Appendix 2 useful vocabulary

To deal with (the article deals with the latest events in Africa)

To touch upon

To devote/to be devoted to

Space (to devote a great amount of space to local news)

Headline, heading (the article under the headline «…» states/reports that …)

To be addressed to

The author/reporter/journalist (the author of the article believes/considers/explains/describes/discusses/points out/emphasizes/comes to the conclusion)

The main idea/the key note

Question/problem

A disputable question/a vital question/an urgent question/a key question

Contribution (to make a contribution to something), to contribute to something

Speaking of … it’s necessary/interesting to note that …

Analysing the situation in … it’s necessary to emphasize that …

There is increasing (growing) concern/tension/danger …

The reporter gives no detail as to …

There is no mention about …

In this connection (respect) it’s worthwhile mentioning (the fact) that …

Mention should be made of the fact that …

The author makes it clear/comes out against/gives a warning that/criticizes/condemns/calls for/demands …

In the author’s opinion …

In conclusion the journalist suggests, that …

It would be wrong to assume that …

It would be unfair to suggest that …

It remains to be seen (whether) …

Appendix 3 example reviewing ensure a fun birthday: throw your own party

Solve this riddle: Two people are sitting together in a room. One is American and one is Russian. If it’s the Russian’s birthday, both of the people are having lots of fun. But if it’s the American’s birthday, neither one of them is having any fun at all. Why?

Of all the cultural differences that divide these two great nations, the way each typically celebrate birthdays is perhaps one of the most telling. Russians, as foreigners here have no doubt come to realize, are almost completely responsible for arranging their own celebration. This means they bring candy or cake or champagne with them to work for their fellow employees, and then they rush home and make an enormous dinner for their friends to enjoy later in the evening. They are not expected to buy their own presents, at least, but they are the masters of their own fate, and the fate of their guests, for the day.

Americans, to the contrary, consider it their right to do as little as possible on their birthday, preferring to lie back and let friends and well-wishers do most of the manual labor involved. Putting in an appearance is all the effort expected of the birthday person; the people around them are the ones who are responsible for making the day go well. To make their own cake or concoct some sort of party could even be construed as a show-off or self-important gesture. Their friends will determine how festive a birthday they deserve.

Each of these methods has its advantages. The Russian path is ultimately the more modest of the two, because it doesn’t have to be based on the surreptitious dropping of hints that American often find themselves resorting to in fear that their birthdays will mistakenly pass without fanfare. It’s a tricky system, really – you don’t want to make a fuss in your own honor, but you do want other people to make a fuss, preferably as splashy a fuss as possible. Letting them know the big day is near without giving even the slightest appearance of making a fuss is no easy task. Fortunately, Americans are very subtle people.

Obviously these two patters don’t necessarily blend together perfectly. An American who sees a Russian slaving in the kitchen on his own birthday will be horrified by his own failure to have taken the entire matter into his own hands. And a Russian who sees an American sitting around idly on his birthday, impatiently tapping his fingers on the table and waiting for a party magically to appear, might possibly, just for a moment, think the American is the slightest bit arrogant or lazy.

This, of course, couldn’t be further from the truth.

People wishing to avoid their birthday altogether, however, will be equally at home with either system. No one can force you to make your own party, and no one can force you to force them to make one, either.

(«The Moscow Times», 25.12.1994)

SAMPLE REVIEW:

The headline of the article taken from «The Moscow Times» issued in December 1994 is «Ensure a Fun Birthday: Throw Your Own Party». The article is written by the American journalist Daisy Sindelar. It is devoted to traditions of celebrating birthdays by two nations – Russians and Americans.

The article opens with the riddle about an American and a Russian sitting in a room. Both of them are having fun, because it is the Russian’s birthday. But if it is the American’s birthday, neither of them is having fun. Why? Here the author points out that the Russians are almost completely responsible for arranging their own fate and the fate of their guests for the day. Americans, on the contrary, consider it their right to do as little as possible on their birthday. Their friends will determine how festive a birthday they deserve.

Further the author brings to a focus the fact that of all cultural differences that divide these two nations, the way each typically celebrates birthdays is perhaps one of the most telling.

It is remarkable how precise the author is in describing the way the Russians celebrate their birthdays. First of all, they bring candy or cake or champagne with them to work for their fellow employees, and then they rush home and slave in the kitchen to make an enormous dinner for their friends to enjoy later in the evening.

Americans, on the contrary, prefer to lie back and let friends and well-wishers do most of the manual labour involved. The author supposes that this way the birthday person expects to see how much people value him/her.

The author goes on speculating that each of these methods has its advantages. The Russian path is the more modest of the two, while Americans often have to drop hints about their birthdays, to make sure that friends will not forget to arrange a fanfare.

The author states that it is a tricky system – you don’t want to make a fuss in your own honor, but you do want other people to make a fuss. But according to Ms Sindelar it’s quite easy for Americans as they are subtle people.

At the end of the article the writer emphasizes that obviously these two patterns do not necessarily blend together perfectly. An American seeing a Russian slaving in the kitchen will be sorry not to have taken the matter into his own hands. While a Russian, in his turn, seeing an idle American on his birthday thinks him to be arrogant and lazy. But this, of course, is far from being true. As the journalist concludes, people in both countries wishing to avoid their birthdays will be equally at home with either system.

To cap it all, I can say that I read the article with great interest, because it tells us with a wonderful sense of humor about a tradition of another nation and teaches us how to avoid a culture clash.

In my opinion, it is both fascinating and beneficial to read about customs of other countries. Such articles give rise to thoughts about differences and similarities of people. My strong belief is that though many of our customs differ due to certain circumstances we are the same in many ways and should be friendly and cooperative.