On Screen p 48. Culture and Identity. Extra Speaking

 

 

 

1. MONOLOGUE. Prepare a talk of AT LEAST 5 minutes on the subject. You may use the pictures above and the contents below if you wish:

"Home is where the heart is"

-Roman naval commander, Gaius Plinius Secundus, known to historians as Pliny the Elder (a.d. 23-79).- 

Is the incorporation of the wide diversity of residents in an area both necessary and beneficial?

What facets make up a person’s cultural identity?

What can trigger a sense of belonging in people? How do people build an emotional connection?

How can a person be made to feel at home if home is thousands of miles away?

Is clinging to a bygone practice of cultural heritage obsolete in today’s global society? Does it make sense now that we seem to emphasise the interconnectedness of society? Should we discern ourselves from the masses? Wouldn’t that alienate a person from the culture they reside in?

In the global community, should a culture be accommodating? What are the dangers of excluding newcomers? What could be the consequences of having splinter groups of isolated people in our society?

Should migrants abandon their roots? How important is it for our society to have a wide range of cultural expressions?

What can improve people's abilities to accept others for who they are? How can people appreciate others' idiosyncrasies with greater ease?

 

You may make some notes for your talk to take into the exam. These should not exceed five lines.


2. INTERACTION

In this part of the test, the examiner will ask you some questions about issues related to the TOPIC. Remember that you are expected to have a conversation as natural as possible and give full answers. This part of the examination will last AT LEAST 5 minutes. You will not see the questions below.

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TEACHER'S QUESTIONS  

1. Are you part of a family-centred culture? Does your social life revolve around your extended family? Or is your family spread out all over the place and family get-togethers are few and far between? What are the benefits and drawbacks of either situation?
 

2. How important do you think it is to maintain traditions? Why? Have younger generations lost touch with their traditions? Have they adopted foreign traditions? Why do you think this is so? Do you think this is a good thing?

3. Should immigrants adopt the culture and traditions of the new country? Should they also maintain their own? Should native inhabitants of a country take part in foreign cultural events taking place in their community? Have immigrants successfully assimilated into your local culture? Has it been a seamless transition for them? Is your local community very accommodating to foreigners? Has your country been hospitable to refugees? Have you come across obliging people when travelling overseas? Can you tell us about a place you have been to where the locals were extremely welcoming? Do you know anyone who married someone from a different culture? Did this pose any challenges? Did they rise to them? What challenges would you face if you moved abroad? Have you ever taken up similar challenges? What has been the most daunting challenge you have had to overcome?

4. Is life tough for some sections of our society? What are some of the major problems people face? How do people cope when they go through a rough patch? Do people generally have a positive outlook? Can certain problems take a heavy toll on people? Do people easily visit a psychiatrist or get counselling when they go through a sticky patch?

5. Are there pockets in our society that you find quite male-dominated? Do you think there's still a lot of gender discrimination? Is there widespread inequality for the LGBTQ community? Should governments encourage changes in attitudes to women and LGBTQ people? What could be done to tackle these inequalities?

6. Do we live in a fairly liberal society? Do people interfere in others' personal lives? or is it more "live and let live"? Can people always make their own decisions? Are there any meddlers or busybodies in the place where you work or study? How do you deal with people who meddle in your affairs?

7. Is class a big thing? Is social mobility easy? How? Do young people leave home and get on the property ladder as their parents did when they were young?

8. Have there been protest marches in your country recently? Why? Have you ever taken part in a peaceful demonstration? Did it turn violent? What kind of issues provoke public outcries in your country?

9. What's your opinion about the following overgeneralizations: "men are no good at listening," "women are terrible drivers," "young people these days are slackers and disrespectful", "people who are on benefits are just lazy- they don't want to work", "immigrants come here to use our services and get handouts without contributing to our  country's coffers." What other stereotypes can you think of? Are any of these stereotypes positive? How fair do you think they are?     

  

Vocabulary

Pictures

traditional/folk /fəʊk/ dance takes place in the streets throughout the year and everybody joins in.

a multicultural classroom has a number of advantages for students.

slaughter: /ˈslɔːtə(r)/ the killing of animals for their meat. E.g. The festival of the slaughter of pigs is an important event in the winter calendar in rural Mallorca, and families get together on the day of the slaughter. Pig slaughtering. Pig slaughter.

The Pilgrims' Road to Santiago de Compostela was to become a channel for transmitting culture and art.

