3. Give synonyms to the words:

Compose, censure, demolition, crash, bring out, vibrate, consumer basket, expansion, increase, feature, encourage, preserve, retain, prosperity, inflexibility, vow, bail, restrict, back up

4. A)Translate the word combinations into Russian without using a dictionary, then check with a dictionary:

• living standards

• free market system

• trade blocs

• reduced gap

• increasing number

• The Commonwealth of Independent States

• The European Economic Area

• The European Free Trade Association

• Common Agricultural Policy

• Common Fisheries Policy

• meet certain criteria

• overseas territories

2. Work in small groups, make up sentences with these word combinations.

5. Translate the sentences into Russian:

1. About 7 percent of the Board of this corporation is comprised of women.

2. They blamed her project for the drop in sales.

3. They blamed the drop in sales on her.

4. Sufficient to maintain me in comfort and independence as a gentleman. (James)

5. I can't tell you about our strategy, I'm pledged to secrecy.

6. His wealth is estimated at fifty million dollars.

7. We reached an agreement with them to cooperate fully at all times.

8. Complete destruction and devastation of the country will collapse the patriot party.

9. The market has shown annual growth of 20 per cent for several years.

6. Match the word combinations with their Russian equivalents:

1. to violate an agreement	a) исправно осуществлять поставки
2. to retard growth	b) наполненный чувством стыда от провала всего дела
3. to maintain one's composure	c) нулевой прирост населения
4. filled with shame at the collapse of the enterprise	d) разорвать соглашение
5. to foster growth	e) задерживать развитие
6. zero population growth	f) рынок без изменения (когда цены сохраняются на прежнем уровне)
7. pegged market	g) сохранять спокойствие, оставаться хладнокровным
8. maintain the deliveries	h) благоприятствовать развитию

READING I

7. A) Read the text:

The economy of Europe is comprised of more than 710 million people in 48 different states. Like other continents, the wealth of Europe's states varies, although the poorest are well above the poorest states of other continents in terms of GDP and living standards. The difference in wealth across Europe can be seen in a rough East-West divide. Whilst Western European states all have high GDPs and living standards, many of Eastern Europe's economies are emerging from the collapse of the USSR and former Yugoslavia.

As a continent, Europe has the largest economy in the world. Europe's largest national economy is that of Germany, which ranks third globally in nominal GDP, and fifth in purchasing power parity (PPP) GDP; and its second is that of the United Kingdom, which ranks fifth globally in nominal GDP and sixth in PPP GDP.

West Europe, with a long history of trade, a free market system, and a high level of development in the previous century, has been wealthier and more stable than the East, even though the gap is converging due to higher growth rates in the East.

The poorest states are those that just emerged from communism and civil wars, namely those of the former Soviet Union and Yugoslavia not including Slovenia.

In general European nations are members of larger and more powerful trade blocs than anywhere in the world. Many credit this with Europe's reduced gap between the rich and poor. However, the rigidity of the European labour market has also been blamed for the higher unemployment and slower growth than North America.

The European Union or EU is a supranational union of 27 European states, the most recent acceding members being Romania and Bulgaria, who became full members in January 1, 2007. It has many activities, the most important being a common single market, consisting of a customs union, a single currency (adopted by 13 of the 27 member states), a Common Agricultural Policy and a Common Fisheries Policy. The European Union also has various initiatives to coordinate activities of the member states.

The European Union has the largest economy in the world. The EU economy is expected to grow further over the next decade as more countries join the union - especially considering that the new States are usually poorer than the EU average, and hence the expected fast GDP growth will help achieve the dynamic of the united Europe.

The union has evolved over time from a primarily economic union to an increasingly political one. This trend is highlighted by the increasing number of policy areas that fall within EU competence: political power has tended to shift upwards from the Member States to the EU.

The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) was established on 3 May 1960 as an alternative for European states that did not wish to join the European Union, creating a trade bloc with fewer central powers.

Today only Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein remain members of EFTA, as the other members have gradually left to join the EU.

