MONDAY
TEST: WEEK 3
TEST
1. THEORY
Types of Across-Regional Cooperation
2. ANALYTICS
A New Asian Order Is Emerging
WEDNESDAY
3. CURRENT ISSUES
- Summarise the video, speaker’s viewponits on the topic of the discussion
- Comment on the ideas expressed in the Round table
4. THE WORLD THIS WEEK
- Analyze the events, be ready to comment on them
- Choose one piece of news and make an analytical commentary on it
- Structure of an analytical commentary:
| INTRODUCTORY SENTENCE = PRESENTATION OF THE EVENT | The EVENT is happening/has happened /due to, as a result… etc (Reference to causes or/and historical background is acceptable if necessary but should be limited to the absolutely indispensable details — mind the task and the number of words) |
| ASSESSMENT OF THE EVENT (the degree of importance, the nature of the event etc.) | The EVENT 1. SIGNIFICANT/ OF MINOR IMPORTANCE 2. EXPECTED/ UNEXPECTED = PREDICTABLE/ UNPREDICTABLE 3. RELEVANT/ REASONABLE/ DUE —————————- is of utmost importance/ of only marginal importance/ is a result of…/ an achievement of…/ an attempt…/ shocking evidence…/a step…etc GIVE YOUR ARGUMENTS (Mind transitional phrases and linking words) |
| IMPLICATIONS | AN INTRODUCTORY SENTENCE 1. IMPLICATIONS FOR THE COUNTRY 2. IMPLICATIONS FOR THE REGION 3. IMPLICATIONS FOR THE WORLD 4. IMPLICATIONS FOR RUSSIA GIVE YOUR ARGUMENTS (Mind transitional phrases and linking words) |
| CLOSING SENTENCE | Thus, ….. |
VOCABULARY & GRAMMAR
KEY TERMS
| diminish | decrease in size, extent, or range |
| accompany | to be in association with |
| complementary | acting as or forming a satisfactory/ balanced whole, full quantity/ amount |
| multilateralism | process of organising relations between groups of three or more states |
| preliminary | going before and leading up to the main part; preparatory |
| inter-regionalism | region-to-region cooperation |
| extra-regionalism | cooperation between a regional group and one country outside the group |
| cross-regional | bilateral relations between countries that belong to different regional groups |
| trans-regionalism | a new group formed across two or more existing groups |
| pan-regional | cooperation throughout a single region and all subregions of that specific single region |
FOCUS WORDS
| redefine | пересмотреть, переоценить, переопределить |
| merge | сливаться, соединяться, поглощать |
| construct | конструкция, концепция, образ |
| overarching | всеохватывающий; всеобъемлющий |
| consequential | логически вытекающий, важный |
| protracted | затянувшийся; длительный |
| emphasize | подчеркивать, акцентировать, выделять |
| manifestation | проявление; обнаружение |
| relief | помощь, пособие, облегчение, снижение |
| domain | область, сфера, поле деятельности |
PREPOSITIONS
- the key to
- insistence on
- approach to
- reliance on
- integration into
- at the height
- rival to
- foundations for
- manifestation of
- definition of
GRAMMAR PATTERNS
TENSES
In a world that is tearing itself apart, the European Union should make trust in the European project a top strategic priority.
Despite a succession of severe convulsions, European integration has recently undergone a historic acceleration.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic hit Europe two and a half years ago, practically all of the EU’s decisions have sought to strengthen member states’ political integration.
In the 1930’s, Germany and Japan resorted to forcible regional integration, not economic nationalism, in response to economic crisis.
By contrast, in today’s crisis, the largest members of the European Union, the best model and greatest hope for benign regionalism, have turned their backs on integration.
Instead, the large states are now promoting informal groupings to look for worldwide solutions.
The clash of two visions of Europe is eroding the political stability of an area that once represented the best model and greatest hope for benign regionalism.
Suddenly, in the face of the economic crisis, these problems have become major sources of political instability.
The House vote came more than a year after the three countries’ leaders signed the USMCA in Buenos Aires in November 2018 – a longer wait than many had anticipated, but shorter than others had expected after the Republicans lost their House majority in last year’s midterm elections.
Officials and analysts in the three countries had been hopeful that Congress would approve the agreement.