Московский государственный лингвистический университет
М.С.Лебедева
Г.М.Фролова
ЯЗЫК СРЕДСТВ
МАССОВОЙ ИНФОРМАЦИИ
ВЕЛИКОБРИТАНИИ И США
УЧЕБНОЕ ПОСОБИЕ
для студентов И-Ш курсов
Москва 2002
Печатается по решению Ученого-совета
Московского государственного лингвистического университета
Св. план 2001 г., разд. 2. поз.12
Пособие подготовлено на кафедре лексикологии английского языка
факультета гуманитарных и прикладных наук
Авторы:
канд. филол. наук, доц. М.СЛебедева,
канд. пед. наук, доц. Г.М.Фролова
Отв. редактор:
канд. филол. наук, доц. М.С.Лебедева
Рецензенты:
канд. филол. наук, доц. Н.Н.Павлова
кафедра англ.яз. № 1, МГИМО (Университет) МИД РФ,
канд. филол. наук, доц. Е.А.Фесенко
кафедра лингвистики Международного университета (Москва)
© Московский государственный лингвистический университет, 2002 г.
Contents
Предисловие
,
5
PARTI
UNIT1
The Media
Types of media
The press
Articles the newspaper carries
What is the press often criticized for? ....;
Suing for libel
Gagging the press
Electronic media
News programmes
,
Political Correctness
UNIT 2
Politics
Elections
The campaign platform
Seeking nomination
Polls and pollsters
Trailing or riding high?
,
Casting your ballot
Getting elected
i
f
Electoral
fraud
Election results
,
Throwing the incumbents out
Forming a government
Honeymoons and lame ducks
Grassroots support and votes of confidence
Undemocratic regimes
Toppling governments
Unrest, rioting and looting
UNIT3
Diplomacy and war
Talks, and talks about talks.,
8
8
8
10
11
13
14
17
18
19
,
,
39
39
41
43
44
45
47
49
51
51
52
54
54
56
57
59
61
74
74
3
Delegates, opposite numbers and sherpas
Cordial and friendly, or businesslike and
Compromise and deadlock
Brinkmanship
Breakthroughs
Diplomatic relations
War and threats of war
Warring parties
Fighting
Casualties
Victims of war
Ending the bloodshed
The peace process
frank?
UNIT 4
Business
Shares and the stock market
Market movements
Going up, going up by small and moderate amounts
Going down by a small or moderate amount,
or by a large amount
Boom, recession and depression
People in business
Scandals and wrongdoings
Understanding Headlines
76
78
78
80
81
84
85
87
89
90
94
99
102
109
109
Ill
Ill
113
115
116
117
PART 2
READING AND DISCUSSION
Article One
Who Cares About a Free Press
,
132
Article Two
Doubts About Democracy
137
Article three
The Maze of Nationalism
143
Article Four
The Resistible Rise of the West
150
Article Five
The Hole He Left Behind
157
4
Предисловие
Даннйе пособие составлено в соответствии с требованиями современной методики. Материалы пособия позволяют формировать у студентов
умения и навыки иноязычной коммуникации и обеспечивают возможность
формирования у обучаемых стратегий иноязычного общения.
В ходе работы над темами особое внимание уделяется социо-культурному аспекту.
Пособие создает благоприятные условия для автономного обучения,
для формирования умений самостоятельной работы с газетными материалами, для самосовершенствования (в частности, накопления и расширения
словарного запаса).
Пособие развивает умение применять разные виды чтения для извлечения информации из разных типов газетного текста, другими словами, для
обеспечения зрелости чтения.
В зависимости от специфики и уровня подготовки аудитории, сетки
часов преподаватель может использовать разделы пособия как последовательно, так и параллельно.
Материал пособия организован так, что он обеспечивает надежное
закрепление изучаемого материала путем периодического возвращения к
пройденным темам с целью их активизации.
Учебное пособие состоит из двух частей.
Часть I включает четыре урока по наиболее популярным темам
«Средства массовой информации и их роль в обществе», «Политика»,
«Дипломатия и война», «Бизнес».
Каждый урок состоит из двух частей. Первая часть •*- ключевые слова
по темам, вторая часть - упражнения по развитию навыков чтения.
Ключевые слова вводятся в объясняющем контексте, который моделирует ситуацию. Затем в первом упражнении даются примеры употребления
ключевых слов в современной прессе, что дает возможность показать, как
эти слова взаимодействуют в контексте, как сочетаются с другими словами.
Каждый урок в первой части состоит из тематических разделов,
включающих: 1) список слов, 2) объяснение, 3) примеры из современной
периодики и транскриптов радиопрограмм, 4) упражнения на закрепление
и контроль понимания значений и употреблений ключевых слов темы.
Для контроля за адекватным пониманием слов предлагается перевод
на русский язык. В самом пособии нет русских эквивалентов, студенты
сами проводят сравнительный анализ с родным языком с помощью словаря.
Упражнения на закрепление и контроль понимания содержат следующие типы заданий:
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• заполнить пропуски
• узнать слово по дефиниции или дать дефиницию
• организовать текст из фрагментов в единое целое
• восстановить логический порядок следования предложений в тексте
• прочитать текст и ответить на вопросы на понимание ключевых
слов в широком контексте или проанализировать особенности их
употребления.
В каждом тематическом уроке в отдельную часть выделены упражнения на развитие умения читать разные типы газетных публикаций.
Эта часть включает разделы, посвященные обучению техники чтения
информационных сообщений, умению выявлять суть сообщения, определять существенные и несущественные детали, развитию умения догадываться о значении слова по контексту, умению понимать газетные заголовки. Материалы уроков содержат также статьи аналитического характера,
передовые и редакционные статьи.
После текста следуют контрольные вопросы на понимание текста, а
затем упражнения, помогающие систематизировать знания словаря, развивать ассоциативное мышление и механизм вероятностного прогнозирования.
Часть II включает статьи дискуссионного характера, взятые из журналов. Цель этого материала не только дальнейшее развитие навыков чтения текстов более сложных в стилистическом отношении, но и использование материалов статей для развития навыков устной и письменной речи.
Структура этой части включает пять текстов. Каждый текст предваряется информацией, вводящей читателя в социо-культурный контекст статьи,
а также дается список трудных слов с их дефинициями. Рекомендуется
также повторить ключевые слова по темам, обсуждаемым в статьях.
После текста статьи следуют две группы вопросов: на понимание текста
и вопросы для обсуждения проблемы, а также задания для групповой и
индивидуальной работы.
Задания для групповой работы позволяют подготовиться к дискуссии,
способствуют развитию творческого воображения, стимулируют интерес
к обсуждаемым проблемам, позволяют провести межкультурные и
исторические параллели.
Задания для индивидуальной работы включают лексический и стилистический анализ текста, развитие умения выражать собственное мнение в
письме в редакцию, в кратком публичном выступлении, а также умений
написать резюме или кратко изложить содержание статьи.
В заключение следует отметить, что большая часть материала апробирована на занятиях по аспекту «язык средств массовой информации» на II
б
курсе факультета ГПН Московского государственного лингвистического
университета.
В работе использованы материалы современной Британской и Американской прессы, транскрипты программ новостей телевидения и радио.
Part 1
UNIT 1
The Media
l. K E Y W O R D S
T y p e s of m e d i a
Media
mass media
print media
electronic media
news media
The media include print media such as newspapers and magazines, and
electronic media such as radio and television.
The word media is most often used to refer to the communication of news, and
in this context means the same as news media.
Media and mass media are often used when discussing the power of modern
communications.
The press
Press
quality press
popular press
tabloid press
gutter press
Newspapers
national
local
regional
free sheets
tabloid
circulation
broadsheet
readership
Periodicals
daily
weekly
fortnightly
monthly
annual
The press usually refers just to newspapers, but the term can be extended to
include magazines.
Newspapers are either tabloid, a format usually associated in the English
speaking world with popular press or broadsheet, associated with quality
journalism. Tabloids are sometimes referred to as a gutter press by people
who disapprove of them. Tabloids often have very large circulations (number
sold) and even bigger readerships (total number of people reading them). Papers
such as these are often referred to as mass circulation papers.
8
Printed periodicals, newspapers, and other publications appear at regular
intervals, for example, a daily comes out every day, a fortnightly - once in
two weeks (once a fortnight).
National newspapers circulate all over the country. They cover national or
home news as well as news from abroad or international news.
Local newspapers (or regional papers) serve community interests. In the local
press the terms 'popular' or 'quality' have no real significance, the papers
tend to be politically neutral. They contain articles which feature the life of the
local community as well as details of local theater and cinema performances.
Such newspapers carry a lot of advertisement.
Sunday papers. Popular Sunday papers published in Britain on Sundays are
national ones. Quality Sunday papers devote large sections to literature and
the arts, business and sport, and have long feature articles which explore specific
subjects in depth. They come with color supplements or magazines.
There are a growing number of free sheets - papers delivered free to every
house in the area. Some of these have an editorial content, but many consist
largely of the advertising which finances them.
Exercise 1. Read the following sentences and translate them into
Russian. Pay attention to the words in bold type. Make sure
that you know the pronounciation of new words.
1. The president's visit is extensively covered by mass media.
2. It is difficult for the media to cover the growing number of crises throughout
the world.
3. The media power can be used destructively or constructively.
4. The White house doesn't let any member of the news media report on what
is going to be in the speech until the president delivers it.
5. The trial attracted media attention unlike any seen before. The government
has been particularly annoyed at what they are calling a hostile media
campaign.
6. Another satellite network, Sky television, is owned by the media tycoon
Mr. Robert Murdoch.
7. The press gave an extensive coverage to the recent election campaign,
8. The mass circulation tabloids display their usual interest in sex and
sensation.
9. Friday night television audiences and Saturday newspaper readership
are.apparently, lower than mid-week's.
9
10. The British national press is referred to as Fleet Street, although no national
paper is now produced in this London street.
11. With rapidly falling circulation figures, journalists have demanded the
editor's dismissal.(Editors are people who are in charge of newspaper
content)
Exercise 2. Say how often a weekly, a monthly, a quarterly or an annual
comes out.
Exercise 3. Match the type of newspaper on the left with two typical
things it contains on the right.
a) Tabloids
1. Details on local cinema and theater performances.
2. Sensational stories and large headlines.
b) Regional papers
3. Limited editorial content.
4. Political, financial, cultural news.
c) Free sheets
5. A large amount of advertising.
d) Broadsheets
6. Financial matters and international news.
7. Pictures of pretty women.
8. Matters concerning the community.
e) National newspapers
9. Color supplements or magazines.
f) Sunday papers
10. Sections on literature and the arts.
Articles the newspaper carries
story
piece
article
run an article
carry an article
editorial
leading article
leader
leader writer
news items
feature
Newspapers run or carry articles or stories. Articles other than the most
important ones can also be referred to as pieces.
Editorials give the paper's opinion about the news of the day. They comment
on the news of the day (important issues). In a quality paper the most important
editorial is the leading article or leader. These and other editorials are written
by leader writers. Leaders are usually front page articles.
Newspapers also carry brief news items and feature articles. Features are special
articles, or stories written from a human interest angle, they are also called
feature stories.
10
Exercise 4. Complete the sentences using the following words.
Some of the words can be used more than once.
a) a leader
h) to carry an article k) to feature
b) a leader writer
i) to comment on
1) to deal with
c) editorial leader writers j) to contain
m)to give full attention to
d) a piece
f) an editorial
n) a story
e) a feature
g) an editor
o) an article
1. The quality daily papers ... political, industrial and cultural news.
2. Yesterday's issue of The Independent... headlined "The Generals' war of
words" which... the disputes in the NATO headquarters on the consequences
of the Kosovo campaign.
3. The Financial Times ... the situation in Albania.
4. The resignation was the top story for the New York Times. In .., the paper
said it was the issue affecting America most.
5. Some of the ... put their fingers on the pulse of several points worth
discussing.
6. Accuracy and balance in individual... and ... is important. But an accurate
overall balance of good news and bad news, of positive and negative
developments over time is equally important.
7. The Guardian ... the conference in Dublin.
8. Many European dailies... the appointment of the new European Commission
president.
9. The Sunday supplement to this newspaper... all aspects of cultural life in
Great Pritain.
10. The leader writers' conference is a meeting of the people who write the ..,
which tell readers what the paper thinks about important issues. The... use
the experience of specialist reporters when they are deciding what to
concentrate on. The .., who often writes one of the leaders, makes the final
decision.
What is the press often criticized for?
Abuse
Underhand methods
intrusive reporting
doorstepping
bug
Privacy
Invasion of privacy
Breach of privacy
paparazzi
bugging
11
Newspapers, especially tabloid newspapers, are often accused of taking an excessive interest in the private lives of famous people, or celebrities. Journalists
are often accused of abusing their position, of using underhand methods to
obtain a story and of invading people's privacy in moments of grief and crisis.
Celebrities, as well as more ordinary people, complain about invasion of privacy
or a breach of privacy when they feel their private lives are being examined
too closely.
They complain about intrusive reporting techniques like the use of paparazzi,
photographers with long-lens cameras who take pictures without the subject's
knowledge or permission. Other intrusive methods include doorstepping,
waiting outside someone's house or office with microphone and camera in order
to question them, and secretly recording conversations by bugging rooms with
hidden microphones, or bugs.
Exercise 5. Complete the following sentences with the words used in the
text above (the words given in bold type).
1. The behavior of the royal family is not just a matter of intense public curiosity, not in itself a justification for .., but is also of some public importance
and concern.
2. It is bad enough to spy on her during a private early morning swim, but then
to criticize her choice of swimwear for the occasion is the worst... imaginable.
3. They call on the government to consider the introduction of a privacy law
to protect people from unjustly... newspaper reporting.
4. Foreign... haunt show business personalities and royalty.
5. Reporters and photographers crowded every exit from the Mirror building
to cross question Maxwell as he left. They were ... their own chairman.
6. She was so frightened that she had her private rooms searched in case they
were...
7. By putting pressure on people to tell their stories journalists often ... their
position or the ethics of journalism.
Exercise 6. Read this extract of a letter from a member of parliament to
the editor of The Times and answer the questions.
Sir,
As might be expected from a Press Complaints Commission
which includes tabloid editors, it has now stated that the public
have the right to be informed about the private behavior of
politicians if it affects the conduct of public business.
12
Was it therefore in the public interest for the tabloid editors to
pay "an electronics expert" who had bugged a bedroom, then sold
the tapes and photographs of it? Have we now reached the stage
where it is easier for those who acquire other people's damaging
personal secrets to sell them to the tabloids rather than risk jail
over blackmail?
The statement amounts to a simple approval of the tabloids'
use of paid informers to destroy lives without trial, defense or jury.
It endorses the practice of allowing a picket line of doorstepping
journalists outside a house, to barricade relatives and children
and cause them enormous distress, all in the interests of "a good
story".
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Questions
Why is "electronics experts" used in inverted commas?
a) the person doing the bugging didn't know much about electronics,
b) the person was less interested in electronics than in earning money by
selling the secret recording to newspapers,
c) you don't really know, but it might be a combination of (a) and (b)
What sort of state employs large numbers of informers?
a) a democratic state,
b) a monarchy
c) a police state.
If you endorse an activity, do you support it and approve of it?
Is 'a picket line' used in a literal sense here?
What do you think about the right of the public to be informed about the
private behaviour of politicians?
Suing for libel
libel
sue for libel
libel damages
libel action
actionable
law suit
writ
issue a writ
In some countries, you can take legal action and sue newspaper editors for
invasion of privacy: different countries have different laws about what breaches
of privacy are actionable.
13
You may also sue for libel in a libel action, if you think that you have been
libelled: in other words, that something untrue, and that damages your reputation,
has been written about you. When someone starts legal action for libel, they
issue a libel writ.
In both cases the objective of the lawsuit is financial compensation in the form
of damages.
Threats of libel are often made to newspapers, but few of these cases reach
court, as papers often decide to settle the matter privately or 'out of court'.
They may have to pay a lot of money, but this is preferable to the risk of even
larger costs if they should lose a court case.
Exercise 7. Complete the following sentences using the given words.
lawsuit
libel action sue for libel libel damages
actionable
issue a writ privacy
paparazzi
1. The Bank of Credit and Commerce has... for libel damages against Express
newspapers and the Daily Express columnist over a gossip column story.
2. TV wine expert Jill Goolden won substantial... in the High Court yesterday
over allegations that her kitchen was filthy.
3. An airline chief may... the other... arising from accusations of alleged dirty
tricks and smear tactics.
4. Rod Steward has won the first round in a $ 15 million... against a newspaper
which claimed he cheated on wife Rachel Hunter with her agreement.
5. Germany: grosser invasions of privacy are widely... in the civil courts and
there is a civil remedy for a newspaper publishing inaccurate personal
information and refusing to correct it.
6. French law is the strictest in the world. As a result, Void faces 10 to 15 ... a
year. In most cases, courts order publishers to pay... ranging between 25,000
to 50,000 francs - a burden that Void, with sales of 200 million francs a
year, can easily afford. 'It's a budget item', says its editor in chief.
7. Some ... hope to penetrate the few remaining pockets of... In France, for
example, the personal lives of politicians are off-limits. Getting the photos
isn't easy, but the hard part is finding a periodical willing to run them.
Gagging t h e p r e s s
gag
watchdog
toothless
censorship
statutory
controls
crackdown
clampdown
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press freedom
freedom of the press
Governments that limit press freedom are accused of gagging the press. This
may take the form of a voluntary code of practice overseen by a body referred
to informally as a watchdog. If the watchdog is ineffective, it is described as
toothless.
If this is not enough for the government, it may impose statutory (legally
enforceable) controls. The authorities are then descibed as cracking down or
clamping down on the press. They may also be accused of press censorship
and of limiting press freedom or the freedom of the press.
Exercise 8. Read the sentences. Translate them into Russian.
1. The chances of a privacy law to gag the press are now a lot less than they
were a few days ago.
2. The press watchdog criticised broadcasters for 'intrusive and speculative
reports'.
3. The proposed watchdog will not be as toothless as doubters suggest.
4. Many papers comment editorially that the proposals to impose tough statutory
controls could damage press freedom. Nobody ever said the freedom of
the press was a freedom that would never be troublesome.
5. The pictures appeared to be a flagrant breach of privacy which should not
prompt calls for a legal clampdown.
6. ... a whole succession of reactionary initiatives in relation to the freedom of
the media, television and newsagencies have been cracked down on.
Exercise 9. Read the text about the British press and find answers to the
following questions:
1. Why is it said that Britain has the least free press in Europe?
2. What arguments are given to prove that the British press is free?
3. How does the government try to control the press in Britain?
Britain is said to have the least free press in Europe. This is despite the
fact that there is no official censor, and that anyone can publish a newspaper.
There is no government-controlled newspaper, no government shareholding in
any newspaper, and the press gets no help from the government.
Britain does not have a constitutional guarantee of freedom of the press, as in
the United States, for example. Because it is not protected by law, freedom of the
press exists by consensus and has to be protected by editors, political parties
and other involved in the industry. However, there are ways in which journalists
and editors can be stopped from covering a story.
15
Official Secret Act
The Official Secret Act, passed in 1911 and replaced with a new Act in 1989,
makes it an offence for anyone working for the Crown to disclose information
acquired as a result of his or her job. It covers almost every area of government
activity. There are also 'D' (defence) notices, which originate in a government
department. They are issued by the Defence, Press and Broadcasting Committee to the media, advising them to seek advice before publising information
considered damaging to national security.
Contempt of court
Apaper canbe in contempt of court if it prints anything about a court case which
might prevent a fair trial. A newspaper cannot comment on cases which arebefore
the court, or criticise the judge or the proceedings of the court while the case is
being heard. The Contempt of Court Act can also be used to make journalists say
where they got their information.
Libel Laws and Invasion of Privacy are other ways through which the
press is controlled. In 1990 the organizations of the press appointed a working
party of editors to draw up a published code of practice and a new Press Complaints Commission to enforce it. According to this code of practice, journalists
should not try to obtain information by subterfuge, intimidation or harassment
and they should not photograph people without their consent. The Press Complaints Comission is, in a way, the last chance for the press: if it cannot show
that self-regulation works, there is a danger that statutory, or governmental
control will be introduced.
Exercise 10. In the text you have just read, find the words that match the
following definitions:
1) majority view
2) secret, deceptive
3) to look for, try to find
4) official with authority to examine periodicals, books, films, etc. and to cut
out anything regarded as immoral or undesirable
5) to have part of the capital of a company, entitling the holder to a proportion
of the profit
6) crime, sin, breaking of a rule,
7) safely of the State
8) committee appointed to investigate and report on something
9) collection of principles to guide action in particular circumstances
10)using deception
16
Electronic m e d i a
broadcast
programme
show
host a programme
host a show
disc jockey
DJ
anchor
anchorman
anchorwoman
anchorperson
anchor a news programme
front a news programme
report
reporter
correspondent
newsreader
newscaster
broadcaster
TV crew
news gatherer
host
Programmes on radio and television may be referred to formally as broadcasts;
and they may be referred to informally as shows, specially in American English.
Programmes or shows on radio and television are often presented or hosted by
a programme host. Popular music Programmes are presented by disc jockeys
or DJs.
News programmes may be hosted, fronted, or anchored by anchors famous
in their own right, sometimes more famous than the people in the news.
Variations of the noun anchor are shown above.
In more traditional news programmes, the news is read by a newsreader or
newscaster: newscaster is now a rather old-fashioned word.
Reporters and correspondents, or television journalists, make reports. They
and the camera operators who go with them are news gatherers. Together they
form TV crews.
Broadcasters are TV and radio organizations, the people working for them, or,
more specifically, the professional media people who actually participate in
programmes.
Exercise 11. Read the following sentences. Translate them into Russian
1. No lawyer representing ths tobacco companies would be interviewed for
this broadcast.
2. An obsessed fan sent 2,000 letters over a two-year period to the children's
programme host.
3. Top DJs have taken over much of the ground that pop stars used to occupy.
4. In an unsportsmanlike and provocative move, they have chosen to broadcast
on the same frequency that we have been using for the past five years.
17
5. To me newsreaders are just people who read the news. I've never believed
in the TV personality cult.
6. On the BBC World Service the news men present the news as it is, and not
the newscaster's view of it.
7. Mr. Good, solid performer, would make an excellent 'Newsnight'
anchorman.
8. We have just had this report from our correspondent in Belgrade.
9. The BBC has produced two hard-hitting videos in a bid to cut down the
growing number of news gatherers killed or injured while on duty.
News programmes
broadcast
live broadcast
footage
dramatic footage
vox-pop
interview
recording
recorded
clip
talking heads
Programmes and reports are transmitted or broadcast live in a live broadcast,
with events seen or heard as they happen, or recorded for broadcast later. A
recording of an event can be referred to as footage of that event.
A news programme might include:
• dramatic footage of events such as war or disasters
• interviews and studio discussions: pictures of people participating in
these are often referred to as talking heads, an informal expression used
to show disapproval of what can be a boring form of television.
• vox-pop interviews or vox-pops getting the reactions of ordinary people,
often in the street
• or clips, or extracts, of any of these things.
Exercise 12. Read the following sentences. Translate them into Russian.
1. We showed the Channel 4 bosses this four-minute clip of me interviewing
Nelson Mandela and they really liked it, you know, particularly the fact that
we were doing it all live.
2. The programme will feature dramatic footage of the Chernobyl disaster,
some not released before, as well as live performances by international artists.
3. Our Eastern European correspondent, Diana Goodman in Prague, has
recorded vox-pops with Czech voters who say they are supporting Civic
Forum.
18
4. It was also the evening of talking heads interviewing talking heads. Studio
presenters spoke to giant TV screens worldwide.
Exercise 13. Match the two parts of the following extracts.
1. 'I am becoming Death, a destroyer a) without the help of talking heads.
of worlds', said Robert
b) was broadcast live in 50
Oppenheimer in an old clip,
countries.
2. The BBC doesn't make mistakes c) adding sadly ,'I guess we all felt
and the reaction story it broadcast
that, at one time or another'.
after the Conservatives' health
d) recording of events leading up to
debate was one of them.
the punch of the season.
3. The old footage was fascinating
e) It consisted of vox-pop
enough,
interviews of health workers who
4. The pope's blessing to the City of
disliked government policy.
Rome and to the world
f) and TV footage of black waves
5. The Rugby football Union was
can only spell disaster.
asked to study a video
6. Down the coast the town of Alasio
has an average of 400,000 visitors
a year,
Political C o r r e c t n e s s
political
correctness
politically correct
politically incorrect
PC
speech code
Journalists and others such as university teachers are increasingly asked not to
use certain words and expressions because they are politically incorrect and
might cause offense, and to use other, politically correct, or PC, words. Where
organizations such as universities have rules about words to be avoided in
conversation and elsewhere, these rules constitute a speech code.
Politically correct language is part of a wider phenomenon: politically correct
thinking, or political correctness.
19
Exercise 14. Read these sentences and translate them into Russian.
1. A set of attitudes has come to dominate the university campus which
'Newsweek' and other publications would call politically correct attitudes
- that is to say one has to have a single attitude toward the Third World, the
situation of women, etc. The Dartmouth Review feels that it's almost a duty
to violate these very dubious assumptions that are being imposed as
politically correct.
2. PC-things include ethnic pride, recycle products, being 'gay' or even 'queer'
(not homosexual), saying 'people of colour' (never coloured people),
'women' (not girls) and 'Ms' (not Mrs or Miss), sensitivity to unconscious
racism, and 'diversity' in all things. Non PC-things include polystyrene
cups, buying petrol from Exxon, saying 'businessmen' or 'congressmen'
(as opposed to 'persons').
3. Political correctness and the banning ofwords does not drive out prejudice:
it merely hides it.
4. It reminds me of Kipling saying the loveliest sound in the world was 'deepvoiced men laughing together over dinner'. Nowadays remarks like that are
deemed sexist, chauvinist, politically incorrect, and, for all I know,
actionable.
Exercise 15. Read this article about politically correct language from The
Economist and answer the questions below.
An Ail-American Industry
Something odd is happening to political correctness. On the one hand, it is
thriving, right up to the highest levels of government. On the other hand, its
opponents are thriving too.
Seemingly irreconcilable arguments surround it. Some dismiss political
correctness (PC) as an irrelevance hyped up by the right; others see it as a leftist
danger to the very fabric of American life; still others argue that it is plain passii.
Is America in the throes of neo-PC, anti-PC or post-PC? It is hard to tell.
So much the better for the PC industry. For that is what political correctness has
become. Few industries can boast such rapid growth as this one. A computer
search by the New York Times found 103 newspaper references to 'political
correctness' in 1988. In 1993 the number was roughly 10,000.
Such extraordinary growth would quickly slacken if the driving force behind it the language of political correctness - were to go out of fashion. But there seems
little prospect of that happening. The current controversy over style at the Los
Angeles Times shows that there is still plenty of fuel for the PC industry.
20
The Los Angeles Times's 19-page 'Guide on Ethnic and Racial Identification',
drafted by a committee, was sent to the paper's staff. Journalists are told never
to use the word 'Jewess', but to remember to call a Latino woman a 'Latina'.
They are urged to avoid referring to African 'tribes', because this offends many
blacks (who are more often 'African American'). 'Eskimos' disappear (they are
not a homogenous group and may view the term Eskimo negatively).'Dutch treat'
and'Dutch courage' are offensive (to the Dutch?)
There is more. The term 'deaf and dumb', is, apparently, pejorative, much as
"birth defects' are best replaced by 'congenital disabilities'. Because many women
do the job, 'letter carrier' is preferable to 'mailman'. 'Mankind' is frowned upon.
'Gringo', 'savages' and 'redskin' are among the words to be used only in quotes
with the approval of the editor, associate editor and senior editor.
Not surprisingly, the guidelines provoked a reaction, and the controversy has
become public. A memo signed by journalists gives warning that it is a short
step from 'shunning offensive words to shying away from painful facts and
subjects'. All this is splendid for the PC industry (language fuss, for example,
does wonders' for the dictionary business).
Questions
1. Both PC and its opponents are thriving. Does this mean they are both doing
(a) well or (b) badly? Why are both PC and its opponents thriving?
2. If arguments are irreconcilable, can they easily convince people or bring
the ideas into harmony?
3. If something is a danger to the very fabric of something else, is it (a) very
dangerous, or (b) not dangerous?
4. If you are in the throes of something, is it finished?
5. If the rate of something such as growth slackens does it (a) speed up, or (b)
slow down?
6. An example of a Dutch treat is going to a restaurant with someone and
splitting the bill equally. Dutch courage is the courage people get from
drinking alcohol. If you were Dutch, would you be offended by these
expressions?
7. Do you think pejorative expressions are not approved of, or frowned upon,
because they are critical or insulting? Why is 'mankind' frowned upon?
What expressions do you frown upon?
8. If you shun something or shy away from something, do you like discussing
it? What painful facts and subjects does the Russian press shy away from?
9. If there is a fuss about something, are people nervous and anxious about it?
What is "language fuss" in this story?
21
10. What reasons does the author give to prove that PC has become an ailAmerican industry?
11. What is the state of things with PC in this country?
2. READING N E W S STORIES
Exercise 1. Read the following newspaper leads (the first paragraph of
a news story). Look for key words that you already
understand. Then answer the questions that follow. Note
that the key words are underlined for you in the first two
stories. You should finish each item in less than a minute
1. BATTLE OVER NARITA AIRPORT
NARITA, Japan (Reuters) - Red-helmeted
students and more than 800 riot police
yesterday fought running battles for the
second consecutive day to gain control of
a concrete and steel tower at Tokyo's
controversial new international airport.
This story is about:
a. the completion of a new airport in Tokyo.
b. a fight between students and police at a Tokyo airport.
с the building of a concrete and steel tower at Tokyo's international airport.
2. RICH FIND IN IRELAND
DUBLIN (Reuters) - A hoard of Eighth Century
treasure, including a priceless silver and
gold chalice, has been found in an Irish bog,
the Government announced Thursday.
This story is about:
a. the.Irish economy.
b. the price of silver and gold,
с the finding of treasure.
3. UK - FRANCE IRON
OUT PROBLEMS
PARIS (Reuters) - French President Jacques
Chirac arrived in Britain fortalks with Prime
Minister Tony Blair on major differences
between the two countries over EEC
policies.
22
The story is about:
a. an agreement.
b. a United Nations meeting,
с a visit.
4. NEW LIGHT SHED ON
KENNEDY SHOOTING
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A new theory that
four shots, not three, may have been fired
when President Kennedy was assassinated
is being studied in an attempt to show that
Lee Harvey Oswald, his accused assassin,
did not act alone.
This story is about:
a. the killing of President Kennedy.
b. the opening of the Kennedy Center in Washington,
с President Kennedy's large family.
5. INDIAN RULING PARTY
WINS CLEAR MAJORITY
NEW DELHI (UPI) - The governing party lead
by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee won
a comfortable majority in India's parliamentary elections, according to results made
public Thursday.
The story is about:
a. the Indian government policy.
b. the results of parliamentary elections,
с India's Prime Minister's failure.
6. RUSSIA WARNS AGAINST
EU MEDDLING IN CHECHEN WAR
MOSCOW (AP) - With a European delegation
visiting, Russia said Thursday that it did not
want any foreign interference into its efforts
to crush Islamic militants in the breakaway
republic of Chechnya.
The story is about:
a. a European delegation visiting Moscow.
b. an attempt to set up an independent Islamic state.
с Russia's opposition to any interference into its internal affairs.
Now try this method of scanning with any English language newspaper.
23
Exercise 2. After you have scanned the leads, read the whole stories and
answer the questions. Try to use no more than two minutes
for each story.
1. UK STEEL INDUSTRY
SHUTS DOWN
LONDON (UPI) - Britain's state-owned
steelworks shut down at midnight last night
in the first nation-wide steel strike since
1926, threatening widespread disruption of
Britain's heavy industries.
Final hopes of averting the strike failed on
Monday when unions and management
refused to budge from their positions on
steelworkers' pay.
'The strike is on. It is an impossibility to call
if off. The only question now is how long it
lasts', said Bill Sirs, leader of the steelworkers' Union.
The steelworkers are demanding a 20
percent pay increase but the employers are
stickingtotheir offer of six per cent on basic
rates.
