12. Use the given phrases to make word partnerships:

renewal of nature / New Year / change / the triumph of good / life-giving festival / of the vernal equinox / the end of the patient resistance to the hardships / of love and beauty / the coming of spring / of kindness

symbolic
symbolize
symbol

13. Make a “mind-map” about various kinds of competitions:

14. Match a line in A with a line in B to make a word partnership:

A	B
ideologically remarkable survival evil oppressive hopeful mathematical zodiacal magnificent joyful hallowed	forces capacity spring competition instance holiday endurance signs presence milk inconsistent

15. State whether the – ing form is a gerund or a verbal noun:

the awakening of the coming of spring

16. Look through the text again. Add phrases to make word partnerships with the following:

signify
significance
celebrate
celebration

17. Reproduce sentences with the following:

bring luck and realization of wishes to clear life-giving arteries

to prepare for the festival table to correspond to mathematical instance

hallowed milk to retrieve with the commencement of spring

18. Fill in the “mind map” using key phrases:

Unit 5

1. Read and translate the text, paying special attention to the terms in bold type: Globalization

There are many different definitions of globalization, but most acknowledge the greater movement of people, goods, capital and ideas due to increased economic integration which in turn is propelled by increased trade and investment. It is like moving towards living in a borderless world.

There has always been a sharing of goods, services, knowledge and cultures between people and countries, but in recent years improved technologies and a reduction of barriers means the speed of exchange is much faster. Bigger markets mean bigger profits which leads to greater wealth for investing in development and reducing poverty in many countries.

The issues and perceived effects of globalization excite strong feelings, tempting people to regard it in terms of black and white, when in fact globalization is an extremely complex web of many things.

Although the term ‘globalization’ was coined in the latter half of the 20^th century, the first steps towards globalization were taken in Europe in the 16^th and 17^th centuries, when the Portuguese and Spanish Empires reached to all corners of the world. Liberalization in the 19^th century is often called “The First Era of Globalization”, a period characterized by rapid growth in international trade and investment. “The First Era of Globalization” began to break down at the beginning of the first World War and later collapsed due to the gold standard crisis in the early1930s. Advances in technology which have reduced the costs of trade after World War II led to a series of agreements to remove restrictions on free trade.

Money makes the world go round, they say. Perhaps it is even truer that the world makes money go round, especially in the era of globalization when capital can flow freely to and from almost everywhere. Money is always looking for places where it will be most profitable and earn the greatest return on investment. The world increasingly is confronted by problems that can not be solved by individual nation-states acting alone.

The current wave of globalization has been driven by policies that have opened economies domestically and internationally. Many governments have adopted free-market economic systems, vastly increasing their own productive potential and creating myriad new opportunities for international trade and investment. Taking advantage of new opportunities in foreign markets, corporations have built foreign factories and established production and marketing arrangements with foreign partners. A defining feature of globalization, therefore, is an international industrial and financial business structure.

Globalization relies on three forces for development: the role of human migration, international trade and rapid movements of capital and integration of financial markets. It has various aspects which affect the world in several different ways such as:

1. Industrial – emergence of worldwide production markets and broader access to a range of foreign products for consumers and companies; particularly movement of material and goods between and within national boundaries.

2. Financial – emergence of worldwide financial markets and better access to external financing for borrowers. As it was evidenced by the financial crises of late 2008, these worldwide structures grew more quickly than any transitional regulatory regime, dramatically causing the instability of the global financial infrastructure.

3. Economic – realization of a global common market, based on the freedom of exchange of goods and capital. The interconnectedness of these markets meant however, that an economic collapse in any one given country could not be contained.

4. Political – some use “globalization” to mean a creation of a world government which regulates the relationships among governments and guarantees the rights arising from social and economic globalization. Politically, the United States has enjoyed the position of power among the world powers. With the influence of globalization the People’s Republic of China, for instance, has experienced some tremendous growth within the past decade. If China continues to grow at the rate projected by the trends, then it is very likely that in the next twenty years, there will be a major relocation of power among the world leaders. China will have enough wealth, technology and industry to rival the United States for the position of leading world power.

5. Informational – increase in information flow between geographically remote locations. Arguably this is a technological change with the advent of fibre optic communications, satellites, and increased availability of telephone and Internet.

6. Language – the most popular language is English. About 35% of the world mail, telexes and cables are in English. Approximately 40% of the world radio programs are in English. About 50% of all Internet traffic uses English.

7. Ecological – the advent of global environmental challenges that might be solved with international cooperation, such as climate change, cross-boundary water and air pollution, over-fishing of the ocean, and the spread of invasive species. Since many factories are built in developing countries with less environmental regulation, globalism and free trade may increase pollution. On the other hand, it is argued that developing countries should not, via regulation, be prohibited from increasing their standard of living.

Negative effect: Globalization has been one of the most hotly-debated topics in international economics over the past few years. Globalization has also generated significant international opposition over concerns that it has increased inequality and environmental degradation. In many countries globalization has eaten away at its competitive edge in industry and agriculture, lowering the quality of life in locations that have not adapted to the change.

A. Discuss these questions:

1. What does the term globalization mean?

2. Is globalization a recent trend?

3. What spheres of life does globalization penetrate into? What industries are they in?

4. Do global companies do more good than harm?

B. Match the words with their definitions:

infrastructure	the ability of a business to make money
issues	basic facilities and services of a country (water / power / roads)
profitability	money paid by the government to people in need, for example, the unemployed
welfare benefits	a movement of large sums of money out of a country
flight of capital	important subjects that people discuss
acquisition	a group of companies in similar business
joint venture	a company partly or wholly owned by a parent company
consortium	giving someone the exclusive right to sell products in a certain area
franchising	a person or company who cooperates with a foreign company who wishes to enter the market
licensing	two or more companies join temporarily to carry out a large project
local partner	buying or taking over another company

C. Say whether the following items are advantages or disadvantages:

1. Globalization increases the power of governments.

2. Globalization could lead to big employment problems in the West as companies move their production forces to Asia.

3. Competition between China, India and the West will increase employment everywhere.

4. Globalization increases competition among companies.

5. Globalization lowers people’s living standards.

6. Globalization prevents governments from controlling their welfare systems.

7. Globalization creates cross-cultural problems between Asian and Western countries.