The people’s view

Mrs. Thatcher created a society which is richer and freer, but also unhappier and more selfish according to a survey for the Observer newspaper.

How has Britain changed over the past ten years?
Richer Poorer	48% 36%
More freedom Less freedom	44% 24%
More unhappy Happier	48% 21%
How has Britain changed over the past ten years?
More selfish More generous	61% 19%
Life is worse Life is better	42% 39%
A dirtier country A cleaner country	68% 15%
Less friendly people Friendlier people	52% 23%
More intolerant More tolerant	37% 35%
More violent society Less violent society	59% 12%

The answers showed considerable differences between various sections of society. Women felt much more strongly than men that life was worse (47 per cent compared with 37 per cent). So did the old (49) per cent) and those living in the north of England (47 per cent).

There were a number of reasons for people’s opinions. For example, when asked whether Britain was cleaner or dirtier than it had been before, people mentioned an increase in dirt and rubbish in cities and the countryside. People’s views on friendliness were influenced by their experience of service industries such as hotels and shops.

The figures on tolerance were more difficult to interpret: some people thought that it referred to racial tolerance and opinion was divided in whether Britain was becoming a more integrated society; others thought that tolerance of political views had declined and that left and right-wing views had become more extreme.

A large majority (59 per cent) believed that Britain had become a more violent society. They pointed to the increase in violent crime (for example, muggings and robberies on the London underground) and the violent reputation of British football supporters.

From Britain Explored

by Paul Harvey and Rhodri Jones, 2007,

(pages 12, 148, 150)

Exercises

I. Give the English equivalents to the following Russian words and word combinations.

Предлагать, вводить в оборот; иметь отношение, относиться;

вера, убеждение; насчитывать; непрерывный, стабильный рост; страховые услуги, услуги по страхованию; рабочая сила; производительность; всесторонний, полный; сокращать, уменьшать; поощрять научное исследование;

поддерживать, защищать; превышать; эгоистичный, себялюбивый; жестокий, бесчеловечный; слои общества; мусор, хлам, отбросы; хулиганство, групповое нападение.

II. Arrange the following words in pairs of synonyms.

Approximately, proponent, vary, contain, change, nation, resources, people, miserable, embrace, unhappier, supporter, about, storage.

III. Arrange the following words in pairs of antonyms.

Division, exterminate, complicated, refinement, lack of faith, expand, major, reduce, belief, pollution, simple, create, consolidation, insignificant.

IV. Explain the following in English.

British Isles, Great Britain, European Union, United Nations Security Council, Britain’s Natural Health Service.

V. Find in the texts under consideration words corresponding to the following definitions and fill in the table.

1	■ free from outside control; not subject to another's authority
2	■ the study of past events, particularly in human affairs ■ the whole series of past events connected with a particular person or thing ■ a continuous, typically chronological, record of important or public events or of a particular trend or institution
3	■ the name of a book, composition, or other artistic work ■ a name that describes someone's position or job ■ the position of being the champion of a major sports competition ■ a right or claim to the ownership of property or to a rank or throne
4	■ not likely to change or fail; firmly established ■ sane and sensible; not easily upset or disturbed ■ not likely to give way or overturn; firmly fixed
5	■ the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants ■ the state of not being imprisoned or enslaved ■ a special privilege or right of access, especially that of full citizenship of a city granted to a public figure as an honour
6	■ a forcible overthrow of a government or social order, in favour of a new system ■ an instance of revolving ■ a dramatic and wide-reaching change in conditions, attitudes, or operation
7	■ the systematic investigation into and study of materials and sources in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions

VI. Fill in the gaps with the appropriate words and word combinations from the texts above.

violent citizens producers

innovations tolerance extreme

democratic society a leading member

industrial united efficiency

1. When people are ……. about something, they agree about it and act together.

2. The Fundamental Orders, adopted by the Connecticut Colony in 1639, is often considered the first ……. constitution in America.

3. Nobility used to have privileges above commoners, but the French Revolution and other revolutions revoked these privileges and made ……. .

4. Clarence Seward Darrow was an American lawyer and ……. of the American Civil Liberties Union, statesman, noted orator and three time presidential candidate for the Democratic Party.

5. If workers take ……. action, they join together and do something to show that they are unhappy with their pay or working conditions, for example refusing to work.

6. With a history as a fishing and trading sheikhdom, Kuwait, since the 1930s, has become one of the world’s leading oil ……. .

7. First proposed by Leonid Brezhnev in 1979 and actively promoted by Mikhail Gorbachev, perestroika originally referred to increased automation and labour ……. , but came to entail greater awareness of economic markets and the ending of central planning.

8. The transformation of British agriculture during the 18th century was characterized by the enclosure of common land and the introduction of technological ……. such as the seed drill and the rotation of crops.

9. In Britain a building ……. is a business which will lend you money when you want to buy a house.

10. The Prime Minister said he was trying to preach peace and ……. to his people.

11. A fanatic is not only intense and eager but possibly irrational in his or her enthusiasm; fanatic suggests ……. devotion and a willingness to

go to any length to maintain or carry out one's beliefs.

12. Those who commit ……. acts must expect to suffer violence themselves.