The story is about:
a. British steel production in 1926.
b. a steel strike.
с
rebuilding Britain's steelworks.
How big a pay increase do the workers want?
a. 20 per cent
b. six per cent
c. the story doesn't say.
How big a pay increase is management willing to give?
a. 20 per cent
b. six per cent
с the story doesn't say.
2. U.S. WARNS EUROPE
ON DEFENCE BURDEN
LONDON -The United States warned Thursday
that Americans might no longer be willing
to carry most of the military burden in future
European crises and voiced concern about
the way the European Union is approaching
defense.
In a plea for greater defense burdensharing, Strobe Talbott, the deputy
secretary of state, told a London conference
on the future of NATO that basic differences
24
had emerged across the Atlantic on the
lessons of the Kosovo war.
'Many Americans are saying never again
should the United States have to fly the
lion's share of the risky mission in a NATO
operation and foot by farthe biggest bill'.Mr.
Talbott told the Royal Institute of International affairs. (Reuters).
The story is about:
a. the U.S. and European Union disagreements.
b. the European crisis.
с
the European Union defence policy.
What is the United Stated unwilling to do in future?
a. to grant help to the European Union
b. to take part in future European conflicts
с
to pay most part of the expenses in future NATO military operations
What caused the differences at the London conference on the future of NATO?
a. the Kosovo war
b. plans for new risky operations
с Strobe Talbott's speech at the conference
3. PEACEKEEPERS LAND IN TIMOR
DILI, East Timor - With all the fire power and
high technology of modern war, the
vanguard of an international peacekeeping
force staked its claim Monday to this silent
and broken town, watched warily by
clusters of refugees, sullen Indonesian
troops and small, angry groups of irregular
militias.
There was no resistance but no welcome.
There was no peace to keep; this tiny capital
of East Timor was a dead city; burned,
looted and evacuated.
Through the hot still day, as dogs barked in
the empty streets, about 2,000 Australian
and British soldiers deployed through the
city with their heavy packs and weaponry.
As the sun went down, in a sort of welcome
to the invited but unwelcome guests, three
large fires were set in villages near the
airport, their black smoke and bright orange
flames filling the sky.
25
The story is about:
a. Indonesian troops in East Timor.
b. international peacekeeping force in East Timor,
с the beginning of war in East Timor.
How were the peacekeepers met?
a. they were welcomed
b. there was strong resistance
с
they moved into the town smoothly
How many soldiers were deployed in the capital of East Timor?
a. a small British regiment
b. two hundred Australian soldiers
с two thousand British and Australian soldiers
4. JUDGE BACKS MOVE ON IRA
RULING
BELFAST (Reuters) - A Northern Irish
Protestant whose parents were killed by an
Irish Republican Army bomb can challenge
Britain's ruling that the group had not
broken a two-year old cease-fire, a High
Court judge said on Monday.
Judge Brian Kerr ruled that Michelle
Williamson had the right to ask a court to
review the decision by the British Northern
Ireland secretary, Mo Mowlam, not to halt
the early release of IRA prisoners under the
province's peace accord.
She ruled that the cease-fire was still Intact
last month despite evidence that the IRA
had been involved in a murder.
The story is about:
a. a challenge to the British authorities in Northern Ireland.
b. the peace talks.
с
the Irish Republican Army.
Who was killed in a bomb explosion?
a. Catholic
b. Protestant
с
two Northern Irish Protestants
When did the bomb explosion happen?
a. during the cease fire
26
b. before the cease-fire agreement
с after the cease-fire was broken
What did Michelle Williamson whose parents were killed want?
a. to halt the release of the IRA prisoners
b. to review the peace accord
с to get money
What was the decision of the judge?
a. the IRA had nothing to do with the explosion
b. the IRA had violated the cease-fire
с
Michelle Williamson had the right to challenge the decision of the court
Now scan stories from any English language newspaper in the same way.
Exercise 3. The lead is built around the subject and the predicate. If you
can find them, you have a good start towards understanding
the whole story. Find the subject and the predicate in each
of the following extracts and answer the questions that
follow them. The first one has been done for you.
1. LONDON (Reuters) - John Storehouse,
former British cabinet minister who faked
his own death by drowning, was freed from
jail yesterday after serving three years for
theft, fraud and deception.
Subject: John Storehouse
Predicate: was freed
This story is about:
a. a drowning.
b. the freeing of a man from jail.
c. a theft.
Subject:
2. JOHANNESGURG (Reuters) - Dr Wouter
Basson, mastermind of South Africa's
secret chemical and biological warfare
programme in the apartheid era, yesterday
pleaded not guilty to 61 charges of murder,
fraud and drug running.
Predicate:
This story is about:
a. chemical war.
b. apartheid.
с the statement of not being guilty.
27
3. BEIRUT, Lebanon (Reuters) - Iraq, in the
hope of getting peace negotiations started,
announced today that the last of its soldiers
had left Iran.
Subject:
Predicate:
This story is about:
a. peace negotiations.
b. Iranian soldiers.
с an Iraqi announcement.
4. LONDON (Reuters) - A crippling transport
strike threatened Britain yesterday with
food shortages, soaring unemployment and
a virtual shutdown of industry.
Subject:
Predicate:
This story is about
a. British transportation.
b. a strike.
с unemployment in Britain.
5. LONDON (UPI) -The remote Scottish island
of lona, the birthplace of Christianity in
Britain and the resting place of 48 kings,
has been bought for the nation for 1.5
million.
Subject:
Predicate:
This story is about:
a. Christianity in Britain.
b. 48 Scottish kings.
с the buying of an island.
6. PANAMA CITY (AP) - About 130 Panamanians who battled alongside Sandinista
guerrillas in Nicaragua returned home
Friday to a hero's welcome.
Subject:
Predicate:
This is a story about:
a. a battle between Sandinista guerrillas and Panama.
b. a battle between Panama and Nicaragua,
с a return home.
28
Exercise 4. Find the subject and the predicate in each of the following
sentences and answer the questions. Note that the first verb
in these examples is not a predicate. The first one has been
done for you.
1.
CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - Five Muslim fundamentalists convicted of the assassination of
President Anwar Sadat were executed early
Thursday, hours after a clemency plea was
rejected by Hosni Mubarak, Sadat's successor.
Subject: fundamentalists
Predicate: were executed
This story is about:
a. the execution of five assassins.
b. the conviction of five assassins.
с the replacement of Anwar Sadat by Hosni Mubarak.
2. PARIS, (UPI) - Police and fire department
officials sought the cause of today's chain
of three explosions in a fashionable
residential area which left five dead and
more than 40 injured.
Subject:
Predicate:
This story is about:
a. an attempt to find the cause of three explosions.
b. the deaths of five people.
с a problem between Paris police and the fire department.
3. NEW YORK (Reuters) - Alger Hiss, the
former State Department official who was
convicted of perjury 28 years ago in one of
the most controversial trials in American
history, has filed a court suit in an effort to
clear his name.
Subject:
Predicate:
This story is about:
a. the filing of a court suit.
b. a controversial trial.
с the conviction of Alger Hiss..
29
4. BERLIN (АР) - Chancellor Gerhard
Schroder's ruling Social Democrats suffered their worst regional election defeat
since the second world war in Germany's
eastern state of Saxony.
Subject:
Predicate:
The story is about:
a. Gerhard Schroder who is ruling German Social Democratic Party.
b. the defeat of Social Democrats,
с a political crisis in Germany.
5. MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian business
"oligarch" invited to testify to the US
Congress on an alleged money laundering
scandal has insisted that reports of $10bn
being laundered through accounts in the
Bank of New York were exaggerated.
Subject:
Predicate:
This is a story about:
a. allegations of the Bank of New York.
b. inviting a Russian oligarch to the US congress,
с an "oligarch" playing down a scandal.
What caused the scandal?
a. criminal money transfers
b. stealing money from the Bank of New York
с avoiding paying taxes
6. LONDON (Reuters) -Britain's biggest trade
mission to Libya since diplomatic ties were
broken off 15 years ago is to set off to Tripoli
next month.
Subject:
Predicate:
This story is about:
a. diplomatic relations with Libya.
b. British trade mission to Libya.
с
Britain breaking diplomatic ties with Libya.
30
7. TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's leading proreform newspaper, already under suspension,
went on trial yesterday on charges of insulting Islamic values and spreading propaganda against the state.
Subject:
Predicate:
This story is about:
a. suspending Iran's leading newspaper.
b. Iran's leading newspaper facing a charge.
с insulting Islamic values by the Iranian leading newspaper.
What
a.
b.
с
ideas does the newspaper promote?
it calls for overthrowing the government
it stands for reforms in the country
it defends fundamental values of Islam
Exercise 5. Read each of the following leading sentences and find
information about the source of the story and the
background that helps you to understand the story better.
1. VATICAN CITY (AP) - The cardinals of the
Roman Catholic Church yesterday elected
58-year-old Polish Cardinal Karol Wojtyla as
pope, the first non- Italian in 450 years to
be named pontiff of the 700-million-member
church.
The cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church elected yesterday:
WHOM?
AS WHAT?
BACKGROUND:
2. LONDON (UPI) - Jakov Stalin, son of the late
Soviet dictator, attempted suicide in a Nazi
concentration camp in 1943 by hurling
himself onto an electrified barbed wire
fence, the Sunday Times said.
Jakov Stalin, son of the late Soviet dictator, attempted suicide:
SOURCE:
HOW?
WHEN?
WHERE?
31
3. LOS ANGELES (АР) - US labor leaders are
expected to endorse the Vice- President's
campaign for the 2000 presidential nomination tomorrow after his supporters managed to head off an attempt by disgruntled
unions to delay the move.
US labor 'leaders are expected to endorse the candidate:
AS WHAT?
WHEN?
BACKGROUND:
4. BEIJING (Reuters) - China has signed a
$2bn contract to buy about 30 advanced
Russian Sukhoi fighters, about half the
number of the jets previously reported, a
Russian aerospace executive said yesterday.
China has singed a contract:
WHAT KIND?
WITH WHOM?
SOURCE:
BACKGROUND:
5. MOSCOW (UPI) - Russia announced Wednesday that it had tested a short-ranged
interceptor rocket for the Moscow antiballistic missile system in what appeared
to be a symbolic warning to the United
States not to go ahead with a national missile defense system now under consideration.
Russia tested a rocket:
WHAT KIND OF ?
WHEN?
SOURCE:
WHY?
BACKGROUND:
6. STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -Ahmed Zewail, an
Egyptian-born scientist in California, was
awarded the 1999 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
on Tuesday for developing the ultimate
slow-motion camera to observe atoms in
motion during chemical reactions.
32
Ahmed Zewail was awarded the Nobel Prize.
IN WHAT FIELD?
FOR WHAT?
WHEN?
BACKGROUND
7. LONDON (Reuters) - Michael Portillo, the
former defense minister regarded by many
British Conservatives as a potential savior
of their party, began his political comeback
Wednesday by pledging loyalty to William
Hague, the Tory leader, and launching an
attack on Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Michael Portillo began his political comeback:
HOW?
WHEN?
BACKGROUND:
Exercise 6. Find the main idea in each of the following leading sentences
that begins with the participle or prepositional phrase. The
first one has been done for you.
1. UGANDA (UPI) - Underscoring the virtual
breakdown of law and order in Uganda,
foreign diplomats have demanded greater
military protection for both their embassies
and families and indicated they might quit
the troubled country if they did not receive
it.
MAIN IDEA: Foreign diplomats have demanded greater protection.
2. WASHINGTON (AP) - Ignoring protests it
was aiding "Marxists and leftists", the US
Senate voted 54 to 35 Tuesday to authorize
$75 million in aid to help rebuild the warshattered economy of Nicaragua.
3. GENEVA (Reuters) -After enduring a yearlong bruising selection battle to become
head of the World Trade Organization, Mike
Moore has been pitched into yet another
dispute- this time over his deputies.
33
4. LONDON (Reuters)-In the first wave of the
European Union's eastward enlargement,
foreign ministers from the five central and
east European countries, and Cyprus
yesterday called on Brussels to accelerate
negotiations.
5. MOSCOW (AP) - More than a decade after
communism crumbled, the country's
central bank, one of the most influential
institutions of the Soviet era, is facing a
challenge to its secrecy and power.
6. PARIS (Reuters) - In an effort to halt its
declining fortunes, France's Gaullist RPR
party has this week thrown open its
leadership to an electoral contest, the only
problem in this attempt at democratic
transparency is that the candidates coming
forward are all pretty invisible.
Exercise 7. Read the following newspaper leads and answer the
questions. Remember to look first for the subject and the
predicate to help you catch the story's main idea.
1. WASHINGTON (AP) - T h e life expectancy
of Asian children has increased sharply
over the past two decades and a child born
in Asia in 1975 could expect to live an
average of 56 years - almost 10 years longer
than those born in 1960, the World Bank
said in a report issued yesterday.
a) How long could a child born in Asia in 1960 expect to live?
b) Can an Asian child born today expect to live longer?
2. COPENHAGEN, Denmark (UPI) - Greenland, the world's largest island, has voted
in favour of home rule for its 50,000 inhabitants, ending more than 250 years of Danish
colonial status, nearly complete returns
showed yesterday.
a) Did the people of Greenland vote for independence or to remain a colony?
b) Have all the votes been counted?
c) How many people live in Greenland?
34
3. ROME (АР) - Striking in early morning raid
in fashionable neighbourhood through Italy
today, police squards arrested 38 bank
presidents and other prominent businessmen yesterday and charged them with participating in a nationwide scandal.
a) What happened in this story and why?
4. BEIRUT (UPI) - Five Lebanese Muslim
hijackers armed with guns and hand grenades released 73 passengers and nine crew
members of a Middle East Airlines jet
yesterday after a six-and-a-half hour air
piracy drama.
a) Did the hijackers hurt the passengers and crew members?
b) What weapons did the hijackers have?
c) How long did they keep the passengers in the plane?
5. LISBON, Portugal (Reuters) - Antonio
Gutteres, Portugal's prime minister, faces
a struggle to deliver promised reforms of
taxation, social security and health services
after his socialist party failed to win an absolute majority in Sunday's general election.
a) What reforms did the prime minister promise to deliver in Portugal?
b) Why does he face some difficulty carrying them out?
c) What party does the prime minister belong to?
6. BERLIN (Reuters) - Faced by growing
differences over how much Nazi-era slave
laborers should be compensated, German
and American negotiators have abandoned
plans fora meeting in Bonn later this month.
a) What plans did German and American negotiators abandon?
b) Why did they postpone the meeting?
c) What issue caused the differences?
7. NEW YORK (UPI) - United Nations officials
rejected allegations of mass murder com'
mitted by pro-Jakarta militia groups in East
Timor, but acknowledged that nearly half the
territory's population of 890,000 was unac
counted for.
35
a) What was rejected as allegations by the United Nations officials?
b) What did the UN officials acknowledge?
c) What is the population of East Timor?
8. MOSCOW (AP) - Russia's reputation on
foreign investment, already shaky, has been
weakened even further by the ruling of a
court in St.Petersburg that the 255-year-old
Lomonosov porcelain factory be renationalized.
a) What weakened Russia's reputation on foreign investment?
b) What was the ruling of StPetersburg's court?
c) What is Russia's reputation like among foreign investors?
9. NEW YORK (AP) - For the first time in
Virginia's long political history, Republicans
have taken control of the Old Dominion's
General Assembly, seizing a majority in the
House of Delegates and holding on to the
slim edge the party already had in the state
Senate.
a)
b)
c)
d)
Where did Republicans take control?
In what house of the General Assembly did they have majority?
Were they in the majority in the state Senate?
What made'this victory a historical even for Republicans in Virginia.
10. BEIJING (Reuters) -The United States and
China are close to agreeing to resume
military-to-military contacts, suspended by
Beijing in the wake of the bombing on May
7 of China's embassy in Yugoslavia, sources in Beijing said Wednesday.
a) What contacts are the US and China likely to resume?
b) When and why were such contacts suspended?
c) What is the source of information?
Exercise 8. Read the following leads and decide what questions you
think the writer will answer in the rest of the story.Some of
your questions will probably be about vocabulary, In
number one, for example, you may ask: "What is a
respirator?". This is a very useful kind of question and it is
one that you can often answer just by reading the story.
36
1. LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - While his
parents sat by his side, a three-year-old boy
died here Friday night just 17 minutes after
doctors switched off his life-saving respirator.
Which of the following questions do you expect the rest of the story to answer?
a) Why did the doctors switch off the respirator?
b) What is a respirator?
c) Why was the boy in the hospital?
d) How much did it cost to stay in the hospital?
e) Is a respirator expensive?
f) Did the parents want the doctors to switch off the respirator?
g) Was it against the law to let the boy die?
h) Was it a government hospital or a private one?
Now see which of the questions are answered by the story:
A judge at the wish of the parents of the boy, identified only as
Benjamin C, had a short time earlier signed a court order
authorizing doctors to pull the plug out of the machine. Benjamin
had been in a coma since he was injured in a car accident three
months ago and doctors said he had irreversible brain damage.
2. CHICAGO (Reuters) - A pilot pulled an
American Airlines Boeing 727 sharply out
of a landing approach as he saw another
airliner taking off across his path yesterday
at Chicago's O'Hare Airport, officials said.
Use the following key words to make questions about the story.
a) How close?
b) Why - happened?
c) Weather?
d) Name - other airliner?
f) Who - officials?
e) How many passengers?
Now see which of the questions are answered by the story:
Chicago's Aviation commissioner, Thomas Kapsalis, said the two
planes, with 261 people aboard, came within 100 feet of each other.
He said air traffic controllers had cleared both airlines to use
intersecting runways at O'Hare, the world's biggest airport, at the
same time.
37
A Federal Aviation (FAA) spokesman said the American Airlines
plane carrying 121 passengers and seven crew passed "a couple of
hundred feet" above a Braniff International Boeing 727 with 133
people aboard.
American Airlines Flight 71 from Newark dropped out of low
cloud at about 300 feet to land when the pilot, Captain William
Voltz, saw the Braniff plane. Flight 231 to Kansas City, took off
apparently without realizing it was involved in a near-miss.
Aviation officials define two planes passing within three miles
as a near-miss.The FAA said it was investigating the incident. FAA
officials said four near-misses were reported at O'Hare last year
out of 896,810 flights handled by the airport.
Exercise 9. Read the following three stories and try to anticipate what
will follow in the rest of the story by thinking of the
questions you want to be answered.
1. HANOI (AP) - Vietnam braced itself Wednesday for more devastating storms after a
week of heavy rains that have killed hundreds, swamped tens of thousands of homes
and dumped up to 2 feet (60 centimeters)
of water in the center of the country.
2. LONDON (Reuters) - The Sun, the bestselling British tabloid newspaper, is not
ready yet to stop displaying the topless
"Page Three Girl".
3. WASHINGTON (AP) - Genetically engineered corn plants appear to pose only a
modest and perhaps insignificant threat to
Monarch butterflies, according to several
new studies described at a scientific symposium.
Now see which of the questions you expected to be answered
are really answered by the stories:
A. The word from the Sun's headquarters in London on Wednesday
was "no change at the moment" despite overnight remarks from
the paper's owner, Rupert Murdoch, in Australia that the barebreasted photographs might be phased out because readers' tastes
had changed.
There has been intense debate about putting topless girls in the
newspapers over since Stephane Rahn posed for the Sun in 1970,
exposing the first two of approximately 16,000 breasts that have
appeared there since.
38
Traditionalists on the paper say the photographs are a vital part
of a formula that sells 3.7 million copies of the Sun a day.
In his remarks to shareholders of his global media company, News
Corp. Ltd., Mr.Murdoch said that the topless models would be
brought back if sales dropped without them. "If there was any
threat to that, they'd return pretty quickly", he said.
B. Vast swaths of land were submerged throughout the central region
of one of the world's poorest countries. Several provinces declared
states of emergency, and the death toll was expected to rise as
reports trilled in from areas where phone lines were down.
The storms were expected to continue through the week, the
central weather forecasting station said.
Authorities have had to suspend air rail, water and road transport.
Drinking water was becoming scarce, and stagnant floodwaters
threaten to bring disease.
С The mixed but mostly reassuring findings comefivemonths after
researchers at Cornell University triggered widespread concern
by suggesting that pollen from gene-altered corn plants may be
killing the popular insects.
The study was criticized as sloppy by biotechnology industry scientists and others. But the brilliant orange, black and white
butterfly became an instant mascot for activists concerned about
the environmental impact of high-tech crops and prompted a U.S.
public relations crisis for an industry that already faced widespread
vilification in Europe, where gene-altered crops and foods have
been widely rejected.
UNIT 2
Eblitics
1. KEYWORDS
Elections
election
run for election
stand for election
candidate
campaign
campaign trail
campaigning
run-up to the election
In a democracy the country's rulers and law-makers are chosen in elections. In
American English, candidates run for election and in British English they
stand for elections.
39
The campaign is the series of advertisements, television appearances, meetings
and speeches designed to get support for a candidate, .the expression campaign
trail emphasizes the number of places candidates have to go to and things they
have to go through while campaigning.
The run-up to an election is the period leading up to an election, perhaps a
longer time than the campaign itself.
Exercise 1. Match the two parts of these extracts.
1. The Columbia election campaign, a) from standing for election for a
2. Whatever the political and
economic situation,
P e r i o d o f U P t 0 s e v e n Уеагз
b) are barred from standing for
3. It's been so long since the last
election that we have forgotten
how difficult it is
4. The tribunals would disqualify
those found guilty
reelection.
c) has become more a matter of
physical survival than political
persuasion.
d) he will not run for re-election
5. Senator Gam told a press
conference at the Utah state
capital that
next year.
e) it was not as the Republican
candidate.
6. Elected for six years, Mexican
presidents
7. When Lincoln ran for his second
election,
f) the party in office has always
gained support in the run-up to
the election.
g) to avoid media coverage of the
campaign trail.
Exercise 2. Read the following sentences. Translate them into Russian.
1. George W. Bush in his interview said, «People did not vote for me when I
was running for Governor, because I was George Bush's son. I ran against
a very popular person and a very strong personality.»
2. The first decision was running for office and the risk was that he wouldn't
win.
3. Campaigning begins throughout the country, lasting for about three weeks
with large-scale press, radio and television coverage.
4. He stood unsuccessfully in two elections.
5. If Mahatma Gandhi came back to life and stood for election in the eastern
Indian state of Bihar, he would probably lose.
40
6. Mrs. Thatcher hoped most of them were against a federal Europe. Otherwise
what's the point of standing as candidates in the next general election?
7. He is hurt by the perception that he is afraid to face his opponent. He is
followed on the campaign trail by people dressed in chicken costumes.
8. There are ten weeks to go to the election, yet we are already bored with the
campaigning.
9. Shots were fired and explosives thrown into the office of two political parties
in Tbilisi in what the BBC Moscow correspondent describes as the
increasingly violent run-up to elections next month.
The c a m p a i g n p l a t f o r m
platform
plank in the platform
manifesto
soapbox
electioneering
cynical electioneering
blatant electioneering
stump
A political party is a group of politicians and their supporters who have similar
views on how the country should be run.
A party's platform is the policies that it says it will put into effect if elected.
Individual policies are planks in the platform. Proposed policies may be outlined
in a document known as a manifesto.
Speeches were traditionally made in Britain standing on a soapbox and in the
United States on the stump, and these tilings are often referred to in connection
with campaigning even if they are not now often actually used.
Electioneering can be used neutrally to talk about what candidates do during a
campaign, but it can also be used to show disapproval of 'unfair' methods. In
this case, electioneering may be described as cynical or blatant.
Exercise 3. Read the following sentences. Translate them into Russian.
1. The King announced that he is ready to talk with the country's political
parties about political change.
2. The Democrats plan to capitalize on public frustration by making health
one of the main planks in their platform.
3. The parry's manifesto was so full of generalizations that most South Africans
have been amazed by the reforms the government has passed.
4. In Huambo, he looked uncomfortable with the noisy electioneering.
5. Labour accused Mr.King of blatant electioneering as he placed the crucial
order for short-range air-to-air missiles.
41
6. After routine formalities, convention business usually begins with the
creation and acceptance of a party platform which is a very general
statement of the party's philosophy, goals and position on issues of national
and international concern. The convention delegates vote for the various
planks of the platform in order for them to be accepted.
Exercise 4. Find words in the list that correspond to the definitions
given before them (points 1-7). Then use these words to
complete sentences 'a' to 'g'.
1. Trips that candidates go on
2. Things that candidates say to get elected but they don't really mean
3. Something that a candidate says they will do if elected
4. Unoriginal things that candidates say and do
5. An attack made by a candidate on others
6. Methods, honest and dishonest, that are used by candidates to gain electoral
advantage
7. A government's financial plan that is designed to win votes
promise
tactics
cliches
rhetoric
assault
budget
tours
a) He did everything in the book of electioneering
babies.
short of kissing
b) He followed this up with an electioneering
on Labour, claiming
, businessmen had no enthusiasm for a labour government.
c) He has already been round the country three times on thinly veiled
electioneering
.
d) Mr.Reagan's great achievement of his second term - t a x reformwas
first aired as an electioneering
in his State of the Union speech in
1984.
e) The prospect of an electioneering
•___ and a cut in interest rates as an
additional sweetener gave shares a welcome boost yesterday.
f) Voters complain about electioneering
that verge on the dishonest.
g) What the Soviets at first took to be electioneering
they discovered
to be theological conviction. 'Evil empire' meant what it said.
42
Seeking nomination
primary elections
primaries
delegate
presidential bid
bid for the presidency
convention
nomination
seek nomination
running mate
dream ticket
In the United States, a party's presidential candidate may be selected in a series
of primary elections or primaries. Primary elections are held in some, but not
all, states as a way of finding which candidate has most support. The final
choice of presidential candidate is made by delegates representing each state
at the party conventions.
Candidates looking for selection seek nomination as the party's presidential
candidate.
An attempt to become president is sometimes referred to as a bid for the
presidency or a presidential bid.
The candidate running for vice-presidency is the presidential candidate's
running mate. An ideal combination of candidates for these two posts is known
as the dream ticket. The expression is also applied to other attractive political
partnerships in the US and elsewhere. It is even sometimes used to describe a
single candidate with attractive qualities.
Exercise 5. Read the following sentences. Translate them into Russian.
1. On the first weekend of November, five of the six declared candidates for
the Democratic nomination made their way to New Hampshire. Its primary
will be held on February 10th; and it is, as always, the first in the nation.
2. The next business of the convention is the nomination of the prospective
presidential candidates. For each nominee a lavish nominating speech is
made, followed by a long noisy demonstration with pretty girls waving flags,
bands playing, singing, yelling, clapping, and marching with signs.
3. His presidential bid has attracted to this small city scores of expense-account
journalists and thousands of tourists.
4. Gary Hart's bid for the presidency failed after the evidence of his romantic
link with Donna Rice.
5. If Hillary is the perfect partner, then in Al Gore he had the perfect running
mate. It really was the dream ticket for women.
43
Polls a n d pollsters
opinion poll
opinion survey
sample
poll
polling organisation
pollster
exit poll
results
findings
reliable results
reliable findings
accurate results
accurate findings
Between elections, especially during election campaigns, opinion polls or
surveys are conducted to measure public opinion and to predict or forecast
election results. Polling organizations and the people working for them are
pollsters. They interview or poll a number of people , a sample typical in its
mix of ages, social classes and professions of the population as a whole.
An exit poll is carried out just after people have voted as they are leaving the
polling station.
Results or findings of opinion polls are more or less reliable or accurate.
Exercise 6. Read the following sentences. Translate them into Russian.
1. The opinion poll was conducted among a sample of 15,000 adults randomly
and scientifically selected from all 450 local government areas.
2. It puts Labour support at 53 per cent of the electorate, the highest figure
recorded in the poll of polls. The results were taken from surveys by six
polling organizations.
3. Pollsters are to change the way they measure public opinion after getting
the result of the last general election badly wrong.
4. Opinion polls predict that the party may either win the polling or emerge
with sufficient votes to threaten the hold of the country's principal parties.
5. Opinion polls are forecasting that a non-Communist coalition of parties,
Demos, will win at least 40 per cent of the vote.
6. Most of the voters who have chosen to remain silent will probably back the
opposition. Because of this, it is essential to view the poll's findings with
some skepticism.
7. NOP's unadjusted forecast was one of the most accurate of any by-election
exit poll, in which people leaving the polling booths are asked how they
voted.
44
Exercise 7. This article, published in The Times (29.7.91) looks at the
question of whether polls should be banned in the last week
before elections. Complete the gaps with the words listed. Do
you think the voters' intentions can be changed by the
polling results?
a) polls
c) pollsters
e) accuracy
g) campaign
b) polling
d)poll
f) inaccuracy h) election
POLL LATE AND POLL OFTEN
Opinion
(1) have been with us, in their present form, since the 1930s;
originally crude and liable to substantial error, they have been repeatedly refined
(I am speaking of the recognized
(2) organizations) and now regularly
demonstrate very remarkable
(3).
Atfirstsome voters found them irritating, but that feeling has long disappeared,
and it is clear that the electorate as a whole enjoy the political swings and
roundabouts.
But one thing must be emphasized: there is no evidence that voters' intentions
are changed by the
(4) results, though I must add that if they were it
would be perfectly acceptable, for the voters are entitled to be swayed by anything
they wish, even, for instance, the promises of the politicians.
France, for no logical reason, bans the publication, though not of Course the
taking of
(5) figures, during the final week of
tide
(6)
(7); in
all other democratic lands the
(8) can take their soundings up to the last
minute, and so it should be.
Of course, the parties which are trailing in the
(9) regularly denounce them
as instruments of Satan, or at least instruments of shocking
(10), but as
soon as the
(11) reveal that the party order has been reversed they hasten
to proclaim that the
(12) are the finest fellows alive; neither attitude has
any sense in it, for the reason I have given: there is no evidence that the,
(13)
themselves do, or can, affect the outcome, though of course the voters may use
the findings for their own electoral purposes.
Trailing or r i d i n g h i g h ?
rating
approval rating
popularity rating
lead
ride high
trail
trail behind
points
race
favourite
front-runner
running neck and neck
gain ground
45
Between elections, pollsters ask people if they approve of the performance of
politicians and parties, and the results are given as approval ratings or
popularity ratings.
In the run-up to the election, pollsters and journalists may talk about a race in
which the party or candidate most likely to win is the favourite or the front
runner. Candidates or parties with the best results in opinion polls are said to
be ahead or riding high. Their lead is often given in percentage points over
the others.
When two parties or candidates have about the same amount of support, they
are said to be running neck and neck, or level-pegging.
Candidates or parties not doing so well are said to be behind or trailing or
trailing behind. If their results improve, they gain ground.
Exercise 8. Match the two parts of these
1. A poll published on December 7th a)
shows that President Mitterrand's
popularity rating has slipped to a
new low of 31 per cent,
2. During the last 12 years this
government has involved us in two
wars, two recessions, record
b)
unemployment, crime and hospital
waiting lists,
c)
1
Prime Minister Kaifu was riding
high in the popularity polls.
4. The Soqialists are trailing in the
opinion polls but are gaining
ground and are currently in
5. There's been a lot of pressure on
d)
him, saying that he's at 91 per cent
approval rating in the polls, and he
could use that tremendous approval e)
to do something, not just sit on it.
6. Two months ago, Father JeanBertrand Aristid, a priest who
advocates power for the
f)
impoverished Haitian masses made
a late entry into the race
g)
7. Unpublished polls by Gallup
confirmed that
46
extracts.
a fall of 21 points in just three
months. Another poll shows that
the level of satisfaction with his
performance is the lowest for
any president under the Fifth
Republic.
and instantly became the frontrunner for president,
And of course, if he succeeded
in getting a peace in the Middle
East, he would go down in
history. He could win the Nobel
Peace Prize. He would be
remembered forever.
far better shape to fight an
election than the bitterly split
Union of Democratic Forces,
So high, in fact, that faction
leaders in the Liberal
Democratic Party were starting
to worry.
the two main parties are now
virtually running neck and neck,
y e t the polls still show them
level-pegging with the
opposition. It seems crazy to me.
