Task 10. Find the English equivalents for the following words and word-combinations. Explain their meaning.

возрасти в десять раз	magnified ten-fold
подростковая преступность	juvenile crime
причина и следствие	Cause and effect
предмет рассмотрения	Consideration subject
страховые премии	insurance premiums
финансовая документация	financial records
сократить затраты вполовину	reduce costs two-fold
ключевой вопрос	The key question
агент по недвижимости	a real-estate agent
политолог	political scientist
в идеальном положении	in an ideal/perfect position
содержащийся в хорошем состоянии	Well-kept
дорогостоящий	Expensive/costly
бюджетный	budget
достоверность данных	reliability of data
уровень преступности	Crime rate/the level of crime
в пределах досягаемости	Within the reach
ход событий	the course of events
передавать ребенка на усыновление	put the child up for adoption.
склад ума/психики	mindset / mentality
выборы с равными шансами на победу	elections with equal chances of winning
в конечном счете	eventually
мошенничать	cheat

Task 11. Find the Russian equivalents for the following word-combinations and explain their meaning.

conventional wisdom	Общепринятые вгляды,суждения,точки зрения
to go undercover	Действовать в тайне
cheating to win/lose	Мошенничать, чтобы выиграть/проиграть
to pay a whisper of attention	Немного интересоваться
nature-nurture problem	Проблема влияния наследственности и окружающей среды
scared out of one’s skin	Испугаться до смерти
in some regards	В некотором отношении
gun control law	Законы по контролю оружия
to put into place	Вводить в действие
class-action lawsuit	Групповой судебный риск
applied science	Прикладная наука
frustrating exercise	Неблагоприятное занятие
unifying theme	Объединяющая тема
impartial observer	Независимый наблюдатель
beyond the reach	Вне досягаемости
informational advantage	информированность
adverse family environment	Неблагоприятная обстановка в семье
on one’s behalf	От чьего-то имени
innocuous choice	Безобидный выбор
to churn commissions	Стремление к быстрой/легкой прибыли

Task 12. Explain the idioms. Make up 3 sentences using the idioms:

• to keep body and soul together- to survive, to earn sufficient money to keep oneself alive.

John was unemployed most of the year and hardly made enough money to keep body and soul together.

• to get top dollar for smth- the highest amount being paid for a commodity or service

She got top dollar for her sculpture

• the weakest link- the person who is making the least contribution to the collective achievement of the group

He got the last place in competition, because he was the weakest link

Task 13. Form groups of 3-4. You are going to use the mind-mapping technique while speaking on relationship between American economics and crime. Present your ideas in the form of a diagram / table / mind-map / pie-chart, etc.

Task 14. Paraphrase the following sentences focusing on the underlined expressions:

1. It is better to remember that Adam Smith, the founder of classical economics, was first and foremost a philosopher.

2. Even though the experts had not predicted the crime drop – which really existed even as they made their horrifying predictions – they now rushed to reveal it.

3. As far as crime is concerned, it turns out that not all children are born equal.

4. It is one thing to muse about experts abusing their position and another to prove it.

5. The roaring 1990s economy caused turning back crime.

6. But as the incentives change, commissions are tricky.

7. Unless you have more information, however, it’s hard to say what’s causing what.

8. If only Candidate A competed with Candidate B in two consecutive elections but in each case spent different amounts of money, we could count the money’s impact.

9. Incentives rose ten times.

10. Denver and Washington, D. C., have about the same population – but Washington has nearly threefold as many police as Denver.

Task 15. Choose one of the topics and write an essay up to 300 words.

SUGGESTED TOPICS FOR WRITING

1. Comment on the following: “A butterfly flaps its wings on one continent and eventually causes a hurricane on another”. Do you agree with this statement? What effects do distant causes have on global economy? Give examples of dramatic changes caused by human activities.

2. According to Steven D. Levitt, legalized abortion in the US caused dramatic crime drop. Do you find this argument completely convincing? Were there any other reasons for the decline in crime? How does the situation stand in Russia? What could be done to reduce the amount of crime?

