SESSION 7: EXERCISES WORKING WITH THE TEXT

SESSION 7: EXERCISES WORKING WITH THE TEXT

NOTE: IN ORDER TO WORK WITH THE TEXT, UNDERSTAND AND PREPARE IT BETTER I RECOMMEND THESE EXERCISES.

THERE WILL BE TWO TYPES OF EXERCISES:

1. EXERCISES WORKING WITH THE TEXT: THESE ARE EXERCISES FOCUSING ON THE READING COMPREHENSION, WORKING WITH VOCABULARY AND EXPRESSIONS.

2. EXERCISES FOR DISCUSSION: EXERCISES FOCUSING ON THE PREPARATION FOR THE DISCUSSION.

1. EXERCISES WORKING WITH THE TEXT

1.1 TRUE/FALSE: Look at the article and guess whether these sentences are True (T) or False (F):

a. Researchers have found that alcohol is a bigger danger than cocaine.

b. The research was on how harmful drugs are to people and societies.
c. No one in the U.K. wants to change the laws about alcohol.
d. One person wants to make alcohol cheaper to buy.
e. The leader of the research previously lost his government job.
f. Making strict alcohol laws doesn’t help governments stay in power.
g. The study from Mr Nutt does not suggest a reclassification of drugs.
h. One suggestion is to put cigarettes and cocaine in different categories.

1.2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:
1. discovered ............ a. consultant
2. basis .................... b. handle
3. categories ............. c. broad
4. experts ................. d. found
5. deal with .............. e. groups
6. advisor ................. f. proof
7. fired .................... g. grounds
8. evidence ............... h. proposed
9. extensive .............. i. specialists
10.suggested .............. j. sacked

1.3 PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from this article (sometimes more than one option is possible):
1. alcohol is a more dangerous ........ a. for a change
2. classified drugs on the basis of .... b. of the list
3. Alcohol came top .................... c. alcohol dependency
4. ensure alcohol is made .............. d. of these new findings
5. deal with the rise in ................ e. drug than heroin
6. He has been calling .................. f. for his views
7. He was fired in 2009 ................ g. to the individual
8. more interested in politics ........ h. the harm they do
9. deal with drugs in the light ....... i. than scientific evidence
10. they cause as much harm ........ j. less affordable

1.4 GAP FILL: Put the words into the gaps in the text:

DAMAGE - ENSURE - BASIS - DEAL - DISCOVERED - OTHERS - RESEARCH - CATEGORIES

A new study has ____________ that alcohol is a more dangerous drug than heroin and cocaine. The report is from Britain’s Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs. Its ____________ classified drugs on the ____________ of the harm they do in our society. Alcohol came top of the list, with heroin second and cocaine third. Researchers created nine ____________ of harm that drugs can do "from death to ____________ to mental functioning and loss of relationships," and seven types of harm they do to ____________. Experts in Britain are now calling for new laws to control alcohol. Don Shenker from the group Alcohol Concern said: “The government should now urgently ____________ alcohol is made less affordable and invest in prevention and treatment services to ____________ with the rise in alcohol dependency that has occurred."

CATEGORY - FIRED - SOCIETY - STRONGLY - LED - LIGHT - CALLING - EVIDENCE

The research was ____________ by a former government drugs advisor, Professor David Nutt. He has been ____________ for a change in the way Britain classifies drugs for many years. He was ____________ in 2009 for his views and claimed the government was more interested in politics than scientific ____________. Any laws that make alcohol a dangerous drug would cause harm to any government trying to win an election. However, the current study is very extensive and ____________ suggests he was right to call for a reclassification. Professor Nutt told Britain’s Guardian newspaper: “We need to rethink how we deal with drugs in the ____________ of these new findings." One suggested change is that cigarettes are put in the same ____________ as cocaine, because they cause as much harm to the individual and ____________.