Sunday 24 June 2012

The Big Issue - Text 4


The Big Issue


A The Big Issue is one of the UK’s leading social businesses, which continues to offer homeless and vulnerably housed people the opportunity to earn a legitimate income. The organisation is made up of two parts; a limited company which produces and distributes a magazine to a network of street vendors, and a registered charity which exists to help those vendors gain control of their lives by addressing the issues which have contributed to their homelessness.

B The Big Issue Company publishes a weekly entertainment and current affairs magazine, which Big Issue sellers (or vendors) buy for 85p and sell for £1.70, thereby earning 85p per copy. Any profit generated through the sale of the magazine is passed on to our charity, The Big Issue Foundation. The Foundation is also reliant upon donations from the public to fund its crucial work with vendors. The organisation currently supports over 2900 homeless and vulnerably housed people across the country. The magazine is read by over 670,000 people every week throughout the UK. John Duffy is one of the vendors.

C My name is John Duffy and I’ve been involved with The Big Issue in one way or the other over the last 10 years. I was born in Manchester but by adulthood I was living in London where I married. Like many who find themselves thrust into a life on the streets, the catalyst for my spiral into homelessness was the break-up of my marriage. It hit me hard. I started drinking - drinking heavily on the streets of London.

D My first experience of The Big Issue was when I initially wanted to try and get myself together and away from my life where drink was an everyday scenario. I started selling the magazine and after 6 months had got myself together enough to take a job abroad as a bricklayer. A few jobs here and there, in between which time I returned to sell The Big Issue for the stability it gave to me, and I was in a position to consider setting up my own business.

E I proudly set up a book franchise company in 2003. Maybe success came too quickly as I took more people on and got a friend involved as a partner in a matter of months. Things were going so well that I took a holiday... When I came back my world had fallen apart again. My business partner had built up a huge amount of debt and had also ran off with my money. I was bankrupt and back on the streets within days. But The Big Issue was still there for me.

F Most recently I have got myself a new job within The Big Issue Foundation. I am now a Service Support Broker, which allows me to directly help individual vendors and homeless people access the support and services they desperately need.

broker - jednatel
catalyst – katalyzátor
reliant upon – závislý na

1) Read the article and match each of the headings to a paragraph.

1 John became a vendor
2 Information about The Big Issue
3 John’s business problems
4 Introduction
5 Why did John become a homeless?
6 John’s life today

2) Read the article and answer the questions.

       1 What is the article about?
2 What is the basic information about The Big Issue?
3 Who is John Duffy? What jobs has he performed?
4 What problems has he had in his life?
5 What does he do nowadays?

3) Explain the following words.

1 foundation
2 donation
3 break-up of marriage
4 debt
5 support

4) Answer the following questions.

What are other magazines sold by the homeless? Where can homeless find a shelter and help? What are major reasons and causes for homelessness?

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2 comments:

  1. 1.D
    2.B
    3.E
    4.A
    5.C
    6.F

    1.This article about social business continues to offer homeless people art legitimate income.
    2. The Big Issue Company publishes a weekly entertainment and current affairs magazine, magazine with scial topics.
    3. he was a homeless, he worked started selling the magazine and after 6 months has got myself together enough to take a job abroad as a bricklayer
    4. he had business problems and was on the street for several days
    5. He is a Service Support Broker, which allows he to directly help individual vendors and homeless people access the support and services they desperately need.

    foundation- a public benefit organization that helps people, it´s a noun
    donation- something that is given to a charity, especially a sum of money.
    break-up of marriage- it's a situation where two people don't understand each other and so they break up
    debt- it is a situation where people do not have money to borrow and cannot repay
    support- help people, it´s a noun, help homelessnes

    4. Magazine Nový prostor, Red cross, boat- where the homeless can sleep, Charity, Hope

    ReplyDelete

  2. 1:
    1. D
    2. B
    3. E
    4. A
    5. C
    6. F
    2.
    1. This article about social business countinue art legitimate icome from homeless people.
    2. The Big Issue is a company who distributes a magazine to a network and of street vendors, and registred charity which exists to hepl.
    3. He was a homeless, who started work selling the magazine and after 6 months has got myself together enough to také a job abroad as a brickayer.
    4. Between business problems and stay on the street a few days.
    5. He is a Service Support Broker, which other directly help individual vendors and homeless people access the support and services.

    3.
    Foundation: benefit to organization who helps people
    Donation: these are the funds that the company gives to a charity event and thus supports them in the activity
    Break-up of marrige: this is the period when the married couple quarrel and ask for divorce
    Debt: it is a given amount of money that I have to repay to a given institute
    Support : help and financial part that is provided to homeless people

    ReplyDelete