3. Can money alone be the cause of the presidential elections victory? What is Levitt’s opinion on this point? Do moral principles or personal qualities matter? Choose a Russian political figure that represents the core values of this country. Describe this figure and the values associated with him/her.

4. Steven D. Levitt assumes that “Morality represents how people would like the world to work, than economics shows how it actually does work.” Comment on this statement. How could this contradiction be solved?

3. Nowadays there are a lot of people who think that only money can help you win the political elections. Others believe in candidates’ honesty and think that elections are fair. There are many points of view on this problem. So let us discuss some of them.

I absolutely agree with Levitt’s opinion that I have read in his book “Freakonomics”.He suggest that the amount of money spent by the candidates hardly matters at all. Of course, the victory depends on your personal abilities and your character. People will prefer to vote for candidate who can make them to believe in his political program, who can speak correctly and tell people what they want, who can achieve all the goals. Others who are inherently attractive to voters always lose. It is no matter how much money you have. But you must be well-known person and voters must trust you.

I think in our country there is no political leader who can be a face of Russian nation, because many of Russian political figures promise a lot, but do nothing. They declare that they want to modernize our economy, to raise pensions, to made Russia be one of the leading countries and etc., but they don’t fulfill their commitments. Unfortunately, they don’t want to improve the life in our country indeed, they just want only money and respect. So how can we trust them? Unfortunately, there is no answer on this question.

To sum up, I want to say that it is not important how much money you have in your pocket. The main thing is personality. But not in Russia. I believe that in the nearest future we will have a political figure which can represent the core values of our country.

PART II

How is the Ku Klux Klan Like a Group of Real-Estate Agents? (pp. 58-69)

• Do the Internet research before you start reading. Search for the factual information mentioned in the chapter to improve your understanding. Be ready to report back to the class on any interesting facts you find.

• The Ku Klux Klan – glimpses of history

• Presidents Ulysses S. Grant, Warren G. Harding and Woodrow Wilson and their attitude towards The Ku Klux Klan

• Jim Craw Laws

• Plessy v. Ferguson (a decision by the Supreme Court in 1896)

• D.W. Griffith’s film “The Birth of a Nation”

• General Robert E. Lee

Before you read answer the following questions:

• What do you know about The Ku Klux Klan?

• What do you know about real-estate agents? What do they deal with?

• Look at the title of the chapter and try to predict what it is about

Task 1. Read the text. While reading pay attention to the points below and be ready to discuss them with your partner or report it to the class.

• Pp. 58-59.

-the origin of the name of the Klan

-the evolution of the organization

-the aims of the Ku Klux Klan according to President Ulysses S. Grant

-the methods of intimidation adopted by the Klan

-Woodrow Wilson’s opinion about the Klan in “A History of the American People”

• Pp. 60-63.

-Stetson Kennedy’s family / origin / childhood -Kennedy’s contribution to the struggle against the Ku Klux Klan -the phrase “Frown Power” -Why did Kennedy think it to be difficult to struggle against the Klan? -customs / language / rituals / oaths /hierarchy in the Klan

• Pp. 64-65 -Review the official statistics on the lynching of blacks in the USA. What does it suggest? - Read some more statistics and the author’s comments on it. What conclusions does the author make? Do they sound plausible?

• Pp. 67

- decode the names of the Klan officers - What associations (cultural / historical/ literary) do the following aliases from the Klan hierarchy trigger for you? An Exalted Cyclops and his twelve Terrors A Great Titan and his twelve Furies A Grand Dragon and his nine Hydras The Imperial Wizard and his fifteen Gentii

Task 2. Mark the following statements TRUE/FALSE.

1. Initially The Klan was just a harmless group of people having the same ideas and interests.

2. The Ku Klux Klan and the law-enforcement establishment were closely connected with each other.

3. Some of the USA Presidents were secret supporters of the Ku Klux Klan.

4. In 1945 (after V-J-Day) the cross burning was performed in commemoration of General Robert E. Lee.

5. Stetson Kennedy could trace his origin back to a distinguished southern family.

6. The effectiveness of terrorism lays in the fear of random violence.

7. The Ku Klux Klan of the 1940s was a money-making operation.

8. At first Kennedy’s efforts to hurt the Klan were fruitless.