donchenko_angliyska_ddlya_psikhologiv_i_sotsiologiv

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UNIT XII

Text I

I. Read the article and say why it is headlined in this way:

Saying Good-Bye to This World

Hospice is not a very common word for Russia. The modern hospice movement - the provision of homes for terminally ill patients where they spend their last days — was born in Britain. The first among them was an establishment founded in 1967 by Lady Cicely Saunders with her own money. She named it after St. Christopher. A few years ago, on the initiative of Victor Zorza, a British journalist, hospices began to appear in this country. Today there are 22, seven of them in St.Petersburg and one in

Moscow.

To whom does the hospice provide care? Information comes in concerning prospective patients from area outpatient clinics, or from district oncologists or general practitioners. An application must be submitted with a case report and diagnosis. Some patients need palliative institutional treatment.

Patients are only admitted here in the following cases. First, those who suffer from an intractable pain syndrome, when no home medication can help. In this event, they are placed under round-the-clock observation and an effective anesthetic plan is selected. Personnel here know that relatives of these patients need temporary relief. Second, special attention is given to lonely people and those who live in communal apartments. For the majority of them this cozy home with a quiet courtyard is a heavenly place, if it is appropriate to say so about a hospice. After spending a week or two here, many do not want to leave, regarding the discharge as an act of cruelty.

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Although the furnishings and the equipment in this home for the terminally ill show that the Moscow authorities have invested considerable funds in this project, the city budget is still limited. Just like British hospices, Russian ones count on philanthropists. One firm provides writing paper; another provides flowers and someone to look after them; a fourth donated fixtures and fittings for the bathrooms.

Unlike its London counterpart, the Moscow hospice has a house call service. Doctors, nurses, a social worker, a lawyer, and a psychologist visit patients in their homes. They provide medical and social assistance, including patient care, apartment cleaning, meal preparation, buying food, assistance in executing legal documents. There are many things to do, and so the service tries to mobilize the patient's relatives, neighbors, and colleagues.

II. Find in the text sentences containing information on:

1.Hospices in Britain.

2.Categories of patients admitted to hospices.

3.A house call service.

III. Give definitions of the following words and word-combinations:

Hospice; terminally-ill patient; round-the-clock observation; temporary relief; philanthropist; counterpart.

IV. Answer the following questions:

1.Where was the modern hospice movement born?

2.When was the first hospice established?

3.How many hospices are there in the world today?

4.Whom does the hospice provide care for?

5.In what cases are the patients admitted to the hospice?

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6.Do hospices exist on the philanthropic grounds?

7.What specialists take care of the terminally ill patients?

V. Copy out all the word-combinations relating to major characteristics of hospices.

VI. Review the article. Use copied out wordcombinations in your review.

VII. Express your own opinion of the necessity of hospices.

VIII. Conduct an interview with a terminally-ill patient.

Text II

I. Read the article and say why everybody is sure that

AIDS is becoming a major killer in the world.

Fourth Dimension

The World Health Organization (WHO) has released some chilling statistics: HIV infection is now the fourth largest killer in the world. AIDS accounts for more deaths than cancer, and is catching up fast with such «leaders» as cardiovascular diseases, injuries, and acute respiratory conditions among the elderly.

AIDS has been rampant on the planet for more than 20 years now. During this time it has taken a heavier toll of human lives than all other infections put together: more than 11 million. The number of HIV carriers in the world defies tally. Mortality from this plague of the 20th century has been growing dramatically every year. There is no antidote against AIDS, norterrible though this may sound - is one forthcoming in the foreseeable future.

Some purported AIDS vaccines have been developed in the world. These vaccines are, in particular, touted by the

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United States, Thailand, Switzerland, and a number of African states. Yet, first, the majority of medical experts in the world as well as the WHO doubt the effectiveness of such drugs and, second, each vaccine is subject to tests lasting at least six to eight years.

The first AIDS-related death in this country was registered in 1987. Now the situation in Russia is changing for the worse. This is evident from Health Ministry statistics. The situation is worst in Moscow and the Moscow Region; next come the Kaliningrad Region, the Krasnodar Territory, the Rostov Region, the Tver Region, and the Nizhny Novgorod Region.

