2F Reading: Breaking with problems | Tiếng Anh 12 (Friends Global) | Unit 2: Problems - Lớp 12 - Giáo Dục Việt Nam

1 SPEAKING Look at the photos that illustrate two common problems in a city. What do you think are the problems? What are some possible solutions?

2 Read texts (A-C) opposite. Match the texts with the titles (1-5). There are two extra titles.

1 I've got my eye on you!

2 Brighter and safer

3 Driven to crime

4 Feeling blue

5 Politics works!

3 Read the Reading Strategy. Match texts (A-C) with questions (1-6). Each paragraph may be matched with more than one question.

Which text mentions...

1 similar falls in crime in different countries?

2 a fall in the crime rate of under 50%?

3 a fall in crime that was the result of a planned experiment?

4 people claiming that they were responsible for less crime?

5 a crime prevention technique that has interested people in another country?

6 a local change that had an effect on the crime rate?

4 SPEAKING Work in pairs. Discuss the questions about the article.

1 Why do you think Dr Bateson first put a picture of flowers behind the collection box?

2 Why might politicians not want to believe the theory about lead petrol?

3 What is the writer suggesting by using the phrase 'whatever the reason' in the text about blue street lighting?

5 VOCABULARY Copy and complete the diagram with the words in bold from the text that collocate with crime. Which words come before crime and which come after?

Crime collocations

BRIGHTERAND SAFER

A Dr Melissa Bateson, a psychologist from Newcastle University, secretly conducted an experiment to see if she could change her colleagues' behaviour when it came to paying for their hot drinks. The teachers were expected to put money in a box in the staff room, but nobody controlled how much money each teacher gave. Dr Bateson put a large picture of some flowers on the wall behind the box for a few weeks and then replaced it with one of a picture of a pair of human eyes. At the end of the experiment, Dr Bateson found that teachers paid almost three times more for their drinks when the picture of the eyes was on the wall. She concluded that we are programmed to respond to eyes, even pictures of eyes, and believed that her posters could help combat crime.

B During the 1960s and '70s, industrialised countries suffered an incredible crime wave, and violent crimes such as muggings increased at an alarming rate. What is more, it was expected to get worse. Only it didn't. Instead, it got much, much better. In the 1990s, crime started to fall 20 dramatically, and today it is down by almost 50% across the industrialised world and continues to fall. Triumphant politicians will assert that their policies have cut crime. 

Actually, regardless of the country's policies, the trend does coincide with the use and subsequent prohibition of tetraethyl lead in petrol, which has been known for years as a cause of aggressive behaviour. Therefore, countries that still use leaded petrol are being urged to stop using it to help improve health and crime prevention.

C After the installation of blue-light street lamps in Buchanan Street, the main shopping centre of Glasgow (Scotland), the local police felt that thieves were committing fewer crimes in Buchanan Street. Statistics proved that the number of recorded crimes had fallen - especially petty crimes such as pickpocketing and bag snatching. Some psychologists claim that blue is a calming colour and reduces people's levels of stress and aggression. Whatever the reason, it seems that blue lighting does deter crime and it has created interest abroad. Many neighbourhoods in Japan have adopted the change and seen crime fall at a similar rate as in Glasgow.

6 Replace the underlined words with some collocations from exercise 5.

1 We must stop them from doing something illegal.

2 Police officers offered advice on ways of stopping crimes from happening.

3 There was a sudden increase in the number of crimes in Birmingham last month.

4 There were fewer rapes and murders last year.

5 All the data on documented criminal activity is available to the public.

6 The threat of long prison sentences doesn't prevent people from doing things they shouldn't.

7 Use the following words or phrases to write a short summary of the text.

• Three reports/change in behaviour / small changes in the place

• A psychological experiment / Newscastle University // findings / people pay more / a picture of the eyes //

• Contrary to expectations/crime rate/in the 1990s // The decrease / linked to /ban on tetraethyl lead in petrol //

• the use of blue-light street lamps/report/ prevent crime //

8 SPEAKING Work in pairs. Decide if you agree or disagree with the statement below. Think of three points to support your position.

9 SPEAKING Use the phrases below to debate the statement in exercise 8 with another pair. Do you still have the same opinion at the end of the debate?

To begin with,...

The main thing we need to discuss is ...

The problem with your point is...

Surely you see that...