8/2/2019 Down and Out (Gapped texts for Round the Room cloze)

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Down and out in America

Work

Low wage and temp workers are often denied benefits, such as overtime pay and(1)_______ pay. Want to stand up for your rights? Very often you could be firedon the (2)_______ if the employer suspects you of being involved with joining aunion or a strike.

When your (3)________ pay is limited, many are forced to take a second job inthe evenings to make ends (4)_______. When money gets tight, you may have torely on your credit card to keep you (5)_______. But one day you have to pay off.

Health

Many low-wage workers cant afford the monthly insurance (6)_________ andhave to (7)________ out of insurance altogether. Even if you take out a basichealth insurance it does not provide full (8)_________. For instance, without adental plan you might (9)_______ up paying three times more if you need a root(10)________ one day.

Lifting heavy objects may put a(n) (11)_______ on your back and doing repetitivetasks and working long hours will also take its (12)________ one day. When yourstress level is through the (13)________ you may feel like lighting up in order totake the (14)________ off. Research shows that low income workers are at

especially high risk for mental health and (15)___________ problems.

8/2/2019 Down and Out (Gapped texts for Round the Room cloze)

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Down and out in America

Children and social issues

Students from low income families often lag behind other children in academicachievement. One explanation could be that parents with low income tend to beless involved in their children schooling and (16)___________ activities. How canyou pay for your childs school trip if you can barely (17)________ it through themonth? Also, if a child is struggling with math you might not have money to hirea private (18)_______. You can of course help your child yourself but do youknow your (19)________?

Living below the poverty (20)________ may also cause social problems at work.

For example, when youre asked to (21)_________ in for a co-workers gift andyou have to (22)______ out. Would you rather contribute or (23)______ thestigma of being poor?

Housing

A lack of(24) ___________ housing forces a lot of people to move to the suburbs.Even if you have found a reasonably priced apartment life may still throw youa(n) (25)________. For example, your landlord decided to raise the rent(26)___________ immediately and you can (27)______ up in the street.

One solution is of course to let your friend (28)_______ out in your living roombut then you might have to (29)________ up with his or her annoying habits.Another alternative is to move to a smaller house.

Paying more than 40 percent of your (30)_________ pay for housing places aheavy (31)_________ on families who, as a result, may have difficulty affordingbasic (32) _________ such as food, clothing and medical care.