Discussion

30. Revise all the articles of this Unit and get ready to discuss the following points.

1. Why do you think people start taking drugs even if they are aware of the danger of addiction?

2. Do you think drug addiction can be cured?

3. Do you think drug addiction should be treated as a crime or as a disease?

4. Do you think there is a connection between drug addiction and crime rate? Dwell on it in detail.

5. How great do you think is the danger of becoming a hard drug addict if one smokes marijuana?

6. Do you think soft drugs should be legalized in your country? Why?

7. Do you think a country could get economic benefits if it were to legalize light drugs (like marijuana) and become their sole producer and dealer?

8. Why is it so difficult to stop drug trafficking?

9. Do you think there is a way to make countries (like Afghanistan and Morocco) stop producing drugs? Should drug production be banned completely?

10. How should drug dealers and producers be dealt with?

11. What measures should be taken to reduce drug abuse?

Writing

31. Revise the articles of this Unit and write an essay (about 250 words): “Drug abuse as an international problem”. Follow the procedure suggested in the previous Units.

While writing the essay try to use conditional sentences and subjunctives (demand that smb should …, it is essential that smb should … ).

Abbreviations

32. Study the following information.

Abbreviations are mostly made from the first letters of some words. It is usually the case with international organizations. Some initial-letter abbreviations are pronounced letter by letter (the BBC), others are pronounced like words (UNESCO).

Abbreviations are quite common in newspaper articles and different kinds of correspondence. The names of organizations mentioned in newspapers are first reported in full and later are given in abbreviation. See, for example, the article ‘Playing by Dutch Rules’ given in this Unit in which the US Drug Enforcement Administration is also referred to as the DEA.

Abbreviations sometimes coincide, but their meaning is easily derived from the context. For example, FBI can stand for ‘Federal Bureau of Investigation’ or ‘Federation of British Industries’.

To find out the meaning of abbreviations see a good dictionary. However, the most common abbreviations should be memorized:

NATO – North Atlantic Treaty Organization

OPEC – Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries

AIDS – Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome

WHO – World Health Organization

UN – United Nations

UNESCO – United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

PM – Prime Minister

MP – Member of Parliament

If the plural from of an abbreviation is given, the ending is placed at the end of the abbreviation. (E.g. POWs – prisoners of war)

The following abbreviations are common in correspondence.

c/o – care of

(E.g. to T. White, c/o P. Smith. The letter goes to P. Smith’s address and later is forwarded to T. White).

Enc. – enclosed

a/c – account

No – number

PIN – personal identification number

Ext – extension

Asap – as soon as possible

Ref. – reference

Etc. – and so on (Latin: et cetera)

i.e. – that is (Latin: id est)

NB – please note (Latin: nota bene)

PTO – please turn over

RSVP – please reply (French: repondez s’il vous plait)

(NB. It is very impolite not to reply if you get a letter with ‘RSVP’).