Breaking News English Lesson: Nuisance Calls

People hate nuisance telephone calls - those from companies trying to sell us something that we do not want. They are also called 'cold calls'. Britain's government is thinking about stopping these calls. It wants to make sure the company that calls cannot hide its telephone number. With most nuisance calls, we cannot see the telephone number, but that could change. People could report companies who make nuisance calls. Britain's government is also looking at fining companies that make nuisance calls. Cold callers could get a fine of up to $720,000.

Three-quarters of people with a landline in Britain get monthly cold calls. The number of people who get monthly nuisance calls on their mobiles increased by 20 per cent in the last two years. One company made 40 million cold calls in three months. Britain's minister for data protection said: "There is no simple solution to the problem of nuisance calls, but making direct marketing companies display their telephone number will help consumers…take action." She added: "Being pestered by marketing calls is annoying at the best of times, and at its worst it can bring real misery for…people."