Section 4. Listening/Composition

The war of 1812

The main reason for the war of 1812 was America's frustration over the British interference with American shipping due to it's embargo on trade with France.  For years, America tried to get the British to revoke the "Orders in Council" but finally decided the only way to prevent the interference was to go to war! So war was finally declared on June 18, 1812.What the Americans didn't know was that the British had revoked the "Orders in Council" two days before the declaration of war but it had taken two months for the news to reach Washington and it was too late.  Even President James Madison himself admitted later that if he had known about the change, he would have held off on the war declaration. The War of 1812 went on for two years and ended with the Treaty of Ghent on December 24, 1814.  Once again, lack of communication had a huge impact.  It took two months for this news to reach the battlefield resulting in one of the great land victories in American history when Andrew Jackson defeated the British in the Battle of New Orleans in January of 1815.

Section 5. Response Rate/Sight Translation

1.A. set fire to cars - сломить сопротивление протестующих - fuel the movement - волнения достигли столицы - undercover agent – придать себя огню - rampant unemployment – автократическая власть - hold aloft posters – выйти на улицы - chant slogans – закрыть доступ в интернет - call on president to step down – самосожжение - peaceful protests – жестоко подавлены полицией - escalate into an uprising – принять резолюцию- demand the overthrow of smb - defiant protest march – распространиться по всей стране – вызвать наложение санкций и осуждение со стороны других стран -

1.B. поджигать автомобили - crack down on the protestors - "подогреть страсти” (ухдш стц-ю) - revolt spread to the capital city – тайный агент – set oneself on fire – галопирующая инфляция - autocratic governance – держать плакаты высоко поднятыми – take to the streets – скандировать лозунги - shut down internet access – призывать президента к отставке - self-immolation – мирные протесты – be broken up violently by police – перерасти в восстание - pass a resolution - требовать свержения кого-л - марш неповиновения - unfold across the country - trigger sanctions and condemnation abroad

2.A. halt the violence – марш несогласных - have the justification – представлять угрозу стабильности - impoverished nation – убежище для боевиков - call for the ouster of President – испытывать кризис- be riddled with corruption – нарушение прав человека - extreme poverty – недостаточная прозрачность - the internet-savvy youth – уровень голода - step down – перерасти в кровавый конфликт - wrest smth from smb – быть по происхождению Курдом - oil run dry – продовольственная безопасность - give courage to women’s rights movement – последовать примеру

2.B. прекратить насилие - March of the Discontented - иметь оправдание - pose a threat to the stability – обнищавшая страна - a haven for militants – призывать к изгнанию президента – undergo a crisis – принизан коррупцией - human rights violations – крайняя нищета - insufficient transparency – хорошо ориентирующаяся в интернете молодежь - famine rates – уступить свою позицию - transcend into bloody conflicts – отобрать силой – be of Kurdish descent - нефть заканчивается - food security - стимулировать движение женщин за свои права - follow suit

THE "ARAB SPRING"

1. Since mid-January, North Africa and the Middle East have been gripped by revolutionary fever. There have been revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt; a civil war in Libya; civil uprisings in Bahrain,Syria, and Yemen; major protests in Algeria, Iraq, Jordan, Morocco, and Oman, and minor protests in Kuwait, Lebanon, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Western Sahara. A major slogan of the demonstrators in the Arab world has been Ash-sha`b yurid isqat an-nizam» ("The people want to bring down the regime").

2.Tunisia; the "Arab Spring", was sparked by the first protests that occurred in Tunisia on 18 December 2010 following Mohamed Bouazizi's self-immolation. Twenty-six-year-old Mohamed Bouazizi, living in the provincial town of Sidi Bouzid (160 miles from Tunis), had a computer science degree but no work. To earn some money he took to selling fruit and vegetables in the street without a license. On December 17, authorities confiscated his produce and allegedly slapped his face. Bouazizi became incensed.  He then drenched himself in gasoline and set himself on fire outside the governor’s office.  On Friday, rioters in Menzel Bouzaiene set fire to police cars, a railway locomotive, the local headquarters of the ruling party and a police station. The police cracked down on the protestors, which only fueled the movement. After being attacked with Molotov cocktails, the police shot back, killing a teenage protester. By Saturday,  the revolt eventually spread to the capital city, Tunis.

