[WORLD NEWS ★★]
PEOPLE DYING FROM ILLEGAL ALCOHOL IN INDONESIA
(P1) 26 people have now died from drinking oplosan (BOOTLEG ALCOHOL) in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, according to the local police.
(P2) The DEATH TOLL has consisted mostly of university students. 15 people remain under INTENSIVE CARE at area hospitals.
(P3) The VICTIMS drank the bootleg liquor in areas across the province. Investigators took urine, blood, and other BODY FLUID samples from the victims to be tested at the Police FORENSIC Laboratory in Semarang, Central Java.
(P4) Witnesses have told the police that the many of the victims bought the oplosan from a man known as “SK”.
(P5) “SK” and his wife “SB” mixed and sold bootleg liquor in the BLACK MARKET. They were arrested as part of the police investigation into the recent deaths.
(P6) Such bootleg sales are very common in Indonesia, where alcohol consumption is FROWNED UPON by the dominant Muslim religion, and the legal and regulated alcoholic BEVERAGES that are available tend to be very expensive and TARGETED at international visitors.
(P7) Alcohol is popular with locals nonetheless, which has created a VIGOROUS black market.
(P8) Oplosan is very cheap. The liquor responsible for these recent cases of POISONING contained a mixture of 96 percent alcohol, water, sweetener, and fruit flavoring.
(P9) Bootleg alcohol can contain LETHAL IMPURITIES that cause poisoning, but levels of alcohol as high as 96 percent are extremely dangerous IN AND OF THEMSELVES.
(P10) An oplosan maker usually runs his or her operation at a small-scale level, selling only to known and regular customers. The police claim that this kind of SECLUDED, customer-based operation makes it difficult for them to track and prevent the distribution of the product.
(P11) Police investigations at the home of “SK” and “SB”, where the pair made the oplosan, discovered many potentially dangerous liquids, such as INSECT REPELLENT and various medicines, along with other liquids that have not been identified yet.
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SOURCE: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/02/08/yogyakarta-oplosan-death-toll-rises-again.html
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
If you found the passage difficult to read or had problems understanding specific words or idiomatic expressions, please discuss them with your tutor. The following discussion questions should be answered in your own words and with your own arguments.
- Briefly summarize the content of the article in your own words.
- Have you ever gotten sick from something you ate or drank?
- What are the drinking traditions in your country?
- Why do you think most of the victims in this situation were university students?
- Is it possible to control black market activities, or will they always continue?
EXPRESSIONS TO PRACTICE:
What do the following expressions mean? Practice using each expression in a sentence; extra points if you can use it in conversation.
- Bootleg alcohol
- Death toll
- Intensive care
- Body fluids
- Black market
- Frown upon
- In and of itself
- Insect repellent
