6. Read the text and discuss the importance of being politically correct in the contemporary society:

FOR the liberal parent concerned about his/her offspring being corrupted in the nursery, here is a politically corrected ver­sion of one fairytale.

THERE once was a young person named Little Red Riding Hood who lived on the edge of a forest full of endangered owls and rare plants that would proba­bly provide a cure for can­cer if only someone took the time to study them. Red Riding Hood lived with a nurture giver whom she sometimes referred to as 'mother', although she didn't mean to imply by this term that she would have thought less of the person if a close biological link did not in fact exist.

One day her mother asked her to take a basket of organically grown fruit and mineral water across the forest to her ill grand­mother's house.

'But mother, aren't you oppressing me by ordering me to do this?' Red Riding Hood's mother pointed out that it was impossible for women to oppress each other, since all women were equally oppressed until all women were free.

Many people believed that the forest was a fore­boding and dangerous place, full of thieves and deviants, but Red Riding Hood felt that in a truly classless society all mar­ginalised peoples would be able to 'come out' of the woods and be accepted as valid lifestyle role models.

When she was in the woods, Red Riding Hood .was startled to find herself standing before a wolf, who said, 'You know, my dear, it isn't safe for a lit­tle girl to walk through these woods alone.' Red Riding Hood said, 'I find your sexist remark offensive in the extreme, but f will ignore it because of your traditional status as an outcast from society, the stress of which has caused you to develop an alternative and yet entirely valid worldview. Now, if you will excuse me, I would prefer to be on my way.'

But the wolf burst into the house and ate grandma, a course of action affirmative of his nature as a predator. Then, unhampered by rigid, traditionalist gender role notions, he put on grandma's nightclothes, crawled under the bed­clothes and awaited devel­opments. When Red Riding Hood entered the cottage the wolf leaped out of bed, grabbed Little Red Riding Hood, and opened his jaws so wide that she could see her grand­mother cowering in" his belly.

'Aren't you forgetting something?' Red Riding Hood bravely shouted. 'You must request my permission before pro­ceeding to a new level of intimacy!'

Suddenly a forester burst into the cottage, brandishing an axe. 'Get your hands off that endan­gered species! This is an FBI sting!' he screamed and sliced off Red Riding Hood's head.

7. Read the text and decide which answer (а, в, с or d) best completes each collocation or fixed phrase:

After more than fifty years of television, it might seem only too obvious to conclude that it is (1) ____ to stay. There have been many objections to it during this time, of course, and on a variety of grounds. Did it cause eye-strain? Was the screen bombarding us with radioactivity? Did the advertisements contain subliminal (2)____, persuading us to buy more or vote Republican? Did children turn to violence through watching it, either because so many programmes taught them how to shoot, rob, and kill, or because they had to do something to (3)____ the hours they had spent (4) ____to the tiny screen? Or did it simply create a vast passive audience, drugged by glamorous serials and inane situation comedies? On the other hand, did it increase anxiety by (5) ____ the news and (6) ____ our living rooms with war, famine and political unrest?

1) a around b there c ready d here

2) a information b messages c data d communications

3) a counteract b negate c offset d compensate

4) a attached b fixed c glued d adhered

5) a scandalizing b hyping c dramatizing d sensationalizing

6) a filling b loading c stuffing d packing