T urkish children playing in a muddy courtyard; faces of Vietnamese girls pressed against the windows of dirty barracks; security guards with their guns standing near the fences. This is an area in Cottbus, an industrial town in Germany that the police are trying to protect. It looks more like a prison than a refuge for immigrants who are more and more exposed to the violence of racist groups, like the skinheads. E arlier this month, gangs of lawless German youths began attacking Vietnamese, Turkish and African labourers, so the authorities have rushed the victims to such places like Cottbus. Indeed, a wave of anti-immigrant violence is sweeping Germany. Every day brings some new spectacle of terror. L uckily the violence is limited to small uncontrolled groups. Most Germans are outraged at those racist gangs and refer to them as criminals and delinquents looking for fun. Thousands of Germans have marched in Berlin and other cities to protest against racism. H owever, foreign workers in Germany still fear for their lives and their families and do not feel totally secure. Some are thinking of going back to their native countries. A. Answer the questions.

  1. What’s the immigrants’ refuge in Cottbus like?
  2. Who are responsible for the racist violence?
  3. What’s the attitude of most Germans to this situation?

B. Complete the sentences.

  1. Foreign workers and their families have moved to Cottbus because …
  2. In spite of the security measures taken by the authorities, …

C. Is this sentence ‘ true’ or ‘ false’ ? Justify.

  • The racist gangs have no serious reasons for being violent.

D. What do the underlined words refer to?

  1. the victims (§ 2)
  2. them (§ 3)
  3. Some (§ 4)

E. Find in the text words which mean the same as …

  1. shelter
  2. workers
  3. safe

Key

Exercise A

  1. It is like a prison.
  2. Racist groups are.
  3. The attitude of most Germans is they are against being racist towards foreigners.

Exercise B

  1. Foreign workers and their families have moved to Cottbus because they have been attacked by German racist groups.
  2. In spite of the security measures taken by the authorities, immigrants still feel unsafe.

Exercise C True . Most Germans are outraged at those racist gangs and refer to them as criminals and delinquents looking for fun. Exercise D

  1. ‘the victims’ refers to the immigrants.
  2. ‘them’ refers to racist gangs.
  3. ‘Some’ refers to the foreign workers.

Exercise E

  1. refuge
  2. labourers
  3. secure