The Pamplona Running of the Bulls is the most famous one in the whole world. But in the last few years the festival has also been at the centre of multiple controversies /ˈkɒntrəvɜːsiz/.

Ernest Hemingway visited Pamplona during the San Fermin festival for the first time. He immediately was fascinated by bullfighting.

On Bonfire night the town council in Calvià organise a big bonfire for all tourists and locals alike. There is food and drink, entertainment, a chocolate fountain, children's attractions, stalls, a large firework display and, of course, a bonfire.

A chocolate fountain is a device for serving chocolate fondue. It has tiers over a basin at the bottom. The basin is heated to keep the chocolate in a liquid state so it can be pulled into a centre cylinder then vertically transported to the top of the fountain. From there it flows over the tiers creating a chocolate "waterfall" in which food items like strawberries or marshmallows can be dipped.

Monologue

cling to something | cling on to something  ​to be unwilling to lose something or stop doing something. Sp. aferrarse.

E.g.

Throughout the trial she had clung to the belief that he was innocent.         

He had one last hope to cling on to.         

She managed to cling on to life for another couple of years.

cling: to hold on tightly to somebody/something.

E.g.

cling to somebody/something survivors clinging to a raft. Leaves still clung to the branches.     

cling on to somebody/something She clung on to her baby.

bygone adjective   /ˈbaɪɡɒn/   [only before noun]      ​happening or existing a long time ago. Sp. pasado.

E.g.

a bygone age/era         

The family story was that, in bygone days, he had been a rich farmer in Australia.         

The horse and cart belongs to a bygone era.

let bygones be bygones used to tell someone that they should forget about unpleasant things that happened in the past, and especially to forgive and forget something bad that someone has done to them. Sp. lo pasado, pasado está.

E.g.

Just let bygones be bygones and be friends again. 

alienate: /ˈeɪliəneɪt/

alienate somebody (from something/somebody) to make somebody feel that they do not belong in a particular group. Sp. apartar, alejar.

E.g.

Very talented children may feel alienated from the others in their class.

accommodating /əˈkɒmədeɪtɪŋ/ willing to help and do things for other people.

E.g.

David was gentle, generous and accommodating.     

accommodating to somebody 

They are very accommodating to foreign visitors.     

They are very accommodating to people with special needs.

 

splinter group /ˈsplɪntə ɡruːp/ a small group of people that has separated from a larger one, especially in politics.

E.g.

a radical splinter group of the organization

The extreme left wing of the party broke away into a splinter group.

 

splinter noun   /ˈsplɪntə(r)/ ​a small, thin, sharp piece of wood, metal, glass, etc. that has broken off a larger piece. Synonym: shard. Sp. astilla.

E.g.

splinters of glass         

to remove a splinter from your finger.

idiosyncrasy noun   /ˌɪdiəˈsɪŋkrəsi/

1 an unusual habit or way of behaving that someone has  

E.g.

My uncle’s idiosyncrasies

It's one of her idiosyncrasies. Sp. es una de sus peculiaridades.

2 an unusual or unexpected feature that something has  

E.g.

One of the many idiosyncrasies of English spelling.

 

ease:  lack of difficulty.

E.g.

with ease He passed the exam with ease.     

The ease with which she learns languages is astonishing

 

 Questions

extended family /ɪkˌstendɪd ˈfæməli/ a family group with a close relationship among the members that includes not only parents and children but also uncles, aunts, grandparents, etc. E.g. She grew up surrounded by a large extended family.

nuclear family: /ˌnjuːkliə ˈfæməli/ a family that consists of father, mother and children, when it is thought of as a unit in society. E.g. Not everybody nowadays lives in the conventional nuclear family.

few and far between: not frequent; not happening often. E.g. Apartments that are both comfortable and reasonably priced are few and far between.

assimilate: /əˈsɪməleɪt/ to become, or allow somebody to become, a part of a country or community rather than remaining in a separate group. E.g. assimilate (into/to something) New arrivals find it hard to assimilate. Many new immigrants have not yet assimilated fully into the new culture. assimilate somebody (into/to something) Immigrants have been successfully assimilated into the community.

seamless: /ˈsiːmləs/ happening without any sudden changes, interruption, or difficulty. E.g. The intention is to achieve a seamless transition with a continuity of management. A seamless flow of talk.

