Английский язык для специальных и академических целей: Международные отношения и зарубежное регионоведение. Часть 1 - [10]

2. Electronic Data Systems ran the Inland Revenue's tax and National Insurance system from 1994 to 2004. In 2003, the launch of a new tax credit system led to over-payments of £2 billion to over two million people. EDS later paid £71.25 million in compensation for the disaster.

COMPREHENSION ASSIGNMENTS

A. In pairs, discuss how you understand the phrases/clauses below. If still in doubt, discuss the phrases as a class.

1. ... the United States with its pioneering democratic constitution ...

2. The Westminster Model has very much going for it.

3. ... to be in command of a modicum of physical and human capital to be able to live as the master of his or her life .

4. With the NHS the government cut through the rot .

5. . the jury is still out on this .

6. . with the help of carefully engineered means-tested benefits.

7. . this strategy . is never target efficient .

8. . its potential is not realised in delivery.

9. . there appears to be little or no demand or appetite in the population for this crucial building block in the democratic architecture to be restored.

10. The narcotic of free money has numbed political sensitivities.

B. Answer the questions on the text.

1. What is a solid democracy according to the article?

2. What makes Britain's democracy deficient?

3. What spheres of British life does the author look at to substantiate his position?

4. How does the population of Great Britain react to the democratic deficit?

5. What political reforms are called for, in the author's opinion?

Speak Up

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. What, in your view, are the criteria of the effectiveness of democracy?

2. Do you share the author's opinion that the British democracy is deficient?

3. How feasible do you think the suggested reforms are?

FOLLOW-UP

Make a three-minute statement

a) to compare one of the solid democracies mentioned in the text with the British democracy. Focus on the healthcare system, education, and welfare system OR

b) to comment on the other aspects of Britain's democracy.

Use texts from the Reader or readings that you find yourself.

Compile a list of Topical Vocabulary necessary to speak on the issue (to be shared in class).

VOCABULARY PRACTICE 1

Ex. 1. a) find words in the text to match the definitions below, reproduce the context they are used in;

b) give the words they are formed from or their derivatives;

c) suggest their Russian equivalents;

d) use the words in sentences of your own.

1. of only average quality; not very good

2. a belief in human equality especially with respect to social, political, and economic affairs

3. to have a specified place within a grading system

4. to implant (an idea or feeling) so that it becomes ingrained within a particular context

5. to transfer or delegate (power) to a lower level, especially from central government to local or regional administration

6. minor and not important; not central

7. to express (an idea or feeling) fluently and coherently

8. clearly visible; attracting notice or attention

9. firm determination to do something

10. an emotion involving pleasure, excitement and sometimes anxiety in considering some expected or longed-for good event

11. the state of having a great deal of money; wealth

12. tending to remind one of something; suggesting something by resemblance

13. a feeling of disappointment about someone or something you previously respected or admired; disillusionment

14. evoking interest, attention, or admiration in a powerfully irresistible way; not able to be refuted; not able to be resisted

15. fill; pervade; instill (a quality) in someone or something

Ex. 2. Continue the strings of collocations, translate them. Make up a sentence with one collocation from each list.

1. solid, __________ , __________ , ___________ democracy

2. marginal: differences, __________ ,__________ , ___________

3. conspicuous: _________ , __________ , _________ , __________

4. to mobilize, ________ , __________ , __________ , _________ one's resolve

5. affluent: society, __________ , __________ , __________ , __________

6. compelling: reasons, __________ , __________ , __________ , __________

Ex. 3. Fill in the gaps with the words from Ex. 1 and Ex. 2.

1. In “Beyond Good and Evil”, Nietzsche __________ his disdain for conventional morality where

he described Christian standards as a “slave morality”.

Unit I. UK: from Empire to Democracy

Unit I. UK: from Empire to Democracy

2. __________ is the position that equality is central to justice. It is a prominent trend in social

and political philosophy.

3. To make a _________ argument requires tact, knowledge and the ability to see both sides of

the debate.

4. We have a duty to ________ voters with confidence that their votes will be counted, that their

voices will be heard.

5. He increased their courage and strength in every hardship, lightened their burdens and strengthened their _________.

6. For inward investment flows, Britain ________ third behind the US and Germany.

7. Many anthropologists agree that fundamentally the economy is _________ in culture and