Listening Unit 7: Economic Reforms

Before you listen (Trước khi bạn nghe)

Work in pairs. Discuss the question: "Do you think that drug-taking should be banned? Why/Why not?" (Làm việc theo cặp. Thảo luận câu hỏi: "Bạn có nghĩ rằng việc sử dụng ma túy có nên bị cấm không? Tại sao/Tại sao không?")

Do you think that drug-taking should be banned? Why/Why not?

=> Yes, I think that drug-taking should be banned. Because drug-taking brings about very bad effects on not only the person himself/herself but also the whole society and family. Anyone that uses or gets addicted to drug becomes lazy and loses all of his/her awareness of responsibility. And they neglect to work. To make it much worse, drug-taker's health gets worse and worse until the day his / her life comes to an end.

Có, tôi nghĩ rằng việc sử dụng ma túy nên bị cấm. Bởi vì sử dụng ma túy mang lại nhiều ảnh hưởng xấu không chỉ tới chính người sử dụng mà còn tới toàn xã hội và gia đình. Bất cứ ai sử dụng hay nghiện thuốc sẽ trở nên lười biếng và mất hết ý thức trách nhiệm. Và họ lơ là công việc. Tồi tệ hơn nữa, sức khỏe của những người dùng ma túy càng ngày càng xấu đi đến tận khi anh ấy/cô ấy chết.

Hoặc em có thể viết thành một đoạn hội thoại như sau:

• A. What do you think about drug-taking?
• B. Drug-taking? A serious issue worth being banned.
• A. Why do you say so?
• B. I think you're joking. Drue-taking is, at present, a very dangerous matter interesting everyone in the world.
• A. Is it that serious? People in some parts in the world such as Columbia. Afghanistan, Myanmar becomc rich or very rich by trading drug.
• B. But don’t you know most people on this planet have been fighting against drug-taking or outlawing trading drug? Personally, people should get rid of drug- taking and impose very heavy sentence on anyone that uses or trades drug.
• A. Why?
• B. Because drug-taking brings about very bad effects on not only the pcrsom himself / herself but also the whole society and family. Anyone that uses or gets addicted to drug becomes lazy and loses all of his / her awareness of responsibility. And they neglect to work. To make it much worse, drug-taker's health gets worse and worse until the day his / her life comes to an end.
• B. And it also influences on the country's economy and security.
• A. So, in sum, we should definitely make drue-taking illegal and impose a prison sentence or, if possible, put to death those who trade or use drug.
• B. I think it's the best solution.

Listen and repeat. (Nghe và nhắc lại.)

While you listen (Trong khi bạn nghe)

You will hear Dr. Brown, a world population expert, talk about the world population. Liten to the interview and do the tasks that follow. (Bạn sẽ nghe tiến sĩ Brown, chuyên viên dân số thế giới nói về dân số thế giới. Nghe cuộc phỏng cấn và làm bài tập theo sau.)

Task 1. Listen to the passage about the inhabitants of Tango Island and decide whether the statements are true (T) or false (F). (Nghe đoạn văn về cư dân ở Đảo Tango và xác định xem các phát biểu là đúng (T) hay sai (F).)

Script:

The inhabitants of Tango, a small island in the Atlantic Ocean, discovered a plant which contained a powerful drug. They grew the plant all over thr island and they look the drug every day. This made it more difficult for them to think rationally - it stopped them worrying about the future and enabled them to forget all their problems. At the same time, it made it much easier for them lo relax and enjoy themselves. And beeause of the drug, the whole populaton of the island slopped working and spent all their time singing and dancing and looking at the sea.

