Writing 3 Handout 3

Writing 3 Handout 3 revised

28. Compulsory exercises for everyone!

Today most people do not have to work physically and so lack of exercise has become a considerable problem of our society. In addition to wrong eating habits, such as food with high fat content, it is the main reason for overweight. Especially among children we can see an increasing number of those, who are overweight.

Concerning to this fact, I think that the government should attach greater importance to motivate people to spend more time on physical exercise.

Regular physical activity is good for the health. It reduces the risk of many diseases, enormously. Heart attack, stroke, diabetes and hypertension are only some of the examples for diseases caused by lack of physical activity. Research studies in this field show that even thirty minutes of easy physical activity, such as dancing, spring cleaning, fast walking or climbing stairs a day, could prevent these diseases.

Besides another reason why the government should spare no effort in motivating unathletic people to leave the convenient sofa behind, in order to exercise at least a bit, is the fact that diseases, which can be traced to lack of physical activity in addition to unhealthy food burdens our health insurance schemes with great expense. One-third of the total expense of our health insurance schemes are caused by these diseases. If we take Diabetes as an example, researches prove that the number of illnesses could be reduced by sixty percent, if people would eat healthier food and spend more time on doing sport.

People who are athletic have in addition to the fact that their risks to suffer from such diseases in the future is considerably reduced, other significant advantages. One of these is for example the fact that athletic people have more pleasure in life, because of improved wellness. Physical activity increases the level of endorphins in blood. Endorphins are hormones, that make you feel well. Besides there are research studies, which show that the occurrence of depression disease among people, who spend a lot of time on doing sport is declined.

At last I want to mention another positive effect of doing sport. This can also be proved by research studies and tells us that regular physical exercise is compared with cosmetic operations another, but less expensive fountain of youth. In a few cases people, who are quite exercised look ten, even twenty years younger compared to unathletic people at their age.

As one can see from these arguments there are many reasons for human beings to leave the convenience of the sofa, regularly. But only every second person in Germany tells us to do sport, if she, or he is asked. So, if you reduce this result by the ones who lied when asked, this number will decline, again. This is a pity, because already the fact that our financially overburdened health insurance schemes could be relieved of great expense should be worth to do more sport. Economy measures should be practised in cases, when people arbitrarily risk their health by being too lazy to exercise at least a bit. In my opinion our government should attract the positive aspects of sport in public more often and put more pressure on those, who do evidently no sport. Perhaps measures, such as paying higher contributions to health insurance schemes could be motivating. 557

28. Compulsory exercises for everyone!

Today, most people in our society do not have to work physically, so lack of exercise has become a considerable problem. In addition to wrong eating habits, such as food with high fat content, it is the main reason for overweight. Especially among children, we can see an increasing number of people who are overweight.

I think that the government should attach greater importance to motivating people to spend more time on physical exercise.

Regular physical activity is good for one's health. It reduces the risk of many diseases enormously. Heart attacks, strokes, diabetes and hypertension are only some of the examples of diseases caused by lack of physical activity. Research studies in this field show that even thirty minutes of easy physical activity a day, such as dancing, spring cleaning, fast walking or climbing stairs, could prevent these diseases.

Another reason why the government should spare no effort in motivating unathletic people to leave the convenient sofa behind in order to exercise at least a bit is the fact that diseases which can be traced to lack of physical activity in addition to unhealthy food burden our health insurance schemes with great expense. One third of the total expense of our health insurance schemes is caused by these diseases. If we take diabetes as an example, research proves that the number of illnesses could be reduced by sixty percent if people would eat healthier food and spend more time doing sport.

People who are athletic in addition to the fact that their risk of suffering from such diseases in the future is considerably reduced, have other significant advantages. One of these is that they have more pleasure in life, because of improved wellness. Physical activity increases the level of endorphins in the blood. Endorphins are hormones that make you feel well. There are other research studies which show that the occurrence of depression among people who spend a lot of time doing sports is less frequent than less physically active people.

Finally, I want to mention another positive effect of regular exercise. This can also be proved by research studies and tells us that regular physical exercise is compared with cosmetic operations another, but less expensive fountain of youth. n a few cases, people who exercise look ten, even twenty, years younger than less physically active people of their age.

