情景英语口语100主题 079social problems社会问题

079　social problems

Words
Homeless health education corruption¹ crime discrimination racism² drug abuse/addiction
Poverty housing unemployment statistics data/figures protest demonstration³ support oppose legislation blame

Phrases
Solve a problem
Legislate⁴ against
Find a solution to a problem
Take measure to
Take action against
Become addicted⁵ to
Inner city regeneration
Tackle a problem

Beginner
A: is there a lot of crime in your city?
B: there’s some, but I don’t think it’s a big problem. A lot of it is petty crime, burglary and car theft. There’s very little major crime.
A: it’s the same in my city. We also have a lot of drug addicts⁶. A lot of the crime is committed by drug addicts who need money for drugs.
B; that happens in many places. In my city, there is a very good drug rehabilitation⁷ programme. The police and courts are also tough on people who commit crimes, but I don’t know if that’s the reason for our relatively⁸ low crime rate.
A; some people believe that a tough approach is better. Other prefer a more lenient⁹ approach.
B; I think that the best way to reduce crime is to spread wealth more evenly. If most people have similar amounts of money, they will not think of stealing from others.
A; that’s possible, but I’m not sure it would really happen like that .


Intermediate
A: which social problem do you think the government needs to concentrate on most?
B; I think housing is a big problem. There are thousands of homeless people on the streets.
A: how would you solve the problem?
B: I have a good idea to solve it. The government could provide some money for homeless people to build their own homes.
A; it would probably be very expensive.
B; I think the government can afford it. Besides, there are many advantages. Homeless people would find it easier to get jobs if they had an address. They would learn some useful skill for finding jobs in the construction industry or home improvement.
A; it’s not a bad idea. I think education is the biggest problem at the moment. Schools don’t seem to have enough money to educate kids properly.
B; if we are to invest more money to education, we will need to raise taxes. That wouldn’t be popular with voters.
A: most voters what everything bout¹⁰ ways. They want the government to pay for lots of things, but without increasing taxes.
B: the government should show that it is using money efficiently¹¹. Sometimes you hear about how the government has wasted money on a project.
A: yes. The government has limited funds and must show that it is using the money responsibly.

1 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

2 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。

3 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

4 legislate   

vt.制定法律；n.法规，律例；立法

参考例句：

• Therefore,it is very urgent to legislate for the right of privacy.因此，为隐私权立法刻不容缓。
• It's impossible to legislate for every contingency.为每一偶发事件都立法是不可能的。

5 addicted   

adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的

参考例句：

• He was addicted to heroin at the age of 17.他17岁的时候对海洛因上了瘾。
• She's become addicted to love stories.她迷上了爱情小说。

6 addicts   

有…瘾的人( addict的名词复数 )； 入迷的人

参考例句：

• a unit for rehabilitating drug addicts 帮助吸毒者恢复正常生活的机构
• There is counseling to help Internet addicts?even online. 有咨询机构帮助网络沉迷者。 来自超越目标英语 第3册

7 rehabilitation   

n.康复，悔过自新，修复，复兴，复职，复位

参考例句：

• He's booked himself into a rehabilitation clinic.他自己联系了一家康复诊所。
• No one can really make me rehabilitation of injuries.已经没有人可以真正令我的伤康复了。

8 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

9 lenient   

adj.宽大的，仁慈的

参考例句：

• The judge was lenient with him.法官对他很宽大。
• It's a question of finding the means between too lenient treatment and too severe punishment.问题是要找出处理过宽和处罚过严的折中办法。

10 bout   

n.侵袭，发作；一次(阵，回)；拳击等比赛

参考例句：

• I was suffering with a bout of nerves.我感到一阵紧张。
• That bout of pneumonia enfeebled her.那次肺炎的发作使她虚弱了。

11 efficiently   

adv.高效率地，有能力地

参考例句：

• The worker oils the machine to operate it more efficiently.工人给机器上油以使机器运转更有效。
• Local authorities have to learn to allocate resources efficiently.地方政府必须学会有效地分配资源。