Casting y o u r ballot
elect
election
Election day
vote
cast votes
ballot
cast ballots
electorate
turnout
abstain
abstention
poll
go to the polls
)n election day, voters go to the polls. They vote, or cast their votes or ballots,
to elect candidates.
People with the right to vote are voters, and together make up the electorate.
The proportion of people actually voting is the turnout and the total number of
votes cast is the total vote. People not voting abstain from voting and are
counted as abstentions.
Exercise 9. Read these sentences. Translate them into Russian.
1. It's election day in Chad. People throughout the country have been casting
their votes at the first contested election since independence from France
in I960.
2. On September 15th the voters of Hong Kong, casting ballots in the British
colony's first truly democratic legislative election, delivered China a slap
in the face.
3. This Sunday, Peruvians vote to elect their 23rd president.
4. It is the second time in a fortnight that the people of Hungary have been
asked to go to the polls and today the atmosphere is matter of fact, with
none of the sense of occasion which prevailed two weeks ago when voters
were voting freely for the first time in 40 years.
5. "We expect a very high turnout", a Tory official said.
6. But many liberals and conservatives may abstain from voting because in
recent months they have been hit by inflation and unemployment and the
colourless platforms of the establishment parties have but limited appeal
for them.
7. A growing proportion of Europeans are not bothering to vote. In Portugal
abstentions leapt from 22 per cent in the 1987 general election to 32 per
cent in 1991.
47
Exercise 10. Look at the extracts and complete the short text below
bringing out the meaning of the key words.
1. In the separate women's polling booths it is specially difficult to detect
false voters since many of the women are in purdah.
2. Current estimates are that fewer than half of eligible Americans are expected
to cast their ballot on November 3.
3. Voting will not be by secret ballot but by the controversial method of queuing
behind your favourite candidate. Many people fear that the queuing system
will create conditions for chaos at the polling stations, but the government
says it is an open system which will stop the practice of filling ballot boxes
with fictitious ballot papers.
4. Mr. Rao was certain of victory, yet there were reports that his supporters
had captured booths and stuffed ballot boxes. In Bihar many people died
and new balloting was ordered in hundreds of polling stations.
5. Israel is a democratic society where governments are changed by the ballot
box, not the bullet.
Voting, p
or
1
takes place, at p
_t
. In a с
1
, voters mark their b _ _
p
in a
g b
and place them in a
ot
_o_. The ballot box is often mentioned when contrasting democratic
methods with terrorist ones.
Exercise 11. Read the article and explain who are «non-voters» and in
what social groups they tend to be found.
Why do people abstain from voting?
Relatively low level of electoral participation is associated with rural residence,
and also with low levels of education, occupational status, and income. The groups
in society that have been most recently given the right to vote (enfranchised)
also tend to vote less. Hence women vote less than men, American blacks less
than whites, and working class people less than those of the middle class. Young
people who have just turned of age, and have therefore just been enfranchised,
are less likely to vote than people who are middle-aged. It is important to note
that the nonparticipation of certain groups in elections has important implications; if everyone were to vote, the balance of electoral power would shift toward
the recently enfranchised and less privileged members of society.
Some people are conscientious nonvoters, although such people are rare. Others,
perceiving the vote more as an instrument of censure than of support, may not
48
vote because they are satisfied with the present government. This group of
voluntary nonvoters is also small, however. In fact, nonvoters have been shown
to be generally less satisfied with the political status quo than are voters. The
vote is a rather ineffectual instrument for expressing dissatisfaction, and nonvoting is more likely to be symptomatic of alienation from, than of satisfaction
with, the political system.
Those who feel that government policies have some direct relevance to their
lives are more likely to vote than those who are disinterested or who sense the
government as being more remote.
Finally, a great number of random factors may determine individual participation in specific elections. Election campaigns vary in their intensity. A crisis atmosphere may induce an unusually large number of people to vote, on one
occasion, whereas on another the chance to vote for an extremist candidate may
increase the participation of the normally disinterested. Even the weather has a
substantial impact on election turnout.
Getting e l e c t e d
legislature
seat
gain a seat
win a seat
lose a seat
constituency
electoral system
first-past-the-post
proportional representation
PR
rounds of voting
run-off
A body that passes laws is a legislature. Candidates win or gain seats in
legislatures under different systems in different countries. Existing members of
a legislature who are not re-elected lose their seats.
The two main methods of electing candidates are: proportional representation,
or PR, where winning candidates are elected from a list in proportion to the
number of votes cast for each candidate, and first-past-the-post, where the
candidate with the most votes in the constituency wins, even if he or she has
fewer votes than the other candidates combined.
Some countries use a combination of both electoral systems.
In some countries there are two rounds of voting. If no one candidate in the
first round of voting gets more than 50 per cent of the vote, the top two
candidates go on to a second round in a run-off, with each trying to attract the
first round supporters of the other candidates.
49
Exercise 12. Read the following sentences. Translate them into Russian.
1. His promise to make the Senate an elected body with effective power, the
main demand of western Canadians, is vague.
2. Mongolia has promised free multy-party elections to the legislature, the
Great Hural and has become the first Asian nation to bow to the winds of
change sweeping in from Eastern Europe.
3. In the Bulgarian elections, computer predictions give the Socialists nearly
half the vote and therefore about 100 seats of the 200 decided under the PR
system. The figures obtained by the BBC show that of the 200 seats decided
under the first-past-the-post system, the Socialists have won 76 seats.
4. Israel's electoral system is one of proportional representation by list. Each
party lists its candidates for the Knesset in order of seniority, and as the
votes accumulate, another name on the list enters the Knesset.
5. In 1989 the Green Party received 2 million votes, 15 per cent of the vote, in
the European elections. However, because of Britain's first-past-the-post
electoral system (whereby only the candidate who receives the most votes
is elected) the Greens did not gain a single seat.
6. The supporters of PR point to the unfairness of the present system where
one member of parliament represents one diverse constituency where the
majority of people may have voted for a number of other candidates.
7. About half the 120 seats in the National Assembly remain to be decided.
These include constituencies in and around the country's most important
cities where because of irregularities the ballots cast in last month's first
round of voting were annulled. The second round run-off will be on
December 6th.
Exercise 13. Legislatures are often divided into upper and lower houses
or chambers. Match these legislative chambers to their
countries.
1. House of Commons
a) Germany
2. Sejm
b) United Kingdom
3. Bundestag
c) Ireland
4. Riksdag
d) Mongolia
5. Great Hural
e) Poland
6. Cortes
f) Sweden
7.Dail
g) Spain
8. Lok Sabha
h) India
9. Knesset
I) Denmark
lO.Folketing
j) Israel
50
Electoral fraud
election returns
free and fair elections
electoral fraud
vote-rigging
massive vote-rigging
widespread vote-rigging
to fix an election
breach election laws
Results in an election are also known as election returns. An opposition party
or outside observers may accuse the organizers of the election of electoral
fraud, of breaching election law procedures, saying that the elections have
not been free and fair.
Vote-rigging occurs, for example, when ballot boxes are filled with fictitious
ballot papers or when votes are not counted properly. Where a lot of vote rigging
is alleged to have taken place, it may be characterized as massive or widespread.
Exercise 14. Read the following sentences. Translate them into Russian.
1. Elections were held, but when returns showed that Doe was losing heavily,
he confiscated all the ballot boxes, announced he had won over 50 per cent
of the vote and declared himself President.
2. The State Department said on Monday that the Romanian elections on
Sunday were peaceful with a heavy voter turnout, but the Spokesman said
it was too early to determine if the elections were free and fair.
3. She has accused her opponents of massive vote-rigging. She said ballot
boxes were stolen and switched, and agents of her party had disappeared.
4. Election day irregularities seem to have been minimal, although opposition
political patry leaders have complained of breaches of election law
procedures.
Election r e s u l t s
victory
claim victory
defeat
admit defeat •
concede defeat
margin
landslide
When it becomes apparent which parties or politicians have won the election,
the winners claim victory and the losers concede or admit defeat.
If a party or a candidate wins an election by a large amount or margin,
commentators talk about a landslide victory.
51
Exercise 15. Read the following sentences. Translate them into Russian.
1. The conservative New Democracy Party are claiming victory in the Greek
elections after winning half the 300 seats.
2. Benazir Bhutto has admitted defeat in Wednesday's general elections, even
before official results have confirmed what seems to have been a major
electoral upset.
3. Opposition leaders in Zambia say that the President has conceded defeat.
The presidential challenger told reporters that he'd spoken with the President
on the telephone.
4. They received 55 per cent of the vote, a comfortable margin in the first
parliamentary elections in the unified Germany.
5. His party's apparent landslide victory in the elections appears to make a
multi-party system something of an irrelevance for the time being.
Exercise 16. These words are used to describe victory or defeat. Give
Russian equivalents for them.
categorical
comfortable
convincing
crushing
decisive
devastating
heavy
overwhelming
Throwing the incumbents out
swing
mandate
fresh mandate
incumbent
re-elect
office
in office
term of office
thrown out of office
The swing from Party X to Party Y is the percentage of voters who previously
supported X who now support Y.
If incumbent parties or politicians (that is, parties or politicians in power or in
office) get re-elected, they receive a fresh mandate from the electorate for a
new term of office. If they don't, they are thrown out of office.
Exercise 17. Read the following sentences. Translate them into Russian.
1. The Labour Council's decision so angered the locals that there was a huge
10 per cent swing against Labour in the district election in May.
2. The possibility of a new left-of-center party emerging will be frustrated by
a combination of Labour's declining presence and our first-past-the-post
electoral system. The Tories will remain in office for many years to come.
52
3. The opposition parties are to contest only 40 of the 81 seats in parliament.
The People's Action Parry is therefore guaranteed to be returned for a seventh
consecutive term of office.
4. Of course politicians will sometimes make bad decisions. At least they can
be thrown out of office unlike unaccountable central bankers.
5. The general anti-incumbent feeling could well give her victory despite the
campaign gaffes (errors) she is making.
6. Mr.Solchaga optimistically wants a fresh mandate to raise value-added
tax.
Exercise 18. Read this extract from National Public Radio about limiting
the time members of Congress can stay in office. Say where
a) the radio reporter and b) the politician who is an
opponent of term limitation each start speaking. Each can
speak twice: not all the numbers indicate a change of
speaker.
Limiting terms of office
(1) But just as Republicans who support term limits are suspect as
losers who can't win by the rules the way they are, Democrats who
oppose the limits are suspect as incumbents who want to hold on
to their jobs, says Washington Democtrat Al Swift, who's in his
seventh term.
(2) Any incumbent who is affected by term limitations is no't taken
seriously when they speak out about term limitations.
(3) People - and I think naturally so - say, 'Well, you're just trying to
protect your job'.
(4) In order to make his case against term limits more credible, Swift
announced he's retiring in 1994, the year the Washington ballot
initiative would force him out if it passes.
(5) By then any incumbent who's already served the composed 12year maximum would be ineligible to run again. Congressman
Swift claims that people are now much more ready to listen as he
makes his case.
(6) Term limitation at heart is a limitation on the citizen who goes
into the voting booth.
(7) It is being sold on a 'throw-the-rascal-out' kind of theme, which is
always somewhat popular and today is enormously popular. But
you've got to be careful of these things as they often bite back.
53
Forming a government
majority
absolute majority
overall majority
government
coalition
coalition government
minority
minority government
If one party obtains more seats than all the others combined, it has an overall or
absolute majority and is able to form a government on its own.
If no one party has an overall majority, a coalition government is formed,
often after much inter-party bargaining and negotiation. If the governing parties
do not between them hold amajority of seats, they form a minority government.
Exercise 19. Read the following sentences. Translate them into Russian.
1. India's lower house of parliament," the Lok Sabha, convenes tomorrow. The
Congress party and its allies are about 12 short of an overall majority.Now
Congress has to consider how it can find enough support to remain in power.
2. The Free Democrats are the kingmakers of German coalition government
and their high showing in the polls could give them a strong bargaining
chip with which to put pressure on the Chancellor. Since he is unlikely to
get an absolute majority, he'll have to rely on the Free Democrats to form
another government.
3. Indira Gandhi, installed as prime minister in 1966, was supposed to be a
pussycat. She proved to be a tiger instead, running a bold majority
government for two years.
H o n e y m o o n s and l a m e ducks
honeymoon
cabinet reshuffle
crisis
resign
stand down
step down
quit
collapse
lame duck
When a government is elected, there is often a honeymoon period when people
are not too critical of it mainly because they are waiting to see what it will do in
the longer term.
After a while, normality sets in:
54
•
•
ministers may be given new posts, or lose their posts, in a cabinet reshuffle;
they may leave the cabinet, or resign, stand/step down, or quit because of
incompetence or wrongdoing;
• there may be crises, when confidence in the government is so low that people
wonder if it can continue and think it may collapse.
Governments or politicians that have lost all credibility and authority are
described as lame ducks.
Exercise 20. Read the following sentences. Translate them into Russian.
1. In any new presidency - in any new anything - everybody is hopeful, there's
a honeymoon period and there are stars in everyone's eyes.
2. On Sunday, nine ministers who favoured opening talks with the opposition
lost their jobs in a cabinet reshuffle.
3. Among the casualties in this ruthless cabinet reshuffle were some of the
prime minister's oldest and closest colleagues.
4. The Daily Telegraph reports that Mrs. Thatcher only changed her mind about
not fighting on after the majority of her cabinet urged her to resign. It says
that three cabinet ministers had threatened to resign if she did not step
down.
5. A minister quit two weeks ago saying, 'I'm tired- of signing decrees no one
pays attention to'.
6. The anniversary finds the Socialists in crisis, facing the danger of collapse.
Yesterday the party lost its parliamentary majority when 16 of its deputies
formed a breakaway group.
7. Whoever wins faces the prospect of leading a lame duck administration.
Too many hostile things have been said on both sides to give either man any
real hope of turning the Tories' nominal 21-seat majority into a viable longterm government.
Exercise 21. Put an appropriate noun from the list into each extract
below.
a) prime minister
c) administration
e) congressman
b) government
d) leader
f) governorship
1- He could have lost so much political impetus that he would have found
himself leading a lame duck
.
2. Lukens is appealing the conviction. Lukens is a lame duck
. He
was defeated in the Republican primary and he has only a few more weeks
to serve in congress.
55
3. He- claims to have been sole architect of the state's prosperity for most of
the 1980s. But Governor Dukakis identified himself with the success and is
therefore identified with the failure. He is rarely seen about now as he lives
out the last days of his lame duck
.
4. What Britain doesn't need after a year of lame duck government is another
lame duck
.
5. Mr. Olszewski may have felt that he could end up becoming a lame-duck
. Mr.Walensas's spokesman has dismissed the significance of
Mr.Olszewski's decision to abandon his mission, saying the President has
at least three other candidates for the post of prime minister.
6. If he succeeds, he could only become a lame duck
, his tenure of
office would be decided by Congress, whose long-term ambition is to win
an election and govern India again.
Grassroots support and votes of confidence
grassroots
by-election
•
vote of confidence
vote of no confidence
call elections
call fresh elections
go to the country
interim government
caretaker government
A government's grassroots support during its term of office may become
apparent during a by-election. Grassroots support is the support of ordinary
voters. A by-election is held in a constituency (a body of voters in a specific
area who elect a member of a legislature) when the person representing it resigns
or dies.
If a government wants to establish that it has a majority, or if it loses its majority,
or if confidence in the government is low for other reasons, it may ask for a
vote of confidence in parliament. If it loses this vote, the government may call
(fresh) elections, or, in British English only, go to the country.
An opposition party may call a vote of no confidence in the government, perhaps
with the intention of bringing about new elections.
There may be a period before elections when an interim or caretaker
government takes care of the everyday running of the country, but makes no
important decisions.
56
Exercise 22. Read the following sentences. Translate them into Russian.
1. The results are also a major blow to the prime minister's hopes of using
these elections to demonstrate the grassroots popularity of his economic
reforms.
2. Gladstone emerged from retirement to fight a by-election in the marginal
Conservative seat of Midlothian in 1878, winning it and retaining the seat
at the general election.
3. Charan Singh was eventually asked to form a government, but had to ask
for Congress party support to do so. This support was withdrawn even before
that government could face a vote of confidence, and the president then
decided to call fresh elections in which Mrs.Gandhi was able to gain a
majority.
4. The government overwhelmingly rejected a call by radical deputies to hold
a vote of no confidence on the proposals.
5. If you were the Chancellor knowing that in the next year or 18 months you
have to go to the country on your economic record this news would scare
the life out of you.
6. They have repeatedly called on him to resign and say a caretaker
government should take over to supervise elections with the help of
international observers.
7. No date has been set for multi-party elections in Nepal, but the interim
government has said it will hold them within a year of taking power.
Politically the coalition interim government is holding together.
Undemocratic regimes
regime
authoritarian
autocratic
hard-line
totalitarian
hardliner
one-party rule
dictator
dictatorship
strongman
junta
Undemocratic forms of rule, or regimes, are authoritarian or autocratic.
Hardline regimes refuse to allow any change in the political system. Hardliners
are members of such regimes who are particularly resistant to change.
57
A country may be ruled by:
• a totalitarian regime controlling all aspects of life and not allowing any
opposition;
• one-party rule, allowing only the political party in power to operate;
• a military junta: a group of army officers;
• dictatorship: rule by a small group of people, or by one person alone, a
dictator. A dictator, or someone else with autocratic powers and methods,
may be referred to in the media as a strongman.
Exercise 23. Read the following sentences. Translate them into Russian.
1. The initial liberal reaction to the break-up of former Communist regimes
was to cheer the emergence of national identity. This enthusiasm soon gave
way to ambivalence. The removal of an authoritarian regime was one
thing, the removal of all central authority was another.
2. No event could possibly highlight the fundamental difference between
democratic and autocratic government so vividly as her departure, by due
democratic process, at this time.
3. For 70 years, a totalitarian regime forced people to work and distributed
the products of their labour through a highly centralized government
bureaucracy.
4. Although Cameroon's constitution provides for a multi-party system, the
country has been a de facto one-parry state since 1966.
5. Some elected leaders of Latin America would be happy to offer an example
of a military junta reaching a bad end.
6. But their meeting in 1940 on the French-Spanish border was not a success.
Franco kept Hitler waiting: not all dictators make the trains run on time.
7. Referring to the president's plan for a one-party state, the paper says they
may be Africa's way forward, but they are often one-way routes to
dictatorship.
8. Enva Hodj a, the Albanian strongman, ruled the country with an iron hand,
using Stalin as his role model.
9. The treaty faced fierce opposition from a hardline faction in Russian
parliament.
58
Toppling g o v e r n m e n t s
seize power
overthrow
depose
topple
putsch
military takeover
coup
coup d'etat
bloodless coup
bloody coup
revolution
martial law
civilian rule
return to civilian rule
to introduce
to impose
to stage a coup
The military may stage a coup, seize power in a coup, coup d'etat, putsch or
military take over and impose martial law, or military control, on the country.
In a revolution there is a sudden,often violent, change of regime involving
ordinary people, political parties and usually the military.
In revolutions and military takeovers, the previous government is overthrown,
deposed, or in media terms, toppled. A revolution or coup is bloodless if there
is no fighting, and bloody if there is.
The military may promise a return or handover to civilian rule, or rule by
non-military politicians, after a time.
Exercise 24. Read the following sentences. Translate them into Russian.
As you do the excercise make up a list of verbs which
collocate with the key nouns.
1. For the Chilean President it was a chance to heal old wounds. Once he
supported Allende's overthrow. But for General Augusto Pinochet, who
toppled Allende and then seized power for 16 years, the ceremony was an
affront.
2. The coup that deposed the President has left Haitians and their diplomats
angry and frustrated with the United Nations.
3. But who would be the strongman in a coup? Yakovlev himself minks an
army putsch is unlikely.
4. About every ten years, something sensational happens in Turkish politics.On
the past three occasions that something has been a military takeover. This
time change may come through the ballot box.
5. This so called coup d'etat was like a bad play with a second-rate cast.
Some say it turned into a second Russian revolution, but I say history repeats
itself- the first time as tragedy, the second as farce.
59
6. It is unclear what has happened to the president, although reports from the
area indicate that it was a bloodless coup.
7. But in fact martial law seems to have been replaced by equally severe laws
limiting political and religious freedom.
8. The return to civilian rule, which begins with local government elections
in December, is being carefully monitored by the current military
government.
9. The League won a sweeping majority in elections two months ago, but the
authorities have set no timetable for a handover to civilian rule.
Exercise 25. This BBC broadcast was made at the time of the elections
referred to in the last example above. Read it, complete the
gaps with the expressions, and answer the questions.
a) booth
c) elections
e) seats
g) martial law
b) voting
d) electoral
J) exit polls
h) coup
Burmese elections pass off peacefully
In one of the most closely watched
(l) processes in recent years,
Burmese people have gone to the polls in the first multi-party
.(2) for
30 years. Although there was a great deal of intimidation and arrest of opposition
figures by the military government in the run-up to today's
.(3)>tne
polling is reported to have passed off smoothly and peacefully.
The
(4) had been promised by the military junta after it seized
power in the bloody
(5) of 1988, and the Burmese military leader
said at a voting
(6) in Rangoon today, 'I have kept my promise'.
Although the general kept his word to hold
(7), the military
government resorted to all sorts of repressive and restrictive methods in order
to curb opposition campaigning and activities. Today's
(8) trend,
however, suggests that those measures have failed to prevent the Burmese from
exercising their right and expressing their view. According to reports from
Rangoon, the turnout in today's.
(9) was heavy, and there were no
visible signs of military presence on the streets.
Although
(10) has been lifted, the curfew remains in place. Informal
(11) taken by journalists, diplomats, and other observers suggest
strong support for the opposition National League for Democracy, whose
secretary general along with two main opposition leaders are all under detention.
A total of 93 parties with more than 2,000 candidates took part in today's
(12), contending for 485 parliamentary
(13). Election
results for Rangoon are expected to be announced in a few hours, but the official
national tally will be announced in three weeks.
60
Questions
1. If someone intimidates you, they try to prevent you from doing what you
want to do by th
t_ _ing you.
2. Is it possible for events such as elections to 'pass off" violently?
3. If you curb someone's activities, do you encourage them?
4. People under, or in, detention are in p
n or under house arrest.
5. Is the tally another word for the count, or the ticket, or the check?
Unrest, rioting and looting
social unrest
civil unrest
disperse
break up a demonstration
clash
security forces
protest
demonstration water canon
rubber bullets
chant slogans tear gas
baton charge
riot
rioting
looting
to declare
to impose
to lift
state of emergency
curfew
Where opposition to a regime is widespread, there may be periods of civil or
social unrest with protests or demonstrations: groups of protesters and
demonstrators marching through the streets perhaps silently, or perhaps
chanting, or rhythmically shouting, slogans.
If there are violent confrontations or clashes with the security forces, the police
and/or army, they may try to break up the demonstration with: batons, short
heavy sticks used to beat people back in a baton charge, rubber bullets: bullets
made of rubber designed to hurt demonstrators, water cannon: machines that
produce high-powered jets of water, and tear gas: an unpleasant gas that causes
irritation to the eyes and skin and forces people to go elsewhere, or disperse.
A violent demonstration may turn into a riot with fighting, stone-throwing,
damage to vehicles and buildings and so on. Rioting may be accompanied by
looting: breaking into shops or houses during a riot to steal things.
The government may impose a curfew, a period at night when people must stay
indoors and keep off the streets. They may also declare a state of emergency,
where normal laws are suspended and martial law imposed.
61
Exercise 26. Read the following sentences. Translate them into Russian.
1. The star's entourage were said to be shocked that they had arrived in the
West African country in the middle of a period of civil unrest, with student
groups trying to overthrow the government.
2. In Romania, a relatively quiet day of demonstration erupted into noisy
protest by hundreds of people chanting anti-government slogans in
Bucharest's University Square.
3. Algeria's military-backed rulers declared a state of emergency last night.
The move followed two days of fighting between security forces and
Moslem fundamentalists. All public demonstrations are banned and wideraging powers are even likely to be used to close mosques.
4. In the Nepalese capital Kathmandu, a huge public meeting is continuing
despite one clash between riot police and demonstrators. Tear-gas was
fired and riot police used batons to break up and disperse the demonstration.
5. A curfew has been imposed after widespread rioting and looting broke out
on Tuesday. Police and army units are patrolling the streets to prevent further
violence.
Exercise 27. Put these sections from two BBC reports into the correct
order for each report. (One report consists of two parts and
the other of four. The first parts of each are (d) and (e)
respectively).
Violent demonstration in Johannesburg
Violent demonstrations in Korea
(a) The demonstrators are protesting against President Roh Tae Woo's
newly formed Liberal Democratic Party which they have announced
as dictatorial and undemocratic. A group of about 50 workers has
come down from a crane at South Korea largest shipyard at Usan,
ending a thirteen day protest which brought work there to a standstill.
(b) When they ignored the order to disperse, the police opened fire with
plastic bullets, and the demonstrators replied with stones and bottles.
At least 20 people were injured, some of them seriously.
(c) Riot police fired tear gas to disperse about 2000 students in the
capital,Seoul, who were throwing firebombs and stones. Other clashes
took place on university campuses and in at least two other cities.
(d) There have been violent clashes between police and demonstrators
in the South African city of Johannesburg. A crowd of about 1,000
gathered for a protest march which had been declared illegal.
62
(e) There have been more anti-government demonstrations by students
and dissidents in South Korea despite a warning by the government
that it would act immediately and decisively to crush protests.
(f) The Justice Minister earlier said the authorities would no longer hesitate to send in police to university campuses to disperse illegal
demonstrations. He accused students of fanning social unrest.
2. READING NEWS STORIES
Understanding w o r d s i n context
Exercise 1. (a) Explain the meaning of these words. Why do they look
and sound very much like the corresonding Russian words?
autonomy, blockade, blitz, coalition, concession, conformist, conglomerate,
consensus, escalation, establishment, ethnic
(b) Look through some English-language newspapers and
make a list of international words whose meaning you can
guess without referring to a dictionary.
Exercise 2. Read the following lead sentences and decide which of the
three choices (a,b,c) best fits each underlined words in the
stories below.
a. The story can be understood without this word.
b. It is possible to get a general idea of the word's meaning from the story.
с The exact meaning of the word is important to the understanding of the
story. Unless the meaning becomes clear from the rest of the story, it will be
necessary to look it up in the dictionary.
Note that the last choice (c) did not say that you must immediately look the
word up. Always continue reading first because new words often become clear
in later parts of the story.
1. NAPLES , Italy (UPI) - Beleaguered Italian
doctors sought the help of US and European experts yesterday to combat the
mysterious "dark disease" that has killed
60 infants in the Naples area over the past
year.
beleaguered
combat
63
2. KNOXVILLE, Iowa (UPI) - Scoffing at
President Carter's grain embargo. Senator
Edward Kennedy yesterday said it would
have only one effect: "The Russians are
going to eat a little more chicken and a little
less meat."
scoffing
_embargo
3. THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Queen Juliana of
the Netherlands may abdicate in favour of
her eldest daughter, former Princess
Beatrix, informed sources said.
abdicate
4. JAKARTA (UPI) - Police yesterday clamped
a dusk to dawn curfew on the capital of East
Timor two days of rioting and looting of
shops by thousands of youths.
clamped
curfew
5. KABUL (UPI) - The US Embassy in the
Afghan capital is cutting back its already
drastically reduced staff because of uncertainty over the military situation, Western
diplomatic sources said yesterday.
drastically
6. PANAMA CITY (AP) - The Panamanian
Government has offered to give political
asylum to the leftist guerrillas holding
dozens of foreign diplomats in the embassy
of the Dominican Republic in Bogota,
Colombia, a top Panamanian diplomat said
today.
asylum
Exercise 3. Try to figure out the meanings of the underlined words
without using a dictionary, just from reading the sentence or
the lead. Explain what helped you to guess the meanings.
1. NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York's buses
and underground trains were rolling again
yesterday after an 11 -day strike that caused
traffic chaos and cost the city an estimated
$1.11 billion in lost revenue and production.
chaos:
a. control b. confusion с manners d. method
64
2. MOSCOW (Reuters) After pummelinq
Chechnya's capital, Grozny, Russian military commanders said Friday that their troops
would soon begin pursuing guerrilla forces
directly into their mountain hideouts, a new
phase in the three-month war in the rebellious province.
pummeling: a. strike repeatedly b. recovering с avoid d. catch
3. BEIJING (AP) - Kofi Annan, the United
Nations secretary general, said Tuesday
that China's foreign minister gave hint "a
better understanding" of the government's
crackdown on the outlawed Falun Gong
spiritual movement in a meeting here.
crackdown: a. praise b. a sarcastic remark с repression d. attitude
4. BRUSSELS (UPI) - The French, already
under fire for their refusal to lift the ban on
British beef, face further sanctions from the
European Commission next week overtheir
failure to open the country's energy markets
to competition.
ban:
a. a load b. voice с prohibition d. approval
5. JERUSALEM (AP) - President Bill Clinton's
Mideast envoy failed Tuesday to resolve an
unexpected dispute between Israel and the
Palestinians over what was to have been a
routine West Bank troop pullback.
envoy:
a. decision b. advice с convoy d. messenger
6. UNITED NATIONS, New York (AP) - Nearly a
year after the Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein,
ejected international arms inspectors from
his country, members of the UN Security
Council are nearing agreement on a resolution that could lead to the resumption of
inspections aimed at preventing Baghdad
from acquiring illegal weapons, according
to U.S. and allied officials.
eject:
a. welcome
b. invite
с expel d. leave
65
7. OTTAWA, Canada (UPI)_- British American
Tobacco, the world's number two tobacco
company, yesterday announced that it had
raised its bjd. for Imasco, the Canadian
conglomerate, after it agreed the sale of
Imasco's drugstore chain.
bid:
a. an attempt b. a request с offer of a price d. help
8. BRUSSELS (AP) - The European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development, the
multilateral bank for the former Soviet bloc,
saw new business plunge 62 per cent in the
first half of the year because of difficulties
finding suitable projects, particularly in
Russia.
plunge:
a. grow b. push suddenly c.start acting d. to descend suddenly
9. TORONTO, Canada (AP) - Finance officials
from the Group of Seven industrialised
countries are close to reaching agreement
on the establishment of a new international
body to bring together developed and
developing countries for talks on ways of
averting financial crises.
avert:
a. to stop b. to prevent с to develop d. to resolve
Exercise 4. Read the following stories and look for explanations to
clarify the meaning of the underlined words.
1. ST.LOUIS (AP) - A brasher doubloon, one
of the first gold coins minted in the United
States, was sold Friday for an apparent
world record price of $ 430,000.
2. NEW DELHI (Reuters) - An encephalitis
outbreak has claimed 325 lives in the past
month, a State Health Department
spokesman said yesterday.
Encephalitis, a viral brain disease spread
by mosquitoes, killed 2,715 people in India
last year, according to official statistics.
3. TOKYO (UPI) - A group of Japanese scientists said Saturday hydrogen peroxide, a
food additive widely used for pastry, has
been found to be cancer-causing.
66
Prof. Akiniro Itoh of Hiroshima University
who led the research on the substance said
his report was based on experiments with
mice. He added, however, it was not
immediately known whether the additive
would be harmful to human beings.
Hydrogen peroxide is widely used as a
bleach or sterilizer for pastry and a variety
offish pastes.
Exercise 5. Find a synonym for each underlined word in the following
1. QUEBEC (UPI) - An unidentified gunman
who held 12 hostages in a suburban bank
for more than nine hours, escaped with the
bank manager and a woman as prisoners
late Monday night after the other hostages
were released.
The hostages in this story are:
a. gunmen b. bank managers с prisoners d. women
2. CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australian worries
over events in Cambodia and other troublespots have caused the government to order
a full-scale reassessment of Australia's
defense position, officials said.
The Prime Minister said in a television
interview that the review would take months
to complete. He pointed to developments
in Indochina, Iran, and Korea as reasons for
the study.
The reassessment in this story is:
a. Review b. study с interview d. reasons
3. NEW YORK (UPI) - Detectives, posing as
foreign tourists who couldn't speak English,
arrested two taxi drivers at Kennedy Airport
Friday for allegedly charging up to $60 for
a trip that normally costs $3.
