Identify key points in the article and extract information from it to pass on to your partner.

Let your partner see whether key points identified by you are the same as those covered in the article. Let him agree or disagree with you.

4. Render into English:

ЭЙ, БАРМЕН, ПЛЕСНИ-КА МНЕ ОДНОЙ ВОДИЧКИ

В барах округа Фэрфакс распитие спиртного стало делом не­безопасным, особенно для тех посетителей, у кого становится шат­кой походка и начинает заплетаться язык. Полицейские в приго­родном округе штата Вирджиния принялись вдруг арестовывать в барах и ресторанах клиентов, выглядевших нетрезвыми. В Рождест­венские праздники, полиция городов Герндон и Рестон произвела проверочные рейды в двадцати барах и задержала девять человек за то, что те были нетрезвыми.

По законам этого штата, бар или ресторан считаются общест­венными местами, поэтому полицейские могут задерживать людей уже за одно то, что те кажутся нетрезвыми, даже не предлагая им подуть в трубку анализатора. Владельцы баров жалуются, что такие рейды отпугивают клиентов, и подчеркивают, что подвыпившие задержанные не были за рулем.

Учитывая протесты общественности, «Ведомство по контролю за потреблением алкоголя» штата Вирджиния напомнило полиции о том, что для проведения подобных широкомасштабных внезап­ных проверок необходимо получить у него предварительное разре­шение.

Case 2

CUTLERY THIEVES FEED OFF DUMA

Background:

Thefts of spoons and knives from the Russian Parliament's canteens and bars have soared in recent months. The problem has become so seri­ous that plastic teaspoons have now started replacing metal ones.

Read the supporting article and provide detailed answers to the case questions below.

Thefts

Russia's monolithic parliament building has been hit by a spate of thefts since elections in December 2003 brought in a fresh intake of MPs. An investigation by a daily newspaper, Komsomolskaya Pravda, has re­vealed that cutlery thieves are targeting the State Duma, the lower house of parliament.

A report in the tabloid says thefts of cutlery and crockery from the parliament's canteens and bars have soared in recent months. It is more than a storm in a teacup. The thieves have not yet been identified — and the problem is so serious that plastic teaspoons have now started appear­ing, in the absence of metal ones.

«In the past, six or seven spoons would go missing each week», one employee told the paper. «But now they're nicking between 30 and 40 spoons, and 15 or so forks as well».

No joke

A reporter went in search of the missing teaspoons, whose disappear­ance has upset catering staff. Their wages are docked for every item of cutlery which goes astray.

Under Communist rule, petty theft also occurred, but its scale was more modest, and did not impact on staff pockets. Now, the serving la­dies are «bewildered», the paper reports. One elderly worker almost burst into tears when approached. «There's never been anything like it in the whole history of the State Duma», she told the reporter. «Cups and sau­cers are also being nicked, but they can be written off as breakages. You can't write off metal cutlery».

Visitors

MPs appear unperturbed by the criminal activities in their midst. «The disappearance of the spoons doesn't surprise me», MP Gennady Raykov told the paper. «A11 sorts of people come into parliament*. «They could even roll up a carpet or two and slip them out».

One of Mr Raykov's colleagues, Sergey Glotov, also subscribes to the view that the thefts are the work of outsiders. He says that it is not MPs who are to blame, but the guests they invite into the building. In the ab­sence of a souvenir shop, he suggests, many of them simply help them­selves to some of the Russian parliament's finest tableware [9].

Дата добавления: 2015-11-04