Audio Track 7

III. Fire fighters in London …1… in favour of strike action because of a row about proposed changes to their shift patterns. The London Fire Brigades …2… the shift times had been in place for more than 30 years and …3… to change. The Fire Brigades Union …4-6… strike dates.

Task 5. Analyse grammatical tenses of the briefs above. What tense is prevalent in Brief No 1? And in Brief No 2, Brief No 3? Do you come to any conclusion?

Task 6. What is the average length of a brief news item?

Task 7. Read the newspaper article fragment below for information. Memorise the names of organizations and numbers mentioned in it, study the italicised words and word combinations – it will help you cope successfully with Tasks 8-14.

Bonfire of the quangos? It’s more like a barbecue: Despite all the fanfare, just 29 will be completely abolished

Just 29 quangos will be fully abolished and their work abandoned after the Government's so-called bonfire of unelected bodies turned into a mere barbecue

Tim Shipman

Ministers yesterday announced plans to get rid of 192 agencies to end the spectacle of unelected quangocrats making key decisions.

A further 118 will be merged, in theory reducing numbers by a further 61. Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude said this meant the total number of agencies would fall from 901 to 648, while 171 of those that remain will undergo reform.

But last night it became clear that most of the quangos to be abolished will see their work and staff submerged into Government departments or taken over by other quangos.

Quangos – quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisations – are arm’s-length bodies funded by Whitehall departments but not run by them.

Only 29 agencies will be scrapped and their work discontinued. A further 28 will be simply “reconstituted as a committee of experts.” Officials were unable to explain what the difference would be. The most high-profile cuts will see the Audit Commission, eight Regional Development Agencies and the UK Film Council abolished. The mergers include the amalgamation of the Office of Fair Trading and the Competition Commission into a single consumer watchdog. Forty quangos still have the axe hanging over them while their futures are considered.

Critics claimed that the cost of merging and disbanding quangos would be more than keeping them, as redundancy payments and reorganisation costs are met.

Shadow Cabinet Office minister Liam Byrne said: “ I am afraid the minister has become the most expensive butcher in the country. ” He also pointed out that the Tories pledged to set up 20 quangos in their election manifesto.

Labour MP and TV historian Tristan Hunt mocked the operation, telling the Commons: “The bonfire of the quangos has turned into a clammy Sunday afternoon barbecue.”

But Mr Maude said the changes would usher in a “new era of accountability ” by making ministers responsible for key decisions rather than unelected quangocrats.

In future, quangos will only be allowed to continue, or new ones be established, if they fulfill tasks that cannot be done by ministers. Those that live to fight another day include those that provide independent oversight, and those – such as the new Office of Budget Responsibility – established to obtain independent data on government activities. A bill to abolish the quangos will be published later this year. MPs reacted with fury at the decision to abolish the Football Licensing Authority and the Human Tissue Authority.

There was also anger that plans for a Chief Coroner’s Office, which would have helped military families fighting to learn the truth about the death of their loved ones in Afghanistan, have been scrapped. Others complained that the Youth Justice Board will be abolished.

More than 20,000 staff are waiting to hear whether they will keep their jobs.

Paul Noon, general secretary of civil service union Prospect, accused the Government of using “a legislative hammer to smash public bodies which are doing valuable work in the public interest.”

The Daiy Telegraph, October 15, 2010

Task 8. Study the word list below, listen to Audio Track 8 and say what genre the piece is.

to do something in a drive to improve …

to curtail

transparency

public purse

to operate at arms’ length

arms’ length bodies

obscure bodies (organizations)

true extent of the cull

the spending review

the Human Ferlilisation and Embryology Authority

the Competition Commission

Government Hospitality Advisory Committee on the Purchase of Wine

the Agricultural Dwelling House Advisory Committee

Task 9. Listen to Audio Track 8 lead and highlight its general idea.

There are three numbers in the lead. What do they stand for:

a) ……………

b) ……………

c) ……………

Task 10. Listen to the report in Audio Track 8 and find answers to the following questions.

1. What agencies are to go (disappear)?

2. How many agencies are to be merged?

3. What is the fate of the remaining agencies?

4. What is the government minister’s point of view on the matter?

5. What is the opposing view on the subject?

6. What was the initial idea of abolishing the agencies? What drives the government of today set on scrapping, merging or combining the bodies in question?

Task 11. Study the word list below. Some realia are explained in separate boxes.

to (re)absorb to cease (to exist) to further the agenda

to come under the umbrella of … to devolve power

Whitehall Big Society (idea) David Cameron

Whitehall is a road in Westminster in London. The main artery running north

from Parliament Square, towards traditional Charing Cross, now at the southern end of Trafalgar Square and marked by the statue of Charles I, which is often regarded as the heart of London. Recognised as the centre of HM (Her Majesty) Government, the road is lined with government departments / ministries; Whitehall is therefore also frequently used as a metonymy for overall UK governmental administration, as well as being a geographic name for the surrounding district.

The Big Society is the flagship policy idea of the 2010 Conservative Party general election manifesto and forms part of the legislative programme of the Conservative – Liberal Democrat Coalition Agreement. The aim is “to create a climate that empowers local people and communities, building a big society that will take power away from politicians and give it to people.”

Task 12. Listen to Audio Track 9 and say what genre it is. Find the difference between the three words: bonfire, conflagration and blaze.

Task 13. Listen to Audio Track 9 again and fill in the gaps in its script.

While the functions of some quangos will remain …1…, others will …2… under the …3… of large White Hall departments.

Our Deputy Political Editor James Landale assesses to what extent today’s announcement meets David Cameron’s pledge …4… the number, size, scope and influence of quangos. And the government’s longer term aim of …5… power back to the people.

A …6… of quangos we expected, a …7… of waste and bureaucracy – well may be. Yes, 192 quangos will …8… as public bodies, and yes, the state will do less as a result. But many of the big spending quangos will …9… and the others will …10… in a different form, …11… into Whitehall departments, losing their name plates but not their staff.

The truth is that this government, like so many others, has found the reality of office harder than the rhetoric of opposition.

The coalition agreement promised …12… in quangos …13… the deficit. But the savings will be small and not for some time. So the arguments changed. Now the ministers say the aim is to make these areas of government more …14… and …15… They also argue that by …16… some quangos into charities they are …17… their Big Society agenda of …18… power away from Whitehall. Except, of course, that Whitehall today …19… power rather than …20… it. In other words these quangos are complicated things and today’s …21… was perhaps, a modest …22…

Task 14. Make stylistic analysis of the material in Task 13. Say what stylistic devices the journalist employs.

Task 15. Study the word list below and listen to Audio Track 10. What genre is it? Prove your point.

to wipe out renda pest virus

viral disease to eradicate – eradication

smallpox veterinarian (vet)

livelihood

Task 16. Listen to Audio Track 10 again and say:

1. What is the major idea of the material?

2. What is the origin of the disease and its age?

3. How deadly is the virus?

4. What does Doctor John Anderson say in his interview?

5. How long has the test programme been in place?

Task 17. Sum up the report in two sentences (in writing).

Unit 10

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