accommodating: /əˈkɒmədeɪtɪŋ/ willing to help and do things for other people. Obliging. E.g. They are very accommodating to foreign visitors. David was gentle, generous and accommodating to a fault. They are very accommodating to people with special needs.

hospitable: /hɒˈspɪtəbl/ /ˈhɒspɪtəbl/ hospitable (to/towards somebody) (of a person) pleased to welcome guests; generous and friendly to visitors. Welcoming. E.g. The local people are very hospitable to strangers. He thanked Patricia for being such a hospitable hostess.

obliging: /əˈblaɪdʒɪŋ/ very willing to help. E.g. They were very obliging and offered to wait for us.

welcoming: (of a person) friendly towards somebody who is visiting or arriving. E.g. She gave everyone a welcoming smile.

challenge: collocations: The gallery has risen to the challenge of exhibiting the works of young artists. It's going to be a difficult job but I'm sure she'll rise to the challenge. He has taken on some exciting new challenges with this job. Finding a solution to this problem is one of the greatest challenges faced by scientists today.

daunting:​ /dɔːntɪŋ/. If something is daunting, it makes you worried because it is difficult or frightening. Intimidating. E.g. a daunting challenge/task.

patch: a period of time of the type mentioned, usually a difficult or unhappy one. E.g. to go through a bad/ difficult/ sticky (difficult or unpleasant) patch.

take a heavy toll (on somebody/something), take its toll (on somebody/something):  to have a bad effect on somebody/ something; to cause a lot of damage, deaths, suffering, etc. E.g. Illness had taken a heavy toll on her. The recession is taking its toll on the housing markets.

pocket: /ˈpɒkɪt/ a group, area, or mass of something that is separate and different from what surrounds it. E.g. Among the staff there are some pockets of resistance to the planned changes (= some small groups of them are opposed).The pilot said that we were going to encounter a pocket of turbulence (= an area of violently moving air). There are some pockets in our society, however, where hope is much more fragile.

meddler: a person who tries to get involved in something that does not concern them.

busybody: a person who is too interested in what other people are doing. E.g. He's an interfering old busybody!

meddle: meddle (in/with something) to become involved in something that does not concern you. Interfere. E.g. He had no right to meddle in her affairs. He’s just a meddling old fool!

the property ladder: a series of stages in owning houses in which you buy a small house or apartment first and then buy a bigger or more expensive house when you have enough money. E.g. House prices are so high now it is hard for first-time buyers to get on the property ladder (= buy their first house).

outcry (at/over/against something) a reaction of anger or strong protest shown by people in public. E.g. an outcry over the proposed change The new tax provoked a public outcry. There was outcry at the judge's statement.

slacker: /ˈslækə(r)/ a person who is lazy and avoids work. E.g. Those slackers have gone home early again.

benefits: money provided by the government to people who need financial help because they are unemployed, ill/sick, etc. E.g. The aim is to help people who are on benefits(= receiving benefits) to find jobs. You may be eligible /ˈelɪdʒəbl/ to receive benefits.

handouts: food, money or clothes that are given to a person who is poor. E.g. to be dependent on handouts. I'm not interested in government handouts - all I want is a job.

coffers: a way of referring to the money that a government, an organization, etc. has available to spend. E.g. The nation's coffers are empty.

 

On Screen p 21. Immigration. Speaking

1. MONOLOGUE. Prepare a talk of AT LEAST 5 minutes on the subject. You may use the pictures above and the contents below if you wish:
"To jaw-jaw is always better than to war-war"
-Winston Churchill-  
Why is the refugee crisis all over the news? How is this related to the political situation in some countries? Do military interventions make any difference? Do you think that launching air campaigns make our countries safer places? Are you absolutely convinced that diplomatic campaigns are feasible and more convenient? Do you agree with Churchill's quote "To jaw-jaw is always better than to war-war"? Is it feasible to stem the haemorrhage of people being displaced by armed conflict? How can our governments deal with the increasing number of insurgents in the West?

You may make some notes for your talk to take into the exam. These should not exceed five lines.



2. INTERACTION

In this part of the test, the examiner will ask you some questions about topics related to the TOPIC. Remember that you are expected to have a conversation as natural as possible and give full answers. This part of the examination will last AT LEAST 5 minutes. You will not see the questions below. 

