Российская Федерация
Сибирский институт международных отношений и регионоведения
Кафедра иностранных языков
Контрольные работы (задания) по английскому языку
для студентов заочного отделения СИМОиР
По курсу
«МЕЖДУНАРОДНЫЕ ОТНОШЕНИЯ»
(2 семестр)
Выполнил(а): студент(ка) группы ________
______________________________________
(Ф.И.О.)
Проверил(а): __________________________
(Ф.И.О.)
Новосибирск - 2008
Test 1
Modern system of international relations in Europe
Ex.1 Read the extract from “The Charter of Paris for a new Europe” and write out:
the significance level of democracy in the 21st century;
the bases of democratic government;
general human rights and freedoms.
Human Rights, Democracy and Rule of Law
Human rights and fundamental freedoms are the birthright of all human beings, are inalienable and are guaranteed by law. Their protection and promotion is the first responsibility of government. Respect for them is an essential safeguard against an over-mighty State. Their observance and full exercise are the foundation of freedom, justice and peace.
Democratic government is based on the will of the people, expressed regularly through free and fair elections. Democracy has as its foundation respect for the human person and the rule of law. Democracy is the best safeguard of freedom of expression, tolerance of all groups of society, and equality of opportunity for each person.
Democracy, with its representative and pluralist character, entails accountability to the electorate, the obligation of public authorities to comply with the law and justice administered impartially. No one will be above the law.
without discrimination, every individual has the right to:
freedom of thought, conscience and religion or belief,
freedom of expression,
freedom of association and peaceful assembly,
freedom of movement;
no one will be:
subject to arbitrary arrest or detention,
subject to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment;
everyone also has the right:
to know and act upon his rights,
to participate in free and fair elections,
to fair and public trial if charged with an offense,
to own property alone or in association and to exercise individual enterprise,
to enjoy his economic, social and cultural rights.
Ex.2 Read the text, summarize it in written form using the following expressions:
to undergo great expansion
zenith of European integration
to minimize the negative consequences
to bring important benefits
EU budget
financial transfers
distinct nationalities
sense of common identity
tax competition
a minimum corporate tax rate
run-away inflation
common monetary policy
massive labor inflows
two separate trading blocs
to thwart the plans
Consequences of the wars
The wars of Yugoslav succession produced five states in the territory of what had been the SFRY: Slovenia, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Bosnia and Herzegovina (divided into two separate “entities,” a Bosniak-Croat federation and the Serb Republic), and Serbia and Montenegro (formerly the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, or FRY). Kosovo, nominally a part of Serbia and Montenegro, was an international protectorate managed by KFOR and a UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). Fearing discrimination or worse, few refugees from ethnic cleansing in Croatia and Bosnia returned to districts where they would now be a minority. The future of each successor state except Slovenia was clouded by the long-lasting economic, social, and psychological consequences of often devastating war damage.
The unresolved final status of Kosovo and Bosnia were sources of continued regional instability and potential new armed conflicts. However, there were some encouraging developments as well. A less nationalistic and more democratic government came to power in Croatia in elections following Tudjman’s death at the end of 1999. And in the FRY (now Serbia and Montenegro) a nonviolent revolution in Serbia in late 2000 brought about the overthrow of Milošević and his replacement by a democratic regime committed to a peaceful resolution of the region’s problems.
In May 1993 the UN Security Council established the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague, the Netherlands, to indict and try persons suspected of war crimes. As of mid-2005 the ICTY had publicly indicted more than 160 individuals. The most high-profile indictment was that of former Serbian president Milošević, who was extradited in 2001 to the ICTY. His trial began in February 2002 and entered the defense phase, with Milošević defending himself, in August 2004. In three separate indictments he faced more than 60 charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. The charges of genocide pertained to acts committed in Bosnia, specifically the 1995 massacre at Srebrenica. See also War Crimes Trials; Geneva Conventions.
Ex.3 Read the text and answer one question: what are the consequences of Baltic states’ membership in NATO?
Central Europe comes home
For five of the European Union's newcomers, May will be a doubly historic month. The Baltic three, plus Slovakia and Slovenia, will join NATO at a summit in Turkey. NATO will also welcome Bulgaria and Romania, a consolation prize of sorts for these two countries while they wait another three years or more to join the EU.
NATO entry will command less attention and less enthusiasm than EU entry among the public at large, but teenage males should have special cause to celebrate. Governments will come under pressure to shorten or abolish compulsory military service as they focus their limited resources on training the professional soldiers wanted for NATO operations. Slovakia will cut military service from nine to six months in 2004. The Czech Republic plans complete abolition by 2006.
EU entry will lose much of its shine by the time it comes around. Idealism about reuniting Europe will give way to arguments between national capitals and Brussels about EU regulations and EU budget money. Elections for the European Parliament in June will give voters the chance to issue mid-term rebukes to governments, which seem doomed to unpopularity, whether for trying to reform too much or for failing to reform enough. In their defense, most governments will be able to point to a decent economic performance, if only relative to that of the older Union members next door. The three Baltic countries will be hoping for growth of 6-7% in 2004. The Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia look set for growth of 3-5%.
The Baltic countries will surge ahead thanks to their low taxes, high skills and flexible labor laws. The Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland will share the same economic headache in 2004: how to manage budget deficits far exceeding 3% of GDP, the limit for countries joining the euro zone. All three say they want to adopt the EU's common currency, which means they should prepare the way by deficit-cutting. But all have weak center-left governments whose supporters want high public spending.
Slovakia's precarious center-right coalition government has the bravest agenda for 2004—if it survives. It wants a 19% flat rate for income and corporate taxes, the simplest tax system in Europe (save perhaps for Estonia's, where reinvested corporate profits are not taxed at all). Slovakia also intends to introduce bold spending reforms, shifting much of its health-care system to private insurance plans.
Big foreign investors are taking note. So are neighboring countries. Cuts in direct taxes will spread across central Europe in 2004 as governments compete for investment and growth. Older EU countries will feel the pressure: low-tax Estonia sits just 80km (50 miles) across the Baltic Sea from high-tax Finland. More Finnish firms will emigrate to Estonia, on paper at least, and Finnish taxmen will look for ways of chasing them.
Some border controls will remain between central European and other EU countries, probably until 2007. But growing ease of travel will encourage more in western Europe to discover the charms of central Europe. Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, is booming already as a tourist city thanks mainly to Scandinavian visitors. Bratislava, the Prague-like capital of Slovakia, and Ljubljana, the hard-to-spell but lovely capital of Slovenia, deserve to be the vogue cities of 2004. Budget airlines will bring down dramatically the cost of flying from west European hubs to central European cities. Unfortunately, many of the ticket buyers will be gangs of youths on drinking sprees, a depressingly common hazard already in Prague and an emerging one in Tallinn.
Ex.4 Translate the following text into English.