Intermed. No strawberries, anusiek27
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No strawberries and cream for fruit pickers
Level 2
l
Intermediate
1
Pre-reading 1 Discussion
1. Have you ever had a job like picking fruit? Was it hard work? Did you enjoy it?
2. Look at the headline. What do you think the article will be about?
2
Pre-reading 2 Key Words
See if you can guess the meaning of these words from the text by matching them with the deinitions.
a polytunnel a walking frame to complain to cheer
a protest a strike a contract a migrant
1.
is to say that you are not satisied with something.
2.
is a metal support that helps old or disabled people to move.
3.
is a strong disagreement.
4.
is to shout loudly to show that you are happy about something or somebody.
5.
is a long, transparent polythene cover to protect growing plants,
tall enough for people to work inside.
6.
is an agreement in writing, about work or business.
7.
is someone who moves to another country to work or live.
8.
is when the workers all stop work to show the management that
they are not happy about their working conditions.
Now read the text quickly to check the words, and to see if your answer to question
1
2 was right.
No strawberries and cream for fruit pickers
1
Val Salisbury walked down her road in the English countryside and went into a giant plastic polytunnel.
Inside, lots of people from eastern Europe were picking strawberries. The workers were surprised to see
a 69-year-old Englishwoman using a walking frame come in. But when she started pulling the strawberry
plants out of the ground, they began to understand that she was angry with the company they worked for.
2
Mrs Salisbury herself was surprised when the east Europeans clapped and cheered her act of protest against
S&A Davies, Europe’s largest strawberry grower. By the time the farm manager had arrived, Mrs Salisbury
was very popular. Popular, not just with the local people who don’t want large areas of farmland covered in
plastic, but also with the workers from all over eastern Europe who pick fruit for British supermarkets.
3
“I felt so much better after my protest,” said Mrs Salisbury last weekend. “We don’t need these strawberries
and these polytunnels in Herefordshire”.
© Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2006
Downloaded from the News Lessons section in
www.onestopenglish.com
No strawberries and cream for fruit pickers
Level 2
l
Intermediate
4
Every year, at the beginning of summer, at least 5,000 people from eastern Europe arrive in Herefordshire
and Worcestershire to pick fruit. This year, two villages, with more than 1,700 people in each, have been built
there. Each one has about 400 caravans, football pitches, internet cafes and even saunas. Most local people
welcome the fruit-pickers, but some are afraid that the fruit company is treating the migrant workers unfairly
to make money out of them. Last weekend, 50 people working in the tunnels were interviewed, and many
seemed as angry as Mrs Salisbury. Those who could speak English complained about their conditions, and
thought the company was making too much money from their stay.
5
“In Lithuania I earn 200 pounds a month,” said a policeman from Vilnius. “I thought I could earn more here.
It looks like I am not going to. It cost more than I thought to get here; it costs more to live.”
6
“None of us like strawberry picking,” said a Ukrainian student. “Today I have earned 23 pounds. But I must
pay 35 pounds a week to live in a box with three other people. Perhaps I earn 150 pounds in a week, but
when I have paid for food, accommodation, tax, everything, maybe I have 70 pounds for a six days. It’s not
good”.
7
“The money is bad,” said a waiter from the Czech Republic. “We waited days to have work. Last year we
heard there was a strike here; perhaps there will be one this year, too. It is like a prison. I have been given a
yellow card already. One more and I am sent home.”
8
The Guardian has seen the contracts S&A Davies gives the east Europeans. The rules and conditions are
hard. The workers have to pay £26.25 a week to live four or ive in one room. They must pay GBP3 a week for
toilets and waste collection, £2.25 for electricity, and £2.75 for leisure facilities, including a TV set, football pitch
and disco. For £30, they can get medical and translation advice.
9
The contracts say that pickers can lose their jobs for eating a single strawberry, for stopping work, for going to
the toilet at the side of the ield, or for smoking indoors. If their rooms are not “clean and tidy”, the workers can
be asked to leave. If they want to invite a visitor to the camp, they must ask permission two days in advance.