 

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TEACHER'S QUESTIONS

1. How has climate change played a role in the displacement of people in certain parts of the world?
2. In what way does immigration positively contribute to the enhancement of a country?
3. Have any of your acquaintances moved to a foreign country? Why?
4. Do you know anyone who has come to live in Spain from another country? Why have they? Are they seeking asylum or are they economic migrants? Do these people have any problems about living away from home?
5. What would you sorely miss about Spain if you went to live abroad?
6. What would be your expectations about living in a different country? What do you think immigrants hope to find when they come here? Are their expectations over-optimistic or realistic? Does the reality of what they find fall short of their expectations?
7. What would be your worst fear or the greatest problem you might be faced with? Would you be concerned that you might be discriminated against? Why do you think discrimination exists? Have you experienced discrimination on a personal level? Do immigrants assimilate easily?
8. What are some things you could do to make your move easier? 
9. Do you think that more measures to curb the number of migrants entering the EU should be put in place? When do you think immigrants should be deported? Do you feel sorry for those refugees who face deportation?
10. Should asylum seekers be granted a work permit?
11. Are detention centres necessary?





Useful language 

1. MONOLOGUE: PICTURES

Picture A
refugee: /ˌrefjuˈdʒiː/ a person who has been forced to leave their country or home, because there is a war or for political, religious or social reasons. E.g. a steady flow of refugees from the war zone. Political/ economic refugees.  
A refugee camp.
Makeshift: /ˈmeɪkʃɪft/ used temporarily for a particular purpose because the real thing is not available. Provisional. A makeshift camp/ hospital.  

Flock: to go or gather together somewhere in large numbers. E.g. + adv./prep. Thousands of people flocked to the beach this weekend. Hordes of refugees are flocking out of Syria everyday.
Horde: /hɔːd/ a large crowd of people. E.g. Hordes of tourists arrive in Italy every June. Millions of refugees are fleeing Syria in hordes.  

Rubble: broken stones or bricks from a building or wall that has been destroyed or damaged. E.g. The bomb reduced the houses to rubble. In the aftermath of the air strikes there were piles of rubble everywhere. 
The war pushes them to leave. 

Picture B
Banner: a long piece of cloth with a message on it that is carried between two poles or hung in a public place to show support for something. E.g. A huge banner over the street said ‘Welcome home’. Protesters carried a banner reading ‘Save our Wildlife’.
Placard: /ˈplækɑːd/ a large written or printed notice that is put in a public place or carried on a stick in a march. E.g. The protesters gathered together in front of the embassy with placards that denounced the president's crimes. They were carrying placards and banners demanding that he resign.
It's always easier to stereotype and judge than it is to look beneath the surface and "see" the forest, not just the trees... Who would not walk through a dessert, cross an ocean or do whatever it took to feed their children? I'd crawl over glass if that's what it took. The laws of a nation need to be enforced (Sp. hacer cumplir), but we do not need to lose our compassion and empathy for people in a desperate situation in order to do so.
not see the forest/wood for the trees: to not see or understand the main point about something, because you are paying too much attention to small details.

Picture C
small boat. Sp. patera. The small rubber boat is packed.  
dinghy: a small open boat. They bundle up (Sp. abrigar) their children and take the smugglers' rubber dinghies to Europe.   

Life jacket/ Life vest   

Lifebelt: a large ring made of material that floats well, that is used to rescue somebody who has fallen into water, to prevent them from drowning. 

Lifeboat Jet-ski: Sp. moto acuática. They are doing jet-skiing.  

Capsize (something): /kæpˈsaɪz/ if a boat capsizes or something capsizes it, it turns over in the water. E.g. The boat capsized and sank.
Shipwreck: the loss or destruction of a ship at sea because of a storm or because it hits rocks, etc. E.g. They narrowly escaped shipwreck in a storm in the North Sea. The shipwreck of the tanker has caused one of the worst oil spills in recent years.
be shipwrecked: to be left somewhere after the ship that you have been sailing in has been lost or destroyed at sea. E.g.  They were shipwrecked off the coast of Africa. A shipwrecked sailor.
castaway: a person whose ship has sunk (= who has been shipwrecked) and who has had to swim to a lonely place, usually an island. 
The refugees/ illegal immigrants have been rescued by the coast guards.
The boat might have been adrift for some days (Sp. a la deriva)
The coast guard ship took the boat in tow and brought it into the harbour.
Desperate times call for desperate measures. Just think about how bad their life must have been. They are desperate. I do feel sorry for them.
Ellis Island in the New York Harbour was the gateway for millions of immigrants to the United States. The Greek islands seem to be the gateway for Syrian refugees.
Immigrants typically face a difficult journey. Most of them have been ripped off by smugglers. They travel in cramped (Sp. apretado) rubber boats. They often experience overcrowding (Sp. masificación) and seasickness.  
stowaway: /ˈstəʊəweɪ/ a person who hides in a ship or plane before it leaves, in order to travel without paying or being seen. Someone who stows away in a vehicle, ship, or plane. E.g. If someone is to survive as a stowaway then they have to get into an area of the plane that is pressurised and warm. He travelled as a stowaway on a freight ship at the age of fourteen. Authorities at the port and tunnel have stepped up efforts to thwart (frustrate) stowaways, making it harder for migrants to get through on their own.
stow away to hide in a ship, plane, etc. in order to travel secretly. E.g. At the age of 13 he had stowed away on a ship bound for Rio.