The European Economic Area (EEA) came into being on 1st January 1994 following an agreement between the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and the European Union (EU). It was designed to allow EFTA countries to participate in the European Single Market without having to join the EU.

In a referendum, Switzerland (ever keen on neutrality) chose not to participate in the EEA (although it is linked to the European Union by bilateral agreements similar in content to the EEA agreement), so the current members are the EU states plus Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.

A Joint Committee consisting of the non EU members plus the European Commission (representing the EU) has the function of extending relevant EU Law to the non EU members.

The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a confederation consisting of 12 of the 15 states of the former Soviet Union, (the exceptions being the three Baltic states). Although the CIS has few supranational powers, it is more than a purely symbolic organization and possesses coordinating powers in the realm of trade, finance, lawmaking and security. The most significant issue for the CIS is the establishment of a full-fledged free trade zone / economic union between the member states. It has also promoted cooperation on democratization and cross-border crime prevention.

The Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) is a trade bloc of former Communist countries in central and eastern Europe. The countries that participated and the few that continue to participate in CEFTA have used this form of integration to help them prepare for full membership in the European Union.

The most common currency within Europe is the euro, the currency of the European Union. To join, each new EU member must meet certain criteria, when these are met their own currencies will be replaced by the euro. Becoming a member of the EU involves a pledge to work towards Eurozone membership, (except in the cases of the United Kingdom and Denmark who have opt-outs). Currently, 13 of the 27 EU member states use the euro. Each EU member's central bank is part of the European System of Central Banks, and in addition, those that use the euro are part of the European Union's central bank, the European Central Bank.

There are some non-EU members who have elected to use the euro as their national currency, either with or without specific agreements with the EU to do so, (those with agreements with the EU may mint their own euro coins). The French overseas territories and departments of Mayotte and Réunion in the Indian Ocean, Guadeloupe and Martinique in the Caribbean and French Guiana in South America all use the euro, among many other islands in the Pacific, Caribbean and indeed around the globe that are ruled directly by European countries.

Some countries while maintaining their own national currency have pegged its value to the euro. In some of these countries, there is a fixed exchange rate between the national currency and the euro and in this case the currency is actually a submultiple of the euro. In other countries, the national currency's value fluctuates within a band (generally 15%) around a set rate. Currencies pegged to the euro include the currencies of Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Cape Verde. Denmark, Cyprus, Malta and Slovakia have a foreign exchange band tied to the euro.

The CIS is also planning to introduce a single currency among its members.

b) Find all adjectives in the text and write them in comparative and superlative forms.

c) Complete the table with appropriate forms of the words.

Verb	Noun	Adjective
1. Participate
2.		Different
3. Emerge
4.	Collapse
5.		Purchasing
6.	Economy
7.		Powerful
8.	Growth
9. Develop
10.	Unemployment

d) Match the words and their definitions:

1.bilateral agreement	a. A measure of the number of workers that want to work but do not have jobs.
2. GDP	b. The value of one's total possessions and property rights.
3. wealth	c. The value of all final goods and services produced within a nation in a given year.
4. the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA)	d. A treaty or other agreement, usually between sovereign nations, detailing their mutual understanding, policies, and obligations on a particular matter, e.g. trade
5. unemployment	e. The regulations of the European Union intended to provide stable agricultural markets and incomes for European farmers and food for European consumers through a system of domestic support, market access protection and export subsidies.
6. Common Fisheries Policy	f. A loose confederation of former Soviet republics established in December 1991 to coordinate interrepublican policies, especially military and economic affairs.
7. the European Free Trade Association (EFTA)	g. A trade agreement between Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia.
8. Common Agricultural Policy	h. Model of exchange rate determination stating that the price of a good in one country should equal the price of the same good in another country, exchanged at the current rate.
9. the Commonwealth of Independent States	i. A free trade zone covering the countries of the European Union, Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein
10. purchasing power parity	j. Aims at supporting free trade among its members and increasing the liberalization of trade on a global basis, particularly within Western Europe.
11. the European Economic Area (EEA)	k. A set of common rules and regulations covering all aspects of Community policy and activities in the fisheries sector.

READING II