Worksheet Week 4: Drinking Age COMPREHENSION INTRODUCTION: Fill in the blanks Last fall, a group of over 100 college ___________ - including the heads of Dartmouth, Virginia Tech and Duke signed a declaration stating that the 21-year-old drinking age is not working, and ____________ went off. But the college __________ got what they wanted: a national _____________ about the drinking age. When the age was raised to ____________ in the mid-1980s, the goal was to reduce highway ___________________. But everyone knows that the ___________ age limit hasn't stopped minors from drinking. And now some __________ believe it's actually contributing to an increase in _____________ drinking. This is what the _________ president of Middlebury College in ______________, John McCardell, _____________ and it's why he started the movement ____________ to lowering the age back to _____________. PART 1: Enforceability Choose the correct answer 1. The current situation is compared to: a) Prohibition b) Prosecution c) Probation d) Persecution

4. Parents could teach kids: a) abstinence b) moderation c) good manners d) the chemistry of alcohol

2. The settings of college drinking are seen as: a) Risky but manageable b) Risky and unmanageable c) Not that risky and manageable d) Not that risky but unmanageable

5. Boulder is a: a) Town like any other one b) The capital city of Colorado c) College town d) City with the highest rate of DUIs.

3. Which one is not a favourite place to get drunk? a) Locked down dormitories b) Gardens c) Fraternity houses d) Basements

6. The Chief of police believes they should spend less time on: a) teenagers having a cup of beer in their hands. b) the abuse of alcohol c) DUI driving

PART 2: MADD Say whether the following statements are right or wrong. Justify. 1. In the US, you can vote, be selected as a juror and enrol in the army at eighteen. R/W 2. Chuck Hurley and John McCardell share somewhat similar opinions. R/W 3. Over a thousand families would lose a child if the drinking age was lowered to eighteen. R/W 4. MADD was created in 1984. R/W 5.When the legal drinking age was lowered in some states, there was a progressive increase in highway victims.R/W PART 3: Lack of support Who said what? Match the words in the left column with those in the right: Organisations McCardell Stahl The Surgeon General PART 4: Education

It’s a brain-teaser Highways fatalities are not the only issue Statistics about alcohol related deaths are alarming Lowering the age would be an experiment

Correlation: Match the words in the left column with those in the right: Alcohol abuse Temperance lectures Chemistry of alcohol Passing an exam violation

License to drink Taken away Binge drinking Sitting on AA sessions Prohibition

PAIR WORK STUDENT A 1. What springs to mind when you hear about underage drinking? 3. What is MADD? What is their position on the issue? Do you understand why? 5. Is underage drinking a problem in your country? Compare with the US. 7. What is pre-loading? 9. Have you ever been asked for an ID when buying a drink? Do you think it is normal? 11. What social problems does underage drinking cause society?

STUDENT B 2. What do you think the legal drinking age should be?

13. Why do several interviewees say the current law is unworkable?

14. Many youth under age 21 still drink, despite the current legal drinking age. Doesn’t that prove the policy is ineffective? 16. Some people believe that if a person can go to war, he or she should be able to have a beer. Do you agree? 18. Why was the legal drinking age raised to 21 in the 1980s?

15. Do you think taking an exam before being allowed to drink is a good idea? 17. What was your reaction when the head of MADD said that when they lowered the drinking age in the 1970s the death rate increased by 10 to 40%? 19. Can you think of other reasons that might explain the fall in alcohol-related fatalities? 21. In the UK authorities are thinking about increasing the legal drinking age to 21, do you think it would be a good idea?

4. What is the position of John McCardell on the issue? Why? 6. Why is the situation compared with prohibition? 8. Do you think alcohol is dangerous? 10. What bad experiences have you had or witnessed involving drunk people and drunk teenagers? 12. What responsibilities do parents have in their children's drinking?

20. Can you think of other reforms that would reduce drunk-driving? 22. Do you think a similar reform would be possible in France?

GRAMMAR: Indirect speech: We're not in a situation where we can stop it. The best we can do is try to contain it," Mark Beckner told Stahl. Mark Beckner told Stahl that____________________________________________________________________ "Why don't we trust these young adults to make the same kind of responsible decisions about alcohol that we believe them capable of making in the voting booth, in the jury box, on the battlefield?" John McCardell wondered______________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ So and Such So... that and such... that are used to describe reasons and results. So + adjective/adverb + that Subject & verb

so Adjective/adverb

that

(result)

The ice-cream was

so good

that

I ordered a second bowl

Such + adjective + noun + that Subject & verb

such

adjective + noun

that

(result)

It was

such

good coffee

that

I drank three cups

It's

such

a great restaurant

that

I'll definitely go again

Rephrase the following sentences using such and adding the necessary elements It is so widespread that it's the norm ______________________________________________________________________________________________ It is so regularly and routinely avoided, that enforcement results in two arrests or convictions for every thousand violations _____________________________________________________________________________________________ As and Like Change when possible As McCardell puts it, it's so widespread, it's the norm. John McCardell points to the story of Gordie Bailey as one reason he supports lowering the drinking age to 18 lives are being put at risk off the highways in increasing numbers year by year as a result of this law So what you're saying is alcohol education would be like driving education It's like the old days of prohibition 18 is the age when we're considered adults for most things, like firing a weapon and putting you're your life on the line in battle TRANSLATION Une récente étude de la fondation Robert Wood Johnson affirme que la limite des 21 ans a permis de réduire de 11% le nombre d'accidents de la route liés à l'ivresse. Cette limite des 21 ans est en vigueur dans tous les Etats américains depuis qu'une loi de 1984 a supprimé des subventions pour les autoroutes à tout Etat qui ne l'appliquerait pas. Dans les années 70, l'âge légal pour boire avait été abaissé entre 18 et 20 ans dans de nombreux Etats parce qu'il était devenu intenable de refuser une bière aux jeunes anciens combattants du Vietnam de retour du front. AFP LETTER TILES: Legal drinking age (Wikipedia definition) Unscramble the tiles to reveal a message.