World News for Students of English

03-09-2015 15:00

“In the last 24 hours, schools across the country have been forced to shut their doors…”

If Surrey were Syria…

“… as armed groups take over and the violence escalates…”

It’s the premise of a short film made by Save the Children in which the charity used hidden cameras to capture genuine responses of members of the public to simulated scenarios.

“I need someone to talk to, please, because this is not acceptable, we have no…”

Standard services were temporarily cut off, leaving residents under the illusion that they had no access to food, education or medical care.

“What is on these shelves is what we’ve got.”

“It’s someone’s life at risk.”
“I don’t want to lay my hands on you, mate.”

Surrey Police were on hand to safely manage this social experiment, ensuring no one was hurt. But the reality for the more than 4,000 refugees leaving Syria every day is far more complex.

Save the Children says money to assist the millions living in refugee camps is drying up and families face the stark choice of returning to a war zone or risking death as they’re smuggled into Europe.

“I need to be on a list?”

“To get milk, yeah, milk, bread and eggs.”

“Oh my god!”

The charity is using the film to pose an important question: “If we wouldn’t stand for this here, can we really stand by as it happens to millions of Syrian refugees?”

Difficult words: premise (the main idea), genuine (true), scenario (situation), temporarily (only for a period of time), resident (a person who resides – lives somewhere), ensure (to maintain), dry up (to run out), stark (difficult), smuggle (to move something  or someone abroad illegally).

Source: www.ondemandnews.com