Task 3. Read the article and translate it

To sue or not to sue

The rise and rise of the compensation culture

Imagine on your way out of class today you trip* on a loose* piece of carpet and twist your ankle*. As a result of the injury, you lose your place in the local sports team, and have to miss an important job interview. Bad luck? Just one of those things? Or an opportunity to get rich quick?

Perhaps it's not surprising that Roslyn Darch of Houston, Texas, USA felt annoyed when she tripped over a toddler* running around a furniture store, and broke her ankle. But a few months later, she was $780,000 richer after successfully suing the shop. The owners were clearly surprised at the size of Roslyn's payout. Particularly since the toddler she tripped over was her own son.

Some argue that this is just greed* - that the amount of money is far too much for the injury suffered -and it's not the shop's fault a mother can't control her child anyway. Others would say that it's good to see the law taking the side of the individual against the big corporations, for a change. Take the example of the hundreds of smokers who have received millions of dollars from the tobacco companies, after saying they were responsible for the terminal illnesses they had developed because of smoking. Whatever you think, the compensation culture which has grown up in the USA is spreading and it will affect all of us.

And it's not only claims for physical injuries that are keeping the lawyers busy. A group of overweight New York teenagers sued a giant fast-food company claiming that they had not had enough warning that a diet of burgers, fries and milk shakes would make them fat. The parents of one 19-year-old English schoolgirl successfully sued her school for?42,000 compensation when she failed to get a top grade in a university entrance exam: and in perhaps the most bizarre* case of all, Sandra York received $113,000 from a Philadelphia restaurant after slipping* on a spilt soft drink. However, the drink was on the floor because York had thrown it over her boyfriend thirty seconds earlier, during an argument.

If you think that going on holiday is a good way to get away from all this trouble, think again - millions of people complain to the British Tourist Authority every year, and many receive some form of compensation. Staff at British travel company Thomson Holidays are used to dealing with requests for compensation following poor weather, cancelled flights and lost luggage, but one spokesman revealed 'We recently had a claim from someone who said their holiday was ruined because they didn't get on with their travelling companion. And we regularly get complaints from holidaymakers travelling abroad who say the locals don't speak English!'

Who knows where it will end? Some say there should be penalties for excessive claims, or that there should be a limit on payouts. But one thing's for sure - in the end, the only certain winner is the lawyer!

by Marian Dent

American textbook on Legal English, 2007

 

Vocabulary notes

trip спотыкаться, падать

loose плохо прикреплённый; ненатянутый

ankle лодыжка

toddler ребёнок, начинающий ходить

greed жадность, скупость

bizarre ненормальный, причудливый, странный,

slip скользить; поскользнуться

Task 4. Write an opinion essay (180-200 words) “The rise of the compensation culture in the US and UK”. Provide specific reasons and examples to support your answer. Use the information presented in the article “To sue or not to sue”

OUTLINE:

Introduction: general statement about the topic

Main body: paragraph 2, 3: describe the topic under analysis, provide specific reasons and examples, support the point of view with justification

Conclusion: state your opinion.

 

Points to remember:

• Avoid using short forms and strong personal words or expressions.

• Use such structures as It is believed that…/It is unlikely that…/It is supposed to be…

• Use such conjunction as since, as, although, so that, whereas, in spite of, despite, etc.

• Each paragraph should start with a sentence (topic sentence) which summarises what the paragraph is about.

• The use of linking words is absolutely necessary when writing an essay:

To add more points: What is more/Furthermore,/Moreover, …/In addition to this,…/Firstly, …/Secondly, …/Thirdly, … /Finally, …/A further positive/negative aspect of this is …

To make contrasting points: However, …/Nevertheless, …/At the same time, …Therefore,…/Consequently,…/As a result,…/For this reason,… /On the other hand,…

To conclude: To sum up,/All things considered, /To summarise, …/In conclusion, …/ It seems that…/It can be seen that...