Social issues vocabulary

Question 1

Poverty

Answer 1

the state of being poor

Question 2

Unemployment

Answer 2

lack of workplaces.
Might be caused by troubled economics or fast development of technologies able to complete task traditionally completed by humans.

Question 3

Brain drain

Answer 3

​the movement of highly skilled and qualified people to a country where they can work in better conditions and earn more money

Question 4

Juvenile delinquency

Answer 4

the problem of young people who are not yet adults committing crime

Question 5

Drug/alcohol abuse

Answer 5

the problem connected with using too much drugs/alcohol

Question 6

Domestic violence

Answer 6

physical (sometimes psychological) violence inside a family

Question 7

Descrimination

Answer 7

depriving a cathegory of people of equal rights.

Includes rasism, sexism, ageism etc.

Question 8

Environmental pollution

Answer 8

contamination of the environment

Question 9

Illegal immigration

Answer 9

huge traffic of foreigners coming into a country against the law.
Considered as a problem since immigrants might be taking workplaces of the native people and/or forcing their native religious and social traditions.

Question 10

Gun ownership/gun control

Answer 10

measures to control legal purchases of weapon to prevent crime

Question 11

Human rights

Answer 11

basic rights of a human being including right to life, liberty and security, equality before the law, freedom of thought, access to information, and protection against descrimination etc

Question 12

Social inequality

Answer 12

the situation when different social groups have access to different rights and resources, f.e. women get lower salaries than men or poor people have no access to healthcare

Question 13

Sex education

Answer 13

school subject teaching biological, psychological and social sides of sexual relationships

Question 14

Abortion

Answer 14

the deliberate ending of a pregnancy at an early stage

Question 15

Child abuse

Answer 15

the crime of harming a child in a physical, sexual or emotional way

Question 16

Bullying

Answer 16

the use of strength or power to frighten or hurt weaker people

Question 17

Increase awareness

Answer 17

make more people realize a problem, not percieve it as norm, make sure they know what to do when facing it

Question 18

Burning/urgent issue

Answer 18

an issue which has to be solved immediately

Question 19

Run-down area

Answer 19

an area that is in bad condition

Question 20

Gap

Answer 20

a metaphor emphisizing big differences and possible misuderstandings between two groups, f.e. generation gap, payment gap, social gap

Question 21

Long-term/short-term measure

Answer 21

a measure which helps in a long run/immediately

Question 22

Ban

Answer 22

to forbid sth from happening, make sth illegal, f.e. to ban gun ownership

Question 23

Hate crime

Answer 23

a crime motivated by hatrid to a group of people, f.e. genocide of black people

Question 24

Tackle/adress a problem

Answer 24

to attempt to solve a problem

Question 25

Traffic congestion

Answer 25

too much traffic in a city

Question 26

Novel solution

Answer 26

a brand new innovative solution

Question 27

Fresh drive

Answer 27

new attempt to deal with a problem

Question 28

Volunteer work

Answer 28

socially beneficial work which is not paid for

Question 29

Strong opinion

Answer 29

an opinion a person is absolutely sure about

Question 30

Pass a law

Answer 30

to transform a bill into a law

Question 31

Charity

Answer 31

an organization for helping people in need

Question 32

Refugee

Answer 32

a person who has been forced to leave their country or home, because there is a war or for political, religious or social reasons

Question 33

Provide with a shelter

Answer 33

to give a person in need a safe place to stay

Question 34

Victim to violence

Answer 34

a person who has suffered from violent actions

Question 35

Deter, a deterrent to sth

Answer 35

to prevent sth from happening by scaring sb, ​something that makes somebody less likely to do something, f.e. prison is a deterrent to crime

Question 36

Disabled

Answer 36

unable to use a part of your body completely or easily because of a physical condition, an illness, an injury, etc.; unable to learn easily

Question 37

Deprive of sth, deprivation

Answer 37

to prevent sb from having or getting sth, f.e. to deprive poor people of basic human rights, economical deprivation

Question 38

Possible questions to consider:

Answer 38

1. What social issues are the most urgent ones in your region/country? What does the govenment/do the local authorities do to solve them?
2. Are you socially active? What do you do to help?
3. Is prison a good deterrent to crime? Why/why not? What should be done to punish juvenile delinquents?
4. What discrimination have you seen/been a victim to? How did you react? What do you think should be done to stop discrimination?
5. Is sex education at school necessary? At what age? Why? What kind of sex education have you been provided with? Was it enough?