“I have never been anywhere like this,” said a Ukrainian housewife. The company said they promised to
pay pickers £5.05 an hour when there was work, and extra money if they picked more than a set amount of
strawberries. But they said that they could not promise full-time work for everyone at the start of the strawberry
season, or in bad weather. “When 3,500 people arrive, it’s hard to give everyone work at the same time.
We reduced the cost of accommodation to £10 when it was raining, two weeks ago,” said Graham Neal, a
manager with S&A Davies.
10
Mr Neal blamed agents in east European countries for sending the wrong kind of workers. “Under the old
system, where ixed numbers of students came to do farm work, we could go to an east European university
and get excellent people. Now the government says that we must take anyone from the EU. Some coun-
tries ... have sent over their unemployed drunks,” he said.
11
The strange but sad thing is that the east Europeans cannot even afford to buy the fruit they pick. “Yes, we
like strawberries but we cannot pay for them,” said a Ukrainian who was buying cheap white bread and
margarine in the local supermarket. “The next time you eat one, just think of us in the tunnels.”
© Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2006
Downloaded from the News Lessons section in
www.onestopenglish.com
No strawberries and cream for fruit pickers
Level 2
l
Intermediate
3
Reading for Information
Find the numbers (they are all in paragraphs 4-8).
1. How many foreign workers come to the strawberry farms every year?
2. How much does the policeman earn at home?
3. How much does the student earn each week?
4. How much rent does she pay?
5. How many people share her room?
6. How much does it cost to see the doctor?
4
Vocabulary 1 Find the word
Find words in the article that match the deinitions. Use the paragraph numbers (in brackets) to help you.
1.
Hit their hands together, many times, to show that they think something is good (2)
2.
A sign or warning (used in football) that you have done something wrong (7)
3.
Things you can use to help you enjoy your free time (8)
4.
Made (it) less (9)
5.
Says or thinks that somebody is responsible for something bad (10)
6.
People who have no work, and drink too much alcohol (10)
7.
To have enough money to buy something (11)
5
Vocabulary 2 Collocation
See if you can remember the missing propositions. Use the paragraph numbers (in brackets) to help you.
1. angry
somebody (1)
2. work
somebody (1)
3. complain
something (4)
4. pay
something (6, 8 and 10)
5.
advance (9)
6.
the same time (9)
7. the cost
something (9)
8. blame somebody
something (10)
Now quickly read the article to check.
© Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2006
Downloaded from the News Lessons section in
www.onestopenglish.com
No strawberries and cream for fruit pickers
Level 2
l
Intermediate
6
Word order
Put the words in these sentences in the right order:
1. could / thought / more / I / much / earn / here / I / money
2. never / anywhere / have / this / like / been / I
3. strawberries / them / like / pay / but / cannot / we / for / we
4. time / you / the / one / eat / next
5. of / think / us / tunnels / just / the / in
Now read the text quickly to check.
7
Discussion
Do you think Mrs Salisbury was right to pull up the strawberry plants? Why / why not?
© Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2006
Downloaded from the News Lessons section in
www.onestopenglish.com
No strawberries and cream for fruit pickers
Level 2
l
Intermediate
Key:
2. Pre-reading 2: Key words:
1. to complain
2. a walking frame
3. a protest
4. to cheer.
5. A polytunnel
6. a contract
7. a migrant
8. a strike
6. Word Order
1. I thought I could earn much more money here.
2. I have never been anywhere like this.
3. We like strawberries but we cannot pay for them.
4. The next time you eat one …
5. Just think of us in the polytunnels.
3. Reading for Information:
1. 5,000
2. £200
3. £150
4. £35 a week
5. 4
6. £30
(£ is the symbol for British pounds – GBP)
4. Vocabulary 1 – Find the Word
1. to clap
2. a yellow card
3. leisure facilities
4. to reduce
5. to blame somebody
6. unemployed drunks
7. to afford
5. Vocabulary 2 – Collocation:
1. with
2. for
3. about
4. for
5. in
6. at
7. of
8. for
© Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2006
Downloaded from the News Lessons section in
www.onestopenglish.com
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]