Vocabulary to the text:

institution of higher learning	вищий навчальний заклад
spillover	надлишок, переміщення
dedicated	спеціалізований
laboriousness	трудомісткість
foster, to	сприяти
office scientist	кабінетний вчений
applied skills	прикладні навички
loanword	запозичене слово
maven	експерт

1. Questions to the text:

1. What is common between philologists and translators, linguistics and translation science?

2. What is a language?

3. What was the need for interpretation caused by?

4. How have translators contributed to the richness and similarity of present-day tongues?

5. What caused the boom of translation practices followed by the establishment of new schools and associations?

6. Characterize the usefulness of automated translation and translation software.

7. Should interpreters (translators) and philologists be taught different skills and disciplines?

8. What are the two most important ingredients which shape out the linguistic mavens?

9. When is the process of language learning finalized?

2. Additional questions and discussion:

1. Explain how you see the application of your lingual achievements.

2. Think of the specific tricks and master tools which help you learn languages.

3. How is the appearance and function languages explained nowadays? Is language an instinct or a cognitive phenomenon?

4. Which general skills are extremely helpful when you learn languages, teach them and practice translation?

5. What are the pitfalls for a foreign language user?

3. Write short notes about the key issues raised in the text.

4. Compose and write a plan of the text.

5. Retell the text using new vocabulary.

6. Write a report about your linguistic specialization and its values.

7. Compose a dialogue between the representatives of different areas of applied linguistics (e.g. interpreter and translator, teacher and linguist).

Module 5. Unusual achievements.

Topic 13. Surprises and challenges of the XXI century.

He who never made a mistake, never made a discovery.

--Samuel Smiles

In contemporary history, the 21st century began with the United States as the sole superpower in the absence of the Soviet Union, with five other entities, China, India, the European Union, Brazil and the Russian Federation as potential superpowers in the coming decades. As the Cold War was over and terrorism on the rise exemplified by the September 11, 2001 attacks at the World Trade Center in New York City; the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia; followed by the 2001 anthrax attacks that commenced as letters containing anthrax spores were mailed from Princeton, New Jersey to ABC News, CBS News, NBC News, the New York Post, and the National Enquirer; the United States and its allies turned their attention to the Middle East.

Digital technology, in its early stages of use in the 1980s and 1990s, became widely accepted by most of the world, though concerns about stress and antisociality from the overuse of mobile phones, the Internet and related technologies remains controversial. In 2009, 4.6 billion people globally, or nearly half the world's population used cell phones, and in 2005, over a billion people worldwide used the Internet. Among major concerns of the XXI century there are issues of:

Globalization. Advances in telecommunicationsandtransportation, the expansion ofcapitalismanddemocracy, andfree tradeagreements have resulted in unprecedented global economic and cultural integration. This has caused (and is continuing to cause) economic and cultural shifts which have been the subject of considerable controversy.

Overpopulation. The United Nationsestimatesthatworld populationwill reach 9.2 billion by mid-century. Such growth raises questions of ecologicalsustainabilityand creates manyeconomicandpoliticaldisruptions. In response, many countries have adopted policies which either force or encourage their citizens to have fewer children, and others have limitedimmigration. Considerable debate exists over what the ultimate carrying capacity of the planet may be; whether or not population growth containment policies are necessary; to what degree growth can safely occur thanks to increased economic andecological efficiency; and how distribution mechanisms should accommodate demographic shifts. Evidence suggests that developed countries (such as Japan) suffer populationimplosion, and the population debate is strongly tied with discussions about the distribution of wealth.

Abortion. Debates between "Pro-choice" and "Pro-life" factions on the controversial procedure continue. The approximate number of induced abortions performed worldwide in 2003 was 42 million.

Gay rights are a major political issue in many places, with same sex marriagebeing legalized in several jurisdictions during the first decade of the century, but outlawed by constitutional amendment in other places. Meanwhile, some countries such asUgandamoved to toughen their laws against any sort ofhomosexualbehavior. Political battles over pro- or anti-gay legislation provoked much activism in the streets and on the Internet.

Dysgenics. Due to the negative correlation between fertility and intelligence, human genetic integrity may be deteriorating, lowering the intellectual capacity of the average human.

