Ex. 3. Read the article again and decide if the following statements are true or

false:

1. The election forecasts of an oppositiion turned out to be correct.

2. Mr. Mugabe's supporters won the elections after two failures in previous elections.

3. The results of the election showed that Mr. Mugabe is widely supported by the

population of that isolated country.

4. The election returns resulted in the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic

Front' victory with two-thirds majority in Parliament.

5. The US administration declared the vote fair and democratic.

6. The crucial factor in Mr. Mugabe's victory was his 25-year autocracy, fear of the

population and the government policy of persecution of the opposition.

7. Zimbabwe is a developing country with an increasing potentiol of democratic

reforms and economic prosperity.

 

Ex. 4. Read the article and explain the following phrases:

Party routed its opponents in parliamentary elections, dashing forecasts of an opposition surge; render the opposition essentially toothless; strong-arm rule that they said had conditioned voters to fear government retaliation if they supported the opposition; arelaxation of that intimidation created the appearance of a free election; tallies poured cold water on the predictions of several top opposition officials earlier this week of big electoral gains; party riven by blood feuds and beset by a resurgent opposition.

Ex. 5. Match the words from the article with their corresponding definitions:

1. Intimidation a having one side lower, smaller than the other

2. Fraud b sth that cannot be destroyed, defeated or questioned

3. Lopsided c an area in which there is a lot of support for a particular

belief or group of people, especially a political party

4. Returns d an act of frightening or threatening sb to make them do what

you want

5. Stronghold e an official report or statement that gives particular information

to the government or another body

6. Unassailable f the crime of deceiving sb in order to get money or goods

illegally

Ex. 6. Choose the best definition for the word in italics in the sentences from the article:

1. They said the returns proved that a fair election was impossible in this increasingly isolated country where democratic freedoms are a matter of Mr. Mugabe's whim.

a wish b power c fantasy

2. Reports of irregularities were scattered but persistent.

a habits b threats c violations

3. The opposition and some democracy advocates contended even before the election that the ruling party had rigged the vote.

a stated b agreed c found

4. Opposition officials complained that large numbers of their election monitors had been wrongly evicted from polling places as votes were being tallied.

a examined b turned out c detained

5 Those predictions were based in part on huge turnouts of supporters at rallies for M.D.C. candidates, the tepid response to Mr. Mugabe's appearance at many ZANU-PF rallies, and a strong turnout of voters in the first hours of Thursday's vote.

a number b queues c crowds

5. After it, the opposition is in disarray, and the issue of who will succeed him seems

his to decide.

a relaxed b confused c excited

7. Should sympathetic international observers declare the vote fair, Mr. Mugabe may even puncture Zimbabwe's diplomatic isolation by Western nations.

a denounce b achieve c break through

 

Ex. 7. Read the article again and list the reasons of Mugabe's party victory and opposition's failure in the elections.

Pro-presidential party victory	Opposition failure

Ex. 8. Render the newspaper article.

Ex. 9. Read the text below, use the following words to complete it.

Convene, predecessor, presidency, resignation, resolve, run, succession, suspended, swearing-in, took

 

Bolivia Congress Names New President, Setting Stage for Elections

Bolivia's Congress accepted the (1) ___________ of President Carlos Mesa late on Thursday night and swore in the head of the Supreme Court as the new president, an appointment expected to defuse more than three weeks of protests that have paralyzed the nation. Eduardo Rodríguez, who as president of the Supreme Court was third in the line of (2) ___________, succeeded Mr. Mesa after the two congressional leaders who were first and second in line dropped out. The two politicians, Hormando Vaca Díez, the Senate president, and Mario Cossío, the House of Delegates president, were seen by protesters as emblematic of Bolivia's failed ruling class.

Mr. Rodríguez, a respected jurist without party affiliations, is seen as an independent who will serve only as a caretaker with one mission: to (3)____________ early elections. Those elections, which could take three months to plan, could lead to the election of the first government of indigenous people in Latin America in centuries.

In a short speech given in Sucre, the judicial capital of Bolivia, 450 miles southeast of La Paz, Mr. Rodríguez asked his countrymen to work together to (4) ___________ the crisis that has shaken the country.

Among the leading candidates to (5) ___________ for president, once elections are called, is Evo Morales, an Aymara Indian who is the influential leader of the Movement Toward Socialism party. Mr. Morales has gained prominence leading Bolivia's coca growers, earning him the unending enmity of the United States, which has financed coca eradication efforts here.

Mr. Mesa's presidency, which ended less than 20 months after he (6) ___________ office, ended after 11 p.m. Thursday when he walked out of the presidential palace. He spoke to reporters briefly before speeding off. "I have made mistakes, and I have made errors," Mr. Mesa said. "But my conscience is calm. I served Bolivia as best I could."

His (7) _____________, Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada, resigned in October 2003 after troops killed 60 protesters in a violent uprising against his rule.

The late-night agreement that led to Mr. Rodríguez's (8) _____________ came after a tumultuous day that began when Mr. Vaca Díez convened a special session in Sucre because La Paz, the commercial capital, was paralyzed by protests. But party leaders haggled for hours, while Indians and miners descended on Sucre. After one protester, a 52-year-old miner, was fatally shot by police, becoming the first demonstrator killed in weeks of protests, the session was (9) ___________. Under pressure, Mr. Vaca Díez later announced that he would not seek the (10) ___________. Mr. Cossío also stepped aside.

 

Ex. 10. Work in pairs or in small groups. Discuss the following issues:

1. Differencies and similarities in the electoral systems of Great Britain and the USA.

2. The foundations of the electoral system of Kazakhstan.

3. Presidential elections in the Ukraine of 2004: new precedencies.

4. Election returns and "color" revolutions: case studies.

 

 

Unit 7. Human Rights

Key vocabulary

Give equivalents in your mothertongue to the following English words and phrases:

Affirmative action program

Allegations of atrocities

To curb freedoms of the press and public assembly

Eligible to

Employment opportunities

To fall into poverty

To fall under a pay-for-service system

To file a complaint with the local labor bureau

To have health benefits

Human rights groups

Illegal assembly

The income divide is widening

Massacres, mass killings

Medical costs

To be a migrant worker

To monitor and censor e-mail messages

Politically motivated killings

To promote human rights standards

To release prisoners

To have a spotty human rights record

To skim most of the money off

Severe restrictions on freedoms of worship and expression

Social safety net

Torture and abuse of detainees

To use extreme interrogation methods on detainees

United Nations peacekeepers

To violate the constitutional rights; violation of the human rights

 

Ex. 1. Speak on the following:

1. Independent sovereign states: the main actors in the international system.

2. The best methods of maintaining order: balance of power, diplomacy, and the formation of alliances.

3. The role of international institutions in the international system.

 

Ex. 2. Before reading the newspaper article below discuss in pairs what you think