As one can see, there are many reasons for human beings to leave the convenience of the sofa regularly. But only every second person in Germany says he or she exercises regularly. If you reduce this number by the ones who lied when asked, it will decline still further. This is a pity, because the fact alone that our financially overburdened health insurance schemes could be relieved of great expense should encourage people to do more sport. Economy measures should be practised in cases, when people arbitrarily risk their health by being too lazy to exercise at least a bit. In my opinion, our government should emphasize the positive aspects of sport in public more often and put more pressure on those who do no sport, perhaps by making them pay more for health insurance

29. Did Stammheim have to be closed?

In February of this year the city Kassel after seven years finally closed one of Germanys biggest techno clubs, Stammheim. It was a sad day for hundreds of young people from Kassel and all over Germany who used to come to Stammheim every saturday. When you had a look at the car park of Stammheim on Saturday nights you could see cars even from Munich or Cologne.All the people used to be just like a big family. You never saw fights there, either. Popular Djs like Sven Väth, Heinz Felber or Chris Liebing (only to name some)came there frequently. These are only some of the reasons why Stammheim was elected best club in Germany several times. But these reasons did not count for Kassel´s regulations office. The neighbours complained about the noise and all the teenagers being loud and out of control. The discussion wether the club had to be closed or not went over a long time. Nobody believed it would ever happen until it actually did. Everybody was shocked and then there were some more bad news: not even the last party took place in Stammheim itself! They just cancelled it! Fortunately, the Kraftwerk in Borken allowed to have the party there. Still it was disappointing.

I think with the closing of Stammheim Kassel made a mistake. It was an attraction of the city that made it popular. Stammheim was more than an ordinary club it was cult. I do not think something like it will ever exist again. 249

29. Did Stammheim have to be closed?

In February of this year, the city of Kassel finally closed one of Germanys biggest techno clubs, Stammheim, which had been in operation for seven years. It was a sad day for hundreds of young people from Kassel and all over Germany who used to come to Stammheim every Saturday. In the Stammheim car park on Saturday nights you could see cars from as far away as Munich and Cologne. The regular guests were like a big family. You never saw fights there, either. Popular DJs, like Sven Väth, Heinz Felber and Chris Liebing (only to name a few) came there frequently. These are only some of the reasons why Stammheim was elected best club in Germany several times. But none of this meant anything to Kassel´s regulations office. The neighbours complained about the noise and the teenagers being out of control. The discussion about whether the club had to be closed or not went on a long time. Nobody believed anything would ever happen until it actually did. Everybody was shocked, and then there were some more bad news: not even the last party was allowed to take place! They just canceled it! Fortunately, the Kraftwerk in Borken allowed to have the party there. Still, it was disappointing.

I think with the closing of Stammheim, Kassel made a mistake. It was an attraction, and brought a lot of people into the city. Stammheim was more than an ordinary club; it was a cult. I do not think anything like it will ever exist again

30. Is German retail trade exploiting customers since the introduction of the Euro?

Since the introduction of the Euro which is five months ago, a lot of discussions about Europe’s new currency have been initiated. The most stubborn one is the discussion on the unfair price hike. People all over Germany feel exploited and show their displeasure at the Euro. In my opinion, people are right complaining about the price hike, especially in the retail trade.

At the groceries the increase of prices is most obviously. Everyday goods are as expensive as ever. Looking at the prices of some products, brand-name ones in particular, people get the feeling that shop-assistants just changed the DM-price-tag into a Euro-tag. The number remains the same. Due to this development, I can understand complaining pensioners or members of extended families, who really get in trouble because of money.

Going to a restaurant or to the movies several times a month becomes hardly possible when you are no big earner. On weekends I supplementary work as a waitress and since we have a new menue, I can confirm that really every drink or meal increased in price without increasing in quanity or quality. Regularly, I look into puzzled faces when I bring the bill. People still cannot believe that they have to pay 10 Euro for two cups of coffee and two pieces of cake.

In my opinion something has to be done. Price hikes have to be stopped. Everybody wanted the Euro to bring an improvement for Europe. Now, it shows again that only the economy profits from it. I can understand that on some goods or services there is a price increase at regular interval, because production or personnel gets more expensive. But what I can see at the moment is the fact that necessities of life become impossibly dear, as well as leisure time activities. This means difficulties for and exclusion of people with less money.

