079　social problems

Words
Homeless health education corruption crime discrimination racism drug abuse/addiction
Poverty housing unemployment statistics data/figures protest demonstration support oppose legislation blame

Phrases
Solve a problem
Legislate against
Find a solution to a problem
Take measure to
Take action against
Become addicted 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 addicts. 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 rehabilitation 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 relatively low crime rate.
A; some people believe that a tough approach is better. Other prefer a more lenient 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 bout 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 efficiently. 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.