263 Beer for Work Discussion

 263 Beer for Work Discussion

Please discuss these questions with a group of your classmates.

1. Describe the deal Amsterdam has for alcoholics?

2. Who is Fred Schiphorst and why does he need the program?

3. Why does Hans Wijands feel the program is successful?

4. Compare the security of Oosterpark before and after the program.

5. Who is Ramon Smits and why does he like the program?

6. In general, what are some positive results of the program?  Find “real” examples of these results.

7. In general, what are some problems with the program? Find evidence in the article to support this.

Part 2: Vocabulary/Collocations

Use the collocation from the example taken from the article. Write your own example that uses the collocation:

Fred Schiphorst is determined to keep his job.

Ex.

Ms. Elatik personally disapproves of alcohol.

Ex.

Hans Wijnands dismissed such complaints as grandstanding.

Ex.

The mayor ordered city police to ignore the ban.

Ex.

The cleaning teams are forbidden from drinking.

Ex.

Locals used to curse alcoholics for turning the park…

Ex.

The project proved more successful in keeping drunks…

Ex.

Part 3: Paraphrase the following direct quotes from the article.

1. Ms. Elatik…believes that alcoholics “cannot be just ostracized” and told to shape up. It’s better, she said, to give them something to do and restrict their drinking to a limited amount of beer with no hard alcohol.

2. Conservative members of the Amsterdam City Council have derided what they call the “beer project” as a waste of government money and a misguided extension of a culture of tolerance that has already made the city a mecca for marijuana users and spawned Europe’s best-known red-light district.