- •State educational institution of higher professional education
- •Reading and understanding customs texts
- •Contents
- •Part I. Reading for information
- •I. Headlines
- •II. The plan for rendering an article.
- •Article I Russians Get ‘Gold Medal’ for Cyber Fraud
- •Article II Female Discovered in Trunk of Car at u.S./Canada Border
- •Article III cbp Officers Intercept Marijuana Smuggling Attempt in New York
- •Article IV Border Patrol Stops Drug Smuggler, Seizes Meth on I-5
- •Article V Siemens Managers Admit Bribing Russian Officials
- •Article VI Drug Police Seize Cannabis Garden
- •Article VII Afgan Drug Lords Bypassing Central Asia
- •Article VIII Bank Clients’ Data Faces Scrutiny
- •Vedomosti
- •Article IX Branding: a crucial defence in guarding market share
- •Article X uk government backtracks over bribery
- •Article XI Globalisation needs no defence – it needs to be questioned
- •Article XII Breaking the habit
- •Part II. Reading for analysis Text I
- •The custom of customs
- •1. Whole numbers
- •2. Decimals
- •Text II
- •Anything to declare?
- •Text III
- •Full exposure
- •Text IV
- •Counterfeiting and piracy: crime of the 21st century
- •Дозажигался…
- •Counterfeiting, the Internet and the postal dilemma
- •Text VI
- •Call of the wild
- •Russia Backs Pact to Save Wild Tigers
- •Text VII
- •Trafficking drugs into Europe
- •The cocaine business
- •Text VIII
- •Sniffy customers
- •Text IX
- •Classification of goods
- •The Harmonized System Convention
- •Text XI
- •Customs valuation
- •Text XII
- •Meeting the challenges of the 21st century
- •Part III. Supplementary reading not guilty
- •Smuggler
- •Two coats
- •In the driving seat
- •At the customs office
- •Dutch cigarettes
- •A present from strasbourg
- •Coping with smuggling in the middle ages
- •A true story
- •A great deal of trouble
- •Travels with charley in search of america
- •The word
- •Tests Test 1 Coke and the Colonel’s wife
- •Test 2 On the border
- •Test 3 Drug Detector Dogs in Customs work
- •Test 4 Lexical – grammar test
- •Bibliography
Article XII Breaking the habit
MEXICO CITY
Mexican government officials rarely miss a chance to point to America’s demand for illegal drugs as the cause of their violent struggle with traffickers. But the notion of the country as an innocent victim of geography is increasingly outdated. Although Mexico is still a middleman between Colombian growers and American consumers, it is fast becoming a destination for narcotics in its own right. In the past six years drug use is reckoned to have risen by nearly 30%, and the trend shows no signs of abating. President Felipe Calderón has mainly treated drugs as a national security issue, but its consequences for public health may be almost as severe.
Mexican consumption began to take off in the mid-1990s. Tight economic conditions and increased government scrutiny of large financial transactions prompted the cartels to shift to payments in kind. Instead of giving cash to local operators on trafficking routes, they would allot them a share of the shipment. The glut of drugs in the country grew further after the September 11th 2001 attacks, when the United States redoubled its border controls.
Regional gangs then began a marketing campaign to unload large quantities of drugs. Narcotics have a formidable capacity to create their own demand: the greater the supply, the more people are exposed and become addicted. Thus small-time dealers – now thought to number 35,000 – started offering free doses to young people outside schools and at parties, aiming to produce a new generation of customers. Consumption by women has grown particularly quickly in recent years, as men press their girlfriends and wives to join them in their use.
Prisons proved to be another lucrative market. Guillermo Zepeda of CIDAC, a think-tank, says four out of five inmates who did not use drugs before their incarceration now start once in jail. “For the wardens, allowing drug use is often the price of peace,” he says. “It reduces the risk of riots.” Once addicted, users often become peddlers too.
Although the problem remains small in comparative terms-Mexico’s rate of cocaine use is one-third that of Argentina, for example – the authorities fear it may begin to spiral out of control. Already, 62% of violent crimes in the country involve drugs or alcohol.
The government has launched a three-tiered prevention program. To shrink the pool of potential users, it is increasing its anti-drug messages in schools. To identify children at high risk, it has distributed 60,000 questionnaires to students, which inquire about their sense of well-being, family situation, and attitudes and exposure to drugs. Social workers are then dispatched to help the 5-10% that appear most in danger and invite them to visit one of 300 new addiction-prevention centers.
Finally, it is adopting partial decriminalization. Those found in possession of small quantities of drugs will be invited for treatment, not prosecuted. A third violation will lead to obligatory medical internment. A national addiction survey, due to be published this month, will show whether these policies have begun to slow the incoming tide.
Task 1. Read the article.
Task 2. Below are possible headings for each paragraph. Put the headings in the right order.
More and more violent crimes are committed under the influence of drugs.
Economic problems resulted in increase in drug consumption.
Partial decriminalization is a new attempt in the fight against drugs.
Still a middleman, but already a drug user.
A new prevention program is launched.
Another lucrative market.
The aim was to produce a new generation of customers.
Task 3. Choose the best alternative to replace the expressions in italics.
… as the cause of their violent struggle with traffickers.
i) deal with
ii) talk with
iii) fight with
Mexican consumption began to take off in the mid-1990s
i) to put on
ii) to try on
iii) to become successful
… the more people are exposed and become addicted.
i) unconscious
ii) unreal
iii) unable to stop taking drugs
Prisons proved to be another lucrative market.
i) tempting
ii) attractive
iii) profitable
… the authorities fear it may begin to spiral out of control.
i) the experts
ii) the people in charge of a particular area
iii) the employees
To shrink the pool of potential users, it is increasing its anti-drug messages in schools.
i) to avoid doing
ii) to become smaller
iii) to move back
… of drugs will be invited for treatment, not prosecuted.
i) not to continue doing
ii) not to be charged with a crime
iii) not to be sent abroad
Task 4. Match the expressions 1 – 7 to their meanings a) – g).
1. chance a) client
2. shipment b) afraid
3. customer c) a load of goods
4. incarceration d) opportunity
5. fear e) medical cure
6. questionnaire f) imprisonment
7. treatment g) a written set of questions
Task 5. Match 1 – 7 to a) – g) to form partnerships used in the article.
1. miss a) demand
2. financial b) the risk of riots
3. create c) program
4. reduce d) survey
5. violent e) transactions
6. prevention f) a chance
7. addiction g) crimes
Task 6. Over to you.
Are you for drug prohibition or drug education?
Task 7. Render the article according to the plan of rendering.