Warm-Up

What do you think are the biggest

problems in Western countries?

Put them in order of importance.

Exercise 1Exercise 1

social problems

begging

discrimination

violence

drugs

homelessness

inequality

poverty

racism

unemployment

abortion

Depression is UK's biggest social problem, government told.

Depression, anxiety and other forms of mental illness have taken over from unemployment as the greatest social problem in the UK, a health economist warns today.

Exercise 2 Listen to the radio news report about changes in British society. Match the topics with the graphs below.

a) Percent of households with cars

b)Percent of households with computers

c) Percent of women who work

d)Percent of 16-18 year olds in full-time

education

Before listening, learn the key words

about trends in British society.

Example

A: The number of crimes has gone down

over the last twenty years.

B: No. It has gone up by…

• ◇ to rise, to climb, to go up, to rocket,

• to double/triple, to be on the increase

• ◇ to fall, to go down, to decline,

• to be on the decrease

• ◇to go up and down

Key Words: Describing Trends

a) Percent of households with carsb) Percent of households with computersc) Percent of women who workd) Percent of 16-18 year olds in full-time education

Our standard of living has ____ and the average

income of British families is now nearly 550 ps

a week, compared with 326 ps in 1981. The per

centage of households with cars has ______ fro

m 62% to 72% while the number with central h

eating has _________ from 61% to 90%. The p

ercentage of households with computers has __

_______ from around 3% to over 40%.

risen

climbed

increased

rocketed

Listen again:

…The bottom 20% of society are now relatively much poorer and their share of the nation’s wealth has ________ from 10% to 6%. Problems like begging and homelessness are ____________

declinedon the increase

…Over the last 20years, unemployment has ________________ but has __________ recently. It _______ from around 1.7 million in 1981 to 2.1 million in 1989, only to ____ beneath a million in the spring of 2001.

gone up and down gone downwent up

fall

…Between 1981 and 2001, the number of crimes in England and Wales almost _______ from 280,000 to 520,000.

doubled

• ◇ to rise, to climb, to go up, to rocket,

• to double/triple, to be on the increase

• ◇ to fall, to go down, to decline,

• to be on the decrease

• ◇to go up and down

Words to describing Trends

Listen again and complete the table. 1981 2001

average income of British family per week

￡ 326

life expectancy for men and women

unemployment 1.7 million

1981 2001

numbers in full-time further education

number of crimes

(England and Wales)