District Attorney John Santucci said the
officers were told to pretend to be tourists
and mingle with the crowd with money in
one hand and a slip of paper with the
address of the hotel in the other.
A synonym for pose in this story is:
a. charge b. arrest с pretend d. mingle
67
4. MADRID (Reuters) - The Spanish judge
behind the arrest of the former Chilean
dictator Augusto Pinochet charged
Argentina's former military rulers Tuesday
with atrocities and issued international
arrest warrants for them.
Judge BaltazarGarzon accused 98 military
and police officers of genocide, torture and
terrorism during the 1976-1983 dictatorship.
A synonym for atrocities is:
a. torture b. genocide с arrest d. terrorism
5. MARSEILLE (AP) - Five French scientologists were found guilty of fraud and
attempted fraud and one of them was fined
$16,000 for swindling people on behalf of
the group.
The court sentenced the former head of
Church of Scientology centers, to two years
in jail , with 18 months suspended and
credit for six months served in 1990, and
fined him for manipulating people into
giving money for the church.
A synonym for fraud can be regarded in this story:
a. swindling b. manipulating с fine d. giving money
Exercise 6. Read the news stories and answer the questions that follow.
While reading, try to guess the meaning of new words before
you go to a dictionary.
1. VOTE OF CONFIDENCE
JERUSALEM, Jan.24 - Prime Minister
Magen Stern narrowly won a vote of confidence in the Israeli Parliament yesterday
over his government's decision to open
peace talks.
Stern's fragile five-party coalition held
together despite strong pressure from the
conservative opposition, who have called
for a final military solution to the border
problems that have plagued the two countries since the formation of the Palestinian
state three years ago.
The charismatic Stern, a former armed
forces commander, reminded Parliament he
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had three times led Israeli attacks through
the land now occupied by the new state.
"I would attack them thirty times more if I
thought that would solve our problems", he
said.
But now is the time for the negotiator, not
the soldier", he said. "Now is the time for a
peaceful, political solution. If we don't grasp
it now, it may never come again", Stern
warned.
Sources in the Prime Minister's party said
the emotional speech had stopped a number of possible defections from the coalition
and enabled the government to win a
narrow seven-vote victory.
In the fierce, three-hour debate that preceded the vote, the opposition parties had
called on Stern to dissolve Parliament and
bring the issue of the negotiations to the
people in a general election or referendum.
Analysts said the vote of confidence had
made the prospects for long term peace in
the Middle East brighter than they have
been for 20 years.
Answer the following questions:
1. Will Israel have a general election or referendum soon?
2. How many political parties share in the government of Israel?
3. Who voted in Israel on Jan.23?
4. Why did the opposition want the prime minister to dissolve Parliament?
5. Has the government decided to hold peace negotiations with the People's
Republic of Palestine?
VOCABULARY EXERCISES
1. Match the following definitions with the key words in text 1.
1. A combination of groups.
2. Leaving a group and joining an opposing group or party.
3. The procedure of having the people of an area or the country vote on a
particular question.
4. Only just successful, almost enough (about victory or majority)
5. Having qualities that give a person powerful influence over people.
69
6. A vote on an important issue which, if lost by the government party,
results in a general election being called.
2. Complete the following phrases with prepositions.
1. The prime minister won a vote of confidence
government's decision to sign the agreement.
2. The bill was passed
narrow majority.
3. The senator called
4. The opposition called
parliament
one vote. It was squeezed
a final military solution
the House
a
, the border problem.
the President to dissolve Parliament.
2. SUMMIT MEETING
VIENNA, Austria, Aug.14 - US President Carl
Arling and Russian President Nikolai Ivanov
today wound up their three-day summit
conference with a joint communique that
promised "cooperation instead of confrontation"
After singing the second Strategic Arms
Reduction treaty - START II - yesterday, the
two leaders discussed ways to reduce
mutual distrust and antagonism that still
threaten the formal ratification of the treaty
in both capitals.
A spokesman said the discussion made
significant progress and a joint statement
issued at the end of the first US-Russian
summit meeting in 16 years said: "the two
sides agree to move ahead in mutual
cooperation instead of confrontation in all
fields"
But at the same time conservatives in the
US Congress called for a renegotiation of
the complex treaty which sets out a 1 S-year
step-by-step schedule for the dismantling
of nuclear tipped missiles.
Sources in the Russian delegation said the
treaty also faced fierce opposition from a
hard-line faction within the Russian leadership. They noted that Defense Minister Gen.
Semenov, scheduled to attend the conference, had pulled out at the last moment
complaining of ill health.
President Arling, elected to office just under
a year ago, said the conclusion of the arms
70
his
reduction accord had been his top priority
in foreign policy.
"It is now imperative that the momentum
for peace, once regained, never again be
surrendered to the forces of ultranationalism and hatred."
President Ivanov said the gains from the
treaty would not be limited to nuclear arms
reduction.
"This increase in trust and understanding
will be felt across the entire spectrum of
issues facing us".
Conference sources said that the two new
leaders had developed good personal
relations in their three days of intensive
talks, sometimes meeting for key sessions
with no agenda and no officials other than
their interpreters present.
New initiatives are expected as a result of
the private talks on trade and technical
cooperation, the US trade embargo against
Cuba, the sources said.
Analysts said the personal diplomacy of the
summit had lifted US-Russian relations to
their highest point in two decades.
Answer the following questions:
1 • Who met at the summit conference in Vienna?
2. Was the meeting attended by the Russian defense minister?
3. Did the talks make progress on improving relations between the two
countries?
4. What problems remain for the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty?
5. What does the treaty do?
6. What else was discussed besides the treaty?
7. Is the treaty now legally in effect?
VOCABULARY EXERCISES
1. Match these definitions with the key words in the preceding text.
1.
2.
3.
4.
A disagreement between two or more sides.
A formal approval of the treaty by Parliament
Held equally by two or more persons or group
A meeting of the leaders of the countries.
71
5. A small group within a larger group or a party.
6. A list of subjects to be discussed.
7. A government order forbidding trade with another country.
8. Blindly looking after one's own country's interests above all else.
9. A formal agreement between two or more countries.
10. A set, a range of points or matters important to the public.
11. An official statement given to the press or public.
12. A step leading to action.
13. An explosive weapon which can fly under its own power.
14. To take missiles out of use.
15. The art and practice of establishing and continuing relations between
nations.
16. Not favoring compromise especially with opponents and enemies.
2. Explain these phrases in your own words:
1. They wound up their meeting with a joint communique.
2. They agreed to move ahead in mutual cooperation.
3. They called for a renegotiation of the treaty.
4. A 15-year step-by-step schedule.
5. The treaty faces opposition from a hard-line faction.
6. The minister pulled out at the last moment.
7. The treaty was top priority in their foreign policy.
8. It is imperative that the momentum for peace never again be surrendered.
3. COUNCIL OF EUROPE VOTES
TO ADMIT RUSSIA
STRASBOURG (Reuters) - The Council of
Europe parliamentarians voted on Thursday
to admit Russia to the 38-nation group
despite fierce criticism of Moscow's military
crackdown in Chechnya and its human
rights record.
The 164-35 vote was a milestone in Russia's
campaign for a place in the community of
democratic European nations after the end
of the Cold War.
After intense lobbying by Western governs
and the Kremlin, the assembly voted by well
over the required two-thirds majority to
allow Russia to join the Council. Fifteen
members abstained.
72
Moscow will accede in February or March
following ratification by member
governments, which is a formality.
"We place much confidence in you and we
expect a lot of work from you", Leni Fisher,
the assembly's German president, said in
congratulating Russia after she announced
the result.
The vote followed a day of heated debate
over whether Russia wasfitfor membership
in the Council, set up in 1949 to safeguard
democracy and human rights across the
continent.
The Council held up Russia's application
for seven months last year to protest its
actions in Chechnya. Delegates had been
reluctant to snub Moscow twice.
As a member, Russia's duties will include
ratification within a year of conventions
guaranteeing human rights, protecting
minorities and outlawing torture.
The Assembly passed some amendments
tightening obligations. It voted to urge
Russia to end executions "from the day of
accession" rather than within three years,
the official deadline for it to abolish the
death penalty under European conventions.
An official Council report on membership
concluded: "Russia does not yet meet all
the Council of Europe's standards. But
integration is better than isolation;
cooperation is better than confrontation."
Answer the following questions.
1 • Was Russia admitted to the Council of Europe unanimously?
2. Was it Russia's first application for membership?
3. How many votes are needed to be accepted to the union?
4. What was Russia criticized for ?
5. When'was the Council of Europe set.up and what for?
6- How many members are there in the Council of Europe at the moment?
7. Why did the European parliamentarians vote for Russia's admission?
8. What are Russia's duties as a member of the Council of Europe?
73
VOCABULARY EXERCISES
1. Find in the text key words that match these definitions:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
An important day, time or event in a person's life or history.
A group of people united by shared interests, religion, nationality.
A group of people gathered togetherfor a special purpose.
An action taken to stop an unlawful or disapproved activity.
An agreement between states,esp. one less formal than a treaty.
The known facts, an account of evidence or information about the state
of human rights.
7. To join a group of people, countries, esp. in an agreement.
8. To keep oneself from eating, drinking, voting, etc.
9. An act or instance of bringing or coming into equal participation in
society.
10. To declare something unlawful.
11. To treat rudely.
2. Find synonyms for these words in the text.
to protect democracy firm obligations clampdown eligible strong criticism
necessary majority
to delay
unwilling
to establish (an organization)
3. Complete the following phrases with prepositions:
1. There was a heated debate
whether Russia was fit
2. Russia reaffirmed its commitment
the Convention
3. The vote was a milestone
Russia's campaign
Council.
4. Russia was admitted
the European community.
membership.
human rights.
a place
the
UNIT3
Diplomacy and war
l. KEYWORDS
Talks, and talks about talks
talks
hold talks
round of talks
discussions
negotiations
74
talks about talks
When governments and other bodies wish to reach agreements, -they hold or
have talks, discussions or negotiations. A meeting or a series of related meetings
of this kind is a round of talks.
Where preparation is needed before the main talks, for example to decide on
the meeting place and the participants, they may first hold talks about talks.
Exercise 1. Read the following examples and translate them into
Russian.
1. Agriculture ministers of the European Community are to hold a new round
of talks on Friday aimed at reaching agreement on proposals to reduce
subsidies to farmers.
2. He said they had held what he termed very interesting discussions on arms
control.
3. Guatemalan guerrillas and leaders of the country's nine largest parties are
holding negotiations near Madrid to try to end Guatemala's long-running
civil war.
4. Japanese diplomats described today's meeting as talks about talks. Japan
is seeking no more than to agree the date, venue and level for formal talks
on opening diplomatic relations with North Korea.
5. European Union foreign ministers are meeting today to launch discussions
which are designed to restructure the Union so it can cope with new members.
Exercise 2. Use the verbs listed below to complete the extracts. All these
verbs are used with the noun 'talks' in these contexts.
resume
attend
conclude
break off
convene
suspend
walk out of
1. A Russian delegation flies to Washington today to
talks with the
International Monetary Fund which broke down without agreement last
week.
2. MrAlatas has made it clear that he would not
talks unless he was
convinced of the commitment of all the parties concerned.
3. Mr. Hameed is to travel to the northern Jaffna peninsula in an attempt to
meet the Tigers, who refused to
talks arranged on Thursday in
the east of the island.
4. The latest attempt at negotiations broke down on Friday after one of the
Mohawk factions
talks with the Quebec government.
5. Two of the world's largest tire makers, Germany's Continental and Italy's
Pirelli, have decided not to merge. The two companies say they have
talks after 15 months.
75
6.. Nelson Mandela said that ANC would
talks with the government
about a new constitution if a set of demands were not met.
7. Syria and Israel have blamed each other for the failure to find the way to
peace negotiations.
Delegates, opposite numbers and sherpas
delegate
delegation
sherpa
summit
counterpart
opposite number
communique
declaration
A government, party or other entity may be represented by one or more
delegates. A group of delegates representing one side is a delegation.
When the representative of A has the same job or rank as the representative of
B, they are counterparts or opposite numbers.
Talks between heads of government or other very important representatives are
summits, and the officials who prepare for them may be referred to as sherpas.
The final statement made to journalists and others at the end of talks is a
communique or declaration.
Exercise 3. Read the following extracts and translate them into Russian.
1. The Palestinians will give him a list of proposed delegates for a joint
Jordanian-Palestinian delegation to the conference.
2. At lunch, the Premier toasted his Russian counterpart, telling him, 'You
are turning a new page of history by being here'.
3. A team of veterinary experts are meeting their British opposite numbers at
the ministry of Agriculture's offices today to discuss the French ban on
imports of British beef.
4. As is the way with these international gatherings, the declarations were
largely drafted before the delegations arrived. Each country nominates one
official who does much of the groundwork - sherpas, they're called, the
traditional term for Himalayan mountain guides, who assist their charges to
a rather different kind of summit.
5. The discussions finally collapsed because of disagreement over the wording
of the final communique.
6. Despite the murder ofArmenia's Prime Minister and seven top officials last
month, this week's OSCE summit will mark a further step towards a
76
settlement of the country's decade-long feud with Azerbaijaaover the enclave
of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Exercise 4. Read the article from The Times and answer the questions.
Start making up a list of newspaper abbreviations that you
come across most frequently.
Diplomatic sherpas feel the strain in surfeit of summits
Despite the bright Finnish sun and invigorating northern air, many of the delegates in Helsinki have a weary look to them. "This is my third summit in six
days', said one British official, arriving direct from the G7 meeting in Munich
and the European Community-Japan summit in London last week.
Only a week earlier he and many others had just finished another gruelling round
in Lisbon and Douglas Hurd even managed to squeeze in a few hours in Strasbourg, addressing the European Parliament before arriving in Helsinki.Today
he has two more summits as well: the Western European Union and NATO,
which decided that since everyone else was having a summit, it had better have
one as well.
The main burden of this extended talk falls on the sherpas, the men who toil up
to the peaks of diplomacy, hacking their way through jungles of verbiage and
removing political boulders that stand in the way of agreed communiques.They
work in shifts, and larger countries can put different teams onto different events
for the summer summitry season. Foreign Office European specialists for Lisbon, Treasury men for G7, security specialists for OSCE. These latter have had
three days to organize this two-day ceremonial speechifying.
But no burden falls as heavily as it does on the political directors, the men who
have to agree the communiques line by line. 'I had a pretty good night yesterday',
said one. 'We were finished by l am'.
Questions
1. If you are weary, do you feel tired?
2. Are gruelling talks tiring?
3. If you squeeze something in between two other things, do you have much
time for it and do you fit it in with difficulty?
4. If you toil up a mountain, do you climb it easily?
5. Is verbiage easy to read or listen to?
6. If you hack though something, do you cut through it easily?
7. Is a boulder a large rock or a large ball?
8. Does 'speechifying' imply that the speeches were useful?
77
Cordial and friendly, or businesslike and frank?
exchange of views
atmosphere
frank exchange of views
cordial atmosphere
agreement
broad agreement
stumling block
differences
deep differences
narrowing differences
widening differences
The atmosphere at talks is often described in communiques as cordial or
friendly.
Communiques may talk of a frank exchange of views and broad agreement
on a number of issues.
Where there is still disagreement, communiques may talk of deep differences
that remain.
Commentators may talk of differences narrowing (getting smaller) or widening
(getting bigger).
An obstacle to agreement is often described as a stumbling block.
Exercise 5. Read the following extracts and translate them into Russian.
1. They say although the two sides have reached broad agreement on a number
of issues, deep differences remain over the timetable for peace and political
change.
2. Mr. Davidow said his two days of talks with the Angolan government had
taken place in an exceedingly cordial and open atmosphere. There's been
a very frank exchange of views about the peace talks under way between
the MPLA government and Unita rebels.
3. There's been no narrowing of differences on one of the main stumbling
blocks, aircraft.
Compromise and deadlock
stance
tough stance
aggressive stance
concession
compromise
veto
use your veto
deadlock
deadlocked
78
A negotiating position, particularly one unlikely to change, is a stance. A stance
is often described as tough or aggressive.
Negotiators try to reach agreement by making concession, demanding less than
they demanded earlier, hoping to get concessions from the other side, thus
reaching agreement through compromise.
If one side refuses a proposal during talks, it vetoes it, or uses its vetoe.
Where there is disagreement, and there is no prospect of a change in negotiating
positions, commentators talk about deadlock. Talks in this state are deadlocked.
Exercise 6. Read the following extracts and translate them into Russian.
1. The minister's conservative economic views and his tough stance on
Chechya's independence have made him a target of bitter criticism in the
Russian press.
2. She is either so confident of her strength that she feels she can get away
with such an aggressive stance, or so committed to her underlying beliefs
about Europe that she feels compelled to speak her mind regardless of the
consequences.
3. Prince Sihanouk has put forward a compromise proposal to break the
deadlock in peace talks being held by the Supreme National Council in
Bangkok.
4. The conference is still deadlocked over the Americans' refusal to agree to
provide extra money.
5. Whenever the Democrats have compromised, the White House negotiating
team have said, 'Thank you very much. Now let's start over and compromise
what's left'.
6. The Latvians are confident that these talks will continue, thus avoiding the
'no concessions, no talks' deadlock that exists between Moscow and Vilnius.
7. One recent EC rule on air pollution would have cost Spain Ptas 300 billion
to enforce, according to Spanish officials - if it had not used its veto to win
a let-out for its factories to continue burning dirty brown coal. Spain likes
those bits of political union that come free.
8. China and Russia used their vetoes to reject the Security Council resolution.
Exercise 7. Some of the adjectives below relate to the atmosphere at
talks and others to differences between sides at talks.
Complete them and say which describe
1) the atmosphere and 2) the differences
79
a)ft
ly
b) с _nstr_ ct_v_
c)s_gn_f_c_nt
d)_pt_m_st_c
e)m_j_r
f) r_l_x_d
g) f_ nd_ m_ nt _ 1
h) sh _ rp
i) b_ s _ n_ ss-1 _ k_
J)P_s_t_v_
k)fi:_nk
l)s_bst_nt_l
Exercise 8. Match the two parts of these extracts.
a) remained deadlocked. And neither
side appears hopeftil of a
breakthrough.
2. But after five hours of talks, the
British government's political b) compromise with China's current
rulers.
initiative for Northern Ireland
1. Although the deadlock looks
hopeless,
3. If Clintonism were ever to
exist, it would describe the art
of picking a la carte from his
favourite policy menus.
4. Officially there has been no
change in Taiwan's standing
policy of 'three noes':
5. Talks between El Salvador's
leftist rebels and government
representatives remain
6. The 55-day budget deadlock in
New York State has been
broken.
7. The Dalai Lama evidently has
little hope of
c) deadlocked over the thorny problem
of reforming El Salvador's USbacked military.
d) In Arkansas he has compromised so
much that even at 45 he is the
longest-serving Governor in the
country.
e) no contacts, no compromise, no
negotiation.
f) The government and State
lawmakers reached a tentative
agreement last night.
g) there is mounting pressure to break it
this year by putting the whole issue
to a vote in the General Assembly.
Brinkmanship
talks
falter
break down
collapse
brinkmanship
torpedo talks
Where there are obstacles to agreement, and discussions continue with difficulty,
they falter or stumble. When discussions end because of disagreement, talks
break down, or collapse.
80
When negotiations behave in a way that may cause talks to collapse, but hope
to gain advantage if they continue, they may be accused of brinkmanship.
If someone is accused of torpedoing or scuppering talks, they are accused of
intentionally causing them to collapse.
Exercise 9. Read the following extracts and translate them into Russian.
1. The Jakarta talks, faltering from the outset, would in all likelihood have
collapsed had it not been for Washington's announcements on 5 September.
2. The American delegation are speaking of imminent collapse; there is a very
real danger of the talks breaking down with serious consequences for the
world economy.
3. The Malaysian Minister of International Trade criticized Europe for toying
dangerously with the world economy. 'I'm not sure whether some people
are playing the brinkmanship game so that they will try to create some
crisis situation, and that makes people get stirred up',
4. That move has led left-wing legislators to say Shamir does not intend to
negotiate but rather torpedo the talks. It has also caused his foreign minister
to withdraw from the delegation.
5. The Minister was accused of scuppering crucial trade talks to avert a world
trade war.
Breakthroughs
breakthrough
outcome
accord
deal
agreement
reach agreement
reach an agreement
strike an agreement
ratify
Sudden progress in talks is a breakthrough. Breakthroughs are often described
as major, important, significant or dramatic and may lead to a successful outcome of the talks.
When talks are successful, the sides reach agreement or reach or strike an
agreement. An agreement may also be referred to as an accord or a deal.
Before it comes into effect, an agreement may have to be approved or ratified
by an elected body such as a parliament, which may refuse ratification by
vetoing the agreement.
81
Exercise 10. Read the following extracts and translate them into Russian.
1. The vital breakthrough in WTO talks eventually came with concessions
on both sides.
2. The high-volume propaganda exchange between the United States and the
European Community has not only made a successful outcome to the talks
much more difficult to achieve, but has also soured relations generally.
3. The two banks have just struck an agreement to collaborate in international
markets.
4. That's how he came to meet Lenin in 1921 and broke a trade impasse.
Hammer struck a deal in which Soviet furs were exchanged for American
wheat.
5. He still carries weight in the White House, especially on the Middle East
questions, where he supervised the Camp David accord between Israel and
Egypt.
6. In a follow-up to the Earth summit, the declaration called on other nations
to join the G7 partners in ratifying the climate change convention.
7. Even if the agreement could be reached, any changes to the Security Council
would then have to be ratified by the national parliaments of all 185 member
states.
Exercise 11. Read this article from Today and answer the questions.
WE GATT A DEAL
The world pulled back from the brink of an economic war
last night as Europe and the US finally reached a deal in
the crucial GATT talks... Officials from the two sides
reached agreement at the n t h hour after six years of
haggling over GATT: the General Agreement on Tariffs and
Trade. The Americans had threatened to impose savage
sanctions against EC goods, including a 200 per cent
import duty on French wine.
They were due to come into force in December . But the
deal was sealed by transatlantic telephone after President
George Bush gave the US team the go-ahead... After two
final days of talks in America,the EC Agriculture
Commissioner in Brussels and the US Agriculture Secretary
in Washington spoke the historic words: "That's a deal'.
The EC's Frans Andriessen said: 'When we left Washington, we did not have a deal. Now we do'.
82
In Downing Street, a jubilant John Major hailed the accord
as 'the single most important trade deal the world has seen'.
A trade battle would have been catastrophic, he said. Mr.
Major was mainly responsible for getting negotiations restarted after a breakdown that followed an outburst from
EC Commission President Jacque Delors. Mr. Delors was
accused of trying to scupper the talks because the US was
demanding cuts in farming subsidies. Last night France
was still opposing the deal, which means less cash for its
farmers.
"The conditions defined by the French government are not
fulfilled', said agriculture minister Jean-Pierre Soisson. 'At
first sight of this accord, I cannot accept it'. But he refused
to be drawn on whether his government would veto the
deal which will cut subsidies EC farm exports by 21 per
cent...
A French farmers' union said it was a 'knife in the back'
and called for immediate nationwide protests.... A small
group of farmers burned hay and tyres outside government
offices in Calais as a foretaste of likely action—
Questions
1. What's the play on words in the title?
2. If you pull back from the brink of something, does it become less likely?
3. Is an eleven-hour agreement necessarily decided at 11 p.m.?
4. If you haggle over something, do you negotiate intensely over it or does it
mean the collapse of talks?
5. Are savage sanctions punitive?
6. Does 'the deal was sealed' mean that is was rejected or agreed on?
7- If you hail something, do you welcome it?
<>• If you make an outburst, you suddenly react emotionally, usually angrily, to
something. This outburst may scupper the talks. Can it cause the talks to
b
к d
?
"• If you refuse to be drawn on something, are you willing to talk about it?
10. The French government might veto the deal. Does it mean that it might not
r
it?
H. If you get a foretaste of something, do you get an idea of what it will be
like?
83
Diplomatic relations
relations
establish relations
break off relations
restore relations
normalise relations
sour relations
diplomatically isolated
strained relations
tense relations
frosty relations
thaw
sanctions
trade sanctions
embargo
economic embargo
Two countries beginning diplomatic relations establish them. If they had
diplomatic relations previously but broke them off, they restore them,
normalizing relations between them.
Bad relations are often described as strained, tense or frosty. Relations are
said to be soured by something that negatively affects them.
When bad relations between countries improve, commentators talk about a thaw
between the countries.
A country having diplomatic relations with very few other countries is
diplomatically isolated.
When one country wants to put pressure on another, it may limit trade with that
country and impose sanctions, or may stop trade and other contacts and impose
an economic embargo. Later sanctions can be eased or removed and an
embargo may be lifted.
Exercise 12. Read the following extracts and translate them into Russian.
1. Denmark and Iceland have become the first countries to establish diplomatic
relations with the three Baltic republics.
2. After Indonesia's invasion of East Timor, Portugal broke off diplomatic
relations with Indonesia.
3. Britain's trade with Iran cannot be wholly unrelated to the two countries
history of strained relations. Though diplomatic relations were restored
last year, ambassadors have not been exchanged yet.
4. The trip is being seen as an important step in normalizing relations between
the two countries. Our correspondent says that the visit undoubtedly marks
a thaw in Harare's previously frosty attitude to South Africa.
5. Japan - fearful of putting further strain on its already tense relations with
the United States - h a s continued to support the economic embargo against
Vietnam, albeit unwillingly.
84
6. The NATO Secretary General is holding his first talks in Moscow with
Russian leaders since the conflict over Kosovo soured relations between
Russia and the West. The talks are aimed at reviving close cooperation.
7. Some Europeans think that, if Serbia were morally and diplomatically
isolated, it would think twice about fighting on.
8. The United States is considering imposing trade sanctions against Thailand,
unless Thailand lifts a ban on foreign cigarette imports and advertising.
Exercise 13. Which of the verbs below mean the same as 1) 'break off
and 2) 'restore' in the context of diplomatic relations? Use
the appropriate forms of the verbs to complete the extracts
below.
a) resume b) renew c) break d) cut off
e) re-establish
1. Senegal and Mauritania have agreed in principle to
diplomatic
relations, broken off two years ago after bloody clashes along the Senegal
River which forms their countries frontier.
2. The Moscow talks were the first between senior diplomats of the two
countries since the Soviet Union
diplomatic relations with Israel
in 1967.
3. Mexico and the Vatican
diplomatic relations in 1867, when the
reformist President Juarez confiscated all church properties and suppressed
the religious orders.
4. The visit is taking place just over three months after Argentina and Britain
agreed to
diplomatic relations eight years after the two countries
broke all links during the Falklands War.
5. In recent years, Albaniahas _ _ diplomatic relations
with most European countries.
War a n d t h r e a t s of w a r
escalating tension
hostilities
hostilities break out
hostilities begin
war
avert a war
teeter on the brink of war
standoff
hot spot
If the differences between two sides increase, there is escalating tension between
them. A standoff is a period of extreme tension that may or may not lead to
85
violence. If two sides are very close to war, they are (teetering) on the brink
of war.
If a war is prevented, perhaps by talks, it is averted. If not, hostilities begin or
break out.
A hot spot is a place where tension is high and fighting may break out at any
moment.
Exercise 14. Read the following extracts and translate them into Russian
1. The American ambassador in Delhi has confirmed that his country is urging
India and Pakistan to hold talks to try to avert the threat of war over
Kashmir.
2. North Korea often accuses the South of escalating tension to the brink of
war by staging joint military maneuvers known as 'Team Spirit' with the
United States.
3. In 1961, just after the building of the Berlin Wall, this was the scene of a
tense standoff between Soviet and American tanks: the world teetered on
the brink of war.
4. He emphasized the need for a preventive UN force to be dispatched to hot
spots before hostilities break out.
5. 'The only acceptable outcome, if, in fact, hostilities begin, is absolute, total
victory'.
Exercise 15. Find the following types of war in the table. Then use the
expressions to complete the extracts.
A war..
1. that isolated clashes might degenerate into
2. between East and West that lasted from 1945 to 1989
3. where nuclear arms are used
4. where nuclear arms are not used
5. between factions of the same nationality
6. causing an enormous number of deaths and a great amount of damage
7. fought by irregular forces, perhaps avoiding direct confrontation wit"
the other side.
civil
guerrilla
cold
war
full-scale
nuclear
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conventional
devastating
a) The Cold War is over. The world is learning to live without the imminent
threat of
war that had conditioned our lives for 40 years.
b) A grim reminder of the
War - the border crossing point between
East and West Berlin known as Checkpoint Charlie - is to go the way of the
rest of the Berlin Wall and be dismantled.
c) As the
war in Liberia enters its tenth month, thousands of people
continue to stream across the borders into neighboring countries.
d) Because of the intensity of the fighting - what analysts call 'low-intensity
war' - neither side appears strong enough to defeat the other.
e) The President himself said he is against withdrawing all NATO nuclear
weapons from Europe and thus making it safe for
war.
f) The question is whether anything else but a neutral outside force would be
strong enough to persuade them to leave the scene before the current clashes
degenerate into
war.
g) The two men stressed the importance of averting the catastrophe of a
war and the need to achieve a common Arab stand.
Warring p a r t i e s
belligerent
combatant
warring faction
enemy
adversary
rebels
foe
warring party
wage war
unleash war
ally
alliance
Before or during a war, one side may accuse the other of belligerent statements,
remarks or actions: things that make war likely, or prolong or intensify a war
that has already started.
Belligerents, combatants or warring parties are countries or factions, unleashing war, participating in a war, or waging war against each other.
Combatants are also people physically doing the fighting.
Exercise 16. Read the following extracts and translate them into Russian.
1- Troops had been mentally prepared for hostilities. Pakistan believes that
India's frustration at its inability to control the situation in Kashmir is leading
to increasingly belligerent statements from its politicians, alerting the
military on both sides.
87
2. The foreign ministers of the four main belligerents of World War Two in
Europe have signed in Moscow a treaty endorsing German unity.
3. It is simply a demilitarized zone - 4 km wide - separating two combatants
who have not yet reached formal agreement that the Korean War of the
early 1950's is formally over.
4. His remarks came only a few days before the warring parties to the conflict
are due to gather in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, for another round of
peace talks.
5. President Miloshevic called on them to be ready tofightto defend memselves,
but he added,'Before we are forced to wage war we will do everything to
preserve peace.'
Exercise 17. Study the following extracts and translate them into
Russian.
1. The new government will have to bring Lebanon's warring factions together
and end the country's 15-year civil war.
2. There have been renewed clashes in El Salvador between government forces
and left-wing rebels of the National Liberation Front.
3. This seems to be the time of uniting: two Germanies are about to merge and
two former foes - Iran and Iraq - have become allies.
4. The Foreign Secretary has been stressing the importance of Britain's
friendship and alliance with Germany and France.
5. When John F.Kennedy came to Berlin in June of 1963, he paid a tribute that
seemed to turn at least West Germans from being occupied adversaries
into allies.
6. During the Second World War Burmese and Indonesian nationalists allied
themselves with the Japanese, finding them a useful lever against the colonial
power.
7. None has improved on Palmerston's dictum that Britain has no permanent
friends or enemies, only permanent interests.
Exercise 18. Complete the commentary with the key words you studied
in exercise 17.
The different sides in a civil war are
• Factions
opposing a central government are
. Countries or factions with the
same interests
themselves with each~other and are
forming
an
. Opposing sides are
,
.- °
Fighting
fighting
break out
erupt
flare
flare up
sporadic fighting
heavy fighting
lull in fighting
skirmish
When fighting starts it breaks out or erupts. If fighting flares or flares up, it
starts, or starts again after a lull, a period when it has stopped or been less
intense.
Fighting may be sporadic, perhaps taking the form of brief, unplanned
encounters or skirmishes with only small numbers involved. Or it may be heavy,
with large numbers of troops and other forces involved.
Exercise 19. Read the following extracts and translate them into Russian.
1. In Georgia fierce fighting broke out today between rebel national guardsmen
and troops loyal to President Zviad Gamsakhurdia.
