smoking ban
Smoking Ban
Vocabulary
| anti- | drive (2) | pulling out all stops |
| sway | deploy | aggressive |
| violate | fan out | affective (2) |
| strict | inspect | to mean business |
| insist | light up | twenty-fold |
| smog | troop (2) | reinforce |
| choke | remedy | regulation |
Video
Transcript
The Beijing government is pulling out all stops on it’s anti-smoking drive; even deploying a dancing troop outside the Olympic Stadium to sway smokers.
Affective immediately, no one can smoking in public buildings, not even outdoors near hospitals, schools, or sports facilities.
And the authorities mean business.
Thousands of health inspectors are fanning out across the city to find violators.
Restaurant customer: “They’re serious this time.
The waiter just told me to finish smoking outside, and then come back in.
That means they have become quite strict with the policy.”
People who insist on lighting up face a more than $30 fine — that’s a twenty-fold increase over the previous law.
The World Health Organization welcomed Beijing’s aggressive move.
Bernhard Schwartlander, World Health Organization: “For the first time, the lawmakers have thought very, very carefully how to reinforce the regulations. In previous laws it was very unclear what to do if a person still smokes in a place where it is actually forbidden.”
It’s still unclear how successful the law will be.
But as for healthier air, that remains a dream: the government still hasn’t found a remedy for the choking smog in the city.
Questions
1. The government has banned the production, sale and use of tobacco products. Is this true or false?
2. A dance troop was deployed. Why was a dance troop deployed?
3. Is this the first anti-smoking law that the government has passed? How is the new law different?
4. International organizations have criticized the government. Yes or no?
5. Will the new law solve the city’s air quality?
A. Do any of your friends, classmates or coworkers smoke?
B. Approximately what percent of the population smokes? Why do people smoke? How do they get started?
C. Has the amount of smoking changed over the decades? Has the profile of smokers changed?
D. How can people quit smoking?
E. Everyone wants people to stop smoking. What do you think?
F. Should the government just ban smoking? What would happen if the government banned smoking outright?
