Designerbabies Discussion 'designed' you lf you had been them, what would lmagine that before you were born your parents had you have changed?Think about these questions: Which one aspectof your appearancewould you change? would you change? Which one aspectof your character/personality How you think your life might have been different? Are you pleasedyolrr parents did not designyou or you wish they had? Compareyour answers in pairs or small groups Reading Readthrough the articleand answer this question: Why the Jones want a baby girl? NEW LAWSMAY ALLOW CHOICEOF BABY'SSEX l i m a n d D e b b i e l o n e s( n o t t h e i r r e a l n a m e s ) , whose daughter was killed in a tragic domestic accident last year, plan to use the n e w B r i t i s hh u m a n r i g h t s l a w s t o w i n t h e legal right to choosethe sex of their baby reasonsfor wanting a girl go beyond just w a n t i n g t o r e p l a c eh e r O u r f a m i l y d o e s n ' t feel completeany more I adore our sonsbut w e w o u l d l i k e a n o t h e rg i r l " C e n d e r s e l e c t i o ni s o n l y p o s s i b l ei n B r i t a i n f o r m e d i c a lr a t h e rt h a n s o c i a l ,p s y c h o l o g i c a l o r p h y s i c a lr e a s o n sP r o - l i f ec a m p a i g n e r s a y that if the Jonesare allowed to choosethe sex of their baby, it could lead to babies The Jones,who have four sons, say that the ' f e m a l e d i m e n s i o n ' h a s d i s a p p e a r e df r o m b e c o m i n g c o n s u m e r i t e m s A s p o k e s m a n s a i d :" W e a r e t o t a l l yo p p o s e dt o e n g i n e e r i n g their family since the death of Jasmine " W o r d s c a n n o t d e s c r i b ew h a t i t f e e l sl i k e t o t h e n u m b e r s a n d g , e n d e r so f p e o p l e i n society.That leadsonly to disaster." losethe little girl we had wanted for so long W e k n o w a n o t h e rg i r l w o n ' t r e p l a c eJ a s m i n e , T h e J o n e s ' l a w y e r s w i l l b e b a s i n g t h e i r but we want the chance lo Iry," said Jim a r g u m e n t so n n e w h u m a n r i g h t sl e g i s l a t i o n "What we're hoping to with the use A r t i c l e s i x g u a r a n t e e se v e r y o n e a ' f a i r Jones o f t e c h n o l o g yi s c r e a t et h e f e m a l ed i m e n s i o n h e a r i n g 'f r o m p u b l i c a u t h o r i t i e sa n d A r t i c l e again We have psychologists'reports and e i g h t p r o t e c t s t h e r i g h t o f e v e r y o n e t o 'resDectfor familv life' doctors'reoortswhich confirm that our Read the article again Mark the following sentencestrue (T) or false (F): 1.The.|onesfeel they need a baby girl to make their family completeagain At the moment in Britain it is not possibleto choosethe sex of your baby New laws on human rights may allow the Jonesto choosethe sex of their baby Discussion Discussthis question in pairs or small groups: \Why not? Do vonthink the Jonesshould be allowed to chooseto have a baby girl? Why? 12 Designerbabies Taboosand /ssues F = Language -l { Look at these sentences from the article Notice the expressions with rghf; = Jim and Debbie Jonesplan to win the legal right to choosethe sex of their baby Article eig,htprotects the right of everyoneto'respect for family life' Cross out the word in italics which does not collocate with right: :t = =' = :T =t 1.You can hdue, win, protect, demand, build, defend, challengethe right to choose' 2.It's a(n) legal, moral, straight, automatic, basic nght Look at the sentences below Mark them in the following way: tl if you agree X if you disagree ? it you partly agree and partly disagree An unborn child has rights.Those rights must be protected \X/edon'r have the right to interferewith a child's future personality and appearance Deciding the ser of your child will be a basic right in fifty years' time \7e should have the automatic right to chooseparticular genesfor our own babies Compareyour answers in pairs or small groups = = =r Fr F F F F F F tr F ts ts F F F F rt Discussion Work in pairs or small groups ln each of the following situationssomeone is explainingwhat genetic selectionthey want to make and why Decidewhetheryou think they should be allowedto what they want There is a history of red hair in my family I have red hair and I was badly teasedat school.I would like to make sure my child does not have red hair The male membersof my family often suffer from a rare and unpleasantbone disease I would therefore like to make sure I have a baby girl 2.My four-year-olddaughter,my only child, has a fatal blood disease.Shewill die before she is 12 unlesswe can find a match for a bone 6.I feel there is too much violenceand aggression in the world I would like to make sure my child is a calm and gentleperson ' f,:lf1l'*j:*:;i::'J,fl:'j:"1,:: ;::H:'""Hl" [xTi:.,.;il]'li[JJ;:il; Tii:' 3.ln my family there is a history of a fatal disease that affectsthe nervous system.I want to make sure that my baby is not likely to get this disease 4.I'm a universityprofessorand my husbandis a doctor We'd like to make sure our babv is intelligent eyesand be about medium height when she grows up 8.I suffer from a geneticdiseasewhich I inherited from my mother My children have a one in five chanceof having the samegene Before I start a family, I want to have treatment to make sure I not passon this gene "We will still have sex for pleasure,of course, but we will view our children as too damn important to leave it to a random meetingof sperm and egg." Greg Stock, UCLA professor of procreation Are you fascinated or horrified by this topic? Taboosand /ssues Designerbabies 12 v- Childrenwho kill Discussion 1.In your country,at what age is someoneconsideredan adult? Until that age, children who commit crimes get specialtreatment, or they get the same penaltiesadults get? 3.At what age doesa child know right from wrong? yearsold, 10 yearsold? 15 yearsold? Reading Readthe article.Then answer this question:What is the latest 'trend' in Americancriminaljustice? THIRTEEN.YEAR.OLDGETSLIFE Thirteen-year-old Peter Barton (not his real name) was playing with a little girl of Claiming that he was pretending to be a professional wrestler, Peter punched, kicked and stamped his 6-year-old playmate to death Her liver was severely damaged.Her skull was fractured.Medical experts compared the injuries to a fall from the top of a house.Peter was tried in court as an adult and sentencedto life in prison with the possibility of parolewhen he is 38 Peter is one of many children in the latest trend in criminal justice: if you are old enoughto kill, you are old enough to face adult penalties.That is what the Supreme Courts of California, Florida and Texasare saying - and the trend is spreadingfast acrossthe United States "What we're dealing with is a new kind of childhood criminal They're starting youngerand they know what they're doing They won't think twice about killing," said Florida State District Attorney Adam Emmitt The State of Florida alone registered312 homicidescommitted so far this year by minors Most of those homicideswere gun-related The trend has children'srights activistsin a rage.Lisa Weston,a member of one group which is trying to prevent children being "No one understands tried as adults said, why Peter did what he did - not even Peter."PeterBarton beeinshis life sentence on Monday Trueor false? Read the article again and mark these sentences true (T) or false (F): Peterwill be releasedwhen he is 38 yearsold Not all stateshave such harsh laws Adam lrmrnitt thinks the problem is worse now than it was before Lisa Westonthinks children should be treated differentlv from adults Discussion l.Peter claimedhe was pretendingto be a professionalwrestler.Could he be telling the truth? 2.ls it really possiblethat a 13-year-oldboy could maliciouslyand intentionallykill a young girl? Are children the same as they have always been or are they really different thesedays? Has anything like this happenedin your country? 13 Children who kill Taboosand /ssues = Language :fl Ghoose the correct ending for each sentence: = What we're dealing ' W h a tw e ' r e t a l k i n g a at is a steady increasein the number of child crimes b with is a new kind of childhood criminal What we're looking What we're saying W h a t w e ' r es e e i n g c here is a trend that shows no sign of slowing d about is the future of our country e is that children must start to take full responsibilityfor their actions fl = =t Work with a partner Circle the vocabulary item that does not belong in each group Check any words you don't know in your dictionary = law1,er,evidence,defendant,judge murder,fine, assault,manslaughter =fl t'l - :e adult, minor, infant, adolescent witness,crirninal,suspect,offender 10.parole,release,sentence) pardon I Discussion =e =r Discuss the following situations in small groups Decide what should happen to the people in each situation.Should they go to prison - an adult prison or a young offender'sinstitution?How long for? Or should somethingelse happen? E I F r rF rF F F b I F rF F F Sean,9, brings a gun to school.He shows it to his friends and says, "Nobody messeswith me o r I u s et h i s ! " Two teenagers, aged 15 and 16, come to school with two semi-automaticguns and begin shootingpeopleat random They shoot of their classmates dead and criticallywound another 12 The 16-year-oldcommits suicide before he is captured, the younger boy is caughtand arrested l7-year-oldBobby fatally stabsa shop owner in the town centre in an attempted robbery The shop owner tried to phone the police during the robbery and Bobby panicked A l4-year-old boy shoots another 14-year-old member of a rival gang "I had to it so that they would let me be in their g2flg," he says The victim did not die A 16-year-oldshootshis father dead after the father has a violent confrontation with the "He got boy's mother what he deserved,"says "My mother has put the boy up with enough abusealready." A 6-year-oldboy gets so angry with his younger brother that he sits on him until he stops breathing, shouting "I hate you, I hate you." The brother dies.The 6-year-oldtold his parents he had had enough of his brother Discussyour conclusionswith anothergroup Discussthe following as a class: 1.