Test 16

Глобальные проблемы современности

Раздел 2. (задания по чтению)

1.      Limited natural resources

2.      Unequal financial resources

3.      Our obligation before future

4.      Against the east

5.      Nuclear weapons

6.      Climate change

7.      Religious world of today

8.      Women’s rights

A. The earth is ours to use as we please without regard for the future, for our children, for the earth itself.  We must reassume our historical responsibility for our children’s future by protecting their heritage.  The reckless anarchy of the exploitation of the earth must be replaced by responsible dialogue among the users, and among the governments of the earth.  At present, we have a gathering of the Big 7 or 8 on how to manage the world to their own advantage.  Such a dialogue, however, brings up questions of justice and fairness in the allocation of the resources of the earth.  A new protocol must be worked out whereby the universal declaration of human rights is more than a God’s wish-list that is lost in the fight of big corporations to use the resources of the earth. 

B. The oil, the water, the old growth forests are all limited resources.  They must be conserved for the most important future uses.  Oil is necessary for the operation of all sorts of machinery, yet it is not being conserved but endlessly pumped out of the earth and sold to the highest prices.  Drinkable water, too, is increasing rare; indeed, it is sold in stores for the same price of colas.  But underground water is needed for crops, and the underwater reserves are running out.  Here, national and international management are required. 

C. We are faced with the problem of Global Terrorism which has been called the shadow of the process of Globalization. As the world is becoming one place, so it is that the effects of terrorism have global effects. Also it may be understood that the causes of this global terrorism are likewise global in nature, with disaffected individuals and groups caught up in ideologies of global scope and participating in causes that go beyond international and even inter-continental barriers. We see this particularly in the Muslim world, where issues in Palestine, Bosnia, Afghanistan or Iraq can mobilize people on the other side of the world to want to make interventions.

D. Global poverty and hunger are increasing each year instead of decreasing.  The agricultural land of the earth is owned by fewer and fewer people.  Much of what is left in the hands of small farmers is being bought up by international agribusinesses - by multinational corporations distant from land but close to big money. The big oil, the pharmaceutical companies, the media conglomerates, the insurance companies, including medical insurance have more influence on government policies than the poor or even the general population.  Government policies seem more oriented to maintaining the economy than in the economic and physical well-being of their populations.  

E. Another major problem that looms on the horizon and one that probably is already upon us and exerting its effects, is the phenomenon of Global Warming. It can be argued endlessly whether Global Warming is man-made or whether it’s a natural phenomenon, however the empirical evidence certainly shows that Global Warming is indeed occurring. This is made manifest in the melting glaciers and polar ice caps, the increase in hurricane activity (with category 4 and 5 hurricanes, the most intense, doubling in frequency over the past 50 years), changing rainfall patterns and of course the actual increases in measured surface temperatures.

F. It seems that the danger posed by an arsenal of 50,000 missiles in Russian and America is less today than 15 or 20 years ago when Jonathan Schell’s The Fate of the Earth saw catastrophe on the horizon and a real possibility of giving the earth back to the insects and grasses.  The cold war between Russia and the U.S. has thawed, but the proliferation of weapons goes on, and the growing masses of nuclear waste.  Why?  Because the military ways of thinking go on, the national security imperative still drives small countries to spend most of their small budget on weapons instead of social programs.  We need to outgrow the dangerous and costly structures of thinking that are our legacy from modernity.  Instead of endless debates, we need dialogue and negotiations—not just in Ireland, Russia, East Timor, Pakistan, the Balkans, the Middle East—but in the United Nations about the natural resources, power concentrations, poverty, human rights of the populations of the world. 

G. The UN system continues to give particular attention to the issue of violence against women.  The 1993 General Assembly Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women contained "a clear and comprehensive definition of violence against women and a clear statement of the rights to be applied to ensure the elimination of violence against women in all its forms”.  It represented "a commitment by States in respect of their responsibilities, and a commitment by the international community at large to the elimination of violence against women”.

Peter the Great

Born in Moscow, Russia on June 9, 1672, Peter the Great was a Russian czar in the late 17th

Simple Solutions to Global Problems

What if the answers to global crises - from devastating hurricanes to the malaria epidemic to global warming  - were simple and relatively inexpensive?

Journalist Stephen Dubner and economist Steven Levitt, the authors of "SuperFreakonomics," say that throughout history, ’cheap and simple fixes’ often solved the world’s biggest problems.

Take the medical crisis that more than 50 years ago frightened every American child and nearly broke the American health care system. The problem was polio, and the solution was not more hospitals or more efficient iron lungs that would make breathing easier. The answer was a vaccine.

"Polio’s just one of thousands of examples like that, where a simple solution will prevent so much heartache going down the road,” Dubner said.

The "SuperFreakonomics" duo argue that it's no different in modern times. "We love to think the world is terrible and difficult, and that it’s much worse now than it’s ever been. But the fact of the matter is that’s almost always wrong” Dubner said. "The world is actually better now than it ever was and all the unsolvable problems that appear keep getting solved.”

Intellectual Ventures, a company in Bellevue, Wash., has been in the business of solving global problems since 2000. The self-proclaimed invention company uses inventions from some of the smartest scientists, mathematicians, software engineers and patent experts in the world, including Nathan Myhrvold, the former chief technology officer at Microsoft.

"Our only job is to invent. And so we try to swing for the fences and try to solve really big problems. And sometimes we do!” Myhrvold said.

Although their ideas are sometimes strange and outrageous, Intellectual Ventures currently ranks in the top 50 among companies that file patents worldwide. Myhrvold said the key components are "simple, and cheap and effective. And when you’re lucky and when things are going all right, you can come up with an idea that’s all of them.”

A 7          The solutions of all global problems are not expensive.

                1) True                    2) False                       3) Not stated

A 8          The American medical system was ruined about fifty years ago.      

                1) True                    2) False                       3) Not stated

A 9          The way out of the polio crisis was vaccine.

                1) True                    2) False                       3) Not stated

A 10        The solution to the polio crisis was quickly found.

                1) True                    2) False                       3) Not stated

A 11       Simple solutions may also be used nowadays.

               1) True                     2) False                       3) Not stated

A 12       The world has changed for the better as Dubner thinks.

               1) True                     2) False                       3) Not stated

A 13       Intellectual Ventures is a big company which always solves global problems.

               1) True                     2) False                       3) Not stated

A 14       Intellectual Ventures’ ideas are very often odd for common people.

               1) True                     2) False                       3) Not stated

C

D

E

F

G

Заголовки

5

8

1

7

3

4

6

Задание А7-А14

A7 – 2, A8 – 2, A9 – 1, A10 – 3, A11 – 1, A12 – 1, A13 – 3, A14 – 1.

Раздел 3

Задание В4-В12

B4 – more, B5 – do you know, B6 – best, B7 – ways, B8 – helps, B9 – feel, B10 – pull, B11 – will add, B12 – lives.

Задания В13-В18

B13 – mistake, B14 – unlikely, B15 – National, B16 – drinkers, B17 – observational, B18 – dependence.

Раздел 4

Задание С1

Hi Kevin,

It’s nice to receive a letter from you so soon. As for keeping fit I agree it’s difficult enough to have regular exercise as it takes time and effort. You should have some definite goal to keep yourself working every day. It’s easier to talk about it but hard to do. Sometimes friends that go in for sports together with you can really help.

Reading about your new plans I think it good to have a part-time job to have pocket money all the time. You’d better start in summer, find some job in a café as it seems the easiest to start with.

Love,

Jim.