2. But for all the noise, the air base received only minor damage. In comparison
to the permanent heavy fighting in the countryside, the attack was more of
a skirmish.
3. People are taking advantage of a lull in the fighting to get out of the immediate
war zone.
4. The most bitter fighting erupted here in eastern Croatia when federal tanks
and airforce jets attacked the town of Vukovar.
5. While fighting has flared in the breakaway north of Yugoslavia, some
Serbia's leading politicians have begun to reassess their views on the future
unity of the federation.
6. Both Libya and Sudan have denied any involvement in the Chadian fighting,
which flared ир again last month after a period of relative quiet.
Exercise 20. Complete the extracts with adjectives describing fighting
(such words occur in the above examples).
1. Lebanese army units have taken over General Aoun's long-time headquarters
in the Presidential Palace. Only s
fighting
continues and it looks
as if all support for the general has collapsed.
2. Some of the most b
fighting
People's Liberation front.
has been against rebels of the Eritrean
89
3. Bougainville, scene of some of the f
st fighting in the Second World
War, is a largely untouched museum of wrecked warplanes.
4. They fear an increase in the number of people fleeing h
fighting
in
the Thai/Burma border area.
5. Journalists have not been allowed to go near the battle area, but it's clear
that in
fighting has been going on in the mountains north of Kabul.
6. There are reports from Angola of r__n_w_ _ fighting between government
troops and UNITA rebels, this time in the northern province of Uige.
Casualties
casualties
losses
heavy casualties
heavy losses
inflict casualties
inflict losses
civilian casualties
wounded
friendly fire
collateral damage
Casualties are people killed and hurt, or wounded, especially those severely
wounded. They may include civilian casualties, those not in the military. Military
casualties may be referred to as losses. Where there are many casualties or
losses, they are described as heavy.
Casualties and losses are inflicted by one side on the other.
Military casualties killed or wounded by members of their own side are victims
of friendly fire.
Unintended civilian casualties and damage to non-military targets may be
referred to by the military, euphemistically, as collateral damage.
Exercise 21. Read the following extracts and translate them into Russian.
1. Rwandan casualties were 14 dead and 30 wounded.
2. You don't have to be much of a cynic to take military claims that they're
being careful of civilian casualties skeptically.
3. Tigrean rebels say they inflicted heavy losses on government troops in
fighting in northern Shewa region last week.
4. The United States Defense Department says an investigation has shown
that about one in every four Americans killed in battle during the Gulf War
died as a result of so-called 'friendly fire' - that is, killed by their own side.
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5. Those of us who have been through it know that you're talking about human
lives that are cut short. We don't think of words like 'collateral damage' or
'numbers'. We think of friends.
6. Asked about the civilian deaths that occurred April 14 when US warplanes
attacked a road convoy in Kosovo, Clinton said that the pilot thought it was
a military convoy. He called the civilian casualties regrettable, but noted
that in this kind of conflict, 'some errors' will occur.
7. NATO spokesman Jamie Shea told the reporters that the alliance
acknowledged that there had been 'some collateral damage' in terms of
civilians killed and damage to buildings.
Exercise 22. Read these two news reports and the questions that follow
each text.
1. NATO BOMBING YUGOSLAVIA
BELGRADE, April 16 - A number of workers were injured and great
damage caused during the NATO air attack on the fertilizer factory
and petrol-chemical complex in Pancevo, a town near Belgrade, the
district c/v/7 defense headquarters said. The precise number of injured
workers is not known yet.
Eye-witnesses say that NATO planes shelled targets also in the
direction of Zeta and Lake Skadar, where there are no military facilities,
either.
At least six NATO planes were spotted in the sky over Podgorica before
the air strikes, but their attack was frustrated by Yugoslav anti-aircraft
defense systems. No official information was immediately available
about the consequences of the evening's air strikes.
In Belgrade, meanwhile, air-raid alert sirens sounded at 8:42 p.m.,
after an all-clear had been given at 7:30 a.m. after a whole night on
the alert.
NATO aircraft fired several projectiles at the oil refinery in the Voivodina
capital of Novi Sad at 11 p.m., the city emergency center confirmed in
a statement.
The attack lasted practically half an hour, and, according to unofficial
reports, four projectiles were fired at the oil refinery facilities, after
which a fire broke out. Firefighters rushed to the scene.
Note: all-clear is opposite to alert, to be on the alert, to put (esp.
soldiers, the police) on the alert.
Answer the following questions:
1. Did NATO air strikes hit any military facilities, according to the report?
2. What damage was caused by the strikes?
91
3. How effectively did Yugoslav anti-aircraft defense system work?
4. What time did the NATO aircraft attack their targets?
5. Were there any casualties reported?
2. SHOOTING CIVILIANS
NEW YORK, April 14 - NATO forces «are slowly choking offthe support
lines» for FRY (Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) troops, says Pentagon
spokesman Ren Bacon.
NATO forces are doing that by «attacking lines of communication such
as bridges, railroads and highways and also attacking fuel and other
supplies that are necessary to sustain the troops on the ground». The
allies have also seriously damaged Milosevic's command and control
capability «to degrade his ability to communicate with his troops», he
added. Mr.Bacon said, «We are flying day and night. The intention is
to intensify operations over Kosovo and to have as much coverage 24
hours a day as we possible can. We are already beginning to see
some signs that the choking campaign is beginning to have an impact.
We are getting to the point where we can concentrate more singlemindedly on the forces on the ground».
The Pentagon spokesman expressed regret for the loss of life that
occurred in an April 14 incident in which an allied pilot may have
attacked a civilian vehicle in what he thought was a military convoy.
«The pilot dropped his bomb in good faith», he said. He called the
loss of life associated with the accident «regrettable».
While acknowledging that there has been «some collateral damage»
in terms of civilians killed and damage to buildings, the spokesman
stressed, however, that NATO's air crews «have specific orders not to
attack civilian targets». He emphasized that «Operation Allied Force»
was launched to «save civilian lives, not to expend them.NATO did
not intentionallytarget civilians, he added.
The spokesman asked rhetorically why the NATO pilot was in the
airspace over Kosovo and answered his own question by saying he
and other pilots are risking their lives «to stop human suffering in
Kosovo and to allow these 580,000 refugees to go back home».
«Operation Allied Force» draws on support from 13 NATO nations
which are seeking to halt the repressive acts carried out by Yugoslav
military, special police, and paramilitary units against Kosovar
Albanians. These countries are: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France,
Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, the
United States and the United Kingdom.
Answer the following questions:
1. What is the name of the NATO operation?
2. What is the main objective of the operation?
3. Does the spokesman describe the killing of civilians as incident or accident?
92
4. Why did the NATO pilot drop the bomb on the refugees?
5. What arguments did the spokesman give trying to justify the accident?
6. How many countries support the NATO operation?
VOCABULARY EXERCISES
1. Match these definitions with the key words in the two preceding texts.
1. A flying machine of any type with or without an engine.
2. An attack by military aircraft.
3. A warning to be ready for danger.
4. Means of defending against attacks.
5. A signal that danger is past.
6. A place from which police or army operations are controlled.
7. A self-propelling missile or torpedo shot forward from a gun.
8. To admit the truth, to confess.
9. Done on purpose, deliberately.
10. Unintended civilian casualties and damage to non-military targets.
11. To bring down in quality, to cause to change from a higher to lower kind
of matter.
2. Explain the meaning of these phrases and words according to how they
are used in the preceding texts.
• 1. The district civil defence headquarters. '
2. Eye-witnesses say.
3. The attack was frustrated by anti-aircraft defence system.
4. Air-raid alert sirens sounded.
5. The city emergency centre.
6. NATO forces are slowly choking off the support lines.
7. The air campaign was launched.
8. They decided to concentrate singlemindedly on the forces on the ground.
9. NATO intends to degrade these forces.
10. Non-governmental organizations.
3. Give as many word-combinations as possible by adding verbs to combine
with these nouns.
casualties
damage
campaign
an attack
danger
ceasefire
93
targets
war
accidents
4. Complete these chains of words by adding those
meaning.
target
increase
stop
start
of similar or close in
objective
step up
choke off
set out
5. Combine these adjectives with nouns, translate the cliches into Russian.
civilian
military
human
paramilitary
armored
collateral
bilateral
multilateral
6. Explain the sematic relations within these pairs of words, find examples
of their usage in the preceding texts.
target - to target
alert - to alert
man - to man
risk - to risk
shell - to shell
strike - to strike
7. Complete the following sentences with prepositions.
1. Great damage was caused
the air attack
the oil refinery factory.
2. The air strikes did not cause any danger
chemical poisoning
the
population.
3. Two projectiles were fired the headquarters
11.15 local time.
4. The planes shelled targets
the direction of the local television center.
5. The aircraft defence system was
the alert the whole night.
6. The Security Council passed a resolution calling
the warring parties
a ceasefire.
7. The authorities are accused
forcing civilians to leave the area i .
reasons ethnic origin.
8. The air strikes inflicted heavy losses
civilian population and not
military facilities.
Victims of w a r
escalate
ethnic cleansing
genocide
war-torn
atrocities
relief
relief aid
relief organization
refugee
If war intensifies, it escalates.
A country devastated by war is, in media terms, war-torn.
94
One side may accuse the other of atrocities: for example forcing civilians to
leave an area for reasons of ethnic origin: ethnic cleansing. Or they may accuse
them of the mass killing of civilians for racial or political reasons: genocide.
People fleeing war-zones are refugees, and the help provided to them by
organizations is relief or relief aid. Organizations such as the Red Cross are
relief organizations.
Exercise 23. Read the following extracts and translate them into Russian.
1. Bosnian sources estimate that 50,000 people have so far been killed or are
missing. Atrocities: rape, torture and murder, are unquestionably being
carried out on a large scale.
2. 'Ethnic cleansing', in which people are forced from their homes at gunpoint,
has not stopped.
3. The Khmer Rouge objected to Vietnam's insistence on including the word
'genocide' in reference to the Khmer Rouge's three years in power during
which some two million Cambodians died.
4. ... a flood of refugees from Somalia's escalating civil war.
5. A sharply increasing number of refugees are fleeing political oppression
and economic depression in East Timor.
6. Refugee organizations say the majority of those arriving in Britain and
the rest of Europe are fleeing from genuine persecution and misery in their
war-torn countries. They want more resources to care for the refugees.
7. Britain yesterday pledged a further 18 million in food and relief aid to wartorn Somalia.
8. He is a co-founder of the French relief organization and accustomed to
high-profile missions to trouble spots.
Exercise 24. Read these articles and answer the questions that follow
each text.
1. REFUGEES
BANGKOK, Thailand, June 9 - More than 80,000 refugees have signed
up for repatriation to Cambodia since last month's cease-fire and
agreement on a neutral government.
But another 12,000 refugees still want resettlement in the west.
A representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees said arrangements were already being made for the return
of the refugees to their homes in time for next month's U.N. supervised
elections.
The refugees were the remainder of the nearly 250,000 Cambodians
who fled nearly 18 years of war and starvation in their homeland.
95
After taking first asylum in Thailand, more than 100,000 Cambodians
were resettled in third countries.
But many were never classified as refugees. To discourage the outflow
many were called illegal immigrants and forbidden the chance of
resettlement. They were kept in sprawling camps near the border
waiting for the negotiated settlement that finally came last month.
With U.N. troops gradually disarming the three mutually antagonistic
Cambodian factions, most of those in the camps said they thought it
was now safe to go home.
Most will be sent by bus across border and given sufficient food and
supplies to reach their home villages.
But another 12,000 refugees still seek resettlement.
«Who knows how long the peace will last», said one of those refusing
to go. «I don't want us to become refugees once again.»
Thai officials said it was up to the western governments to decide
what to do with the last refugee remnants.
«Our policy is that they must all leave Thailand by the end of the
month», one official said. «If they are not resettled abroad, then they
must be repatriated, forcibly if necessary.»
Answer the following questions:
1. Where are the refugees from?
2. Where are most of them going?
3. Why did they flee to Thailand?
4. Why are they returning home?
5. Do some refugees fear to go home?
6. Who is making arrangements for the return of the refugees?
7. How many refugees were able to resettle in new homes in third countries?
VOCABULARY EXERCISES
1. Match these definitions with the key words of the preceding text
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
To sent back to one's own country.
To go away, to escape (from the country).
To allow to live in a new place.
A person who enters another country unlawfully.
An agreement to stop fighting.
To get rid of weapons or take them away from somebody.
To discuss attempting to reach an agreement.
96
8. The right to stay in another country after one has left one's own country
for political reasons.
9. Equally active in opposition.
10. A group or party within a larger group, esp. one that makes itself noticed.
11. Favouring no particular side in a contest or dispute.
2. Explain the meaning of the following phrases in English and then
translate them into Russian.
to seek political asylum
to sign up for repatriation
to seek resettlement
' the outflow of refugees
to seek shelter
UN supervised elections
to seek public office
3. Write out from the text the nouns derived from these verbs.Use your
dictionary to check the pronunciation of each noun and verb.
to resettle
to represent.
to supply
to repatriate
to remain
to starve
to settle
to cease
fire
to arrange
2. RECORD NUMBERS SEEKING ASYLUM
LONDON , Oct.26 - Record numbers of refugees are seeking asylum
in Britain, said the Home Office yesterday.
Total asylum seeker numbers this year have already exceeded
applications for the whole of last year. Around 7,300 applications were
received last month compared with 4,455 in the same period last year.
Average monthly applications from July to September were 6,970; a
rise of 60 per cent on last year.
In addition to the asylum figures, Jack Straw, the Home Secretary,
received further bad news when the backlog of immigration and asylum
cases in September rose to 149,000.
At the same time, the number of decisions qn applications fell to 2,680
in September from 3,075 in August. A Home Office spokesman blamed
it on failing staff numbers as temporary summer workers left. The
shadow home secretary said the figures showed a «crisis of the Home
Secretary's making».
The Home Secretary said figures showed the need for Tories to stop
opposing his Asylum and Immigration Bill designed to overhaul the
system and allow faster processing of claims.
The current system takes months, sometimes years, to decide if a
claim is legitimate or is made by an economic migrant.
Mr. Straw has already been forced to water down proposals to deny
asylum seekers all state benefits, giving them only food and clothing
vouchers plus one pound a day for adults and 50p for children.
97
Last week, the House of Lords voted to amend the Bill, rejecting plans
to introduce the vouchers.
Answer the following questions:
1. How much has the number of asylum seekers increased in the last few months
in Britain?
2. What other problems is the Home Office facing in addition to the record
numbers of refugees?
3. How do the authorities try to halt the escalating problem?
VOCABULARY EXERCISES
1. Match these definitions with the key words of the preceding text,
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
A person who changes one's place of living esp. for a limited period.
Things to be done that were not done at the proper time.
To examine thoroughly and perhaps repair if necessary.
Lawful or correct.
A kind of ticket that can be used instead ofmoney for a particular purpose.
To prepare and examine in detail. To put facts and numbers into a
computer for examination.
7. Money provided by the governments as a right, esp, in sickness,
unemployment,etc.
8. To weaken the effect of something.
9. To make changes in the words of a rule or law.
10. To be greater than something can be measured, or necessary.
2. Give cultural commentaries to the text explaining the following.
a) What is the Home Secretary responsible for in Great Britain? What
problems does he deal with?
b) What is shadow home secretary?
c) What ministry is called Home Office in Great Britain?
d) What is a voucher in Great Britain? Does this word have a negative
connotation in Britain? Compare it with the Russians' attitude towards
vouchers.
e) What does the word «bill» mean in this context? Is there any difference
in understanding this word in Britain and the United States?
f) What might be the reason for the record number of refugees in Britain?
98
Ending t h e b l o o d s h e d
bloodshed
end the bloodshed
peace-keeping force
peace-keepers
war-weary
ceasefire
truce
hold
break
During wars there are calls to end the bloodshed, or violence. Military and
civilians tired of a war are war-weary.
Outside governments may try to end a civil war by sending a peace-keeping
force, or peace keepers, who try to stop the fighting, or prevent it from starting
again.
If the sides say they will stop fighting, at least temporarily, they agree to a
ceasefire or a truce. If a ceasefire or truce continues as agreed, it holds. If not,
it is broken, usually with one side accusing the other of having broken it.
Exercise 25. Read the following extracts and translate them into Russian.
1. Everyone accepts the need for negotiations, to break the deadlock and try to
end the bloodshed. In this, one of the world's worst examples of
intercornmunal violence, more than 3,000 people, Protestants and Catholics,
have been killed.
2. People are very increasingly war-weary and disgusted and angry, but it is
very hard for them to give expression to this in sectors where there is very
strong intimidation and fear.
3. Over the past few weeks the peace-keeping force has been doing a good
enough job that people feel safe to go back out on the streets and so there
are markets everywhere.
4. Yesterday the Security Council passed a resolution warning all warring
parties that they must abide by the latest ceasefire before peace-keepers
can be sent.
5. The government and its three guerrilla rivals unexpectedly agreed to a
ceasefire. The truce held.
6. There were reports of fresh outbreaks of fighting in Rwanda, with the
government accusing rebels of breaking the ceasefire agreement.
Exercise 26. Read this article from The Economist written just after the
beginning of the war in ex-Yugoslavia, and answer the
questions that follow the text.
99
The Limits to Intervention
In divided Europe, America and Russia would never have let a war
like Yugoslavia's start, let alone rage this far. Now that the cold war is
over, it is up to the Europeans themselves to do what they can to stop
the fighting their fellows have been foolish enough to start.
They have four means at their disposal: talks, sanctions, peacekeeping
and armed intervention. With Yugoslavia, the last is foolhardy and
none of the others is foolproof.
Talk has so far got nowhere. So long as the Serbs and Croats showed
a minimum of good faith, the Europeans did what they can to keep
them at the bargaining table. After months of fruitless negotiations
and countless broken ceasefires, European patience has'worn thin.
The EC, having imposed economic sanctions, is how asking the United
Nations to add oil to its embargo on arms sales to Yugoslavia.
Sanctions alone are unlikely to end the killipg. Neither Serbia's nor
Croatia's leaders seem unduly troubled by the economic wreckage
the war is causing.
There have been proposals for a UN or EC peacekeeping force.
Especially in Europe, which has forgotten what bitter civil wars are
like, peacekeeping can have a reassuring, almost magical sound. But
there is no point in sending peacekeepers, where there is no peace to
keep without a durable truce, peacekeepers, even arrried ones',' are
simply targets.
Questions
1. Is foolish behaviour un
able?
2. Does foolhardy mean foolish or hard to fool?
3. If something is foolproof, is it certain to work?
4. If your patience wears thin, are you willing to wait much longer?
5. Does economic wreckage mean economic dest
6. Does a durable trace last long?
ь
_ J?
7. Are targets shot at?
Exercise 27. Read the article and answer the questions that follow the
text
Peacekeepers landing
DILI, East Timor, Sept.21 - With all the firepower and high technology
of modern war, the vanguard of an international peacekeeping force
staked its claim Monday to this silent and broken town, watched warily
by clusters of refugees, sullen Indonesian troops and small, angry
groups of irregular militia.
There was no resistance but no welcome. There was no peace to
keep; this tiny capital of East Tirnor was a dead city: burned, looted
and evacuated.
100
Through the hot, still day, as dogs barked in the empty streets and the
leaves of banana trees rustled quietly, about 2,000 Australian and
British soldiers deployed through the,city with their heavy packs and
weaponry.
As the sun went down, 1h a sort of welcome to the Invited but
unwelcome guests, three large fires were set in villages near the airport,
their black smoke and bright orange flames filling the sky.
The sound of a departing troop-transport plane mingled with the
popping sound of burning buildings.
«I believe they are testing us», said an Australian trooper, adjusting
his night-vision goggles as he stood beside an armored vehicle,
watching the flames.
Fires have been burning in Dili since the terror here began the day the
United Nations announced that the East Timorese people had voted
nearly 4-to-1 for independence from Indonesia, which had invaded
and occupied the former Portuguese colony in 1975.
Since then, thousands of people have been reported killed and
hundreds of thousands forced to flee their homes by civilian militias
that have been armed, supported and sometimes manned by the
Indonesian military.
The commander of the multinational force - which is to include 8,000
troops from a dozen countries - praised the cooperation of the
Indonesian military Monday and said the initial deployment of troops
had proceeded smoothly.
He said that once the capital had been secured his troops would begin
moving through the territory - where 800,000 people had lived before
the recent terror - neutralizing any opposition and providing support
for a huge aid operation. He said the first day had gone «very
smoothly».
Answer the following questions:
1. Where did the peacekeepers land?
2. What is the aim of their operation?
3. How were they met in the capital of the country?
4. How many troops are to be deployed in East Timor?
5. What was the cause of the fighting and terror in East Timor?
VOCABULARY EXERCISES
1. Match these definitions with the key words of the preceding text.
1. A body of men not belonging to a regular army but trained as soldiers to
serve only in their own home country.
2. Taking away things, valuable objects unlawfully by thieves or soldiers
after defeating an enemy.
101
3. Д spjdier of the lowest rank in the armed regiment.
4. To attack and take control of a country or a city.
5. To cause to have no effect, to destroy thevactivity of smb. or sitfth.
6. To state that smth is one's by right, to make claims.
7. To provide with men for operation
8. To oppose, fight against, refuse to yield.
9. The main or greater part.
10. Support, help.
11. The leading part of an army on any kind of advancement.
12. A number of things, or being close together in a group.
2. Analyse the derivational pattern of these words( the way they are built)
and explain their meaning.
neutralize resistance deployment multinational claim to loot
3. Explain the meaning of these phrases and words according to how they
are used in the preceding text.
1. They staked a claim to the land.
2. There were groups of irregular militia.
3. The city was looted.
4. They voted nearly 4-to-l for independence.
5. The initial deployment of multinational forces.
6. Once the capital had been secured, the troops began moving through the
territory.
7. Troop-transport planes.
8. Night-vision glasses
9. Armored vehicles.
10. Aid operation.
The p e a c e p r o c e s s
arbitrator
arbitrate
envoy
shuttle diplomacy
mediator
mediate
reconciliation
peace talks
102
A dispute may be resolved more easily with the help of someone not directly
involved m it.
A mediator or arbitrator is someone from a third party who helps opposing
parties settle their differences and reach an agreement by mediating or
arbitrating in the dispute. This process is reconciliation.
An envoy is a representative sent by one of the parties, or a mediator sent by a
third party, who travels specially in order to take part in negotiations.
Shuttle diplomacy involves a mediator visiting and re-visiting a number of
places in a short period to mediate between the parties involved.
Discussions between parties trying to reach a peace settlement are referred to
as peace talks or a peace conference.
Exercise 28. Read the following extracts and translate them into Russian.
1. India says Kashmir is an internal Indian problem which doesn't require
mediation by anyone else.
2. They have chosen their words with great care to describe America's role in
the Middle East peacemaking effort. Not 'arbitration', which would mean
dictating an outcome; not 'mediator', which Would imply it could suggest
a solution.
3. The four pillars of her government, she said, would be national
reconciliation, economic regeneration, social justice and the consolidation
of democracy. But the first task, she said, was to end the war.
4. Mj.Primakov, who arrived in Bagdad on Saturday from Cairo, was to leave
today for Riyadh on the next leg of his exercise in shuttle diplomacy.
5. The United Nations Secretary General's envoy will mediate between the
two sides in an attempt to settle El Salvador's ten-year conflict.
6. The African state of Liberia says it will not continue peace talks, describing
them as a waste of time. The absence of a peace process contributes to the
spiralling violence in the region.
7. The agreement is scheduled to be formally signed at a peace convention on
September 14th once remaining differences have been resolved.
8- A draft resolution also proposes a meeting of parties to the Fourth Geneva
Convention on protecting civilians in time of war.
103
2. READING OPINION STORIES
Exercise 1. Read the first part of the opinion column published in The
Wall Street Journal on the eve of the Gulf War, Get ready to
answer the following questions:
1. What kind of war can be justified according to the "just war theory"?
2. What is the author's attitude to the "just war theory"?
Just War and This War
By Richard John Neuhaus
President Bush, in a vigorous defense of the Persian Gulf conflict, said Sunday
that it is «a just war.»
Probably no commander has fought a war without declaring his cause to be
just. But how is the course ofjustice to be determined? Is ii just, is it right, is it
wise to use military force against Iraq? In the great and confusedly democratic
deliberation that led up to this moment, however, significant sectors of America's
religious leadership contributed little.
That is both odd and disappointing, for Western thought about the ethics of war
and peace*is determinately shaped by Christian teaching. In |ha,t teaching, there
is a respected place for pacifism, the absolute rejection of force in all
circumstances. The dominant Christian tradition, however, is that of the just
war or, mote precisely, the justified war.
Just-war theory was formulated by Augustine, refined by Thomas Aquinas and
Francisco de Vitoria, and developed in more or less its present form by Hugo
Grotius (1583-1645), who is often called the father of international law. Skeptics
claim that Just-war theory is useless because'it has not stopped Wars. But that is
like saying the Ten Commandments should be discarded because they have not
eliminated thejft, lying and adultery. The presumption of just-war theory is against
the use of military force. The theory erects an obstacle course of moral testings
aimed at preventing the unjust resbrt'to war.
Seven Criteria
In the great moral debate leading up to our action in the Gulf, these testings
were very much in play. Democratic leaders in the U.S. Congress, for example,
argued the criterion of «last resort» in their contention that sanctions had not
been given enough time to work, In addition to last resort, there are six other
criteria that must be met if war is to be morally justified:
• The cause itself must be just, aimed at deterring or repelling aggression,
or righting a grievous wrong.
104
•
•
•
•
The warmusf be undertaken by legitimate authority.
There must be a right intention, such as defending against great injury.
There must be probability of success in achieving the purpose.
There must be proportionality of both goals and means: Goals must be
commensurate with the probable costs of war, and the means employed
must be commensurate with the goals.
• Discrimination must be exercised so that, as much as possible, the
immunity of noncombatants is respected.,
A careful reading of President Bush's.^address to the nation of Jam 16 reveals,
that he explicitly addressed all seven criteria of a justified war. There was some
ambiguity only on the question of discrimination. On the other hand,, Defense
Secretary Richard Cheney has, stated that the U.S. would not target oivilian
populations and Monday,,in a speech to religious broadcasters, the president
addressed the question of the morality of the war and said the coalition was
iqaking «every effort possible>^to spare, civilian casualties.
Note, that some of the criteria (e.g. last,resort, probability of success,
proportionate means) depend upon prudential judgments. That is, people may
agree од the,, principles while disagreeing on the circumstances, and,
contingencies. With respect to just war, it is npt a matter of theory vs. practice.
The very theory itself requires that people accept" moral responsibility for what
are ordinarily described as «judgment calls».
Exercise 2. Read the following column and decide what the columnist's
position is. Analyze the lexical and syntactical means used
by the writer to express his point of view and to make it
stronger. Answer the questions.
Who's lin Charge Here?
Art Buckwald
New York - I'm not as disturbe4 as most Americans are that George W, Bush
did not know in a quiz who is in charge of Pakistan , India and Chechnya.
While most of us learned this in public school, Bush was just out driving around
and having a good time.
But there is nothing in the US Constitution that says the president has to know
who the leaders of those three countries are. The reason is that presidential
ignorance is not as big a problem аь some people think. If you become president,
you can hire people to tell you the names of the leaders of any country in the
world.
Do you think President Bill Clinton knows who is in charge of Chechnya? Not
by a long shot. It doesn't matter. He is only a telephone call away from his
105
Secretary of State, Madleine Albright, who has the names of every head of state
on her Rolodex,
Some think that Bush had prepared himself for a interview on a Boston television
show by learning the leaders of Uganda, Tanzania and Yemen. He had their
names written on the cuff of his shirt, but he was thrown a curve by the Pakistan
and India questions.
* **
It is true that Pakistan and India are constantly changing1 governments, and
even people who appear on the TV show "Jeopardy" can't keep them straight.
In Pakistan the rule of thumb is that as soon as you make general^ you can take
over the country.
Now Governor Bush has to live with his ignorance during the entire campaign.
To make' things fairer I propose that anyone running for president bnly be
required to know the names of three prime ministers - of countries of his
choosing. While most would choose Great Britain, France and Monaco, trie
candidates who know the big shots from the Third World nations would be
cunsidered by the electorate to be much more qualified to run our foreign affairs.
Politics is a dirty business, and you have no idea what you are going to be asked
when you go on television. If you blow it, the press, which has nothing better to
d6,' will jump on you.
* **
Notknowing the leader of Chechnya is unforgivable, and yet 40 percent of our
fourth-graders are just as ignorant. What Bush has to do is rewrite his briefing
book.
When an interviewer asks, "Who is the president of Ireland?" his response
would be, "I can't tell you that, but I can tell you who the leader of Taiwan is.
It's Lee Teng-hui."
"You have just won $200. Would you like to go for $1,000 ?"
"Yes, I'll try education."
"^iow do you feel about prayer in school?"
"Lee Teng-hui."
"Now one more question. If elected, who would you appoint as chairman of the
Federal Reserve?"
"Lee Teng-hui."
In conclusion, every presidential candidate has an Achilles heel. Bush can get
his Chechnya indiscretion behind him only if he asks the American people's
forgiveness.
The International Harold, Tribune
106
Question?:
1. What does the columnist make fun of?
• the fact that most Americans, including the President, are internationally
naive;
• the. volatile and unstable situation in some parts of the world;
• some politicians' ignorance and.heavy reliance on their advisers and
assistants,
2. Prove your point of vjew.
Exercise 3. Read the following editorial.
Note that an editorial is an expression of the opinion of the editors of the
newspaper. Most editorials contain:
1. An introduction of the topic that identifies the problem being discussed
and gives the reader some background about the subject.
2. Alternative solutions to the problem that the editorial does not agree
with.
3. Evidence supporting the conclusion favored by the writer.
4. A clear expression of the editorial opinion, often with a suggestion
of what action should be taken.
After reading, answer the questions:
1. What problem is being discussed?
2. What editorial opinion is being expressed?
WAS RUSSIA LOST?
IN THE year or so following Russia's financial crash of August 1998, the only
compensation for the country's desperate economic state was that democracy
showed no sign of faltering. These days the opposite is true. Russia's ex-KGB
president, Vladimir Putin, is moving to rein in elected regional officials and lirnijt
press freedom. B,ut on the economic front, there is better news. The gross national
product grew by 3.2 percent last year and is now growing at an annual rate of
about 8 percent.
This news raises a question about the quality of Western economic advice to
Russia, In the lead up to devaluation, economists from the Treasury and the
International Monetary Fund predicted that it would bring all manner of disasters - soaring inflation, capital flight, budget chaos and a return to Soviet-era
economic policies. When the ruble crashed, these advisers were duly faced with
furious questions about who lost Russia. Now that Russia's economy is sailing
a
b n g , a different question may be posed: Why did the economists resist
devaluation in the first place?
107
With hindsight, Western advisers did exaggerate devaluation's bad consequences.
Inflation spiked up after the devaluation as imports grew suddenly more expensive, but prices are now rising at a less tjian disastrous 19 percent a year. Capital
is indeed fleeing the country, but more slowly than it did before devaluation.
The budget has actually grown healthier, though admittedly for the bad reason
that Russia stopped servicing its debt when it devalued. As to econdmib policy,
the Putin government has announced a pro-market reform prtigfarn. r
Meanwhile devaluation has allowed Russian industry to compete with newly
expensive foreign imports, so factories that had all but closed down are now
bustling.
All of this will delight congressional critics of the IMF and the administration.
And yet the critics should beware: Even though Russia's economy is doing much
better, devaluation was probably bad for it and certainly is no miracle remedy
for other emerging economies. Devaluation brought a jump in import prices
that cut the real incomes of ordinary Russians and caused widespread hardship.
The simultaneous debt default drove a large number of banks under and has
damaged Russia's ability to borrow. The recent economic expansion is only partly
a tribute to the industrial boost caused by devaluation. It is also the result of
rising oil prices, and must in any case be weighed against the collapse that came
immediately after the devaluation.
