Writing practice

Task 1. Find some information about ethnic minorities in the Republic of Belarus, their position in our society and compare them with those of the USA and Britain. Write an essay on the issue “Ethnic minorities in the Republic of Belarus and their position in our society”.

_{Task 2. Write an essay on the following theme: “At the beginning of the 21}^st _{century, a place for each country has not yet been specified according to its resources - financial or human - or according to its military potential. The main factor in characterizing these roles in the world processes has become the utilization of achievements by the human minds in each state.”}

_{(Prof. V. Gaisenok)}

Achievement test

I. Give the term to the following definition.

1. opinion favoring one side;

2. considering other people inferior;

3. an offspring of a certain ascestor, family or group;

4. a stable community of people with a territory, history; culture and language in common;

5. behaviour typical of a person or a group;

6. a safe place;

7. a mass departure.

2. Match the synonymous pairs.

1. diversity a) escape

2. bogus b) encouragement

3. evade c) interfere

4. incentive d) false

5. intervene e) deal with

6. tackle f) variety

7. gregarious g) weak

8. feeble h) full of pride

9. arrogant i) sociable

2. Choose the most suitable work to complete the sentence.

1. High rents have led to the … of ordinary people from inner cities

1. exodus b) access c) exit

2. Nation building in the Third World during the twentieth century has created mass … on an unprecedented scale.

1. influxes b) expulsion c) migrations

3. Even traditional places of refuge for … are vanishing.

1. immigrants b) outsiders c) asylum-seekers

4. There is a considerable agreement between different people in any nation regarding the most … traits of other nations.

1. characteristic; b) characteristics; c) character

5. Opposite to the English the Americans are … characterized by the “spirit of adventure”.

1. dominant; b) dominated; c) predominantly

6. Belarusians are generally characterized by an innate respect for other people, and … towards those who hold a different opinion.

1. tolerate; b) tolerance; c) tolerant

2. Choose the most suitable word from the box to complete the sentence.

1. The most … civilizations arose where the population … in place and traded like ….

2. Slave labour caused the largest … … in history.

3. Most members of ethnic groups long established in the U.S. have lost much of … of their culture.

4. It’s, certainly, difficult to give a general idea of what some millions of people (1)… one nation are like.

5. More over, one and the same … is perceived sometimes quite differently by different nations.

6. In fact, the English consider themselves reserved, …, conventional and intelligent.

7. So, some … are firmly fixed in our consciousness, and it’s difficult to make oneself change one’s mind.

Involuntary, to be bound, chattel, sophisticated, migration, distinctiveness, representing, tradition-loving, generalizations, nationality