Poverty. Poverty remains the root cause of many of the world's other ills, including famine,disease, and insufficienteducation. Poverty contains many self-reinforcing elements (for instance, poverty can make education an unaffordable luxury, which tends to result in continuing poverty) that various aid groups hope to rectify in this century.Microcreditlending has also started to gain a profile as a useful anti-poverty tool.

Disease. AIDS,tuberculosisandmalariaeach kill over a million people annually.HIVremains without a cure or vaccine, and is growing rapidly in India and much of the African continent.Antibiotic resistanceis a growing concern for organisms such astuberculosis. Other diseases, such asSARS,ebola, andfluvariations, are also causes for concern. TheWorld Health Organizationhaswarnedof a possible coming flupandemicresulting frombird flumutations. In 2009, the outbreak ofswine fluoriginated in Mexico and startled the world.

Warandterrorism. Active conflictscontinue around the world, including civil wars in theDemocratic Republic of the Congo(the largest war sinceWorld War II),Chechnya,Côte d'Ivoire,Somalia,Senegal,Colombia, andSudan(mainly inDarfur). The9/11 terrorist attackstriggered invasions ofAfghanistanand partially and controversiallyIraq. TheWar on Terrorismhas seen controversies overcivil liberties, accusations oftorture, continued terrorist attacks and ongoing instability, violence, and military occupation. Violence continues in theArab–Israeli conflict. Considerable concern remains aboutnuclear proliferation, especially inIranandNorth Korea, and the availability ofweapons of mass destructionto rogue groups.

Global warming. Climate scientists have postulated that the earth is currently undergoing significant anthropogenic(human-induced)global warming. The resulting economic and ecological costs are hard to predict. Some scientists argue that human-induced global warming risks considerable losses in biodiversity and ecosystem services unless considerable sociopolitical changes are introduced, particularly in patterns of mass consumption and transportation. Others, however, doubt or deny human influence and counter-action were in effect significant, or question whether global warming will actually be a significant detriment to the planet.

Power in international relations. Issues surrounding the cultural, economic, and military dominance of the United States and its role in the world community have become even more pointed given its recent military activities, problematic relations with the United Nations, disagreement over several international treaties, and its economic policies with regard to globalization. Integration of theEuropean Unionand theAfrican Unionhave proceeded.

Intellectual property. The increasing popularity of digital formats for entertainment media such as movies and music, and the ease of copying and distributing it via the Internetandpeer-to-peernetworks, has raised concerns in the media industry aboutcopyright infringement. Much debate is proceeding about the proper bounds between protection ofcopyright,trademarkandpatentrights versusfair useand thepublic domain, where some argue that such laws have shifted greatly towards intellectual property owners and away from the interests of the general public in recent years, while others say that such legal change is needed to deal with a perceived threat of new technologies against the rights of authors and artists (or, as others put it, against the outmoded business models of the current entertainment industry).Domain name"cybersquatting" and access to patented drugs and generics to combat epidemics in third-world countries are other IP concerns.

Technology developments show no sign of ending. Communications and controltechnology continues to augment the intelligence of individual humans, collections of humans, and machines. Cultures are forced into the position of sharply defining humanity and determining boundaries on desire, thought, communication, behavior, and manufacturing. Some, notablyRay Kurzweil, have predicted that by the middle of the century there will be aTechnological Singularityifartificial intelligencethat outsmart humans is created. If these AIs then create even smarter AIs technological change could accelerate in ways that are impossible for us to foresee. (However, gradual and simultaneous use of AI technology to increase our own intelligence might prevent this from ever occurring.)

Fossil fuels are becoming scarce and more expensive, due to the escalating demandforpetroleum("oil") and oil-based products such asgasolineandkerosene, unmatched by production. Discovery of newoil fieldshas not been sufficient to sustain current levels of production, and some fear that the earth may be running out of economically viable oil, pressing for alternatives. AsAgrofuel, one possible alternative, yields further hazards for the environment and endangers food security, debate is far from over.

NATO–Russia relations seem to remain strained as the "Western Alliance" and NATO square off with Russia and other nations over international policy and the future of the ex-Soviet sphere. An Eastern Europe Missile Defense Shield, military and social conflicts in former Yugoslavia and the Caucasus (particularly Georgia and Chechnya), fossil fuel infrastructures like the Nabucco pipelineand the future of nuclear arsenals are among the topics that have strained the relations between the two sides with eerie reminders reminiscent of the Cold War.