Fill in the blanks with an appropriate word from the topical vocabulary making any necessary changes

       Des Moines – Young smokers beware: On Monday it became illegal in Iowa for anyone under 18 to smoke a cigarette.

       If caught smoking, chewing or even possessing tobacco by the police, an under aged offender could be fined as much as $100, yanked off the street or out of the shopping mall and taken home in the backseat of a squad car.

       The law is part of the state’s campaign to reduce tobacco use greatly among all lowans by 2000. The police are charged with enforcing the law, but some are skeptical. On their crowded list of priorities, the measure shares a spot with the neighbor’s cat stuck in a tree.

       “We’re too busy to enforce a law like that”, Sergeant Gail Dunn of the Des Moines Police Department said with a sigh.

Michael J. Coverdale of the Iowa Department of Public Health has heard the grumbling, and his terse response is, “The law is the law”.

       But for the first year or so, Mr. Coverdale said, he thinks the police will simply inform under aged smokers about the law and confiscate their cigarettes.

       “I doubt the police would actually arrest a juvenile for smoking”, he said. “But they certainly will have the opinion to”.

       Forty-four states have laws – rarely enforced – that bar selling cigarettes to minors from possessing tobacco, said Tim Hensley of the Centers for Disease Control’s office on Smoking and Health, in Atlanta.

       “But I’m not aware of any other state that actually says they are prohibited from smoking”, he said.

The grown-ups in Des Moines say the new law is for the “kids’ own good”, because, after all, Mr. Coverdale said, “cigarettes are often a gateway to other drugs that are illegal”.

The kids are not so sure.

It’s stupid”, declared Wendi Spuehler, 17, who smokes a half-pack of cigarettes a day. I’m supposed to be an American; I’m supposed to be able to do whatever I want. If I choose to ruin my lungs, it’s my choice and not the cops’ ”.

       Some police officers in Iowa are not too keen about the law, either.

  In Davenport, Lieutenant Michael C. Hammes said he doubted that the measure would “scare very many kids” away from cigarettes.

I started smoking when I was 13”, he said. “My parents didn’t scare me from smoking. And I feared my father more than I feared the police, and he couldn’t stop me”.

The tobacco industry, which has been under attack in the courts over liability in smokers’ deaths, has no argument with the law. Even the Tobacco Institute, an industry lobby group in Washington, supports it.

1. This article is mainly about

a) smoking                                 

b) a new smoking law in Iowa  

c)  teenagers

2. With the new law, the state of Iowa hopes to

a) arrest many teenagers

b)  collect fines                          

c)  reduce tobacco use

3. Unlike laws in other states in the United States, the Iowa law

a) bars the selling of cigarettes to minors

b) bars police from arresting minors for smoking

c) prohibits minors from smoking         

4. Some officials worry that the new law

a) cannot be enforced

b) will cause many teenagers to become violent

c) will result in many teenagers going to jail

5. Similar laws against smoking in other states

a) are very effective

b) are rarely enforced

c) reduce the death rate from smoking

Phonetics, Vocabulary and Grammar

Task 1

Lay stress-tone marks and draw tonogrammes to the following sentences according to the types of scales given in brackets.

1. What a pretty little orchard! (The Scandent Scale)
2. Are you doing anything special tonight? (The Stepping Scale)
3. You’ve hardly been in Germany a month! (The Sliding Scale)
4. I wonder if they know about our arrival. (The Level Scale)

Task 2

Read the sentences. Choose a suitable type of nuclear tone for each sentence to express the meaning given in brackets. Write (a)-(g) for the variant you’ve chosen.

1. Can you believe it? (impressed)
2. – What’s wrong with you? – Wrong with me? (repeating the given message)
3. Avoid stress as much as possible. (final, serious, firm, weighty)
4. – How are the children? – Johnny’s fine, but Ruth has caught a cold. (showing contrast)
5. Stop smoking and drinking. (self-satisfied, challenging)
6. You ought to go to hospital with your pneumonia! (personally concerned, involved)
7. Is she supposed to stay with me tonight? (polite, interested)
8. Calm down! (warning)

a) Low Rise;

b) Low Fall;

c) Fall-Rise;

d) Rise-Fall;

e) High Rise;

f) High Fall;

g) Level Tone.    

Task 3

Choose the right answer.

1. Did you see that __________ about wildlife in Africa on television last week?

a) documentary                 b) history               c) slapstick             d) soap opera

2. All three TV channels place great  _________ on sporting events.

a) accent                b) emphasis            c) attention            d) vision

3. We hope to bring you further news of this in our next _________ at midnight.

a) article                 b) bulletin              c) episode              d) piece

4. National TV board has recommended  _________ to present news without any emotions.

a) foreign correspondents             b) editors   c) newsreaders       d) talking heads

5. TVP Channel One tries to __________ for all tastes.

a) cater                              b) furnish               c)regard                             d) suit

6. We are interrupting this programme for a news ___________

a) alarm                             b) alert                   c) flash                              d)signal

7. The programme was so successful that a __________ series is being made.

a) after-effect        b) backup               c) by-product         d) follow-up

8. There are several TV ___________ in Poland, and all of them allow advertising.

a)broadcasts          b) canals                c) channels             d) screens

9. Violent programmes on TV may have a bad __________ on children.

a) control               b) influence           c) power                            d) pressure

Task 4

Find the word in each line which is different.

Task 5

Fill in the blanks with an appropriate word from the topical vocabulary making any necessary changes.

1. The newscaster informed the public that this disorder was a rare skin problem that has …………… doctors for years.

2. Her behaviour during the filming attracted a lot of free …………………….

3. It was made clear that the country faces ……………. on the use of water for irrigating crops.

4. The Scots proclaimed James Stuart as the …………….. heir of the British throne.

5. Today the Ukraine’s president has greeted a large number of …………… visitors.

6. “The principal ……. of the department is to identify market opportunities”, - the journalist reported.

7. According to a ……… conducted last week 75% of the public support the Prime Minister.

8. The new publication “On money” is availed only by ……..

9. If you own a ………. on something, it is your intellectual property, and other people must pay you to broadcast, publish, or perform it.

10. The main …… should be put on quality rather than quantity.

Task 6.