At any given time, a country can boost industrial competitiveness by slashing
the real wages of its workers, which is what devaluation amounts to. This makes
sense where wages are too high compared with other countries with similar levels
of productivity. But where wages are already competitive, as was the case in
Russia, devaluation is not usually a good road to development. Over time, wages
are likely to be inflated back up to their pre-devaluation levels, so the gains in
competitiveness will be eroded. Meanwhile, the inflation will undermine
economic confidence, discouraging savings and investment.
Rather than go for the short-term boost of devaluation, therefore, it is neatly
always better to strengthen the economy by other methods. Both before the
devaluation and recently, Western advisers have been urging Russia to improve*
its tax collection, restructure its energy sector and undertake other hard reforms.
This advice was a sound alternative to devaluation two years ago. It remains a
sound way to reinforce the recent upbeat economic news from Russia.
The Washington Post
Exercise 4. Read some editorials in an English language newspaper. For
each one, try to answer these questions:
1. What is the problem the editorial discusses?
2. What does the editorial writer suggest doing about the problem?
108
UNIT 4
Business
1. KEYWORDS
Shares and the stock m a r k e t
shares
stocks
stock exchange
stock market
listed
quoted
brokers
dealers
traders
invest
investment
investors
shareholders
Company shares are listed or quotedtinthe stock market or stock exchange.
Shares are also called stocks.
Tracers, dealers and brokers buy and sell shares on behalf of shareholders,
the investors who invest intiiemor make investments in them.
Exercise 1. Read the following sentences and translate them into
Russian.
1. Despite the nervousness in shares, dealers feel the British Telecom offer
will be a success.
2. The Eighties saw an unprecedented rise in the number of healthcare
companies listed on the world's stock exchanges.
3«ii Investors were once again subjected to another volatile day.
4. Pensioners have challenged the fund's investments, which they claim are
'unorthodox'.
5. It will not be wise to invest all your'eggs in' one basket.
6. individual investors account for 42 per cent of brokers' revenue.
7. City traders are still worried by the economic situation.
8. Christmas week is notorious for company announcements and shareholders'
meetings that can no longer be put off.
bonds
commodities
currencies
foreign exchange
play the stock market
109
Other things traded in financial centers such as Wall Street (in New York) and
the City (the financial district of London) include commodities (like cereals
and precious metals), currencies (like dollars, pounds and francs) on the foreign
exchange markets and bonds (investment certificates with a fixed rate of
interest).
Someone who plays the stock market is usually a private individual who tries
to make money by buying and selling shares, often as much for amusement as
for serious investment.
Exercise 2. Read the following sentences and translate them into
Russian.
1. Panic selling across the Atlantic came hours after the City had shut down
for the weekend just as in 1987, when the hurricane that swept Britajn sent
traders home before the Wall Street collapse.
2. After oil and corn, sugar must rank as one of the most political of all
commodities.
3. The near-panic conditions on the foreign exchange markets on Friday have
made restoring calm over currencies a priority.
4. The bond market, initially cautious, has now reacted enthusiastically.
p. The reclusive woman built up her fortune by cannily playing the stock
market with cash she had inherited from her father.
Exercise 3. Complete the following sentences with key words from this
section.
1. Elsewhere in Europe, German, French and Italian _u
also
closed lower.
2. Here, if a businessman started suggesting to his
read poetry, everyone would rush out and sell his shares.
r_ that he
3. If those who make the big i
H decisions are right, (he outlook
for _h
on the stock market is particularly gloomy.
4. On Wall Street s
closed higher today. The Dow-Jones gained more
than 29 points to close at 2918.6.
5. Tea is one of India's major export
d
6. The dollar was also strong against other major с
Tokyo market.
7. He was someone who _1
the
к _ _r
for that.
110
.
on the
and needed money
Market movements
Going up, going up by small and moderate amounts
advance
increase
rise
edge up
edge higher
climb (higher)
leap
roar ahead
roar up
shoot up
skyrocket
«oar
These key words are used to talk about prices going up. They do not in themselves
indicate by how much the prices have gone up.
Exercise 4. Read the following sentences and translate them into
Russian
1. The price of the company's shares increased by 2.5 per cent in London; on
Wall Street, by 6 per cent.
2. The Dow,-Jones index of all first-section shares rose 10 points as winners
outpaced losers better than 3:2.
3. Blue Chips (the safest share investments in leading companies), especially
Microsoft, edged higher in late trading.
4. The shares edged up 2p to 145p. Hang on to them if you have any.
5. The company's performance has seen its shares climb throughout the year
from 168p to 894p, a gain of 432 per cent.
6. British Steel's share price leapt 34.2 per cent this week to 64 p.
7. Banks, builders, stores, insurance, food and leisure stocks roared ahead.
8. Wells Fargo's shares shot up when the rest of the market slumped.
9. The Nikkei average of 225 Japanese shares skyrocketed 2676 points
overnight.
10. In the City shares soared to their highest level in a month.
Going down by a small or moderate amount, or by a large amount
decline dip
plunge
crash
edge down dive
drop
slide drift (lower) edge lower nosedive plummet collapse
fall
crumble
tumble
slip (lower)
slump ,
These words are used to talk ab6ut prices going down by a small or moderate
amount, by large amounts or fall very quickly.*
Ill
Exercise 5. Read the following sentences and translate them into
Russian.
1. The Dow-Jones index of all first-section shares declined more than 40 points
on 680 million shares.
2. Japariese shares dropped to their lowest level in three months in Tokyo.
,3. As Germany's inflation rate rises and its economy slows, share prices will
fall again.
4. Shares slid in a show ofinvestor disappointment over the outcome ofFrance's
referendum.
5. Sainsbury, Britain's largest food retailer, dipped 6p to 348 p in spite of a
better than expected advance in full-year profit.
6. A 30-point rise overnight in New York helped the company initially, but
share prices in London drifted lower.
7. Oil prices could probably edge down from their recent $ 28-odd a barrel.
8. Shares in New York slipped lower near the end of thin trading.
9. Share prices nosedived 5 per cent in just two hours.
10*. It would be impossible for the New York market to repeat its performance
during the 1987 market crash when it plunged 508 points in a few hours.
11. In orie spectacular fall in February, the shares plummeted by more'flian a
third.
12. Figures today are expected to show pre-lax profits tumbling from' $226
million to $ 110 million.
131CH Industrials Group, the former stock market highrfiier crashed in March.
14. Borland shares collapsed recently when a legal battle erupted between
Borland and Lotus, which claimed its product had been copied,,
15. When investors concluded that the Retrovir drug was not going to make a
lot of money, the firm's shares slumped.
Exercise 6. Choose the correct alternative for each sentence.
1. Although best levels were not held, shares
.
declined
plummeted
advanced
2. The pound
against the dollar, to close up 15 cents at $ 1.68.
dived
fell
edged higher
3. Sainsbury's share prices have
relative to its sector, underlining
its position as the ultimate defensive stock in times of trouble.
shot up
fallen
declined
112
4. The FT share index
below 2,100 points yesterday but an
afternoon rally left it just above 2,100, at 2,100.4 down 1.8.
drifted rose • rocketed
5. Pre-tax profits have collapsed from $4.57 million in 1989 to just $250,000
in the last financial year. Not surprisingly the shares have
.
risen dived edged higher
6. In London the dollar
by a tiny margin at the outset.
edged up rocketed
shot up
1. NHL shares have
from
157p to 16p after the collapse of the
Bank of Credit and Commerce International.
crashed slid
risen
8. The US dollar fell and Japanese shares
to their lowest level in>
three months in Tokyo trading today.
leapt dropped
rose
Boom, recession a n d depression
turn down ' weaken
depression
pick up
recession
downturn
Depression
slowdown
turn
up
slump
growth
recover
pick-up
slow down
boom
recovery
upturn
A boom on the stock market, with share .prices reaching record levels, may or,
may not reflect what is happening in the economy. An economic boom with
high economic growth (increasing demand and production), is ineyjtably
followed by a slowdown or a downturn (periods of slower growth), when the
economy weakens.
A slowdown may be the first sign of a recession: a period with little growth or
even negative growth. During a recession, there is a slump in many kinds of
economic activity and everyone waits for the economy to start expanding quickly
a
gain, impatiently looking for signs of a recovery or an upturn: signs that the
economy is picking up or turning up and that things are getting better.
Commentators then talk about a pick-up in the economy.
When a recession is extremely severe and prolonged, commentators talk about
depression. The Depression, with a capital D, usually refers to the years
following the Wall Street crash of 1929.
Exercise 7. Read the following sentences and translate them into
Russian.
1- There is a boom atmosphere. If it continues, share prices could well rise
farther this year.
113
2. Fears that the economy is heading into a fresh downturn will grow with
new figures today showing a nosedive in Consumer confidence.
3. Interest rate increases have undermined confidence again over the past two
months, raising the possibility that the economy might even turn down
again in the autumn.
4. As the German economy weakens, it will he forced to cut its interest rates.
5. Although Japan is likely to avoid a recession, the dramatic slowdown has
reduced growth to very low levels by Tokyo standards.
6. Indicators supporting recovery were outnumbered 2 to 1 by data suggesting
continued recession.
7. Large percentage increases in unemployment were associated with housebuying slumps.
8. Perhaps investment is really much stronger than industrialists are admitting,
and economic growth will now pick up very strongly.
9. With a pick-up in the economy likely to be hesitant in the months ahead,
we are likely to see a continued rising trend in business failures.
10. Bond traders concluded the economy is turning up.
11. The government is convinced that Britain is emerging from the recession
and will see an economic upturn, possibly as soon as the autumn.
12. America is'a straight-talking country-where a recession is still called a
recession. Unless it is a depression.
13. "We have nothing' to fear but fear itself, said Franklin D Roosevelt when
he took over the management of the Great Depression in 1932.
Exercise 8. Below are four extracts about growth and recession, each
divided into two parts. Match the two parts of each extract.
1. Two surveys have indicated that Britain is headed for an economic slump
next year. They refer to a slowdown in orders and the prospect of rising
"Unemployment.
2. At last some people are waking to the reality that British manufacturing
industry has been so weakened by the last two recessions that it is simply
unable to take advantage of any upturn in the economy.
3. One of the surveys, by the Confederation of British Industry has forecast a
possible recession; the Association of British Chambers of Commerce says
there has been a steep decline in business confidence.
4. South Koreans believe their country faces an economic crisis. The rate of
growth last year was 6.5 per cent, but South Koreans prefer to think of the
114
5.
6.
7.
8.
double digit growth of the last three years as the norm. And the prophets of
doom point to other figures.
The US Treasury Secretary, Mr. Nicholas Brady, has acknowledged that the
United States economy is facing what he called a significant slowdown.
These figures indicate a slump in one of the world's most successful
economies.
This was likely to continue into the first quarter of next year, he said, but he
predicted that economic growth, job and investment would pick up again
later in the year.
As,a.ujiion, with many members in manufacturing we are making every
effort to raise the debate on this subject
People in business
mogul
magnate
entrepreneur
tycoon
whizz-kid
yuppie
Business leaders may be tycoons, magnates or moguls: rich and successful
people with power and influence who head organizations. These words are
often used in combinations like property tycoon, media magnate or publishing
mdgul.
Hoping to join these business leaders, perhaps, are the entrepreneurs who
start upri'ewbusinesses and whizz-kids, people with talent, perhaps a talent to
move up in an organization quickly.
Yuppies are young middle-class professional people who like to be seen
spending money, although they are less visible now than in the boom years of
the 1980s, when the word was invented.
Exercise 9. Complete each extract with the most appropriate of these
words.
a. entrepreneurs
c. tycoon
b. magnate
d. yuppie
e. whizz-kids
1- Caesars traditionally attracts a gold-chained clientele, the kind of wealthy
who lay $100,000 on the turn of one card.
2- Even when smoking one of his favourite Havana cigars, Benedetti seems a
most untycoonish
.
3. Now they are an endangered species, the bold
era are the biggest losers of the Nineties recession.
115
of.the Thatcher
4. ...Silvio Berlusconi, the Kalian television and publishing
owner of AC Milan.
and
5. The absence of a fast-track for
explains why Japanese
companies find it hard to keep the growing minority of 25-year-olds who
have MBAs from western business schools.
6. The myth of the
- the Young Urban Professional - was born in
the United States in the early 1980s.
Scandals and wrongdoings
1. creative accounting a. Making or faking false documents, banknotes
or artworks.
2. bribery
b. Illegally giving someone money so that
he/she acts in your favour.
3. embezzlement
с Accounting that is only just legal or may be
illegal.
4. forgery
d. Any illegal money-making activity.
5. fraud or racket
e. Fixing the price of something illegally.
6. insider dealing
f. Illegally taking money from the organization
you work for.
7. market rigging
g- Disguising the criminal origin of money such
as drug money.
8. money laundering
h. Using knowledge gained illegally to buy and
sell shares'profitably.
Exercise 10. Read the following examples and then match each type of
wrongdoing to its definition. Give Russian equivalents for
the key words.
1. Asil Nadir is accused of perpetrating "the biggest fraud in English
commercial history". A new case for the Serious Fraud Office.
2. Another scandal. The London Stock Exchange is investigating several cases
of suspected insider dealing in stocks that moved sharply ahead of company
announcements.
3. "This bank would bribe God", admits one employee. It soon becomes clear
that BCCI, already famous as the bank used by drug barons to launder their
money, has taken creative accounting to new heights.
116
4. There has been growing concern about possible market rigging, the
allegations having arisen because of unexplained price surges during August
and September. There have been complaints from electricity users who ask
why prices did not fall during the summer when demand is at its lowest.
5. Alan Rosental has been charged with 11 counts of conspiracy, fraud and
embezzlement. Investigators allege that Mr. Rosental, conspired to create
$1.6 million of false tax losses for David Solomon, a money manager.
2. READING NEWS STORIES
Understanding Headlines
There are* some features of English newspaper headlines which are important
to know if you want to understand a story well.
1. Headlines are not always complete sentences
THE CHARGE OF THE LORDS
2. Articles and the verb TO BE are often left out
WAR CRIMES CHIEF CRITICAL OF INACTION
(The president of the tribunal examining war crimes - The war crimes chiefis critical of the inaction of the Security Council)
3. The conjunction AND is often replaced by a comma
US, ITALY DOMINATE
(The US team and Italy's team dominated the races)
4. Newspaper headlines have a special tense system:
- Headlines are almost always in the present though they may refer the
action to the past. The headline EARTHQUAKE ROCKS TURKEY
actually means "Earthquake rocked (or: has rocked) Turkey". TOP
'OLIGARCH' PLAYS DOWN BANK SCANDAL (has played or:
played down)
- If the action announced in the headline is still in progress you will see
the -ingform. PRESIDENT VISITING PARIS means "The President
is visiting Paris".
- If the headline announces a future action or event you are likely to see
the infinitive with the particle "to", e.g. QUEEN TO VISIT CANADA
means "The Queen is going to visit Canada"
- Sometimes headlines seem to be in the past tense while they are actually
present tense, passive voice, e.g. MONEY LAUNDERING NOT
PROVED (has not been proved), or: CAMPAIGN TO SAVE
'RAINFORESTS' OF BRITAIN LAUNCHED (is launched)
117
Exercise 1. Add the missing words to the following headlines.
1. War Games Planned
2. Cars, School Targets of New SaVe-oil Plan
3. Woman Kite Husband, Self
4. Nurses to Take Over Doctors' Role
5. New Round of Mideast Talks Begins
6. Iran Editor on Trial
7. Japanese Nuclear Worry: Quakes
8. The Patience to Foster Democracy
9. A Compassionate Idealist Sought to Help Humanity
Straight headlines are the most common and the easiest to understand. They
simply tell you the main topic of the story..
Camdessus is quitting as director of the IMF
Headlines that ask a question are used when:
a) The headline reports a future possibility.
Oil Price To Rise?
New Cabinet Today?
b) There is some doubt about the truth or accuracy of the story.
Police Allowed Jailbreak?
Admiral Too Friendly to China?
Senator Blocks Confirmation as Envoy
Headlines that contain a quotation
Bush Calls for 'Moral Education'
"We Owe Our Lives to Our Pilot"
Gore Backs Off on Health Care, Bradley Says
Quotation mark can be used for more than just indicating a direct quote. They
are used to tell you that a word is being used outside its normal meaning. For
example:
NORWEGIAN 'INVASION'
You would expect this headline to introduce a war story, but it was actually
about 800 Norwegians who were on a shopping trip to Scotland. The word
'invasion' was used in an unusual sense and was therefore put in quotation
marks.
One of the functions of headlines is to catch the reader's interest an(J.the writers
often use idioms or puns to create second meanings. It is often necessary to
read the story to understand the headline.
'Down in the Mouth' News for Dentists
The Man Who Reigns over UK's Queen
118
The first story was about a possible vaccine for tooth decay. This would be bad
news for dentists because people would have less need of their services. The
second headline made clever upe of the word "reign" which means "to rule"
and it is used with kings and queens. Normally a queen would "reign" over the
marj,t>ut in this story the man is the captain of the British ship, the Queen Mary.
Exercise 2. Look through the following headlines where puns have
created second meanings. Can you explain what the news
stories are probably about and what other interpretations
might be?
Iraqi Head Seeks Arms
Caribbean Islands Drift to Left
Traffic Dead Rise Slowly
Wall's Fall Caught Everyone Off Guard
English newspaper headlines use a-very special vocabulary. Here is a list to
give you some examples:
Word
Accord
Axe
Back
Bid
Common headline
meaning
agreement
to dismiss'
to support
Blaze
Claim
attempt
fire
to declare to be true
Claim
Clash
to kill
to fight
Cool
Curb
uninterested, unfriendly
limit, control
Example
ACCORD POSSIBLE TODAY
GOVERNOR TO AXE AIDE? ,
ALGERIA BACKS DECISION
TO IGNORE DOLLAR
BID TO OPEN BORDER
BLAZE DESTROYS FACTORY
MAN CLAIMS GHOST
SIGHTING
Deadlock disagreement that cannot
be settled
Ease
to reduce, loosen
Feud
dispute
BOMBS CLAIM 40
MAYOR CLASHES WITH
CITY COUNCIL
HANOI COOL TO AID OFFER
SUNDAY DRIVING CURBS
PLANNED
JURY DEADLOCK IN KIDNAP
TRIAL
RWANDA EASES MARTIAL
LAW
BORDER FEUD DANGER TO
REGIONAL PEACE
И9
Word
Halt
Common headline
meaning
stop short
Example
CNN WARNING HALTED A
NATO MISSION
Head off to prevent
PRESIDENT HEADS OFF RAIL
STRIKE
Lash out criticize strongly
RUSSIA LASHES OUT AT
NATO ENLARGEMENT
Loom
expected in the near future TREATY DISPUTE LOOMING
Loot
stolen money or goods
POLICE RECOVER LOOT
Loot
unlawful taking away
RIOTERS LOOT STORES
valuable things
Plea
deeply felt request, a
GUILTY PLEAS EXPECTED
statement in court
indicating guilt
promise
Pledge
UNION PLEDGES SUPPORT
Poised
ready for action
WORKERS POISED TO
STRIKE
to cause
Prompt
COURT DECISION PROMPTS ,
ANGER
Rule
decide (esp. in court)
COURT RULES TODAY IN
CORRUPTION CASE
Rule out not tp consider as a
IRA RULES OUT TALKS
possibility
Slay
to kill or murder
2 SLAIN IN FAMILY ROW
Snub
to pay no attention to
PROTESTANTS SNUB ULSTER
PEACE BID
Soar
to rise rapidly
INFLATION RATE SOARS
Stalemate a disagreement that cannot NEW BID TO BREAK
ю settled
HOSTAGE STALEMATE
Stance
attitude, way of thinking
NEW STANCE TOWARD
POWER CUTS
Stern
to prevent, stop
RAINY SEASON STEMS
REFUGEE EXIT
Sway
to influence or persuade
PRESIDENT FAILS TO SWAY
UNION-STRIKE SET
Trim
to cut
SENATE TRIMS BUDGET
_
Trigger
to. cause
KILLING TRIGGERS RIOT __
Void
to determine to be invalid VOTING LAW VOIDED BY
COURT
__
120
Exercise 3. Read each headline in the left column and decide what kind
of story it introduces. Match the headline with the most
suitable story category in the right column.
1. Old Feud Flares Anew
2. Mob Leader Slain
3. Shri Lanka Peace Bid
4. Japan Pledges Refugee Aid
5. Boxer Pleads Innocent
6. Politician Claim Ragamuffin Incomes
7. Stock Market Soars 6.19%
8. Oil Prices Rise As OPEC Says Curb Will Stay
9. Halt Bombing1, A Duma Leader Urges Moscow
10. Efforts to Boost Property Investment in Europe
11. Accords on Norway's Budget
12. Russia's Tough Stance Alarms Washington
13. Russia Heads Off Toward Solution of Its Own
a. prevent
b. emotional request
с murder
d. attitude.
e. stop short
f. declare to be true
g:'control
h. rise rapidly
i. increase in number
j . agreement
k, promise
1. dispute
m.attempt
Exercise 4. Look through some English language newspapers and find
examples of different types of headlines mentioned in this
chapter.
Exercise 5. Read these articles and answer the questions that follow
each text.
1. BUDGET
LONDON, June 14 - The hew'Conservative Party government has
proposed a tough annual budget designed to spureconomic recovery
with large income tax cuts and tight monetary control,
The chancellor of the exchequer, Sir Howard Geoffrey, said cuts in
personal income taxes would be balanced by increases in sales taxes
and other indirect taxes.
He said, «A tighter money supply w/ill help curb inflation».
The government will depend on a resurgence in the private sectorto
lead the economic upturn, he said.
The budget provides for the sale of nationalized industries and sharp
culs in government spending to free fundsior private investment.
The overall effect of the budgetary measures will be to «strengthen
incentives, encourage the expansion of private industry, and reduce
the government roie in the economy». Sir Howard said.
121
The measures announced that the chancellor's budget message
immediately boosted the pound sterling on world money markets
against all other currencies.
But labor unions reacted negatively to the proposals, calling the budget
«a prescription for wholesale unemployment and economic recession».
Union leaders said they will seek minimum wage settlements of 20%
because of expected cuts in social services.
(Note: the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the British Government is
the minister in charge of finances.)
Answer the following questions:
1. Is Great Britain planning to raise or lower income tax?
2. What is likely to happen to other types of taxes?
3. What will be done to government spending if the budget is followed?
4. Will the government allow more or less money to circulate?
5. What was one immediate effect of the budget announcement?
6. Who did not like the budget? Why?
VOCABULARY EXERCISES
1. Match these definitions with the key words in the preceding text.
1. An estimate or plan of expenditure in relation to income.
2. A tax on goods bought.
3. The act or process of applying, using, putting money for profit (into
stocks, etc).
4. Shares in the capital of a business company.
5. The money in general use in a country.
6. A general increase in prices and fall in the purchasing value of money
I. Temporary decline in econoihic actiity or prosperity.
8. A return of strength and activity.
9. A tax on money earned.
10. Industry that is owned by the government.
I1. A part of the economy owned by individuals rather than the government.
12. An encouragement to greater activity.
13. Services provided by the State for the community,esp. education, health
and housing.
14. Careful and effective efforts by the government to ensure that the supply
of currency in a country grows no more quickly than they want it to.
122
15. The situation that occurs when the amount of money allowed to be printed
and circulated is growing at a slower rate than the economy's need for
money/
16. The condition of not having a job .
17. To, control or stop inflation.
2. Firid in the text words which are similar or opposite m meaning. Which
of them carry the ideas of a) increasing - decreasing
b) improving - worsening?
3. Which meanings of these words are realized in the preceding texts?
Give Russian equivalent for the different meanings.
economic - 1. connected with trade, industry, and wealth.
2. profitable, not resultingin a loss of money
economy - 1. the careful use of money.
2. the operation of a country's money supply, industry and trade.
3. an economic system.
market -
1. a gathering of people to buy or sell goods.
2. demand for goods.
3. trade in certain goods, rate of buying and selling.
2. DUMA APPROVES SPENDING
MOSCOW, Oct. 29 - The Russian Duma approved a first reading bf
the 2000 budget on Tuesday after the government had given way to
demands for extra spending, despite fears this could endanger IMF
loans.
The first Deputy Prime Minister said that the new draft provided for
additional funding of 5.7 billion roubles ($178 million at the average
exchange rate forecast for next year). The revised budget provides
for «spending of £55.1 billion roubles and revenues of 797.2 billion
roubles.
Most of the extra spending .will go towards defense, the regions'
agriculture, investment and science, the Deputy PM said. He insisted
the revised draft was «realistic», and said the extra expenditure would
be funded by next taxes on oil exports and imports of goods.
Russia's budget deficit would remain as forecast, at just over one per
cent, he said.
But the Finance Minister admitted that the government would haver
some hard explaining to dp to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The Washington-based Fund has pressed Russia to push through a
lean 2000 spending plan quickly, in line with stringent IMF criteria,
that would assure the release of new financial assistance to Moscow.
The original spending plan had been approved in agreement with the
123
IMF, which is under pressure to freeze its $4.5 billfon credit line because
of allegations of misuse of earlier loans.
Experts warn that the second draft of the budget was already.at the
limits of what is credible because it pencilled in optimistic revenues
that depended on high world prices for oil and gas - which are Russia's
main exports. In order to be accepted, the budget must pass four
Duma readings and secure -approval by the upper house Federation
Council before going to the President for signature.
Answer the following questions:
1. What kind of amendments did the government have to make to get Duma's
approval of the first reading of the 2000 budget?
2. Where is the extra spending to be channeled ?
3. How is the government going to fund the extra spending?
4. What budget-deficit is expected?
5. How may this revised budget affect Russians talks with the IMF?
6. When is the budget considered accepted?
VOCABULARY EXERCISES
1. Match these definitions with the key words used in the preceding text.
1. Money borrowed with the understanding it will be repaid.
2. The amount by which money ,that goes,, out (expenditure) is more than
money that comes in (income)
3. Income, esp. that which the government receives as tax.(sometimes pi.
with sing, meaning).
4. The value of the money of one country compared to thai of another
country.
5. (In Parliament) one of the three official occasions on which a suggested
new law is read aloud and considered.
6. A plan producing or having very little value.
7. A rale which is severe and must be obeyed.
8. To guarantee the delivery of (promissed loans) or to liberate (them) from
a restriction.
9. Worthy of belief, convincing.
10. To be provided with money1 / by taxes.
11. To write, esp. tentatively or provisionally (usually followed by in)
2. Explain the following in your own words, or paraphrase.
1. ... the government had given way to demands for extra spending, despite
fears this could endanger IMF loans.
124
2.
3.
4.
5.
... the new draft provided for additional funding.
The revised budget provides for ... revenues of 797.2 billion roubles.
They pressed Russia to quickly push through a lean 2000 spending plan.
The IMF is under pressure to freeze its credit line because of allegations
of misuse of earlier loans.
6. The draft budget was at the limits of what is credible because it pencilled
in optimistic revenues....
7. The government would have some hard explaining to do to the IMF.
3. Combine these words with nouns and make as many word-combinations
as possible. Find some of the examples in the preceding texts.
to pass
to approve
to secure
to provide for
to release м to freeze
to grant
to suspend
4. Make a list of word-combintaions with the word budget used in this
text. Translate them into Russian. Then look through some other texts
dealing with business and finance and complete the list.
5. Compare the word credible used in the preceding text with creditable
and explain the difference in meaning. Use your dictionary.
3. ECONOMIC FORECAST
WASHINGTON, March 15-The administration of President Carl Ariing
today predicted another six months of slow GNP growth and rising
inflation.
Chief economic advisor to the president, Walter Abel, told a news
conference that increased foreign competition, rising prices for raw
materials, and high interest rates would hold economic growth to less
than 3% for the year with inflation rising above 7% for the first time in
two years.
Abel said, however, that administration programs to restructure the
economy would begin bearing fruittoward the end of the year and that
growth in the gross national product would turn sharply upwards in
the last quarter.
He said the administration would pot allow the continued sluggishness
of the economy to alter its free trade policies.
«Trade protectionism is an admission that the US industry cannot
compete», he said. «It avoids the real problem of how to upgrade our
Industrial capacity so it can win back the markets it has lost».
He said the administration of President Arling was determined to
increase investment in high technology industries, upgrade aging plant
equipment in heavy industry, and encourage workers to increase
productivity.
125
Abel admitted that high interest rates threatened the strategy, but
warned that any action to artificially lower interest rates risked fueling
even greater inflation.
«We are still recovering from the recession caused by the previous
administration and attempts to force the pace of recovery could be
dangerous», he said.
(Note: GNP - the total value of all goods and services produced in a
country during a period of time plus the total ofnet income from abroad)
Answer the following questions:
1. Is the forecast for the next six months good?
2. When is the economy expected to grow at a faster rate?
3. Is Walter Abel the president?
4. What is the president planning to do to improve the economy?
5. Who did Abel blame4 for the slow growth of the economy?
6. Why does Abel think trade protectionism is not a good idea?
VOCABULARY EXERCISES
1. Match these definitions with the key words of the preceding text.
1. A straggle between two or more economic organizations to win customers
or to gain something.
2. A material from nature used to make other materials.
3. Taxing goods from other countries in order to help one's 6wn industries.
4. A measurement of how effectively goods are produced, how much is
produced per man hour.
5. Having little economic growth.
6. The total amount able to be produced by industry.
7. Done in an unnatural way.
8. The amount of payment for the use of money borrowed, espressed as a
percentage per unit time.
2. Find synonyms for these words in "the preceding text.
to forecast
to rise
decline
economic upturn
to change
to improve
to increase
3. Find in the text words and word-combinations used metaphorically, or
in a transferred meaning. Explain what they mean in the text.
4. Make a list of words associated with the notion recession used in the
text. Translate them into Russian. Study some other texts dealing with
economic recession and complete the list.
126
4. ECONOMIC BOOM
LONDON, -. Business is booming. The budget is in surplus. Inflation
and unemployment are at their lowest levels in decades. All in all,
Britain's economy is in such robust shape that even Britain's Chancellor
of the Exchequer has been seen to smile.
By some important statistical measures, Britain's economy is in the,
best shape that anyone can remember. Last week, the government
reported that unemployment had fallen to 4.2 percent - the lowest
level since 1980 - and inflation was 1.1 percent, the lowest rate since
1959.
Consumer confidence is high, and credit-card spending is up, offering
balm to the retail sector. Even manufacturing, plagued all year by a
strong pound that makes British products expensive on world markets,
showed growth in each of the past three months.
In his annual budget message in March, the Chancellor of the
Exchequer cautiously predicted that the government would run a deficit
of about 4 billion" pounds ($6.5 billion) this year. But fax revenues have
been so high, thanks to the business climate, that current predictions
suggest about an $8 billion surplus instead.
Actually, many economists and pundits predicted last year that Britain's
economy would head downward. As it turned out, the economic
recovery in East Asia and continued growth in Western Europe,
together with low inflation at home, helped produce growth instead.
The British boom has not been evenly distributed. The financial and
service industries, centered in London and southeast England, have
seen the biggest growth rates. Manufacturing is still in somewhat less
robust shape despite its good summer. The plight of the agricultural
sector is so dire that some farmers are shooting their lambs because
the animals cannot be raised at a profit.
Those differences mean that the southeast has seen broader prosperity
than the industrial north of England or the agricultural regions to the
north and west.
Moreover, the chancellor's determination to keep government spending
down - and thus run up a healthy budget surplus - is making Britain's
public infrastructure look grim and shoddy. Public schools, hospitals,
and transit stations are gloomy. The shabby publip.face of Britain is
the downside of the government's cautious fiscal policy, Spending on
basic maintenance has been low for years.
Still, the economic news has been so good this year that Britain's
chancellor of the Exchequer was asked to explain the British boom at
the Council of Foreign Relations in New York.
«In Britain's past»,.he said, «expectations of boom and bust led to a
vicious cycle of low investment, wage inflation, low growth. The
opportunity exists now in Britain for a new virtuous cycle of tow inflation,
high investment and high and stable levels of growth».
127
Answer the following questions;
1. What facts and figures prove that Britain's economy is booming?
t
2. Is this economic boom and bust unexpected or has it been predicted by
economists?
3. What is the reason for the growing prosperity in Britain?
4. Are there any trouble spots in Britain despite its economic growth?
5. What is the reason for the public infrastructure looking so gloomy in Britain?
Exercise 6. Read these articles and answer the questions which follow
each text. Suggest headlines to Stories 1 and 2.
