. Also consider disabling Bluetooth while you’re out and about unless you are wearing a smartwatch that requires it.

3. Lock your smartphone

Always engage a four or six-digit passcode to enter your device. Fingerprint scanning and Face ID are easy, fast alternatives to punching in numbers. While you’re at it, make sure apps with personal information are also locked behind passwords.

4. Keep your mobile phone number private

Don’t automatically offer your mobile number to any app that prompts you. The more places that have your number, the more vulnerable you are to SMS intrusions and scams, and even invasion of your protected 2FA accounts.

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