Unit 4. Economic Development and Cultural Diversities

A. Read this extract from the article from The UN Chronicle and complete it with the expressions listed.

Diversity, Human Rights and Peace (Culture Watch)

Anita Inder Singh

If globalization is a fact of life, so is human diversity.

Nations and national policy makers in the twenty-first century. As more and more people are brought together; voluntarily and involuntarily, by the ... (2) of markets ... (3) globalization and the continual advances in telecommunications and transportation, many individuals ... (4) confusion and conflict in adjusting to a multicultural experience that is new for them. Whether people are enriched or... (5) by their contacts with the “multicul- turalism of globalization” depends to a considerable extent on how their fears are addressed, what is done to make them feel less ... (6) to forces over which they have little or no control. Inspired by the UN Charter — or perhaps the ... (7) behind it — human rights are of significance in helping the international community deal with the dilemmas arising from a real or imagined ... (8) of cultures and protecting “the dignity and worth of the human person.”

In practice, this means the ... (9) of policies that will help individuals face the radical economic and social changes that at times seem to threaten their very ... (10). Most problems cannot be solved entirely at the national, regional or global level; the age of globalization is simultaneously an age of ...

2. After filling in the gaps read the article once more and decide which of the statements are True and which are False and write T for True and F for False.

1. The management of national, cultural and religious diversity is a significant issue only for the United Nations in the twenty-first century.
2. Everyone experienced confusion and conflict while trying to adjust to a multicultural environment.
3. People feel less vulnerable when they have control over different forces.
4. Human rights are of no importance in protecting a human person.
5. People’s identity is threatened by radical economic and social changes.
6. The major challenge to international policy makers is to motivate people to maintain international peace and security.

3. Give English equivalents and make up your own sentences:

• спрос;
• спад;
• резкое падение;
• застой;
• крах;
• депрессия.

4. Translate the following sentences into Russian.

1. There’s considerable doubt the reports will clarify whether the economy is strengthening or weakening.
2. The recession is deepening rather than bottoming out, according to a survey of business expectations by Dun and Bradstreet.
3. New York’s stock market has risen by 19 % from its mid-January low thanks to hopes of economic recovery in America. Many economists reckon that America’s recession, which began last summer, has now reached its trough; they predict that the economy will soon pick up.
4. Bond prices typically begin to rally about 12 months before the trough of the business cycle, just ahead of the peak in interest rates.
   Six months later (six months before the economic turn-up begins), equity prices start to take off.
5. Talbot insists he will wait for the economy to turn up and for trading conditions to improve before he sells, which means some time next year.
6. “All the elements are in place to take advantage of an upswing in the market when it takes place — we don’t know when that will be,” he said.

5. Render the extract from the article using the active vocabulary.

В 1990-е годы Брюссель отвернулся от России и сосредоточил основное внимание на развитии отношений с ближайшими соседями ЕС.

Тем не менее, сейчас ЕС начал уделять России более пристальное внимание. Однако большая часть диалога касается вопросов внешней политики и безопасности, где Брюссель по-прежнему относительно слаб, а не таких ключевых для интеграции проблем, как унификация законодательств и промышленных стандартов. Инициативы, подобные плану Проди — об интеграции российских энергетических ресурсов в Европу — пока очень расплывчаты.

Диалог между EC и Россией, хотя и желанный, скорее представляет бюрократическое мероприятие, чем движущую силу на пути к дальнейшей интеграции. И если обе стороны не предпримут конкретных шагов, чтобы изменить подобное положение, то скоро наступит разочарование. Россия начнет искать себе других союзников, а европейцы вновь вернутся к традиционным разговорам об огромных размерах России или культурных различиях. Исторический шанс может быть вновь упущен.