1.
NEWYORK^AP)-Isidore Zimmerman, who spent 24 years iri prison
and came within two hours of dying in the electric chair for a murder
he didn't commit, was awarded $1 million in damages from the sfate
of New York Tuesday.
State Court of Claims Judge Joseph Modugno ruled that the award
Was "fair and reasonable" cornpensation for "loss 6f earnings, medical
expenses, loss of liberty and civil rights, loss of reputation and mental
anguish."
The award was the largest for wrongful imprisonment anyone could
recall in New York State, and one of the largest in U.S. history. It Was
granted because the state's Court of Claims last November accepted
Zimmerman's argument that he was convicted because of prosecutorial
misconduct.
Zimmerman was' 21 in 1938 when he was convicted of murder and
sentenced to death for allegedly supplying a gun used in a Lower
East Side restaurant holdup in which a New York City detective Was
killed.
On Jan. 6, 1939, two hours before his scheduled execution, Gov.
Herbert Lehman commuted the death sentence to life imprisonment.
Zimmerman - who had always insisted he was innocent of the crime
- sought vindication for years through the state's courts and Legislature.
In 1961, Zimmerman was released after the state Court of Appeals
threw out his murder conviction on grounds of prosecutorial
misconduct. Zimmerman had by then spent 24 years in maximum
security prisons in which he had often been held in soljtary confinement.
Zimmerman sued for $10 million.
a) What happened in this story? (1 sentence)
b) Briefly (4 sentences) give the background to this court decision.
c) How does the money awarded in this case compare with previous cases of
this type?
128
2.
WASHINGTON (UPI) - Billions of dollars from Russia have been
funneled into offshore bank accounts on the tiny Pacific island'of Nauru,
apparently to be laundered in order to evade Russian taxes, The
Washington Post said on Tuesday.
Nauru, located near the equator in the vast expanse of ocean between
Hawaii apd Australia, has fewer that 11,000 people, but the Pos^said
international authorities regard the corral atoll to be an increasingly
important financial center for Russian organized crime.
Atop Russian banking official told the Post that huge amounts of money
have been flowing out of Russia and to Nauru in the past two years
through banks and other business on both sides of the world, including
an estimated $70 billion transferred last year.
The International Monetary Fund pegged Russia's total exports in 1998
at $74 billion'.
S.B.'Hulkar, head of the Nauru agency that registers offshore
businesses, tofd the Post that the government launched a review of
its offshore financial industry after an international money laundering
task force found "a heavy concentration of financial activity related to
Russian organized crime" in Nauru and other Pacific nations.
Nauru's economy has been based on the mining of phosphate,
produced by fossilised bird droppingst but the government has lately
been chartering banks that enjoy laws allowing tight secrecy and often
list only as a post office box or as an address.
Nauru charges chartering fees and annual fees of around $5,00U.
The Post said Would-be bankers can even apply for a charter from
Nauru through Internet sites, and Nauru officials confirmed they don't
have the resources or experience to "undertake a credible and
comprehensive screening process" of the charter applicants.
a) What happened in this story? (1 sentence)
b) Why does Russia's money go through Nauru's banks?
c) What kind of background information is given in the story ?
3. MONEY LAUNDERING
WASHINGTON (AP) - The United States has not provided Russia
with any evidence of an alleged Russian money-laundering scheme
at a U.S. bank, according to a Russian investigator visiting Washington
on Thursday.
A Russian delegation has been in the U.S. capital this week to gather
information on a case, which reportedly involves the illegal laundering
of up to $10 billion through the Bank of New York.
U.S.'media reports have described it as potentially one of the biggest
money-laundering cases ever uncovered in the United States.
However no one has been charged, and U.S. authorities have refused
to discuss the investigation.
129
The Russian government has been on the defensive following media
reports that Russians masterminded the alleged scheme. The reports
have also said that the Russian government may Have mishandled
money loaned by the International Monetary Fund.
Russian authorities have agreed to cooperate with the United States
and other Western countries, but have shown no real enthusiasm for
conducting their own investigation. The Russians have mostly called
on the Western countries to provide proof'of any wrpngdoing.
Both houses of the U.S. Congress plan ,to hold hearings in coining
weeks on the alleged scheme.
Russia's Finance Minister said in London that the allegations were
part of a campaign to discredit Russia.
«We ourselves deeply interested in exposing the facts of illegal capital
outflow of Russia or bringing to light the business activities that violate
world financial legislation»' he was quoted as saying.
But he added, «not a single fact vouching for Russian companies
involvement in Illegal transactions has been cited».
Answer the following questions:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Why did the Russian delegation visit Washington?
What did Russian authorities describe as an attempt to discredit Russia?
What is the U.S. authorities' attitude towards the thoriey-laundering case?
Do Russian authorities refuse to cooperate with the U.S.?,
Has the cooperation of Russian and Western investigators yielded any
results?
4. SCANDAL IN THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION
PARIS - The disaster that befell the European Commissicji last,week
may serve as a reminder of what it takes to make public institutions
resposive and honest. It seems that a probing and nosy p" ress is useful
to have around.
On March 15, a group of experts appointed to look into allegations of
wrongdoings by the 20-person executive that runs the European Union
issued a devastating report. Favoritism, questionable contracts, noshow jobs and waste were rampant In the commission, the report
said, it was hard «to find anyone who has even the slightest sense of
responsibility.»
One target was Edith Cresson, a French Socialist. She was criticized
for a youth training program that apparently squandered millions, and
for giving a $160,000 contract to a dentist friend frorrfher hometown
to write reports about AIDS. This particular dentist did not seem to
know much about AIDS. His reports were deemed worthless,
The report's findings were so bad that the entire 20-memeber
commission resigned.
130
Patronage and favoritisrti^iexe not new in the European bureaucracy.
But nothing much had ever been done about it. That changed when
the Paris daily Liberation broke the dentist story.
The press all by itself could not have changed things. But it took
reporting by Liberation to put democratic institutions under normal
democratic scrutiny and eventually to force action. This story is a
reminder of why investigative journalism exists.
(Note: One of the wrongdoings the commission is accused of is
NEPOTISM -the practice of favouring one's relatives when one has
power or a high office, esp. by giving them good jobs. So, patronage
and favouritism are forms of nepotism)
Answer the following questions:
1. What caused the scandal in the European Commission?
2. What was the role of the press in exposing the wrongdoings of the
Commission?
3. Who was the target of the criticism and why?
4. What was the res,ult of the criticism?
5. What lesson did the public learn in this case?
VOCABULARY EXERCISES
1. Explain the meanings of these words and their derivatives in the context
of the preceding story. Compare their contextual meanings with those
studied in the definitions given earlier:
money laundering
loan
hearings
allege
legislation
executive
wrongdoings
vouch
transactions
bureaucracy
squander
rampant
2. Remember the contexts in which these phrases were used, explain their
meaning and suggest some synonyms:
to be on the defensive
to mastermind a scheme/a crime
to mishandle the loan
to provide proof of a wrongdoing
to expose the facts
to be charged with
to violate legislation
to look into allegations
to put under scrutiny
to force action
3. Review the studied vocabulary and make a list of key words to describe
a campaign discrediting a politician or a businessman.
4. Look through the preceding texts and make a list of words used to
evaluate things and actions positively and negatively.
131
PART 2
READING AND DISCUSSION
The articles given in this part present a special reading opportunity for students
of English. They are mainly opinion articles or essays published,in popular
political newsweeklies Time , Newsweek, Economist. Such articles usually
give the background of the topical news of the week, look at different points of
view on the problem and express the writer's attitude.
Each reading is preceded by Background Notes intended to prepare the reader
for the article. It gives the topic of the article, explains culture-specific references
and the vocabulary section defines words that may be difficult for many readers.
Following the reading are Questions and Activities that consist of Comprehension Questions, Discussion Questions, Group Activities and Individual Work.
The Comprehension Questions aid the reader's understanding of the article.
Both the Discussion Questions and the Group Activity encourage critical
thinking about the issues presented.
Finally, the Individual Work enables the reader to express opinions in both
written and spoken English. Throughout the text there is ample opportunity for
cross-cultural comparisons, as well as for viewing topics in a global perspective.
ARTICLE ONE
Who Cares About a Free Press
Background notes:
The essay was published in the TIME magazine . It is a commentary on the
decision ofthe United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) to proclaim May 3 World Press Freedom Day.
Culture
The First Amendment of the American Constitution proclaims freedom of
religion, speech, of the press and right of petition. The first ten amendments
popularly known as the Bill of Rights were proposed and'sent to the states by
the first session of the First Congress. They were ratified December 15,179 L
Vocabulary
aspire to
assertion
to be filled with high ambition
strong statement, claim {to make an assertion)
132
backlash
antagonistic reaction {vehement backlash - strong,
violent)
beset
(usu. passive) to trouble from all directions, attack
without ceasing
confine
to keep within limits {to be confined restricted)
demean
to lower in the opinion of oneself or others
detente
an easing of strained relations between states
enshrine
to keep as if in a holy place
to be
open season (on)
to announce a state ofwar, persecution, hunting
rank
to be or put in a certain class {among, above, below,
high, with)
recede
to move back or away
status quo
the .existing state of affairs
surveillance
a" close watch kept on someone (keep under
surveillance)
tenacious
unyielding, firm (tenacious principles)
treason
disloyalty to one's country (condemned/or treason)
untenable
that cannot be successfully defended against attack
ESSAY
Henry Grunwald
Who Cares About a Free Press?
U
NESCO has proclaimed May 3
World Press Freedom Day.,In
the American consciousness this
is not likely to rank with
Mother's Day, Secretaries' Day, Pharmacists' Day or even Kjss-Your-Mate Day, but
it deserves some attention at a time when
America is more dissatisfied than ever with
its own media.
1
The exercise brings to mind a 17th
century English pamphleteer named John
Twyn, who published a defense of revolution. Condemned for treason, he was hanged, cut down while still alive, emasculated,
disemboweled, quartered and, presumably
to make absolutely sure beheaded. A great
many Americans today feel that this is just
about the treatment appropriate to their
journalists. Elsewhere in the world, they are
in fact treated almost that way. In 1994,
according to the Committee to Protect
Journalists, 58 members were assassinated
and 173 were in priso.n in 23 countries at
the end of th$ year. ,
After the collapse of the Soviet Union,
democracy seemed to be on the march
everywhere, together with an independent
press. Much of that promise came true, but
lately it has receded again. The Russian
press, for example, forcefully criticizes the
government in ways undreamed of a few
years ago. Russian television has made
133
Chechnya a living-room war. As a result
there has been a vehement backlash. All
camps - bureaucrats, politicians, the military, entrepreneurs and criminals - Seem to
have declared open season on the press.
Within the past seven months an investigative reporter and a prominent TV personality were assassinated. Reformers believe
that the press is the last hope for democracy
in Russia.
The situation is similar in some of the
old Soviet republics and satellites. Both
former communists and former dissidents
are fighting daily to maintain or reimpose
state control of the media. In Tajikistan,
beset by civil war, the government suppressed all independent media. In Armenia
police habitually raid editorial offices. In
Romania journalists are often under surveillance. In Slovakia a proposed law would
provide one- to five-year jail sentences for
journalists who «demean» the country from
abroad. In Poland, the Czech republic and
Hungary the situation is better, but everywhere governments exert pressure by controllingpaper supplies, distributionfacilities
and especially broadcast licenses.
The battle is not confined to former
communist areas. In Turkey, a NATO member, more than 70 journalists were in jail at
the end of last year. Despite much progress
in Latin America, licensing of journalists
and other controls are widespread. Argentina recently threatened to pass a law providing up to 10 years of prison for «dishonoring the name of a politician.»
Many of the world's governments have
enshrined press freedom in their constitutions but feel free to ignore it. A charter
drawn up by the World Press Freedom
Committee condemns censorship in all its
fdrms and proclaims freedom of expression
as an essential human right. But government
resistance to the charter's principles is
tenacious. There is the argument from
patriotism: nations, especially when in
crisis, cannot tolerate destructive criticism.
There is the argument from culture: chaotic
Western concepts of freedom cannot be
applied to societies based on order and
stability. There is the argument from
economics: undue press attacks undermine,
development. There is the argument from
idealism; an irresponsible press is apt to
spread racial and ethnic hatred. All of these
assertions contain elements of truth. It is
nearly impossible to export the First
Amendment of the American Constitution,for example, to countries without deep
roots and habits of freedom. In many parts
of the world, journalists lack any tradition
of objective reporting. But for the most part
the fight against press freedom comes down
to politicians protecting themselves and the
status quo.
That is ultimately untenable in a world
of instant communications that cross all
frontiers. And in a global marketplace the
notion that authoritarian rule can be combined with free enterprise - the notion
might be called Lee Kuan Yewism, for
Singapore's Godfather - cannot work indefinitely.
The U.S. maintains that countries
aspiring to membership in NATO in the European Union or in the wider community,
of developed nations must respect democracy, free enterprise and human rights. But
Washington is notably passive in promoting'
freedom of the press.
Why should Americans care? Because!
if there is to be a world in which the U.S.
can enjoy a measure of security and
prosperity, the spread of democracy is
essential. And democracy is impossible
without a free press. Free and responsible,,
of course. But responsibility is hot likely to1
be taught by the Twyn treatment or lesser
forms of repression.
Looking at the rest of the world,
American journalists have reason to be
grateful that the only real threat they Face is
angry words. And the American public hasreason to be grateful that its press, for all
its sins, is still the most professional andresponsible in the world. Could that mutual
recognition produce a glimmer of detente
between press and citizens? According to
134
recent surveys, a majority of Americans
believe that the media only get in the way of
solving problems. But a majority also believe
that the press keeps powerful people from
becoming too powerful. Perhaps that
thought should be the message of World
Press Freedom Day, everywhere, including
the U.S."
TIME. MAY 8,1995
QUESTIONS AND ACTIVITIES
Comprehension Questions
1. Why did UNESCO proclaim World Press Freedom Day?
2. What is the state of things with press freedom in Russia and in former
communist countries?
3. What arguments are given by some governments to restrict press freedom?
4. Why do most of the world's governments feel free to ignore freedom of the
press, according to the writer?
5. Why dbes the author think that it is impossible to export the First Amendment
of the American Constitution?
6. Is the author optimistic about maintaining and promoting press freedom all
over the world?
7. Is the writer satisfied with the American press?
8. Why does the writer think that Americans should care about the freedom of
the world press?
Discussion questions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Is democracy on the march everywhere including Russia?
Do you agree that undue press attacks undermine development?
Do the media sometimes get in the way of solving problems in Russia?
Do you agree that democracy is impossible without'a free press?
What kind of press would you describe as irresponsible?
Do you agree with the writer that the press keeps powerful people from
becoming too powerful?
7. How do you see the role of the press in Russia?
8. Do you think that the1 state of things with press freedom has changed in
Russia since 1995, the time when this article was written?
Group activities
In groups of four or three, imagine that you are members of the World Press
Freedom Committee.
Suppose some members are quite satisfied with the state of press freedom and
think that the press should be more responsive and honest, that probing and
135
nosy press is useful and in many cases it is the press that started investigation of
wrongdoings and crimes and put derriocratic institution under scrutiny.
Other members think that irresponsible press stands in the way of development,,
it should be controlled but the control should be left to editors, journalists, and
people in charge of the press.
Some other members think that it is high time to introduce censorship in some
countries, and parliaments should pass some acts to protect people from
paparazzi.
In each group recommend some solution. Develop arguments in support of,
your position. Present your arguments to the opposing groups.
Individual work
1. Analyze the language of the article: explain the meaning of the phrases:
destructive criticism, undue press attack, to declare open^season on the
press, to enshrine press freedom, to make Chechnya a living-room war,
authoritarian rule, a free press, to be on the march,
2. Analyze the semantic structure of the text by making its outline. Find topic
sentences in each paragraph, decide which of them express the main ideas
of the essay and which ones are supportive or subordinate.
Decide what method of developing Introduction is used: a) a provocative
question, b) an appropriate quotation, c) a startling statement or statistics,
d) an interesting, funny or sad, unusual incident, e) illustration of the
importance of the topic.
Decide what method of organizing the concluding paragraph the writer uses:
a) he emphasizes the thesis or main points with a summary or enumeration,
b) makes a judgment, c) expresses an opinion, d) poses a question to provoke
further thought or indicate further possible development of the topic, e) gives
the thesis for the first time.
3. Write a summary of the article. Start like that:
The article headlined "Who Cares About A Free Preps" (Time, May 8,1995)
studies/ looks at the problem/situation/ state of things in/ etc. or:... is devoted
to/deals with..,
The author starts by saying that/ giving some historical facts ...
The author points out that/ finds it significant that...
The author makes it clear/ criticizes/ comes out against/ opposes/ gives &•
warning/ expresses concern about/ condemns/ calls upon.smb to do sriith /
calls for smth.
The article goes on to say that...
136
In conclusion the writer/author points out that...
The author comes to the conclusion that...
Notes: A summary is a brief account giving the main points of a matter. The
outline you have just made will help you to write your summary. Important
points to'note are.'
• 'State briefly and, if possible, in your own words the central idea (or
ideas) of the article.
• Be sure to make your summary not more than a third as long as the
original.
• Use the words given to you above.
• Be sure that in your summary every important point of the article is
clearly stated, the main idea is given due prominence and the paper's,
view on the problem is made clear.
• Do not include ideas you would yourself have expressed on the subject.
ARTICLE TWO
Doubts About Democracy
Background notes
The article was published in the American magazine NEWSWEEK, in 1997.
The author looks at the new types of democracy in developing countries and,
former communist countries.
Culture
The State of the Union Message is an annual report on the political and economic
situation in the United States of America given by the President to Congress. It
is usually sent at the beginning of the year and outlines the foreign and domestic
policies of the Administration for the forthcoming year.
Dayton is a town in the west of the American state of Ohio where the peace
accord that stopped the war in Bosnia was signed. The American diplomat
Richard Holbrook acted as a mediator at the talks.
Thomas Jefferson - the third President of the USA, one of the authors of The
Declaration of Independence. He formulated the principles of democracy quoted
in the article, in his Notes on the State of Virginia in 1784-1785.
Constitution of the USA.The oldest federal constitution in existence was framed
by a convention of delegates from twelve of the thirteen original sates in
Philadelphia in 1787. The draft was submitted to all thirteen states and was to
become effective when ratified by nine states. It went into effect in 1789.
137
The system of checks and balances is provided by the American Constitution.
It maintains a balance of powers between legislative, executive andjudicial
branches of power. Each serves as a check on the others. This is to keep any
branch from gaining too much cower or from misusing its powers.
The US Agency for International Development is a government organization,
founded in 1961 to provide ecnpmic and technical aid for developing countries
on the basis of bilateral agreements.
The National Endowment for Democracy is a private, nonprofit, grant-making
organization created in 1983 to strengthen democratic institutions, around the
world through nongovernmental effort.
Vocabulary
ameliorate
bankroll
by-pass
constraints
edicts
evolve (into)
gridlock
highhanded
judiciaries
monitor
philanthropist
rein (in)
relevant
sanctity
spill over
tenure
thwart
to improve (ant. - deteriorate)
to pay large sums of money
to ignore (parliament)
restrictions (to place, to impose constraints)
order, proclamation, decree
to develop naturally, gradually
a complete breakdown of a system or organization
using one's power too forcefully (highhanded .
president)
judges
toregulate, control
person who is kind, helpful to those who are poor
by making generous gifts of money
to control or direct as if with reins, cause to move
slowly
connected with the current situation
sacredness, holiness
to run over the sides, to spread beyond bounds
excessively
term of holding an office permanently (life tenure)
to frustrate successfully (to thwart the will of the
majority)
unwieldy contraption a machine too awkward to move*
138
WORLD AFFAIRS
Doubts About Democracy
Most people now have the
right tovote freely. But
that's not eno'ugh if
governments then trample
on basj'c rights.
BY FAREED ZAKARIA . . .
estinian Authority, from Slovakia to Sri
Lanka, from Pakistan to the Philippines, we
can see the rise of illiberal democracy plenty ofelections.butfew individual rights.
The pattern is now familiar. (It begins
right after the (internationally monitored;)
elections, Popular leaderslike Russia's Boris
, n Yeltsin and Argentina's Carlos Menem
ife is suppqsed to have gotten better,bypass tneir parliaments, and,rule by "ргевДsince the end ofthe cold war, particu-1 dential decree. Whatever the point of these
larly for the developing countries'pf i edicts - and Yeltsin and Menem are genuine
Asia, Africa, and Latin America. In his State ' reformers -they make a mockery of the
of thes Union Message last January, Bill' constitutional procedures of government
Clinton announced that, finally, a majority, The Iranian Parliament -elected more freely
o^ humans live ипДег democratic regirnes - i than, most in the Middle East - imposes harsh
54-8 percent of them, to be exact. Thomas ('restrictions on speech, assembly and even
Jefferson's declaration «that all men are ere-1 dress. In the former Yugoslavia, parts of the
ated equal» is apparently becoming a global 'former Soviet Union and much of Africa,
reality. There's just one problem. The demo- [ elections have actually increased ethnic
cracy we see around the w o r l d t e n s i o n s , sometimes leading to
often has a distinctly ugly f a c e . w a r .
People in countries without
On the eve of the 1996 e
l
e
c
a
tradition of assimilation or
tions in Bosnia, the architect o f i n t e r g r o u p harmony tend to vote
the Dayton peace a c c o r d s , a l o n g racial, teligious or ethnic
American diplomat R i c h a r d l i n e s .
Holbrooke, fretted: « S u p p o s e T h e
tension between
the election was declared f r e e e l e c t i o n s
and individual liberty
and fair and those elected a r e i s n ' t
new to Americans.What is
racists, fascists, separatists, w h o d i s t i n c t i v e about their system is
are publicly opposed to [peace
n o t i t demociatic nature, but
r a t h e r h o w
andreintegration].Thatisthedi- Hfede'ciaraMo^that
undemocratic it is,
lemma.» Indeeditis,notjustinthe ail щап a r e c r e a t e d s i n c e i t s P l a c es many constraints
former Yugoslavia, but increa- e q u a | > j S finally
on electbral majorities,
singly around the world. Demo- going global with
The U.S.-Supreme Court is
cratically elected regimes are now mixed success
composed of nine une\ected men
routinely ignoring constitutional limits on 'and women with life tenure. The U.S. Senate
their power and depriving their citizens' of 'is the most undemocratic upper house in the
basic rights and freedoms,
, world (with the exception of Britain's almost
For almost a century in the West,, powerless House of Lords): every state sends
democracy has meant liberal democracy - 1 two senators to Washington regardless of its
not just free and fair elections, but also the 1 population, which means that'Wyoming's
sanctity ofbasic liberties, like free speech and'481,000 inhabitants have the same voice in
assembly, private property and contracts, [ the Senate as California's 31 million. A single
and the rule of law. But from Peru to the Pal-, senator can hold up alniost any bill, which
L
139
can thwart the will of the majority and bring' selves. The National Endowment for Democgovernment to gridlock.
j racy promotes free markets, independent laAmericans in the democracy business ( bor movements and political parties. The
tend to see their own system as an unwieldy i U.S. Agency for International Development
contraption that no other country should put ifunds independent judiciaries. Philanthup with. One U.S. scholar was recently sent' ropist George Soros bankrolls civit groups,
to Kazakhstan to help the new Parliament JElectionslookgoodontelevision.Ifacountry
draft its electoral laws. His counterpart, a, holds them, the world-will tolerate a great
senior member of the Parliament, told him: i deal from the resulting government, as it has
«We want our Parliament to be just like your • with Yeltsin and Menem. Yet elections are
Congress.» The American expert was horri-' only a process for creating a fair arid lawfied, recalling: «Itriedto say something other J abiding government. They are not, by themthan the three words that had immediately, selves, what freedom is all about,
come screaming into my mind: "No, you \
A brighter mpdel may lie ill some
don't!"»
i countries of East Asia - 'Singapore', MalayIn fact, the checks and balances of the 'sia, Thailand - often criticized as sham deAmerican system couldbeused to ameliorate 'mocracies and one-party dictatorships.ltis
many of the problems associated with illib-, true that they offer limited (and often rigged)
eral democracy. The philosophy behind the i electoral choices, but they provide a befter
U.S. Constitution, a fear of accumulated i environment for their citizens' security and
power, is as relevant today as it was in 1789.' happiness than do many of the new «demoKazakhstan, as it happens, wouldbeparticu- 'cracies.» After all, economic, civjl and'relilarly well served by a strong parliament-like ( gious liberties are at the core of human
the American Congress - to rein in its high-1 autonomy and dignity. And, as in the West,
handed president.
1 where economic liberty and law came long
The U.S. government and several nongo-'before mass voting, these countries are
vernmental organizations are beginning t o ' evolving into liberal democracies. Call it the
fealize that elections are not an end in them- 'spillover effect of freedom. •
,.
,.
,
NEWSWEEK ЪЕС 297l997/fAN.'b'l398
QUESTIONS AND ACTIVITIES
Comprehension Questions
1. Is the writer satisfied with the way new democracies are developing?
2. What makes the author feel concerned about the new democracies?
3. What evidence is gjiven in the articles to prove that free ancj fair elections do
not guarantee democracy in the country?
4. What regime does the author call "illiberal democracy"?
5. Does the author see any deficiencies in the American system of democracy?
6. What principles of the American system of government can be successfully
used to ameliorate illiberal democracies, according to fhe writer?
7. Why does the writer think that the democracies of East Asian countries are
more effective than many other new democracies?
8. Does the author suggest any basic model for nascent democracies?
140
Discussion Questions
1. In your opinion, has life got better since the end of the cold war?
2. Do you agree that the American system of power is undemocratic?
3. Do you think we have the system of check and balances in.R.ussia?^
4. Do you agree that elections are not, by themselves, what freedom is all
about?
5. What is your understanding of real democracy?
6. What would you call a sham democracy?
Group Activities
Get ready to take part in a television debate on the state of democracy in, "your"
country. Choose a role you will play, think of the country you "come from":!
• An optimist, satisfied with the state of democracy, free and fair elections,
freedom of expression and assembly.
• A pessimist, very critical about the existing system, concerned about the
future of democracy, not satisfied with the elections.
• Ah ardent fighter for individual liberties who thinks they are more
important for the development of democraby, while ethnic, racial,
religious prejudices hamper the development.
• A supporter of rule by presidential decree, limited electoral choices,
economic liberties, ready to tolerate even a dictator ifhe is elected freely.
• A supporter of the'American system of democracy as a perfect model
for new democracies to emulate.
• A critic of the American system of democracy.
• An expert who gives examples of countries with a tradition of assimilation
and intergroup harmony.
• One of you will host the debate. Your task is to keep the conversation
going, to encourage the participants to express their point of view and to
sum up the main points at the end of the debate.
Individual work
1. Analyse the language of the article:
a) explain the meaning of the following; sanctity of basic liberties; to thwart
the will of the majority; to bring the government to gridlock; to rein in a
highhanded president; nongovernmental organizations; law-abiding
government; sham democracy; dictatorship; spillover effect of freedom;
141
the democracy has a distinctly ugly face; a tradition of assimilation or
intergroup harmony.
b) find metaphorical expressions in the text and explain their pragmatic
meaning.
2. Analyse the semantic structure of the text according to the suggested scheme.
3. Write a summary of the article. Use the phrases and the scheme suggested
in the book earlier.
4. Get ready to make a public speech defending democracy.
Note: Every social speech requires three separate parts: a beginning, a middle
and an end.
The beginning should capture the attention of the audience and introduce the
subject. The middle is its development or exposition. Here the audience is told
what you want it to know and how it is affected. You may lecture, explain or
preach. The end is notjust finishing, nor a trailing off-rather, a,well-considered
- rounding off which leaves the audience feeling satisfied with a speech to be
remembered.
Aim to hook your audience. Start by asking your audience a question. You
could begin a, speech like this: "Can any of you tell me what demoqracy is?"Then pause a moment, to let your question sink in and to allow your audience
to collect their thoughts. Next you could continue: "Of course, many of you can
tell me what democracy is. Finding words to express what it means for you
personally is a little difficult though. 1 read recently that democracy is.....
You can also start with a quotation, or a proverb, you can also tell a relevant
story.
Don't end your speech with a jerk, You, could summarize, tie up loose ends.
You could also finish off with a story or with some appeal.
Example:
Ladies and gentlemen,
What are the tenets of true democracy?
For me they are:
First, a sense of personal responsibility. People need to realize that they are not
just pawns on a chess-board to be moved around at the whim of politicians.
They can influence their destiny by their own efforts.
Second, democracy means limitations of the powers of government and giving
people the greatest possible freedom.
Third, democracy and freedom are about more than the ballot and universal
suffrage.
142
And thefourth essential is an economy based on market principles and a right
to private property.
It will take the united efforts of the West to shape a new global community,
based on democracy, the rule of law and market principles.
ARTICLE THREE
The Maze of Nationalism
Background notes
The essay was published in the TIME magazine in September 1991, when the
process of the disintegration of the Soviet Union began with the Baltic Republics
proclaiming their independence and when three months later, in December the
Soviet Union broke up after President Gorbachov's resignation.
The disintegration of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia began in 1991 with
Croatia and Slovenia proclaiming their independence after the referendums in
June. The declaration of independence was followed by a six-month civil war.
It claimed thousands of lives and wrought mass destruction on the land. In
December 1991 Bosnia and Herzegovina declared their independence from
(Yugoslavia. Ethnic violence flared almost immediately in the breakaway
republics.
The writer looks at the background of ethnic violence, studies alternative
solutions to the problem and suggests his own way of overcoming the curse of
destructive nationalism.
Culture
Jingoism is an extreme form of nationalism marked by a belligerent foreign
policy. Jingo was a nickname for a supporter of Disraeli in sending the British
Fleet into Turkish waters in 1878 to "resist the advance of Russia. Jingo came
from &e phrase by jingo (it is probably an euphemism for Jesus in'this phrase
which was used as a mild oath). It appeared in the refrain of a chauvinistic
song in 1878: "We don't want to fight, yet by Jingo, if we do, We've got the
ships, We've got the men, and got the money,' too".
"My country right or wrong" - in 181 б Stephen Decatur, U.S Naval Commander
said in a toast, given at Norfold, Virginia "Our country! In her intercourse -witty
foreign nations, may she always be in the right; but our country, right or wrong".
Vocabulary
anthem
_
the official song of a nation to be sung or played on
certain formal occasion (national anthem)
^__
143
auspicious
promising, showing signs of future success (period)
bicker(over)
quarrel over something
drive
a strong, well-planned .effort by a group for a
particular purpose
ebullient
being full of happiness and excitement
emulate
to try to do as well as or better than smb. else
ephemeral
having a very short life (ant. -permanent)
fester
to become infected and diseased (of a cut or wound)
feuding
keeping up a quarrel by violent acts, violence
harness
control, hold
nascent
beginning to be, starting (nascent democracies)
professed
plainly declared, acknowledged (professed ideology)
recrudescence
a fresh outbreak (ofsmth
rubble
broken stones or bricks after the destruction of
building
scapegoats
a person or thing taking the blame for the fault of
others
slaughter
killing of many people cruelly, wrongly, as in a battle
(syn. massacre)
smother
suppress, keep from developing, growing
unpleasant)
I
(
Essay
j
j
i
I
George M. Taber
'
i The Maze of Nationalism
|
|
1
J-
1 I he world last week witnessed the tWo faces of European nationalism. In the |
rapidly disintegrating Soviet Union, ebullient crowds hoisted national flags i
_
; I ипвеец for a generation, in proud celebration of their demands for self- .
~T determination. Only1 a few hundred miles away in Yugoslavia, Croatian and Serbian I
J 'militiamen were slaughtering one another in abloody recrudescence of ethnic feuding. > j
Ж
Nationalism, an emotion that began when men first joined together in tribes, be-'. i
I came an ideology in the 18th century as part of the romantic movement. In its best
| form, nationalism is a warm patriotism, the feeling that gives people a lump in their |
I throat as their national anthem is played at the Olympics. In its belligerent form, it is |
} jingoism - my country right or wrong - or chauvinism, named after Nicolas Chauvin,'.
