Fair Trade and Ethics – key
| j | b | g | d | i | c | f | k | a | h | e |
(j) The reasons why some countries employ children to work in organisations is a far from straightforward matter.
(b) The constant demand for low prices contributes to the strain manufacturers are under.
(g) Managers pay children less than adults to do a job, and they do this when their company is having to reduce its production costs.
(d) Firms do not employ children it they can afford to employ adults.
(i) It is unjust to cease dealing with firms all of a sudden.
(c) The company Primark has refused to have anything more to do with manufacturers who have been employing children in their factories.
(f) We will never know how much suffering this will have caused at a time when there has been a steep increase in the price of edibles.
(k) An adult entitled to good working conditions and pay is not put in the position of having to send a son or daughter to work, because (s)he can support his / her family without doing so.
(a) Locals have agreed to share out the benefit of well-paid employment by entitling people who are closely-related to a single appointment in the firm.
(h) You can be sure children are not involved in the production of cotton because it is grown according to strictly ethical terms of trade.
(e) It is no use having a reflex reaction which responds to the problem but doesn’t actually solve it in the long run.
Vocabulary
to cut corners – to do something in the easiest, cheapest or fastest way
wherever they can – whenever possible
child labour – the employment of children
a living wage – enough money to buy the things that are necessary in order to live, such as food and clothes:
eg She enjoys her job but it is difficult for her to make a living wage.
to cut off – a) to break the connection during a telephone call b) deprive sb of a supply of water / electricity / food etc c) to disinherit sb
a) We got cut off in mid-conversation!
b)The storm cut off the electricity.
c) Her parents cut her off.
to wash your hands of sth – to stop being involved in or connected with something you had connections with in the past.
Eg Once he left the conservatives he washed his hands of politics.
untold – adjective – so great in amount or level that it can not be measured or expressed in words:
Eg untold wealth, untold misery
a tailor – someone whose job is to adjust, repair and make clothes, especially jackets, trousers, coats, etc. for men
to keep a family = to support a family
sought-after – adjective – highly desirable; wanted by many people and usually of high quality or rare
garment-workers – the word used for people employed in the clothing industry. A garment is FORMAL for a piece of clothing.
long-term – adj – continuing over a long time
Eg a long-term / short-term solution
a knee-jerk reaction / response, etc – adjective DISAPPROVING – an immediate ill-thought-out reaction, a response that does not allow you time to consider something carefully
to put sth under strain – to put pressure on sth / to put sth under pressure
to refuse to have anything to do with – to refuse to have any dealings / involvement with
eg He wanted me to set up a restaurant with him, but I wouldn’t have anything to do with it.
a steep increase (in) – a sharp rise (in)
edibles – items of food
in the long run – at a time that is far away in the future
(in the short run = at a time that is near in the future)