Yet Russia does not expect an upsurge in AIDS mortality until five to ten years from now. Civilized countries, on the contrary, believe that early next century, the death toll from this terrible disease will decline. These countries are already using unique AIDS treatment methods which, however, are only effective in the early stages of the infection. It can prolong a patient's life by 10 to 20 years, or even more. Still, the cost is prohibitive for an overwhelming majority — 90 percent, according to some estimates - of those infected: It costs as much as $ 10,000 a year to take a course of treatment.

In Russia, this figure appears way beyond the means of the vast majority of patients and indeed the state itself. The health authorities do their best for research in the field of AIDS treatment and in AIDS prevention projects.

II. Give Russian equivalents for:

To release some chilling statistics; to take a heavy toll of human lives; the foreseeable future; AIDS-related deaths; an upsurge in mortality; to prolong a life; an overwhelming majority; prevention projects.

III. Reproduce the situations in which the above word-combinations may be used.

IV. Give reasons in accordance with which:

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1.HIV infection is the fourth largest killer in the world;

2.Medical experts doubt the effectiveness of drugs against AIDS;

3.The situation in Russia is changing for the worse;

4.An overwhelming majority can't take a course of treatment.

V. Divide the article into logical parts.

VI. Review the article.

VII.If you are to interview a HIV infection victim, what possible questions would you ask him?

Text 3

I. Read and translate the text:

The Golden Mean

Analysts at the All-Russia Research Center for Living Standards maintain that the proportion of the middle class in the country's largest cities has reached 10 percent. Smaller towns are surveyed less frequently but even there new groups of «neither poor nor rich» people have emerged, though Russian provinces are thought to be lagging behind the center both in the pace of reform and in living standards. What kind of people in average Russian cities comprise the Russian middle class? Who fits the middle class criteria? How do people get into this «golden mean» and stay there? The sociological group Sotsium is studying the middle class in provinces - their occupation, values, and lifestyle.

The general feeling in small provincial towns is one of dissatisfaction and insecurity. The following idea has

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become the usual way of thinking in these towns: our living standards are deteriorating, we getting less while the prospects of improving the well-being of our families are bleaker. This feeling to a certain extent prevents people from understanding their new role in the structure of society. And although social mobility in the provinces is more conservative, the boundaries of the middle class are just as mobile as expansive.

Sociologists believe that the core of the regional middle class consists of highly qualified professionals. They fit into two groups - blue collar workers and the technical intelligentsia. These groups' skills are valued on the high technology and computer software market. They are banking officers, specialists working for foreign firms or joint ventures, and entrepreneurs - owners of several small sales outlets, heads of small businesses, including medical, auto, advertising, leisure, and tourism.

Many people questioned have suddenly discovered hidden skills and their desire to achieve something and they were happy for their «lucky chance» - a newspaper ad, a meeting with a former fellow student, an idea that suddenly occurred to them, or some unexpected job offer that in the end turned their life around.

Of course, there is no universal method of getting out of the vicious circle of poverty, but the principle is just one for all - «keep moving» According to one businessman, an ability to sell yourself is also a key factor. In his opinion, any commodity, including our intellect, needs to be promoted and advertised. However, 30-40 year old specialists, who grew up in the stagnation era have never learned to treat their knowledge as commodity. This, they claim, is beneath their profession dignity. As for starting from scratch, this to many means all but a failure of their entire life.

All people in the middle class that were surveyed noted that they work 12-14- hour days at a pace longer be the need for a specialist. Some of them are afraid of competition and changes in the political situation.

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For the absolute majority, these fears are exaggerated. Today the middle class in the provinces has already proved its viability.

II. Give definitions of the following words and word-combinations:

The golden mean; blue collar workers; technical

intelligentsia; joint venture; commodity; competition.

III. Find in the text synonyms for:

To appear; to conduct a poll; to worsen; welfare; border; specialist; to estimate; capacity; to reach; technique.

IV. Find in the text the following expressions:

Отставать; жизненный уровень; ценности; неудовлетворение; социальная мобильность; высоко квалифицированные специалисты; совместное предприятие; предприниматель; малый бизнес;

реклама; скрытые навыки; порочный круг; конкуренция.

V. Make up your own sentences with:

The golden mean; lifestyle; to improve well-being; social mobility; to value skills; desire to achieve something; lucky chance; unexpected job offer; universal method; professional dignity; exaggerated fears.