I Napoleon's soldier who was dedicated to spreading the glory and power of France by I
jforceofarms.
jtt.
)
1
144
'
Of all the political isms of history, perhaps the strongest is nationalism. More
( blood has been shed in its name than for any other cause except religion. Demagogues for centuries have stirred up fanatical mobs by blaming all their troubles
• on some neighboring ethnic group. Serbia's Slobodan Milosevic and Croatia's
I Franjo Tudjman are the latest masters of the trade.
|
Unfortunately, in the coming months nationalist appeals maybe heard more
I and more. If political turmoil in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe leads to
unemployment and food shortages, as many expect, scapegoats will be in de- p
(
I mand, and they are likely to be found amid
| other ethnic groups. Adam Michnik, pne of I European wars, including two world |
I the early leaders of Poland's Solidarity I conflicts. Some new system had to be 1
movement, warns of the blood-dimmed i created that would harness the FrancoI tide that may be loosed: «For a nascent Germanrivalry.Italian AltieroSpinelli, a I
I democracy, the trap is nationalism, which founding father of the European Move- |
. has exploded together with freedom.»It is ment, looked back on those years and 1
I a trap that Western Europe has avoided, i wrote, «Nationalism as a popular senti| and therein may lie a lesson for Eastern ment was given a death blow by the ca- |
tastrophe.»
I
г Europe^
.
Nationalism's appeal rests deep in
The drive to create new institutions •
I human nature.People have a basic need to that would bury nationalist), was directed '
[ find Jkvnship with their own kind while at a crucial moment by a few, leaders who |
г excluding outsiders. It bottoms perhaps on grew up in border areas, where rival tribes I
a self-preserving genealogical loyalty. And had often clashed. They knew what they .
I while other ideologies come and go, were fighting as only those who had I
| nationalism has had relentless staying suffered under it could. France's Robert |
. power. Writes Istvan Deak, a history pro- Schuman, West Germany's Konrad 1
' fessor at Columbia University: «Over the Adenauer and Italy's Alcide de Gasperi, ,
| last 150 years, liberal, conservative, who headed their countries for a brief, I
I democratic, authoritarian, fascist and auspicious period in the early 1950s, had |
. Bolshevik regimes have held sway in all lived under foreign occupation. All also 1
I Eastern Europe. But all of these East spoke fluent German.
I European regimes as well as their professed
They created the foundation for what I
I ideologies have proved to be ephemeral. later became the European Community. |
What hasbeen permanentis nationalism.» It is easy today to disniiss the Community, 1
%> Communism was supposed to be when ministers, in Brussels seem to be al'jNstronger than nationalism. Marx arguedi ways bickering over the price of milk. But I
I that the international class consciousnesr the Community's achievement is also |
of workers was more powerful than any great. The E.C. set out to make another 1
I loyally to flag or fatherland. That theory
I died at the outbreak of World War I, when workers followed national leaders, <
• who told them to fight, rather than Socialists, who told them to lay down their |
1 guns. Nonetheless, for more than 70 years in the Soviet Union and for more than 1
I 40 years in Eastern Europe, communism suppressed nationalism. But it did not I
I go away; it only festered.
|
•
At the same time, as Eastern and Central Europe wei'e attempting to smother 1
I nationalism, Western Europe was trying to go beyond it. When Western Europe '
I crawled out of the rubble of World War II, cries of «Never again!» could be heard |
1 everywhere. In less than 70 years, French and German nationalism led to three 1
145
' war between France and Germany un- ' that in the east, one ethnic power, Russia,
| thinkable. Today it is!
| towers over all the rest. In the west, at least |
|
The Communityhas been so success- | in the earlyyears, Several countries-France, f
J fulthatcallsarenbwbeingheardtoemu- ! West Germany and Italy-were about the .
I late it in Eastern Europe. Levon Ter- I same size, which felped establish an I
I Petrossian, the president ofAftnenia, told I equilibrium.
|
XtheSovietparliamentlastweek, «Wehave .
The lesson the east can learn frorn the |
I to use this opportunity to create a normal I westisthattruefreedomahdindep'ehdence- | commonwealth along the lines of the | do not come from having a national cur- I
• European Comm'umty.» History, of • rency or a national army. Ethnic interests ф
• course, never repeats itself in exactly the ' are better protected within a supranational ofo
| same way. One fundamental difference | organization, where no one has hegemdny
between the two sides of the continent is i and everyone has a voice. The Community I
1
'••
1 was successful because it set up an |
' interweaving network of permanent negotiation that keeps everyone talking. "' i
|
Poland's Michnik says that Central and Eastern Europe must now choose j
I between two cultures: «One of these cultures says. Let us join Europe, and let us I
' respect European standards; while the other says, Let us go back to our own |
| national roots and build an order according to our national particularity.» i
• Schuman, Adenauer and De Gasperi helped Western Europe I6ok beyortd naI tionul particularity. To overcome the curse of destructive nationalism, the former |
j communist countries will need leaders with as much ability to see over hatreds of I
L
ilh!!af:l
^
I
TIME SEPTEMBER 9,1991
QUESTIONS AND ACTIVITIES
Comprehension questions
1. What is nationalism and what are its forms, according to the writer?
2. What arguments does the writer give to prove that nationalism is stronger
than any other ideology? Why does he think it is so?
3. What does the writer mean when he warns the nascent democrapies about
the trap of nationalism?
4. What arguments are given in the essay to prove that Western Europe's
attempts to go beyond nationalism proved to be more successful than those
of Eastern Europe?
5. How does the author assess the role of European Union in, harnessing
relentless rivalry between leading European countries?
6. What does the author suggest as a possible solution'to the problem?
7. How does the headline help to uriderstand the main idea of the essay?
146
Discussion questions
1. Do you agree that nationalism's appeal rests deep in human nature?
2. What factors are important in the formation of ethnic prejudice? Can we get
rid of ethnic and racial bias through education and experience?
3. Do you think it is inevitable that struggle for freedom and national selfdetermination should increase ethnic tension and stir up violence? Prove
your point of view by giving some facts.
4. Why do you think many newly independent countries failed to avoid the
trap of nationalism?
5. How do you see the difference between nationalism and patriotism?
5. Do you agree that the European Community is a perfect model of a
supranational organization?
7. What is needed to overcome the curse of destructive nationalism?
8. What is your attitude towards the popular formula "my country right or
wrong"?
Group activities
1. In groups of two or three, discuss and point out the advantages and
disadvantages of supranational organizations.
Ъ In the same groups analyze the problem of ethnic prejudice in your society,
the cause and forms of xenophobia and the role of mass media in solving
the problems.
3. In groups of five or six discuss the prospects of drawing up new laws or
creating special government programs to solve the problems of immigrants
and refugees.
4. In groups of two act as journalists writing an editorial. Discuss the outline
of the editorial commenting on the acts of ethnic bias and discrimination in
your country. Suggest a headline for the editorial.
5. Imagine to be a group of teachers who are concerned about the growing
xenophobic sentiments of your students. Discuss and suggest special programs of action In your school, including joint efforts of the administration,
lecturers, parents, Students, explain why this or that action is important for
the elimination of ethnic and racial bias .
6. Imagine to be a group of linguists discussing the ability to control and liberate
through words, the importance of politically correct words. You proceed
147
from the assumption that words are powerful because they are actions and
therefore cause reaction. Prove the importance of accurate and correct use
of such words as racist, cosmopolitan, nationalist, patriot, fascist, genocide,
apartheid and others.
7. Imagine to be a group of experts of the European Union discussing the
increasing flood ofjob-seekers from Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe. Suggest
some ways of coping with these problems. Do you see any danger for
European countries to lose their distinct cultural identity if the flood of
immigrants reaches the critical mass. Decide whether you are optimistic or
sceptical about multi-cultural states.
Each group should sum up the discussion and present the main points to the
class.
Individual work
1. Analyze the language of the essay:
a) find metaphorical expressions, explain their meaning in the context of
the essay.
b) make a list of words and word-combinations used in the text with negative
and positive connotations.
c) make a list of words whose meaning is easy to guess
2. Analyze the semantic structure of the text. Decide in what paragraph the
writer:
a) identifies the problem
b) gives some background information about the subject
c) expresses his opinion and suggests what action should be taken.
3. Write a summary of the article.
4. Look through the latest issues of newspapers and magazines and find facts
and arguments to develop the ideas expressed in the article (supporting or
contradicting them). Get ready for a five minute speech on how the problems
of nationalism are seen and solved in Canada, Northern Ireland, Britain,
Scotland, Wales, France, Germany, Yugoslavia, Spain and other countries.
5. Write a letter to the editor expressing your opinion on the essay. Use some
of these patterns:
1. Sir, Mr. Taber's essay (Time, Sept.8,1991) as always makes interesting
reading. But it is wrong to suppose that
148
2. Your coverage of the problem is superb. But I should suggest that there
is one item that perhaps did not receive enough attention - the crucial
role of...
3. Your essay is well timed. Being Russian, I am sure that....
4. Your article is timely and serves to focus public attention on
5. I am sure, most Russians felt the way I did when I read the article.
6. As a Russian, I accept/1 am acutely aware of the danger of nationalism...
7. Your report says that
and quotes Mr. Green as saying "
". This is
the sort of comment we hear too often. However, I am not convinced
that...
8. A misunderstanding might result from the headline given to the article.
Regarding
you are right.
9. Mr. Taber argues that
, which is a dubious assumption.
10. After reading your article'some people may assume that... This is
completely untrue.
11. This statement has no basis in fact, and helps to continue the
misconception that... I do wish to correct this misconception.
12. Your article displays alarming inconsistency. The answer lies somewhere
between two poles.
13.Nothing is gained to blame others for our present situation.
14. Let none of us delude ourselves that
15. Your article should have mentioned the efforts of
I don't understand
all the fuss about.... Isn't this approach just a little one-sided?
Remember some rules of setting out your official letter:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Place your address at the top right-hand margin with the date below this.
Then start writing your recipient's name and address at the left-hand
margin on or just above the same line as the date.
Start your letter with the opening - Dear Sir/ Dear Madam.
Finish your letter with the closing - Yours faithfully /sincerely.
Keep your writing simple and straightforward.
Avoid using superfluous words and adjectives.
Avoid repetition of information. If you wish to emphasize something it
may be necessary to go over the ground again using different arguments
and try to present the question from a different angle.
The best way to improve your style is to read lots of letters which appear
in the daily press. These are usually of an extremely high standard.
149
Example
27 Cherry Way
HORSHAM
East Sussex
JAH14 4BT
(the date)
Mr. James Williams
James Williams & Co Ltd
10 Eastfield Street
NEWCASTLE
NE6 7HY
Dear Mr. Williams,
Your essay (Sept.9) on the recent surge of nationalism in Europe and attempts
to smother it is timely. Being Russian, I am acutely aware of the trap of
nationalism for Russian democracy...
Firstly,...
Secondly, ...
Besides, ...
And finally,....
Yours faithfully,
Miss Swan
(you can write your address
and the date here, instead of vvriting it
at the top of the page)
ARTICLE FOUR
The Resistible Rise of the West
Background notes
The essay published in the TIME magazine looks at the prospect of future
development of Western and Eastern cultures and the result ofthe West's attempts
to conquer the world.
Culture
Cold w a r - a state of hostility between nations without actual fighting, consisting
of threats, violent propaganda, subversive political activities. It was formally
and officially ended in November 1990 by a declaration of friendship and treaty
agreeing a great reduction of conventional armaments in Europe.
150
Protestant work ethic - The rise of capitalism is partly to be explained by the
place given by Protestant ethic to the qualities of industry and thrift, though
Protestant divines from time of Calvin have condemned the abuses of capitalism.
The Protestant ethic and tradition of capitalism have made most middle-class
Americans cherish their privacy and independence and the dread of relinquishing
them dies hard.
Confucianism (Confucian culture1, civilization, ethic)-the system of philosophical
and ethical teachings founded by Confucius, a Chinese philosopher in the 6th
century ВС. The basic concepts are ethical ones: love for one's fellows, filial
piety, decorum, virtue and the ideal of superior man.
Islam. Islamic (culture, civilization)- the religion of the Muslims, founded in
Arabia by the Prophet Mohammed in the 7th century AD. It is now the professed
faith of nearly one thousand million people worldwide. The Muslim strives td
fulfil good work within the group.
Fundamentalists - those who stress strict adherence to going back to basics, to
the fundamentals of the faith in many denominations.
Zambia is a state in south central Africa where 75% of the population are
Christians. It is a member of the British Commonwealth of Nations.
Hollywood and Madison Avenue are used here as symbols of American show
and advertising business.
Qandhi (1869-1948), called "Mahatma" (in India meaning 'great soul'), an
Indian statesman, the leader and the symbol of nationalist movement. In 1918
began to take an increasingly important part in the opposition to British rule,
utilizing policies of passive resistance and civil disobedience.
He was assassinated by a Hindy fanatic at the very time when independence
had finally been achieved.
Vocabulary
as an acknowledged fact
strange, foreign in nature, incompatible
the farthest and highest point, culmination
a group of persons or things (a batch oj
winners)
carry the clout of numbers to exert influence by the multitude
bitterly, unpleasantly, with biting wit
caustically
to protect
circle the wagons
consistency, a state of sticking together
cohesion
admittedly
alien
apogee
batch
151
confront
conquistador
conspicuous
erupt
espouse
faithful
immune
nooks and crannies
pay lip service
rally (around smth)
rattle
reign supreme
rule the roost
set the pace
shifting sands
stagnate
stalwart
supersede
theocracy
trajectory
up and coming
vengeance
viceroy
whizz
zeal
meet face to face
one that conquers
noticeable, outstanding
to become active and violent, to break ou$
{about v/ar)
take up and support {to espouse vqlues),,
firm in adherence to oath, the faithful - the
adherents of the Muslim religion
having a high degree of resistance {immune
to smth)
everywhere
to support in words, but not in fact, while
thinking of the opposite
to come together again, to join ip a common
cause
to frighten, make nervous
to control or direct, being the highest in
authority
to exercise authority, to dominate
take the lead
moving, unstable, not firm in the position
to cease to develop {about economy)
marked by outstanding strength {syn. strong)
to take the place of smb.
a state governed by priests or people that
claim support from God
the curved path of an object fired or thrown
through the air
active and likely to advance or succeed
an act of punishment
a ruler acting for king in province or
dependency
a loud hissing Sound produced by a
boomerang when flying
eagerness and ardent interest in pursuit of
something
152
ESSAY
Gerd Behrens
The Resistible Rise
Of the West
T
he world moves not like an arrow
but a boomerang.» Nothing
captures the nature of today's
uncertain worldbetter than Ralph
Ellison's analogy. Unfrozenafter die endof
the cold war, history is back with a
vengeance - full of menacing whizz, its trajectory-unpredictable, always poised to
return to a starting point some thought it
had left for good. Optimists sawhistoryproceeding along a straight line until it hit its
target. Admittedly, it was tempting to take
the apogee of Western power for the end of
history. After all, the West now rules the
roost as never before. Its economic and
military might stand unrivaled. Most governments the world over practice - or at
least pay lip service to - Western ideas of
good governance, i.e., liberal democracy.
The World Bank and the International
Monetary Fund play the part of modern-day
conquistadors. In some former colonies
Western ambassadors rule like viceroys of
old. Coca-Cola and McDonald's have
conquered all but a few nooks and crannies
of this world. In short: modernization appears to equal Westernization.
But history does not take kindly to the
complacent winner, The West's victories
abroad go hand in hand with domestic decline. Its civic bonds have weakehed; its
founding principles are being forgotten.
Political leadership is conspicuous by its ab-1
sence. The consensus on collective security
has gone, and military spending is declining
dramatically even as the rest of the world
erupts.-Western economies stagnate while
the Far East sets the pace of development.
Korean workers sleep on thefactoryfloorto
save commuting time; theirEuropean counterparts, as the story has it, also, sleep on the
factory floor, but during working hours. That
old stalwart, the Protestant work ethic, is
being superseded by the Confucian variety^
It appears that a blossoming civilization
contains within it the seeds of its own
undoing! Like someone who has worked
hard during his youth, the West is easing off,
leaving the field wide open for the next batch
of winners - a changing of the guard, as
history has witnessed many times before, i
While the West works toward disarmament, others around the world are busy
developing nuclear weapons and similar
means of mass destruction. In the not too
distant future the majority of nuclear-weapons states will be non-Western. A world in
which a Saddam Hussein has the capacity
to wage atomic or bacteriological war
against Europe and the U.S. would be quite
a different place in which to live.
In the Confucian and Islamic civilizations, Harvard political scientist Samuel
Huntinglon has identified two up-andcoming challengers to the West. Islam is
expanding well beyond its traditional
heartland, its impact boosted by" the independence of the former Soviet republics in
Central Asia. In Africa it is spreading south
of the Sahara, to the point where Zambia,
for example, rattled by what it perceives to
be a Muslim onslaught, has declared itself a
Christian state. Through immigration Islam
has also gained a foothold in France and
elsewhere in Europe. Confronted by this
presence, some Europeans are beginning to
wonder, like many white South Africans,
153
whether it is time to circle the wagons. For
its part, the Islamic world has proved
virtually immune to ideological exports from
the West, be they liberalism or Marxism.
Theocracy, supposedly knocked out by
democracy, is making a comeback. If the
dictatorship of the proletariat is dead, long
live the dictatorship of the faithful.
The more serious challenger for the
West is the Far East. Centered on China, the
Confucian bloc carries the clout of numbers.
Increasingly, in Asia as elsewhere, elites no
longer necessarily serve as agents of
Westernization, but espouse what some in
the West fear as fundamentalist values.
Today Singapore is a self-styled Confucian
society, and many Southeast.Asian
intellectuals no longer make excuses for
rejecting Western ideals of governance as
alien to their cultures.
Come to think of it, does the West, as
we know it, still exist? Did it simply define
itself through its enmity toward communism and the Soviet threat? Can there be
a West without the East? With the red
menace gone, the glue that bound the West
has come unstuck. What is left to rally
around? Liberal democracy and capitalism,
Hollywood and Madison Avenue? Hardly
the stuff of which indestructible bonds ate
made. While collective duties reigrfsupreme
in the rest of the world, the West celebrates
individual rights, but that hardly helps the
cause of cohesion. The West resembles a
marriage of convenience, while other civilizations are passionate affairs. Both the
Islamic and Confucian cultures are inspired
by faith in their cultural values. The West,
on paper at least, is Christian, but Christianity is no longer its guiding principle. The
West is missing something in the zeal
department. Deep down, as the saying goes,
its identity is shallow.
As long as the global conflict was one of
competing ideologies, the West fought on
firm ground. Now that the conflict hds
become a cultural one, it finds itself on shifting sands. Like the Roman Empire, it makes
the mistake of looking down on the challengers as technologically inferior.- Like the
Roman Empire, it is slow to grasp the nature
of the threat Here the firm views that
Mahatma Gandhi held on Western civilization come to mind. Asked to comment on
the topic, he replied caustically, «Western
civilization? Ithink it wouldbeagoodidea.»
Gerd Behrens is southern Africa correstpondent for Sbddeutsche Zeitung, Munich.
He is based in Cape Town
TIME. OCTOBER 25,1993
QUESTIONS AND ACTIVITIES
Comprehension questions
1. What is the topic of the essay? What technique does the writer use tp
introduce the topic?
2. How does the writer see fh6 current trends in the world development?
3. What arguments does the writer give to prove that modernization appears
to equal Westernization?
4. Is the writer optimistic about the prospect for the West to keep its domineering
position in the world?
5. Why does the writer think that the West has no reason for being complacent
celebrating its victories after having done so much for the world's progress?
154
6. Whatmethod of organizing his arguments does the writer use to-make them
more convincing?
7. What does the author mean by saying that "a blossoming civilization contains
within it the seeds of its own undoing"?
8. Whom does the writer see as the main challengers to3he West and why?
9. What arguments are given in the article to convince the reader that Confusion
and Islamic civilizations are serious challengers?
10. "What does he mean by saying that they "carry the clout of numbers"?
11. What effect does the author create by asking so many rhetorical questions
in the concluding part of the essay?
12. In what parts of the story are quotations used and what role do they p)ay in
the semantic structure of the article?
13. How do you understand the famous joke of M.Gandhi?
14. How does the picture help to understand the message of the story?
15. What does the Headline mean? Suggest your own headline.
Discussion questions
1. Do you agree that the West "rales the roost as never before"?
2. What do you think about the role of the West in shaping the world in the
past millennium? Can you call the 20th century the millennium of the West?
Prove it by giving facts.
3. Do you think that the triumph of the West will endure?
4. Do you think that the civilizations of China and India are older than those of
the West? Give some facts to prove your point of view.
5. What do you think about the role of religion in the progress of civilization?
6. Do you agree with the author that it is time for the West "to circle the wagons"
to protect its culture and life-style?
7. How can you assess the role of Russia in shaping the world,and in its
modernization?
8. Do you agree that Christianity is no longer the guiding principle of the
West?
Group Activities
1. In groups oftwo or three outline a letter to the author of the essay disagreeing
with one of the points of the article. Summarize different ideas expressed in
155
the course of the discussion and give reasons for your choice of the-point
for criticism.
2. In groups of five imagine that you are editorial writers of a political weekly.
Discuss the outline of the editorial you are going to publish in the first issue
of the new millennium. Work out an overall plan of how you intend to
approach the problem and decide which questions about the future of our
civilization and about the lessons of the past should be given the most
prominence. Rank your ideas in order of significance and think about (he
appeal to the reader which is usually part of an editorial.
Individual Work
1. Analyze the semantic structure of the article.
2. Write a summary of the essay.
3. Write a letter to the editor. Express one opposing point of view and defend
it. In addition to the phrases suggested earlier, use some of these phrases:
Introducing a false argument
It could be argued that ...
Some people would argue that...
It is often suggested that ...
Demolishing a false argument
This is partly true, but ...
To a certain limited extent, there is some truth in this ...
Proposing a correct argument
It is clear that ...
The real situation is ...
Obviously ...
It is therefore quite wrong to suggest that... on the contrary...
Concluding remarks
I admit there is no easy solution to the problem. Admittedly,we are in no
position to lecture the East/the developing countries on ways of... Ultimately,
it is in everyone's interest that... However, rather than putting more pressure
on... we need to set an example and to show substantially less self-interest
than we have done.
4. Prepare to deliver a five minute public speech on your vision of the global
conflict between competing cultures and ideologies. Use some of the devices
the author of the essay used: rhetorical questions, quotations, jokes, figures
of speech etc.
156
ARTICLE EWE
The Hole He Left Behind
Background notes
The article is the editorial published'in THE ECONOMIST in its last issue of
1991 (Dec. 21) soon after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, and the
resignation ofits president. The leader describes this as a collapse of communism
leaving an empty space on the political stage which needs to be filled. Who'is
to do it? That is the question the article tries to answer.
Culture
"The poor you have with you always" - the quotation ftpm the Bible (Corinthians
15:3-8). Jesus Christ said this after appearing to his followers for forty days,
proving that he was alive and giving them final instructions.
Vocabulary
altruistic
awkward
bridle (at)
compassion
disparities
friction
greenery
grump
jostle
mutation
unselfish, considering the good and happiness of
others before one's own
difficult or dangerous to deal with (awkward
variety ofsmth)
to show anger or displeasure, esp. by making a
proud upward movements of the head and body
{bridle at intruding Muslims)
sorrow, pity or sympathy for the suffering and
misfortunes of others causing a1 desire to give
help or show mercy
examples of difference and inequality
unfriendliness and disagreement caused by two
opposing wills or different sets of opinion, ideas
or natures (to cause friction)
environmentalists, those who are concerned about
the quality of the human environment
a bad tempered person, esp. because of low
spirits
(of a person) to knock or push against someone
(jostle each other)
change in the quality because of the influence of
something (mutation ofsmth into smth)
157
pockets of desperation small areas of hopeless, desperate state
a person who tells or claims to be able to tell the
prophet
nature or course of future events (false prophets those who deceived, or failed to do what they had
promised)
reinforce
to strengthen by adding smth.
to sink in
to become understood, get a firm place in the
mind
stupendous
surprisingly great (the past three years)
succumb
to yield (to succumb to claims)
tangle
confused, disordered state (intellectual tangle)
unwitting.
not knowing or intended (unwitting allies)
wobbly
not steady or firm (a wobbly sense1 of ^national
identity)
vehement
violent, fiercely strong or eager in support of or
esp. in opposition to someone or something
vacuum, empty space-
void
The hole he left behind
.,:' I ''he poor you have with
' ' X you always,»said a
knowledgeable observer of the
human condition born about
1(992 years ago. The scientific
optimists of the 19th century
thought they were proving him
wrong, and it is true that in some
countries the poor have grown
markedly fewer; but most people
in this late 20 th century,
watching the world as a whole
' "
produce babies as fast as it produces new
wealth, would say that Christ was still right.
Which is why the death of communism leaves
a void that needs to be filled quickly.
The communists were scientifically
certain that they knew how to do away with
poverty. They were famously wrong. A
comparison of the Eastern Europe they
created and the Western Europe that escaped
them is enough to reveal the size of that 19th-
century lie, in whose name so
many horrors were committed.
And yet, for most of the past
century, the body of ideas called
Marxism-Leninism has succeeded in poisoning half of the
world's political life. It not only
misruled, at its peak, most of the
Eurasian pair of continents. It
misled many of the young governments of the newly independent post-1945 third world.
Even in the mature West far too many politicians of the democratic left who rejected
cpmrnunism's one-party politics succumbed
to its claim that Marx and Lenin could tell
you how to run an economy.
Now Marx and Lenin have gone where
the false prophets go. The doctrine that said
it knew how to rescuethepoorhas collapsed,
but the poor are still with us: in growing
numbers in much of the southern world, in
158
pockets of desperation in North America and
Western Europe. Doing something for the
unfortunate is the chief business of the
political left. The old distorter of the left has
gone. Come in, a new and better left.
The ugly alternatives queue u p
And it had better hurry. Other claimants
to the empty space on the post-communist
political stage afe elbowing their way forward. One is nationalism, in all its awkward
varieties. There>is •new-nation nationalism,
the Afro-Asian sort, which tries to strengthen
a wobbly sense of national identity by being
beastly to the neighbours. There is revivednation nationalism, the East European kind,
in which the assorted peoples just released
from their communist prison jostle each
other angrily on the pavement outside the jail
door. There is old-nation nationalism, the
West European speciality, in which elderly
gmmps mutter to themselves that it is about
time the world started paying them proper
respect again.
1
'All these varieties of nationalism are now
about to grow more vehement, if the
recession of 1991 drags its way through 1992
and beyond. Recession makes nationalists
want to keep out the imports from alien
factories that, they say, throw even more of
one's own people out of work. It also
lengthens the queues of those who want to
change countries in search of abetter life, and
worsens the already bad temper of those who
do not want to let them in. Because of what
recession does to nationalists, the free movement of goods and the relatively free movement of people will cause more friction in
1992 than for many years past.
The 1990s may also be witnessing, in two
or three parts of the globe, a new phenomenon: the mutation of old-fashioned nationalism into an even hairier beast, regional
hyper-nationalism. Some Japanese are
starting to defend their country's singleminded pursuit of economic self-interest by
explaining that East Asia is culturally
different from Euro-America, and therefore
does not wish to become part of an economi-
cally homogeneous world. Some Europeans
now openly defend their enthusiasm for a
single European state by explaining that
Europe is culturally different from America,
and therefore needs to organise itself separatelyfromAmerica. Some Americans retort
that, if Europe and Japan are different from
America, it is because they do not possess the
American Idea.
This new hyper-nationalism is dangerous. It could destroy the Euro-AmericanJapanese coalition thatwon the cold war and
that is the best hope for a nfcw world order. It
could also, as Europeans bridle at intruding
Muslims, and Japanese curl their lips at
technologically backward westerners, turn
into something unpleasantly close to racism.
Some say that greenery will come to the
rescue, a virtuous new global ideology untainted by nationalism or hyper-nationalism.
It probably won't. The environmental movement does have some of the right qualifications. Its concern is usually for the whole
world, not just one country or group of countries. Its first instinct is usually to preserve
what is good, not to destroy what it considers bad; that marks it off from ideologies like
communism and fascism. But the environmentalists are getting themselves into an
intellectual tangle that could put them on the
wrong side of tomorrow's arguments.
They are suspicious of economic growth,
because they think it will use up too much of
the world's natural resources. This is turning
many of them againstfree trade, because free
trade means more growth. They are appalled
by the thought that the world's population
will double in the coming century, because
that will eat up resources even faster. The
physical earth is becoming more important
to them than the people who live on it. The
result is that environmentalists inrichNorth
America and Western Europe - which means
the most influential of them - are becoming
pro-protection and anti-immigration: unwitting allies, in fact, of the nationalists they
despise.
If a serious new political movement is to
fill the post-communist vacuum, it will have
159
about different consequences. It recognises
that change and innovation do not benefit
everybody equally, and it wants tq reduce the
disparities. This is the side that stresses
collective responsibility, and the duty of
compassion. It is the natural field of the left.
The weakness in this argument is that
compassion, left to itself, cannot be sure of
collecting a majority Qf the votes. It needs
reinforcement. For s ome, the reinforcement
is religion: God asks people to treat each
other as they would wish to be treated
themselves. For others, it is the hope that,
even without religion, more and more people
will become rich enough, and secure enough,
to spend time and money doing the altruistic
things that socialists wanted the state to do.
There is a third type of reinforcement,
more in keeping withntoday's mood.
Tomorrow's intelligent left-wingers should
be looking for ways to deploy self-interest in
support of their politics. It makes, sense to
rescue the poor, because the world is then
The natural home of the left
likely to be a safer place. It makes sense to
Starting from'there, the new politics of< educate all children, because they will then
the left will remember what its pre-commu- all be able to make their contribution to a
nist ancestors understood. There are two richer human race. Your great-grandchildren
sides to the human mind as it deals with the will be better off in 2092 if you act in the
organisation of life on earth. One'is the name of compassion in 1992.
driving-force side, which brings change and
Here is the starting-point of something
innovation into the world. It is inevitably new on the left. A new left is badly needed.
rather narrow-minded; it can be greedy; but The end of communism has left the world
it is necessary, because without it men would standing, as it were, on one leg. The forward
still be wondering how to light a fire and march cannot be resumed until the other leg
sharpen an axe. The other side is concerned is back in healthy operation.
THE ECONOMIST DECEMBER 21ST 1991-JANUARY 3RD 1992
to start by recognising the facts created by
the. collapse of communism. There is now no
alternative to the free market as the way to
organize economic life.,Thg spread of freemarket economics should gradually lead to
a spread of multi-party democracy, because
people who have got free economic choice
tend to insist on having free political choice
too. In short, the organisation of human life
can now be based on many individual
decisions, not orders from the top issued in
the name of scientific certainty.
To say this is not just arrogantly to deny
what communists once arrogantly asserted.
It is the plain lesson ofthese stupendous past
three years. The lesson will take time to sink
in. Some politicians will still gq on wanting
to keep chunks of-the economy under state
control rather than risk a temporary rise in
unemployment. The world will never b.e
wholly dictator-free. But most people have
seen the point of 1989-91,
QUESTIpNS AND ACTIVITIES
Comprehension Questions
1. Who left a hole behind and where, according to the editorial?
2. Why does the writer find it important to fill this hole or void as quickly as
possible?
3. What political forces are described in the article as claimants to the empty
space on the post-communist political stage?
4. What types of nationalism does the writer describe as awkward varieties of
nationalism?
160
Н.С.Харламова
И.Ю.Чукалова
Учебное пособие
«Структура и деятельность ООН»
(для студентов III—IV курсов факультета МОЭП)
Издание подготовлено в авторской редакции
Компьютерная верстка Г.П.Лопатиной
Московский государственный лингвистический университет
Лицензия ЛР № Q2OS19 от!2.10.98 г.
Подписано в печать 03.06.02 г.
Объем 4,0 п.л. Формат 6()\Ч0/1б. Тираж 100 экз. Заказ № .
Адрес редакции: Москва, Остоженка, 38
Тел.: 245 33 23

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