\X/hena child kills, who you think is most responsible? The parents?Society?The child? \What Are there any obvious ways to prevent such horrors? are they? If you feel your country's situation is very different from or better than the one in the US, can 1'ouexplain why? 'What \flhat is the worst story of child killers you rememberreading about in the newspapers? makesit the worst? F F F F ft Iaboos and /ssues Children who kill 13 Gaysand jobs Discussion Discuss these questions with a partner: Are there any well-known gay peoplein your country in the following areas: the military TV politics the law sPort the cbttrch Arc there more gay peoplein someprofessionsthan in others?Which ones?Why You think that is? Reading Read the articles below and answer these questions: Which article is about someonestartinga job? What's the problem? Which one is about someoneleavinga job? Why is the personleaving? SECONDOFFICER RESIGNS ANGER OVER LESBIAN MAYOR Another senior naval officer resigned last night as a result of the Government's decision to allow homosexualsto join the armed fbrces CommanderJamesMacDonald,43 who fought in the war in Bosnitr said of the Government's decision: "There are many good military reasons why homosexualsshould not be allowed into the armed fbrces The Government however, has chosen to make a decisionfor political and legal reasons." Commander MacDonald's resignation came a day after BrigtrdierHoward Jones,47,askedto retire early "l fbr similar reasons.Brigadier Jones said: have no personalproblem with homosexuals,but I believe strongly from both a moral and a military point of view that there is no place for them in the army The Government has reached its decision fbr no good military reason." JanisHewitt will be ready fbr some strong opposition when she becomesmayor of the small Welsh town of Llanforclnext week She announcedyesterdaythat her lesbianpartnerwill be mayoress Ms Hewitt points out that she has never made any secret of her relationshipand she sees no reason to "We have been together for 20 start doing so now "and we have never hidden the fact years," she said, It really shouldn't be a problem There are more important issues,ltke getting a better life for people." Gareth James, chairman of the local Conservatives, "This has come as quite a shock." disagreesstrongly "It degradesthe position of mayor It he said angrily is not the sort of thing we associatewith this town Things like this don't happenhere." Trueor false? Read the articles again and decide if the following sentences are true (T) or false (F): Both officers feel there are military reasonswhy gays should not be allowed in the armed forces BrigadierJoneshas a personaldislike of homosexuals 3.Janis Hewitt's lesbianrelationshiphas beena secretfor 20 years Garcth Jamesis unhappywith the idea of JanisHewitt's partner being the mayoress Discussion Discussthese questionsin small groups: 1.Do you think it is OK ro have gay peoplein the armed forces?Vhy?'$7hy not? What's the situation in your own country? ShouldJanisHewitt be allowed to chooseher lesbianpartner as mayoress?Would it be a problen-r in any way? Could this happenin your country? 14 Gays and jobs Taboosand /ssues Language Look through the articlesagain and underlineallthe expressionswith the word'reason' One of the following patternsis wrong Which one? a I b I c I d.I c I seeno scc no scc no seeno seeno reasonto worry about it reasonnot to employ her reasonwhy he shouldn'twork here reasonof changingmy mind reilson for getting upset about it Put these expressionsinto the sentencesbelow: the rettl rcdson some redson onc good rcdson no reason l l c r r n ' tt h i n k o f w h y w e s h o u l d n ' tg i v e h i m t h e j o b H e ' s t h e i d e a lc a n d i d a t e Nobody knows why he decidedto resign,but there are lots of rumours around Yor-rcan't sirck someonefor If you do, you'll be breaking thc law For he thinks gayscan't the job properly,but he can't explain why Deletethe word or phrasewhich does not fit this sentence: Sl-rehad tcr lcave her job for