VI. Answer the following questions:

l. What is the percentage of the middle class in large cities of Russia?

2. What was the aim of the survey in provinces?

Text 4

I.Read the article and state its main problem:

Survey Smokes Out Increasing Drug Use

Among Young

The Institute of Social Research at the Russian

Government Academy has carried out a detailed survey to

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determine public attitudes and experts' opinions towards drug taking and drug users. The results of this research were not encouraging - the age of drug users is falling.

Experts in this field consider that the highest risk category is school and university students. Teenagers themselves also consider that it is the under-18s who suffer most from drug problems. The next group is 18-30, after which the problem disappears almost entirely.

The accuracy of this assessment is confirmed by answers; to the question: «Where is it easiest to get hold of drugs?» While the experts and relatives of drug users stated: «Mainly at markets, and then discotheques and parties for the young, and finally, in the drug pushers' flats,» teenagers gave the more accurate reply that it was firstly at the drug pushers' flats, then parties, and finally, markets that drugs are most readily available. Incidentally, almost none of the teenagers mentioned the mass media as a source of information on the dangers of drug abuse.

They get their information from their peers (80 percent), or from knowing adults.

An absolute majority of experts believes that morals and culture, and also of the poor work of the present situation with drug abuse is the result of a decline in protection agencies and the explosion in crime (one in three respondents are convinced that the police have links with the drug mafia). Both groups say the main reasons for a partiality towards drugs is the influence of friends who are already drug users, lack of interesting work, boredom and nothing to do, and finally, too much money.

About one third of teenagers are strongly negative in their attitude to drug-taking among their peers: «It is a serious illness warranting compulsory treatment.» Then about another third were completely loyal: «It is a stupid habit like smoking or alcohol. They grow up and give up.»

By contrast, relatives of drug takers have already learnt from bitter experience. Almost twice as often as other' respondents they expressed the view that if a member of one's family shows signs of drug addiction, one should

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immediately seek specialist help.

The problem is that the specialised medical institutions work inadequately. The clinics and hospitals are poor and squalid; there is a shortage of doctors dealing with drug users; and those who do so are under-qualified and have only a hazy conception of the experience acquired in other countries which could be of benefit to Russia (so say 56 percent of specialists).

With regard to social help for drug users, experts are even more pessimistic — 86 percent have little belief in its potential. At the same time it is social and psychological rehabilitation which almost all experts believe to be one of the most necessary and efficacious means of helping drug users. Few respondents supported the idea of creating special jobs for drug users. On the other hand, 11 percent of teenagers suggested that disposable syringes be distributed free to drug users. Of the experts, 27 percent were in favor and 47 percent against.

Almost half of the respondents are anxious for tougher laws to fight the drug mafia. Sixty four percent of experts are categorically against the legalisation of drug use. But all the same, half of respondents believe that there is an obvious first preventive step: people close to someone who is involved in the cycle of depravity should try to convince them that the stake in this game is their own life. A first step, but one that might well have a positive effect in the formidable battle against drug use.

II. Read the article once more and render its contents in Russian.

III. Give Russian equivalents for:

To determine public attitudes; to suffer from drug problems; accuracy of the assessment; mass media; to prevent situation with drug abuse; a decline in morals and culture; protection agencies; drug mafia; boredom; compulsory treatment; to give up smoking or alcohol; from bitter experience; to show signs of drug addiction;

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disposable syringes; to be involved in the cycle of depravity.

IV. Make up sentences with these wordcombinations.

V. Give English equivalents for;

Наркоман; наибольшая категория риска; распространители наркотиков; пристрастие к наркотикам; отрицательное отношение; обращаться к помощи специалиста; социопсихологическая реабилитация; более жёсткие законы; легализация наркотиков.

VI. Make up word-combinations:

Drug use abuse abuser addict addiction pusher partiality

VII.Reproduce situations where these wordcombinations may be used.

VIII.

Answer the following questions:

1.What was the aim of the survey?

2.What were the results of this survey in general?

3.Who comprises the highest risk category?

4.When does the problem disappear? After what age? Why? What do you think?

5.Where is it easy to get drugs?

6.Where do teenagers get information concerning drug distribution?

7.What does an absolute majority of experts think in