- •Education Unit 1. Learning for Life Key Vocabulary List
- •Education in Great Britain
- •Education beyond Sixteen
- •Alternative Teaching?
- •Vocabulary Exercises
- •Ex. 3. Study the following definitions and give the corresponding educational terms.
- •Ex. 4. Supply the best words in Parts a and b.
- •Education in Australia
- •Unit 2. Co-education Key Vocabulary List
- •Choose the School – not the Sex
- •Vocabulary Exercises
- •Harassment formative years flawed detriment tend fierce reinforce underachievement inequality implicit enhance
- •Students
- •Get the Girls to School
- •Key Vocabulary List
- •Public Exams in Great Britain
- •Should Examinations Be Replaced with Other Forms of Assessment?
- •How to Pass the Exams
- •Vocabulary Exercises
- •Addictive disorders Unit 1. Smoking, New Attitude Key Vocabulary List
- •Addictive Disorders
- •Tobacco – The Emerging Crisis in the Developing World
- •Smoking Role Models Girls must look at themselves for a cure
- •Cracking Down on Young Smokers
- •Burned-up Bosses Snuff out Prospects of Jobs for Smokers
- •Vocabulary Exercises
- •Unit 2. War on Drugs Key Vocabulary List
- •A War We Have to Win
- •We Need Better Ways to Deal with Drug Problems
- •How the Drug Problem Affects the Workplace
- •Dare to Say No (Drug Abuse Resistance Education)
- •Vocabulary Exercises
- •Mass media Unit 1. Newspapers Key Vocabulary List
- •The Daily Staff
- •Press Council’s 16-point Code of Practice
- •Newspaper Headlines
- •Vocabulary Exercises
- •Janet Wins Battle of the Bras
- •Woman Wins Appeal over Struggle with Police Officer
- •Unit 2. Radio and Television Key Vocabulary List
- •Radio and Television in Britain
- •The Rating Battle
- •Soap Operas
- •Vocabulary Exercises
- •Writing
- •Unit 3. Tv or not tv Key Vocabulary List
- •Television: Advantages and Disadvantages
- •Watching with Mother
- •Tv “Damages Children’s English”
- •Children Watch Too Much Television
- •Tv Violence
- •Books, Plays and Films Should Be Censored
- •Going for the Big Break / Shouting at the Box
- •Vocabulary Exercises
- •The arguments for censorship
- •The counter-arguments
- •Writing
- •Unit 4. The World of Advertising Key Vocabulary List
- •Advertisers Perform a Useful Service to the Community
- •Why is Television Advertising Capable of Manipulating People?
- •Children and Advertising
- •The Language of Advertising
- •1. Skim quickly through these advertisements. What do they have in common? What techniques do they use to attract the reader’s attention?
- •Skinny legs
- •Ashamed of prune lips?
- •Wrinkle Stick
- •2. With a partner choose two of the advertisements to read more closely. Answer these questions on style.
- •4. Work individually. For each statement, put a tick in the column which most accurately reflects your opinion.
- •Vocabulary Exercises
- •Discussion
- •Here are some arguments for and against advertising
- •Writing
- •List of the books cited
We Need Better Ways to Deal with Drug Problems
When I looked at the U.S. drug policy and the way we handle addicts, I was embarrassed. Most of Europe and Australia have decided that there is no such thing as a drug-free society. In light of that, they have decided to experiment in ways the U.S. government would never dream of doing.
They have needle exchange programs, which have helped drive down the spread of AIDS. Methadone, a synthetic drug that stops heroin-withdrawal symptoms without giving a high – much like nicotine gum for smokers – is being used to help heroin addicts.
The Netherlands have outlawed “hard drugs” such as cocaine and heroin while “soft drugs” like marijuana and cannabis have been legalized. Heroin addicts can go to doctors and receive a prescription for methadone that will allow them to have a job and function in society.
Compare all this with the U.S. policy of throwing first-time offenders in prison with little, if any, form of treatment. Nearly 30 per cent of inmates in state and federal prisons are there for drug-related incidents. Obviously, building more prisons doesn’t seem to be the answer.
I believe the answer lies in treatment and regulation. Treating drug addicts as less than human doesn’t help anyone. The addict doesn’t believe that he or she is worth help, and society loses a potentially productive member. Throwing someone in jail for life on a first offence, (a law Michigan has on its books), is denying individuals the chance to start over before they’re in too deep.
Controlling the drugs seems to be the most realistic answer. In the United States, New York and Baltimore have tried some alternative methods to control their drug problems. New York had a needle-exchange program that allowed drug users to bring in their old needles and trade them for clean ones. The spread of HIV dropped from 6 per cent to 2 per cent.
California has chosen to legalize marijuana in small doses. If they catch you carrying or selling it on the street, chances are you’ll be arrested, but having a small amount in your home is no longer an offence. The police estimate they have saved at least a billion dollars in manpower and legal costs.
Basically, what it comes down to is that the old methods have had their chance. The time has come to try something new, by having a few drugs legalized and the rest regulated, so abuse won’t be nearly as frequent. The price will go down, and those who want help will be able to get it without risk of arrest.
Text C
How the Drug Problem Affects the Workplace
The federal government reports nearly 14 million adults in the USA currently use illegal drugs. By some estimates nearly three-quarters of current illicit drug users 18 and older are employed. That’s more than 10 million US workers. The federal government claimed that if all workers ages 18-40 were administered a drug test on any given day, as many as 25 per cent would test positive.
Alcohol is, by far, the leading substance abused by Americans. Following alcohol, the leading illegal drug abused in the United States is marijuana. In 2000, approximately 5 per cent of the US population 12 and older (11 million) were marijuana users. Cocaine was second with an estimated 1,5 million current users. Other highly used illegal drugs include heroin with an estimated 325,000 current users.
One of the most revealing studies on how job performance is affected by substance abuse comes from the US Postal Service. The Post Service discovered that substance abusers are involved in 55 per cent more accidents, experience 85 per cent more on-the-job injuries, and have a 78 per cent higher rate of absenteeism when compared to their non-substance abusing co-workers. Drug use adversely affects job performance. The federal government estimates that substance-abusing employees are one-third less productive than their non-using co-workers.
In terms of its impact on human life, the cost of substance abuse is inestimable. From an economic point of view, the cost to the workplace is tremendous. A Wisconsin study concluded that expenses and losses related to substance abuse equal 25 per cent of the salary of each affected employee. The overall price tag has been estimated to be as high as $200 billion annually.
To calculate how much drug abuse is costing your company follow this formula: Multiply $6,600 (the average cost per year per substance abusing employee) by 17 per cent of the number of your employees (the percentage of the total workforce with a substance abuse problem). For example, if you have 65 employees, 17 per cent would be 11 workers. Multiply 11 by the average cost per year, $6,600, and you get a total of $72,600 a year. Now ask yourself – can my company afford to lose nearly $75,000 every year to a problem that I can have some control over?
Text D