Social tensions

A. Match each newspaper headline in the box with the first line of its accompanying story
below. Use the underlined words and expressions to help you.

A. ILLEGAL ALIENS TO BE EXPELLED
B. ETHNIC MINORITIES ‘LIVING BELOW POVERTY LEVEL’
C. HOMELESS SQUATTERS EVICTED
D. INSTITUTIONAL RACISM STILL A PROBLEM
E. INTERNALLY DISPLACED IN NEW GENOCIDE HORROR
F. EXTREMISTS ACCUSED OF INCITING RACIAL HATRED
G. UNREST, RIOTS AND ANARCHY CONTINUE
H. REBELS VICTORIOUS IN LATEST POWER STRUGGLE
I. DISCRIMINATION AND EXPLOITATION A MAJOR PROBLEM IN BRITISH INDUSTRY
J. DISSIDENTS ASK AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT FOR POLITICAL ASYLUM

1. Officers from the Thames Valley Police Force raided a house in Kidlington earlier this morning and forcibly removed a family who had been staying there illegally since they lost their home in August.
2. Almost 50% of factory workers in national companies claim they have received bad treatment or have been taken advantage of because of their class, religion, race , language, colour or sex, it has been revealed.
3. The UN has accused the government of Zarislavia of further atrocities committed in the west of the
country, where hundreds of migrants are reported to have been killed by security forces.
4. Opponents of the government in Yugaria have asked to stay in Sydney because the political situation in their own country is making it unsafe for them to return.
5. The police have once again been accused of discriminating against minority groups, despite their
reassurances earlier this year that they had reformed their practices.
6. Neo-Nazi groups in Paris were today condemned for inciting violence against non-whites in the centre of the city.
7. A shocking survey has revealed that almost 30% of Asian and African racial groups living in London are suffering financial hardship.
8. Following further devaluation of the Malovian dollar, violence has once again erupted on the streets of the capital.
9. Groups fighting against the government of George Malikes in Livatia have succeeded in capturing and occupying the parliament building.
10. The Government has ordered the immediate deportation of over 200 immigrants who entered the
country without passports or visas last year.

B. Match the words and expressions in the first box with a word or expression in the second
box which is either the closest in meaning or which is normally associated with it. Some of
these also appear in Task A.

ethnic cleansing • prejudice • civil rights • harassment
rebel • picket line • poverty-stricken • refugee • outcast
reject (noun) • non-conformist • blackleg • human rights • destitute
discrimination • displaced person • intimidation • racial purging

C. Now look at this news programme and complete the gaps with one of the words or
expressions from Tasks A and B. In some cases, more than one answer may be possible. You
may need to change the form of some of the words.

Good evening. Here is the news.
Neo-Nazis and other 1__________________________ have been held responsible for a wave of
2__________________________ in the Bratilovan Republic. The United Nations estimates that over 20,000
people have been murdered there in the last six months. 3__________________________ who have escaped
from the country have asked the British government to grant them 4__________________________ , as they
fear for their safety if they have to return.
The government are to deport 500 5__________________________ whose visas have expired. Angry
members of the opposition have accused the government of 6__________________________ , as most
of the deportees are of African origin. Meanwhile, the police have been accused of
7__________________________ , after Asian families in Bradford complained they had been pestered and
worried by officers following a series of robberies in the city.
8__________________________ leaders in the USA have held a demonstration in Washington against the
death penalty. They have called for a total abolition of capital punishment, claiming that it is contrary to
basic 9__________________________ principles outlined in the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights.
10__________________________ fighting the government of President Stanislow have taken control of the
television station in the centre of the capital. This follows a long-standing 11_________________________ .
between Mr Stanislow and the principal opposition party which has seriously weakened his power.
A spokesman for the 12__________________________ community in London has presented a petition to the
government asking them to provide housing for everyone. He argues that the government’s refusal to
raise the minimum wage rate has resulted in thousands living in 13__________________________ , with not
enough money to pay for somewhere to live. Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Police evicted several
14__________________________ who took over a house in the city centre last week and refused to leave
until the government took positive action.
A recent survey reveals that at least 30% of public companies have been accused of
15__________________________ and 16__________________________ in the past year. The main offender is
Anglo-Amalgamated Telecommunications, a Bristol-based company. Their employees, many of them
Asian women, claim they have received bad treatment or been taken advantage of by the company.
And finally, the Cardiff police are preparing for angry scenes at the Welsh International Computers factory
tomorrow when 17__________________________ , anxious to return to work after six months on strike, will
attempt to break through the picket line. A senior officer has expressed his concern that there will be
18__________________________ and people will get hurt as a result.

Answers:
A.
A. 10 B. 7 C. 1 D. 5 E. 3 F. 6 G. 8 H. 9 I. 2 J. 4
B.
ethnic cleansing - racial purging prejudice - discrimination civil rights - human rights harassment - intimidation
rebel - non-conformist (the opposite of this is a conformist) picket line - blackleg poverty-stricken - destitute
refugee - displaced person outcast - reject
C.
1. extremists 2. ethnic cleansing / genocide 3. Dissidents / Refugees 4. (political) asylum 5. illegal aliens
6. (institutional) racism 7. harassment / intimidation 8. Civil rights / Human rights 9. human rights / civil rights
10. Rebels 11. power struggle 12. homeless 13. poverty 14. squatters 15 / 16. discrimination / exploitation
(in either order) 17. blacklegs 18. riots / unrest
Other words and expressions which you might find useful include:
discrimination / sectarian / multi-racial / multi-cultural / unorthodox / disparate / itinerant / community