Reading task Learning Intention

1. Reading task Learning Intention a)Select and use different types of texts to obtain and utilise relevant informationb) Read and summarise, succinctly, information/ideas from different sources c) To identify colons & semi-colons & be able to use them correctly Read, ‘Raise drinking age to 21.’

5. Underage Drinking ‘Young people should be banned from drinking until they reach 21 or be forced to carry a card that records the amount of alcohol they drink. Binge drinking has become such an overwhelming problem that the government need to practice a ‘tough love’ policy and make it more difficult for young people to drink alcohol. Newspaper journalist Jasper Gerard says that HK has ‘lost the plot’ over drinking laws. He proposes raising the drinking age to 21 or making 18 year olds carry smart cards to record how much they have drunk each night and restricting them to three units of alcohol.

6. Binge Drinking Gerard also proposes increasing the number of prosecutions and the level of fines for (retailers) shopkeepers selling alcohol to under-age drinkers. He say’s, ‘by raising the age threshold it is at least possible that those in their early and mid teems will not see drink as something they will soon be allowed to do and start drinking in secret. Instead they might come to see it as forbidden.’ The number of under-18’s taken to hospital with alcohol related diseases and injuries rose in 2005/06 to 8299, a jump of 40% in three years. A survey by charity, Alcohol Concern found that in 2005, more than 1 in 5 11 years olds had started to drink. By age 12, drinkers start to outnumber non-drinkers.

7. Age Limit Frank Sooden of Alcohol Concern said that the answer to cutting under-age drinking lay in using existing laws rather than raising the age limit. He says that ‘if current laws were used better, this would go a long way to reducing alcohol related problems. For example, a lot of people don’t know that it’s against the law to serve alcohol to someone who is already drunk.’ He argues that the smart card to monitor how much under-21’s were drinking was a good idea but needs technology to help people to monitor how much they are drinking. The government say there are no plan to raise the drinking age to 21 and state, ‘The majority of people drink sensibly and the government has no plans to raise the minimum drinking age. Instead we are using a combination of effective education and tough enforcement to change the behavior of the minority that don’t.’ Now answer the questions on your worksheet!

8. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2980824.stm Read the text and answer the questions. • How many people die each day as a result of alcohol misuse? • Why is there an ‘urgent need for the government to give as a high priority’ to? • How many times are dependent drinkers more likely to appear in court, than non-dependent drinkers? • What percentage of domestic violence victims say their attacker was under the influence of alcohol? • What illnesses do dependent drinkers run the risk of dying from? • When was this article published?

9. Skim text to find out what it is about • Score out unnecessary information • Note down the main idea • Mark down key words and information – look for SIGNAL words e.g. in summary/in conclusion • Write summary paragraph in own words http://aeo.sllf.qmul.ac.uk/Files/Summarizing/Summarising.html Your turn! Summarise the key points of the article.

10. Discussion task • Do you think the government should raise the drinking age to 21? • Prepare your arguments and present them to me. • Use the worksheet to help you.

11. I believe that…. I think…. Secondly… Another reason… Finally … In conclusion….

12. We are going to work on your punctuation.

13. Can you fix the punctuation?

14. Write a letter to a newspaper. Give them your opinion about raising the drinking age to 21.