Task 2. Read the text about youth problems. Be prepared to discuss them from your own point of view.

The modern world is full of problems – war, hunger, poverty, disease, unemployment... It’s a long list. Do teenagers and young people have the some problems of the whole world or are they involved in something else?

The world is facing a drugs crisis. There are more young addicts today than ever before. Drugs have played a continually significant role in youth sub-cultures from the late 50-s onwards.

While some young people spent their money on records and clothes, others established an “intellectual” youth culture influenced by hedonism.

These young people were known as ‘beatnits’ and later as ‘hippies’. Teenagers felt freer to have sexual experiences and to experiment with drugs.

There are three main kinds of drug – hard, soft and legal. They can all cause addiction, serious illness and even death.

Hard drugs include heroin, cocaine, LSD and crack. Soft drugs are – marijuana, amphetamines (speed), solvents (glue) and ecstasy. Legal drugs include tobacco, alcohol and certain tranquillisers. How do addicts live? They steal money, lose their friends, hurt their families, are cheated by dealers, destroy their health. The government in all countries tries to help the young addicts save their lives stop their sufferings and the sufferings of people. Special hospitals have been opened; big antidrugs campaigns have been organized in schools. Many schools have a drug-education programme for children as young as 8 or 9. Programmes like these include books, videos and cassettes. Some schools even arrange visits from ex-addicts. One of these is Phil Cooper (in Great Britain); he travels around the country giving teenagers two-hour drug-education lessons.

Advertising campaigns also play an important part in the war against drugs. If the crisis is serious and international, so is the war against drugs. Each of the campaign has a message – for example, ‘Just Say No’, ‘Stop the madness’, or ‘Don’t Do Drugs’ Each one has also featured a lot of famous TV, movie and pop stars. Some anti-drugs campaigns have tried to shock young people. They showed how heroin could completely destroy addicts’ lives, how dirty needles spread AIDS.

Other problem with many young people is smoking. It doesn’t only damage their own health but the health of those around them. It kills 2,5 mln people a year. Each cigarette knocks five minutes off life. It’s just kissing an ashtray. In recent years, smokers have suffered more than any other group in society. In many countries, the price of cigarettes has gone up because of heavy government taxes. Some people even have lost their jobs because they smoke. Millions of teenagers know it’s bad for them, but they still do it. Why? Here are some of the most common reasons. It relaxes the person when he’s nervous; he likes the taste; his friends smoke; it has become a habit impossible to resist.

Besides – the advertisements – there are 2types of cigarette advertisement – ‘for’ and ‘against’. Tobacco companies want more and more people to smoke. Cigarettes mean profit for them. About 100 mln people around the world work in the tobacco industry, $ 100 billion of cigarettes are sold every year.

On the other side, doctors and health organizations want to cut the number of smokers. For them cigarettes mean disease. The two sides are fighting a battle. It’s a very expensive battle, too. Ads like these cost mlns of pounds every year. So, it’s just to the young what to decide.

For many teenagers a great problem is to control their weight, many of them are keeping to a diet in an early age. They, themselves and their parents understand it’s not healthy to be fat; it causes many other problems, like relationships with other teenager, Teenagers often say ‘You are what you eat’. Is it important to eat healthy food? Is it wrong to eat between meals? What about fast food? Hamburgers and pizzas are delicious and are favourites among teenagers, only few of them are careful about the diet, few buy fresh healthy food (only 14%), 64% enjoy fast food, 52% eat a lot of snacks rather than 3 meals a day.

Many teenagers are trying to be independent, and free in the way of living, making friends, spending free time, clothing, and style. But instead they are under constant pressure from their parents, which leads to misunderstanding, leaving homes by children, solving the problems with parents in the wrong way. Many teenagers can’t listen to their parent’s advice or just have a quiet talk; they choose to ignore all rules and regulations. Part of the problem is sometimes neither of the sides is willing to see the other side’s point of view, so things are getting out of control.

So if you are a teenager and you are having problems with your parents try talking things over with them. Tell them what you think but be prepared to listen to them as well. Remember that your parents love you. Discussing your problems calmly will help you and your parents to understand each other better, and the more mature you with them, the more likely they are to treat you as an adult.

Social problems, family relationships and misunderstanding, school problems, lack of money on spending free time... lead to increasing crime among young people. We are facing lots of problems but older people first of all should think about younger generations find the way out in solving the problems of the young and save them for the society, as youth is an integral part of it, it’s our future.

Task 3. Answer the questions and discuss.

1. What are the main problems the young now face?

2. What does the phrase mean “So, it’s just to the young what to decide.”

3. Is it difficult to resist drugs?

4. What measures should be taken to help young addicts?

5. Is advertising really helpful in solving some of the teens’ problems?

6. What other measures can be taken to prevent the young from getting involved into troubles with drugs?

7. Do you smoke? Have you ever tried to get rid of this “bad habit”?

8. Whom will you address being in trouble?

Task 4. Speak on the following.

1. You are the director of a centre for young drug addicts. You want to gather some money for their medical treatment needs. Your actions?

2. You are a person in charge of organizing some promotion campaign against drugs sponsored by some medical centre. Think over a plan of a campaign (its name, slogans, guests invited, the way it will be advertised, place it will be held at, etc.).

TOPIC 11. YOUTH CULTURE

Task 1. Learn the words and word combinations given.

Constantly – непрерывно, постоянно to influence – оказывать влияние, влиять dramatically – заметно, значительно, сильно teddy boy – стиляга, пижон (в 50-е гг. часть молодёжи подражала моде эпохи короля Эдуарда VI) rebellious – мятежный; бунтующий threatening – угрожающий fab – потрясающий; изумительный violent – неистовый; жестокий, бесчеловечный to exploit – пользоваться, использовать billion – 1) биллион (миллион миллионов) 2) миллиард (тысяча миллионов) recession – понижение, падение unemployment– безработица to let smb down – разочаровать; подвести to emerge – появляться; возникать to reflect – 1) отражать 2) размышлять dyed, spiked hair – крашеные, остро торчащие волосы leather belt – кожаный ремень to reject – отвергать, отклонять; отказывать(ся)(принять,рассматривать)

conventional – обычный, традиционный tuneless – немелодичный confusing – сбивающий с толку acceptable – приемлемый; допустимый indifference – безразличие police raid – налет полиции acid house party – массовые полуподпольные дискотеки (в Британии конца 80-х), на которых звучала музыка в стиле «хауз» и употреблялись галлюциногенные наркотики типа экстази. raves – полуподпольные тусовки, дискотеки, на которых в больших количествах употребляются галлюциногены – особенно ecstasy – явление конца 80-х и 90-х to chant – монотонно говорить to raise money – добывать деньги enormous – громадный; гигантский to scribble – писать быстро и неразборчиво mural – стенной thought-out – продуманный frustration – чувство разочарования, неудовлетворенности relief – облегчение