MONOLOGUE: QUESTIONS

air strike: an attack made by aircraft. 

Be opposed to/ in favour of air strikes. jingoist: /ˈdʒɪŋɡəʊɪst/ (disapproving) someone who ​believes that ​their own ​country is always ​best. E.g. He was a ​confirmed jingoist and would ​frequently ​speak about the ​dangers of ​Britain ​forming ​closer ​ties with the ​rest of ​Europe.  

jingoism: /ˈdʒɪŋɡəʊɪzəm/ (disapproving) a strong belief that your own country is best, especially when this is expressed in support of war with another country. E.g. Patriotism can ​turn into jingoism and ​intolerance very ​quickly.
jingoistic: /ˌdʒɪŋɡəʊˈɪstɪk/ (disapproving) adj. showing a strong belief that your own country is best, especially when this is expressed in support of war with another country. E.g. Can patriotism in the USA be too jingoistic?
Chauvinist: /ˈʃəʊvɪnɪst/ a person who has an aggressive and unreasonable belief that their own country is better than all others.

chauvinism: an aggressive and unreasonable belief that your own country is better than all others. E.g. It was a typical case of British chauvinism and insularity. National/cultural chauvinism. chauvinistic: showing an aggressive and unreasonable belief that your own country is better than all others. E.g. chauvinistic nationalism.  

Military action/intervention/ operations will/ won't make any difference

insurgent: a person fighting against the government or armed forces of their own country. rebel. E.g. an attack by armed insurgents.
radicalise: to make a person, group, or system more radical  

  the West: Europe, N America and Canada, contrasted with Eastern countries. E.g. I was born in Japan, but I've lived in the West for some years now.  

Good intelligence  

In the short/ long term, launching an air campaign will make our country a more dangerous place. Bombing alone won't do it. It is no guarantee of success.

If we draw an analogy with what happened in Iraq /with Al-Qaeda ...

ethnic cleansing: (used especially in news reports) the policy of forcing the people of a particular race or religion to leave an area or a country. E.g.  All the speakers at the conference condemned the so-called ‘ethnic cleansing’.
Civilian casualties Collateral damage: the government denied that there had been any  

collateral damage (= injury to ordinary people or buildings) during the bombing raid. If bombs go stray and a hospital/school is hit they call it collateral damage.

 
stem something to stop something that is flowing from spreading or increasing. E.g. The cut was bandaged to stem the bleeding. They discussed ways of stemming the flow of smuggled drugs. 
 

haemorrhage: /ˈhemərɪdʒ/ haemorrhage (of somebody/something) a serious loss of people, money, etc. from a country, a group or an organization. E.g. Poor working conditions have led to a steady haemorrhage of qualified teachers from our schools.  

displace somebody to force people to move away from their home to another place. E.g. Around 10,000 people have been displaced by the fighting. If the dam is built it will displace 100 000 people. 
 