The German minister for consumer protection, Renate Künast, has invited retail industry repesentatives to meet and discuss on this issue. Many people question if it is not to late for politicians to bring pressure on retail traders, and rightly so. Many say that this should have done before the new currency was introduced. That this would have protected costumers for price increase is proved in France. There has been a price freeze during the transition of the Euro. 399 Minister Examines Alleged Ripoffs From Move to Euro, FAZ 05-24-02

30. Is German retail trade exploiting customers since the introduction of the Euro?

Since the introduction of the Euro five months ago, a lot of people all over Germany have come to feel exploited and are beginning to show their displeasure with the Euro because of the substantial price hikes, especially in the retail trade.

At the grocer, the increase in prices is most obvious. Looking at the prices of some products, particularly the better-known brand, one gets the feeling that shop assistants just changed the name of the currency, and left the numbers the same, so I can understand the complaints.

Going to a restaurant or to the movies several times a month is no longer possible. On weekends I work as a waitress, and I can confirm that every drink and meal increased in price without increasing in quantity or quality. I look into puzzled faces when I bring the bill. People cannot believe that they have to pay 10 euro for two cups of coffee and two pieces of cake.

In my opinion, something has to be done. Price hikes have to be stopped. Everybody wanted the euro to bring an improvement for Europe. Now, it shows again that only the economy profits from it. I can understand that on some goods or services there is a price increase at regular intervals, because production and personnel gets more expensive. But what I see at the moment is that necessities of life, as well as leisure time activities, are becoming impossibly dear.

The German minister for consumer protection, Renate Künast, has invited retail industry representatives to meet and discuss this issue with her. But many people think it is too late for politicians to bring pressure on retailers, and rightly so. This should have been done before the new currency was introduced. That this would have protected customers from exorbitant price increases is proved by the example of France, where there has been a price freeze during the transition to the euro.

31. Nowadays, more and more married couples divorce. During the last years, the divorce rate has steadily increased. In 2000, 46.3 per cent of married couples divorced in Germany. Although there might be different grounds for divorce, I think, that divorces could be avoided.

Firstly, married couples should communicate more. A lack of communication leads to misunderstandings in everyday life. Aversions, desires, expectations and problems of the partners should be discussed by them to avoid misunderstandings. Thus, solutions and/or compromises could be found for an already existing problem respectively problems could be prevented. Sometimes, it seems that couples do not have time to communicate and talk about their daily lives, but if they really want to talk they should spend the evenings together instead of watching TV, for instance.

Secondly, compromises should be defined clearly and laid down correctly, so that every partner is able to refer to them. Both should be willing to compromise. If only one person decides, the partner’s desires and expectations will be neglected. For example, the husband would like to go out almost every evening while his wife prefers to stay at home to watch TV. A good compromise could be that they go out twice a week. So, everyone renounces and they meet in the middle.

If communication and compromises do not help to improve the marriage, the couple should seek professional help. Of course, it is more easy to divorce than to fight for the marriage. Married couples that have problems and disagreements should be willing to go to institutions that offer professional couple couching. Such institutions give advice in different areas like solving problems, improving communication, managing family life and organising spare time.

Concluding, there are different possibilities to maintain a partnership, but one of the most important is to communicate and to be honest to the partner. 306

31. Nowadays, more and more married couples divorce. During the last few years, the divorce rate has steadily increased. In 2000, 46.3 per cent of married couples divorced in Germany. Although there might be different grounds for divorce, I think that divorces could be avoided.

Firstly, married couples should communicate more. A lack of communication leads to misunderstandings in everyday life. The aversions, desires, expectations and problems of both partners should be discussed to avoid misunderstandings. Thus, solutions and/or compromises could be found for an already existing problem, or problems could be prevented. Sometimes, it seems that couples do not have time to talk about their daily lives, but they might if they watched less TV, for instance.

Secondly, compromises should be defined clearly and laid down correctly, so that each partner is able to refer to them. Both should be willing to compromise. If only one person gives in, the partner’s desires and expectations will be neglected. For example, if the husband would like to go out almost every evening, while his wife prefers to stay at home and watch TV. A good compromise would be that they go out twice a week. Each partner gives up something, and they meet in the middle.

If communication and compromises do not help to improve the marriage, the couple should seek professional help. Of course, it is easier to divorce than to fight for the marriage. Married couples that have problems should be willing to go to institutions that offer professional couple couching . Such institutions give advice in different areas, like solving problems, improving communication, managing family life and organising spare time.

To conclude, there are different ways to maintain a partnership, but most of them have to do with communication