Unfortunately this had very bad eflects on the country’s economy, The workers and farmers became lazy, the children did no want to go to school and the whole population began to run short of food. This, however, did not discourse people from taking the drug. The Prime Minister made speeches on the TV warning them about the drug, but nobody look any notice, and before long the economy of the country was in ruins. This forced the Government to take measures. They introduced a law to make the drug illegal. But that only made the situation worse. The law couldn’t prevent the people from taking drug. On the contrary, the fact that the drug was illegal encouraged people to lake it more. They put the drug-takers into prison. But this did not have any effect, there were not enough prisons for them. Eventuslly, the Government found a solution: they exporled the drug to other countries. This saved the islanders from having to work more than one day a week, and allowed them to spend the rest of their time sitting in the sun without any care in the world.

Task 2. Listen again and answer the questions. (Nghe lại và trả lời các câu hỏi.)

•  1. What did the people of Tango discover? (Người dân Đảo Tango đã khám phá ra cái gì?)
  => They discovered a plant which contained a powerful drug. (Họ khám phá ra một cây trồng chứa thuốc có tác động mạnh.)
• 2. What did they do with the plant? (Họ đã làm gì với cây trồng đó?)
  => They grew it all over the island. (Họ trồng nó khắp đảo.)
• 3. What negative effects did the drug bring about? (Những hậu quả xấu mà thuốc đó mang đến?)
  => The negative effects the drug brought about were: workers and farmers became lazy, children did not want to go to school, and the whole population began to run short of food. (Ảnh hưởng tiêu cực của thuốc đó mang lại là: Công nhân và nông dân trở nên lười biếng, học sinh không muốn đến trường, và toàn bộ cư dân bắt đầu thiếu thức ăn.)
• 4. How many measures did the Government take and what were they? (Chính phủ đã áp dụng những biện pháp nào?)
  => The Government took three measures: introduced a law to make the drug illegal, put the drug-takers into prison, and exported the drug to other countries. (Chính phủ đã áp dụng 3 biện pháp sau: ban hành luật khiến ma túy trở thành bất hợp pháp, bắt những con nghiện vào tù, và xuất khẩu ma túy đến các đất nước khác.)
• 5. What did the Government of Tango decide to do eventually? (Cuối cùng Chính phủ đảo Tango quyết định làm gì?)
  => Eventually they decided to export the drug to other countries. (Cuối cùng họ quyết định xuất khẩu ma túy sang các quốc gia khác.)

After you listen (Sau khi bạn nghe)

Work in groups. Discuss the question: "Do you think that the decision of the Government of Tango’s decision to export the drug to other countries was a better solution? Why/Why not?" (Làm việc nhóm. Thảo luận câu hỏi: "Bạn có cho rằng quyết định xuất khẩu ma túy sang nước khác của Chính phủ đảo Tango có là giải pháp tốt hơn không? Tại sao/Tại sao không?)

Gợi ý:

I don't think it's a better solution. Because it makes trading drug become popular, so people can buy and sell the drug freely and the Government cannot prevent their people from taking drug. It also brings about very bad effects to others countries' population.

(Tôi không nghĩ nó là một giải pháp tốt hơn. Bởi vì nó làm việc buôn bán ma túy trở nên phổ biến, vì vậy mọi người có thể mua và bán ma túy một cách tự do và Chính phủ không thể ngăn cản người dân từ việc sử dụng  ma túy. Nó cũng mang lại những ảnh hưởng rất xấu tới người dân của những quốc gia khác.)

Hoặc em có thể viết thành một đoạn hội thoại như sau:

• A. Do you think the decision of the Government of Tango to export drug to other countries was a better solution?
• B. I don't think it’s a better solution.
• C. I do have the same idea.
• D. Why do you have that opinion? Trading drug is commonly considered the fastest way to make a bit of fortune. And if the people in a country became rich, their country will get powerful.
• A. But it also brings about very bad effects, on the contrary. The Government cannot prevent their people from taking drug.
• B. And as a result of it, most of their people get addicted to it.
• C. And what makes it much worse is exporting drug also brines the same very bad effects to other countries’ population as to Tango islanders : disastrous effects of the drug addict: people’s health and the economy of the country are in ruins.
• D. By reason of this, it’s very inhuman to export drug to any other country.
• A. All governments should make drug exporting illegal.