THE BIG BOTTLE

In Spanish cities, at night crowds of young people wander the streets in search of a party, meeting their friends and stopping to drink. When a large mass of people get together, a party spontaneously breaks out. This phenomenon, translated into English as booze-up or binge-drinking, is perceived by local governments as a social problem because it is impossible to predict where it will take place and because drinkers are as young as 12.

In addition, now it has become fashionable to compete for the biggest national drinking party, as cities from Málaga to Madrid and Barcelona to Bilbao try to outdo one another by organizing the largest gathering. Word is spread by e-mail and text messages, and teenagers crowd into city centres, armed with bottles of soft drinks generously mixed with alcohol.

City councils are very cautious about calling in the police for fear that drunken youths will turn to violence. The Government has tried to introduce emergency legislation but this is unlikely to have much impact, because, across Spain, regional authorities have set different minimum ages to buy alcohol.

Despite Spain's reputation for civilised Mediterranean drinking habits, "the big bottle" leaves city centres full of rubbish, and residents, who have been kept up all night, furious. Under-age drinkers claim that this way they can enjoy a night out for as little as 6 euros a night, whereas bars are too expensive.

QUESTIONS:

1) ANSWER QUESTIONS 1-2 ACCORDING TO THE INFORMATION GIVEN IN THE TEXT. USE YOUR OWN WORDS.

a) Why is "the big bottle" an informal party? (Give two reasons)

b) How do these parties affect residents?

2) ARE THESE STATEMENTS TRUE OR FALSE? JUSTIFY YOUR ANSWERS WITH THE PRECISE WORDS OR PHRASES FROM THE TEXT.

a) Local authorities think very favourably of "the big bottle"

b) Drinking parties of this type have been organized by Spanish cities for many years.

c) The police are afraid teenagers will become violent

d) There is a single policy regarding “the big bottle" in Spain.

3) Find in the text the word which has the following definition: 

"to walk around without a particular destination" 

4) Give one opposite for BREAK

5) Find in the text one synonym for LITTER 

6) Complete the series with another word of the same semantic group:

CROWD, PARTS, GATHERING

GRAMMAR POINT: Infinitive or Gerund

http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/infinitive-gerund#exercises

http://www.tolearnenglish.com/exercises/exercise-english-1/exercise-english-61.php

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises_list/gerund_infinitiv.htm

RELATED VIDEO: 

Teenage Binge Drinking

Answers:

1) a) The “big bottle” is an informal party because it starts spontaneously and because it takes place in the streets, where people get together to drink.
   b) The “big bottle” affects residents in two ways due to the crowds of people in the streets. In the first place, the streets are left full of rubbish. Secondly, the noise keep the residents up all night.  

2)  a) False: This phenomenon, translated into English as booze-up or binge-drinking, is    perceived by local governments as a social problem.
   b) False: now it has become fashionable to compete for the biggest national drinking party, as cities from Málaga to Madrid and Barcelona to Bilbao try to outdo one another by organizing the largest gathering.
 c) False: City councils are very cautious about calling in the police for fear that drunken youths will turn to violence.
 d) False: The Government has tried to introduce emergency legislation but this is unlikely to have much impact, because, across Spain, regional authorities have set different minimum ages to buy alcohol.
3) wander
4) repair
5) rubbish
6) mass, group, assembly,  multitude, throng…