personal,financial, medical, powerful, a number of reasons Discussion Discussthese questionsin pairs: l Do you think that there are any jobs which homosexualsshould not be allowed to do? Consiclerthcsc: teacher ltriest lturse TV prasenter child minder politician doctor police officer Do you tliink peopleshould have to declare thcir sexualitywhen applying for any of those iobs?If so, which ones? Think of three reasonswhy an employer might not cmploy someonewho is gay Are any of thesegood reasons? Would you employ a gay person?Why? \7hy not? Can you think of any jobs which a gay person would be better at than someonewho was straight(heterosexual) ? Have you ever worked with someonewho 'Was was gay? their sexual orientation a oroblern? Taboosand /ssues Gays and jobs 14 t h F Animalrights J fr = J g Discussion Work in pairs List all the differentthings that humans with animals.For example: e I We eat them J 1, IF A T *l '1 -5 o I q ) q Do you object to any of these uses? Reading -) '1 Read quickly through the texts below Decide where you might find each one -1 -1 -1 J FARM CLOSES Protestershave finally fbrced Shamrock Monkey Farm near Henfield.WestSussexto close Monkeysfrom the fhrm, set up i n t h e ' sw e r e u s e di n t h e development of the polio vaccineand until recentlywere still beingusedfor researchinto other diseases.Animal rights leaderJustin Hodge said: "It's abouttime the farm closed.We strongly object to places like this and completelydisapprove of what they've been doing here." WARNING Tigers are dangerous Do not climb over the rail Do not feed The World-Famous Rafferty's Circus Rafferty'sCircuswill be at ProspectPark T u e sJ u l y t h- S a tJ u l y2 s r T i c k e t so n s a l en o w * f O a n d f Clowns, PerformingDogs,Terrythe TigerTamer J u m b ot h e A m a z i n gC o u n t i n gE l e p h a n t T h e F a m o u sH o r s e so f H i n d u s t a na n d m u c h m u c h m o r e Animal rights lf g IF I *'l -1 Remove all packaging from the meat Place on a baking tray in the centre of a pre-heated oven at 200eC or Gas Mark for 35 minutes or until golden brown Serve immediately For Sale Six blackand white SpringerSpanielpuppies male,2 female,f300 each Must go to good homes Cafl 01235-783936 - Mrs Rogers E '1 ) *1 J J SEA TURTLES The sea turtle is a valuable catch for poachers and illegal traders A l m o s ta l l o f i t c a n b e s o l d r n d u s e d T h e m e a ri s a m u c h s o u g h t - a f t e r delicacy,the shell is made into jewellery and the body oil is used to make cosmetics.In Mexico alone,thousandsare killed eachyear and exported to Japan Three species of sea turtle are now close to extinction ln your opinion, which texts refer to the mistreatmentof animals? Which one you feel most strongly about? rc IF I l J ) J rd qI d -_l JLl Taboosand /ssues - l J t!!i l Language Look at this sentence from the first text: ".\X/e strongly object to places like this and completely disapproueof what they'ue been doing here." Decide whether the expressions below express an objection (O) or no objection (N): I think it's awful I think that's fine It's outrageous I t ' s q u i t eO K t o There'snothing wrong with I e r n ' t s e y I r p p r o v eo f 10 It seemscompletelywrong to me I stronglydisapproveof I l I ' v e g o t n o o b i e c t i r t nt o 5.I wish peoplewouldn't 12 It doesn'tbother me I've got no problcm with Use the expressionsabove to talk about the list you made at the beginning of the lesson.For example: I strongly disdpproueof circuses It's quite OK to keep rabbits in yctur gttrden I Look at these patterns: I't,egot rto prcthlemtuith zoos as long as the dnimals are treated u,ell There'snotbing Lurongwith people hauing pets prouided they know how to look dfter tbem Write two sentences of your own using these patterns Discussion Answer these questionsin small groups: L Do y And you believedhim? I think he was your leg 2.1 askedhim three times if he'd borrowed my \rValkmanand he wouldn't me a straight answer 3.I'm sureJim stole my wallet He sayshe never came in the room but I think he's thror-rghhis teeth There'ssomething a bit strangeabout the new boss > I know I don't him an inch .5.I'vcjust found out that Kathy hasn't beenvery honest.She's me a whole pack of lies It is a beautiful sunny day and some of your friends, who are on holiday, have decidedto go for a picnic They ask you to go Do you: a call your boss and say you are ill? b, call your boss and ask for the day off? c tell your friends you haue to go to work? Or would you something else? When leaving a car park, you accidentally bump into the car parked next to yours and damage it slightly Do you: a leauea note of apology on the windscreen with your name and address? b wait for the other driuer to come back? c leauetbe car parl