 

Sample answer:

Question: Why is the refugee crisis all over the news? How is this related to Syria? Why should we care at all? 
Sample answer:
In the summer of 2015, Europe experienced the highest influx of refugees since the Second World War. The main reason is that Syria has become the world’s top source of refugees.
Syria is located in the Middle East, an ancient fertile land settled for at least 10,000 years. Since the 1960s, it’s been led by the al-Assad family, who have ruled it as quasi-dictators until the Arab Spring happened in 2011, a revolutionary wave of protests and conflicts in the Arab world that toppled many authoritarian regimes. But the Assads refused to step down and started a brutal civil war. Different ethnicities and religious groups fought each other in changing coalitions. ISIS, a militaristic jihadist group, used the opportunity and entered the chaos with the goal to build a totalitarian Islamic caliphate.
Very quickly, it became one of the most violent and successful extremist organizations on Earth. All sides committed horrible war crimes, using chemical weapons, mass executions, torture on a large scale, and repeated deadly attacks on civilians. The Syrian population was trapped between the regime, rebel groups, and the religious extremists. A third of the Syrian people have been displaced within Syria, while over four million have fled the country. The vast majority of them reside now in camps in the neighbouring countries, who are taking care of 95% of the refugees, while the Arab states of the Persian Gulf together have accepted zero Syrian refugees, which has been called especially shameful by Amnesty International. The UN and the World Food Program were not prepared for a refugee crisis on this scale. As a result, many refugee camps are crowded and under-supplied, subjecting people to cold, hunger, and disease.
The Syrians lost hope that their situation will be getting better any time soon, so many decided to seek asylum in Europe. Between 2007 and 2014, the European Union had invested about €2 billion in defences, high-tech security technology, and border patrols,but not a lot in preparation for an influx of refugees. So it was badly prepared for the storm of asylum seekers. In the EU, a refugee has to stay in the state they arrived in first, which put enormous pressure on the border states that were already in trouble. Greece, in the midst of an economic crisis on the scale of the Great Depression, was not able to take care of so many people at once, leading to terrible scenes of desperate, hungry people on islands usually reserved for tourists.
The world needed to come together and act as a united front, but, instead, it has become more divided. Many states downright refused to take in any refugees, leaving the border states alone in their struggle.
In 2014, the UK lobbied to stop a huge search-and-rescue operation called Mare Nostrum that was designed to stop asylum seekers from drowning in the Mediterranean. The idea seems to have been that a higher death toll on the sea would mean fewer asylum seekers trying to make the journey. But, of course, in reality, that’s not what happened.
The perception of the crisis around the world suddenly changed when photos circulated of a dead boy from Syria found lying face down on a beach in Turkey. Germany announced that it will, without exception, accept all Syrian refugees, and is now preparing to take in 800,000 people in 2015, more than the entire EU took in 2014, only to impose temporary border controls a few days later and demand an EU-wide solution.
All over the West, more and more people are beginning to take action, although support for asylum seekers has mostly come from citizens, not from politicians. But there are fears in the Western world: Islam, high birth rates, crime, and the collapse of the social systems. Let’s acknowledge this and look at the facts.
Even if the EU alone were to accept all four million Syrian refugees and 100% of them were Muslims, the percentage of Muslims in the European Union would only rise from about 4% to about 5%. This is not a drastic change and will certainly not make it a Muslim continent. A Muslim minority is neither new nor reason to be afraid. Birth rates in many parts of the Western world are low, so some fear asylum seekers might overtake the native population in a few decades.
Studies have shown that even though birth rates are higher among Muslims in Europe, they drop and adjust as the standard of living and level of education rises. Most Syrian refugees already are educated, the birth rate in Syria before the civil war was not very high, and the population was actually shrinking, not growing.
The fear that refugees lead to higher crime rates also turns out to be wrong. Refugees who become immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than the native population. When allowed to work, they tend to start businesses and integrate themselves into the workforce as fast as possible, paying more into the social systems than they extract from them. Syrians coming to the West are potential professional workers, desperately needed to sustain Europe’s ageing population.
Refugees’ travelling with smart phones has led to the misconception that they’re not really in need of help. Social media and the internet have become a vital part of being a refugee. GPS is used to navigate the long routes to Europe; Facebook groups give tips and information about obstacles in real time. This only proves that these people are like us: if you had to make a dangerous journey, would you leave your phone behind?
The European Union is the wealthiest bunch of economies on Earth, well-organized states with functioning social systems, infrastructure, democracy, and huge industries. It can handle the challenge of the refugee crisis if it wants to. The same can be said for the whole Western world. But while tiny Jordan has taken in over 600,000 Syrian refugees, the UK, which has 78 times the GDP of Jordan, has only said it will allow 20,000 Syrians across its borders over the next five years. The US has agreed to accept 10,000, Australia 12,000 people.
Overall, things are slowly getting better, but not fast enough.
We are writing history right now. How do we want to be remembered? As xenophobic rich cowards behind fences?
We have to realize that these people fleeing death and destruction are no different from us. By accepting them into our countries and integrating them into our societies, we have much to gain. There is only something to be lost if we ignore this crisis. More dead children are sure to wash ashore if we don’t act with humanity and reason.
Let’s do this right and try to be the best we possibly can be.