(Bouazizi survived his initial suicide attempt. After being transported to a hospital near Tunis, he was visited by President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali before passing away on January 4.)

3.Egypt; The 2011 Egyptian revolution. Following the self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi in Tunisia on 17 December, a man set himself ablaze on 17 January in front of the Egyptian parliament; about five more attempts of self-immolation followed. Opposition groups planned a day of revolt for 25 January, coinciding with the National Police Day. One of the main tools for organizing the rallies was a Facebook page in honor of Khaled Said, a 28-year-old businessman who died in June at the hands of undercover police, a hated institution for many Egyptians. Protests started on Tuesday, January 25, when thousands (or tens of thousands or a hundred thousand or up to two million. Although by some counts, the Square can’t hold more than 225,000) began taking to the streets to protest poverty, rampant unemployment, government corruption and autocratic governance. People held aloft posters denouncing the Egyptian president, and chanted slogans "Go Mubarak Go" and "Leave! Leave! Leave!". The Egyptian government shut down internet access for most of the country, but two days later anonymous internet users helped Egypt communicate.

4. Libya; The 2011 Libyan civil war. The situation began on 15 February 2011 as a series of peaceful protests. On the evening of 15 February, between 500 and 600 demonstrators protested in front of Benghazi's police headquarters after the arrest of human rights lawyer Fathi Terbil. The protest was broken up violently by police, resulting in clashes in which 38 people were injured. The protests escalated into an uprising that spread across the country, with the forces opposing Gaddafi establishing a government based in Benghazi named the National Transitional Council. On 17 March, the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution to impose a no-fly zone in Libyan airspace. The military intervention in Libya has been cited by the Council on Foreign Relations as an example of the responsibility to protect policy adopted by the UN at the 2005 World Summit.

5. Syria; The protest movement in Syria was at first modest, and took a while to gain momentum. The events began on 26 January 2011, when Hasan Ali Akleh from Al-Hasakah poured gasoline on himself and set himself on fire. According to eyewitnesses, the action was "a protest against the Syrian government". Two days later, on 28 January 2011, an evening demonstration was held in Ar-Raqqah, to protest the killing of two soldiers of Kurdish descent. Tens of thousands demanded the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad, chanting “we will kneel only to God.” Defiant protest marches unfolded across the country despite a military crackdown that has triggered sanctions and condemnation abroad. Washington imposed sanctions on Syria’s largest bank and its biggest mobile telephone company, controlled by Assad’s cousin Rami Makhlouf.

6. Yemen; The 2011 Yemeni uprising followed the initial stages of the Tunisian Revolution and occurred simultaneously with the Egyptian Revolution. In the southern port city of Aden, a 28-year-old unemployed man set himself on fire to protest the economic troubles in the country. The man, identified as Fouad Sabri, was rushed to the hospital in critical condition. The act is the latest in a wave of attempts at self-immolation across the Arab world. In the early phase, protests in Yemen were initially against unemployment, economic conditions and corruption, as well as against the government's proposals to modify Yemen's constitution. The protestors' demands then escalated to calls for Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to resign. "No delays, no delays, the time for departure has come!" shouted protesters, calling for the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has ruled for nearly 32 years. Saleh's government is riddled with corruption, has little control outside the capital, and its main source of income — oil — could run dry in a decade.

7. Causes. Numerous factors have led to the protests, including issues such as dictatorship or absolute monarchy, human rights violations, government corruption (demonstrated by Wikileaks diplomatic cables), economic decline, unemployment, extreme poverty, and a number of demographic structural factors, such as a large percentage of educated but dissatisfied youth within the population. Also, some attribute the 2009 Iranian protests as one of the reasons behind the Arab Spring. The catalysts for the revolts in all Northern African and Persian Gulf countries have been the concentration of wealth in the hands of autocrats in power for decades, insufficient transparency of its redistribution, corruption, and especially the refusal of the youth to accept the status quo. Many of the internet-savvy youth of these countries have studied in the West, where autocrats and absolute monarchies are considered anachronisms. Increasing food prices and global famine rates have also been a significant factor, as they involve threats to food security worldwide and prices that approach levels of the 2007–2008 world food price crisis. Amnesty International singled out Wikileaks release of US diplomatic cables as a catalyst for the revolts. Though some politicians consider these upheavals as a new wave of world wealth redistribution between powerful nations.