Episode 159

EPISODE 159
LEVEL A2

READING COMPREHENSION

 

Jobless young people – a big problem

A new report says the number of young people without a job is still very high in many countries. There are currently 73 million people around the world aged 15-24 who want to work but cannot find a job. The International Labour Organization (ILO) said that although youth unemployment is coming down in rich countries, it is rising in most of Asia, the Middle East, North Africa and Brazil. The youth unemployment rate in China increased from 9.3 per cent in 2010 to 10.6 per cent last year. Economists say it will be 11.1 per cent in 2016. In Brazil, the figure for youth unemployment was 14 per cent at the beginning of this year, but is now almost 16 per cent. The ILO warns that youth employment worldwide is about to rise. The ILO said it is difficult for many young people who are looking for work. It said: „It’s still not easy to be young and starting out in today’s labour market.” It is particularly bad for many young women. The highest rate of youth unemployment around the world is for women in the Middle East and North Africa. This figure is around 45 per cent. There are many reasons for the gloomy figures for youth unemployment. One major factor is the global financial collapse of 2008. Many countries have still not recovered from that. The ILO says youth unemployment is not just important for a country’s economy. It also affects health, social unrest and levels of people’s happiness.

 

Exercise 1

Find in the text words that mean:

1. raport
2. bogaty
3. ekonomista
4. rynek
5. finansowy
6. gospodarka

 

Exercise 2

Use the words from the previous exercise in these sentences:

1. Polish _____________ is strong despite global slowdown.
2. What’s the name of the main _____________ of your bank?
3. _____________ institutions in Poland will have to pay an extra tax.
4. How big is your _____________ share at the moment?
5. As one of my duties I have to write a _____________ every week.
6. _____________ people should pay higher taxes – that’s what some politicians think.

 

Exercise 3

Complete the sentences with words “job” and “work” respectively:

1. I’m looking for a _____________. Have you heard anything?
2. _____________ is necessary for people to feel happy.
3. He has a good _____________ in a bank and earns a nice salary.
4. – What’s your _____________? – I’m an analyst.
5. She has been out of _____________ for many months and is getting depressed now.
6. _____________-life balance is very important for people’s general health.

 

I know English idioms!

When talking about unemployment, we need to mention the “unemployment benefit” (zasiłek dla bezrobotnych). In more idiomatic language it is called a “dole”, like in this sentence:

• He has been on a dole quite a long time now and has serious financial problems.

 

Phrasals, phrasals…

Here’s a fragment of the reading text: “(…) youth unemployment is coming down in rich countries…”, which means that it is lower and lower. Study these other examples with the phrasal verb “to come down”:

• House prices have come down recently.
• Market analysts say that inflation will be coming down in the third quarter.

 

Grammar corner

This lesson’s topic concerned the problem of unemployment, so being without a job or without work. The grammatical difference between these words is that “job” is countable, so can be made plural (“jobs”) and can take article “a”, “work” doesn’t do any of these.

Try and decide which of these words are countable [C], which uncountable [U]:

1. report ____
2. reservation ____
3. money ____
4. banknote ____
5. time ____
6. hour ____
7. document ____
8. share ____
9. problem ____
10. advice ____

 

GLOSSARY

tax – podatek
to consider – uważać
newly approved – nowo przyjęty
assets – aktywa
financial institution – instytucja finansowa
to cut – obniżyć
profit – zysk
billion – miliard
annualized – annualizowany
net – netto
at the level of – na poziomie
to record – odnotować
loss – strata
in the area of – w rejonie (= około)
likely – przypuszczalnie
to limit – ograniczyć
lending activity – pożyczanie pieniędzy
due to – z powodu
hindered – utrudniony
ability – zdolność
to create – tworzyć
to increase – zwiększyć
vulnerability – podatność
shock – szok, wstrząs
combined with – w połączeniu z
threat – groźba
conversion – zamiana, tu: przewalutowanie
mortgage – kredyt hipoteczny
to threaten – zagrozić
stability – stabilność
analyst – analityk
at issue – najważniejsza kwestia
ca. (= circa) – około
annually – rocznie
ex (= excluding) – wyłączając
T (= treasury) bonds – obligacje skarbowe
bill – ustawa
to sign – podpisać
payment – płatność

 

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