2. INTERACTION 

Question 2

enhancement: /ɪnˈhɑːnsmənt/ the act of increasing or further improving the good quality, value or status of somebody/something. E.g. equipment for the enhancement of sound quality. Software enhancements. The devotion of the foreign workers to the enhancement of our country's economy is a fact that cannot be neglected.
enhance something : /ɪnˈhɑːns/ to increase or further improve the good quality, value or status of somebody/something. E.g. This is an opportunity to enhance the reputation of the company. Many of the immigrants bring new cultural practices with them, which also enhance our culture.
Question 4  

economic migrant: a person who moves from their own country to a new country in order to find work or have a better standard of living. E.g. They claimed they were political refugees and not economic migrants.  

asylum (also political asylum) [uncountable] protection that a government gives to people who have left their own country, usually because they were in danger for political reasons. E.g. to seek/apply for/be granted asylum. There was a nationwide debate on whether the asylum laws should be changed.  
All of these immigrants are looking for free land, freedom of worship, or adventure, or running away from oppressive governments.
Question 6  

Despite the hardships, immigrants hold on to their hopes.
They hope to find work and other people from their homelands. Life in Europe is often very different from life in their own country. Therefore, many immigrants move into neighbourhoods with other people of the same nationality. In these neighbourhoods they can hear their own language, eat familiar foods, and keep their customs.
Even with neighbourhood support, immigrants often find city life difficult. Many immigrants live in tenements (poorly built, overcrowded apartments). They often have to work under exhausting conditions.
Most of these immigrants have little money and know little Spanish. These factors force most of them to take low-paid unskilled industrial jobs. Many of these jobs are in the construction industry. Longer hours are also common.
Although wages are relatively low, they are often higher than those that most immigrants can earn in their home countries.
Some immigrants work long hours for little pay in small shops or factories located in or near working-class neighbourhoods. These workplaces are called sweatshops because of the long hours and often unhealthy working conditions.
Question 7

migrate, migration, migrant

immigrate, immigration, immigrant

emigrate, emigration, emigrant  

assimilate, assimilation assimilate: to become, or allow somebody to become, a part of a country or community rather than remaining in a separate group. E.g. assimilate (into/to something) New arrivals find it hard to assimilate. Many new immigrants have not yet assimilated fully into the new culture. Assimilate somebody (into/to something) Immigrants have been successfully assimilated into the community. 

integrate, integration  

segregate, segregation  

ostracise, ostracism  

ostracise: ostracise somebody (formal) to refuse to let somebody be a member of a social group; to refuse to meet or talk to somebody. E.g. He was ostracised by his colleagues for refusing to support the strike. The regime risks being ostracised by the international community.  Some Muslim communities are becoming increasingly ostracised.

ostracism: the act of deliberately not including somebody in a group or activity; the state of not being included. E.g. With U.S. Ebola fear running high, African immigrants face ostracism. Anti-immigrant feelings have grown along with the rise in immigration. Some people fear that too many new immigrants are being allowed into the country. Some also hold racial and religious prejudices against immigrants.
Question 9

curb: /kɜːb/ curb something to control or limit something, especially something bad.  E.g. Measures to curb the number of migrants entering the UK from Calais have been put in place this week by the UK.  

put something in place: set up, establish E.g. the rules which we shall put in place in the months ahead meet these criteria.  

deport somebody to force somebody to leave a country, usually because they have broken the law or because they have no legal right to be there. E.g.  He was convicted of drug offences and deported. Many refugees were forcibly( /ˈfɔːsəbli/ using physical force) deported back to the countries they had come from.   

deportation: the act of forcing somebody to leave a country, usually because they have broken the law or because they have no legal right to be there. E.g. Several of the asylum seekers now face deportation.
Question 10 

asylum seeker: a person who has been forced to leave their own country because they are in danger and who arrives in another country asking to be allowed to stay there   

work permit: an official document that somebody needs in order to work in a particular foreign country.  
Many immigrants seek work and new lives in Europe.
Question 11  

detention centre: a place where people are kept in detention, especially people who have entered a country illegally. E.g. They are confined in a detention centre for asylum seekers, and forced to prove their refugee status.