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Reading (RC313): Euro crisis ensnares Spain. (Telegraph)
Moody’s slashed the ratings of 16 Spanish banks on Thursday evening, citing the reduced ability of the Spanish government to provide support to the sector, as well as the “adverse operating conditions” characterised by a renewed recession.
The rating agency also downgraded Santander UK, although, at “A2,” it is still rated one notch above its parent bank Banco Santander. Moody’s highlighted that Santander UK has “no direct exposure to the Spanish government (or regional governments)”.
Earlier in the day, shares in Bankia, the country’s fourth biggest bank, plunged by as much as 29pc amid reports that depositors had pulled out €1bn in the past week.
Background
Moody’s is a credit rating agency.
Questions
Answer with complete sentences.
- Which phrase means “the centre of the crisis”?
- What happened to the banking sector in Spain?
- What two reasons did Moody’s give for the downgrade?
- What is the parent company of Santander UK called?
- Has Santander UK lent money to the Spanish government?
- Why did the price of shares in Bankia fall?
General
- If your savings were in a Spanish bank, would you be tempted to withdraw them? (I don’t think it’s necessary!)
- If you were Spanish, who would you be feeling angry with (if anyone)?
Answers
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Reading (RC312): Society ‘sanctioning violence’ against elderly warns Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor. (Telegraph)
The whole of society is guilty of “sanctioning violence” against the elderly by everyday prejudices, viewing them as an expensive burden, England’s most senior Roman Catholic cleric has warned.
In a rare public intervention, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor said that there was a “subtle and silent” process of “dehumanising” older people at work through common attitudes.
He said a loss of “reverence” for humanity meant that some of the most vulnerable people in society are now routinely viewed as a “problem” or “threat”.
And he said that political decisions to cut back on vital care services amounted to denying older people’s fundamental right to life.
Questions
Answer with complete sentences.
- Who is criticising society’s attitude to older people?
- Which 3 nouns in paragraphs 1 to 3 all apply to something that is negative and difficult?
- Which adjective in paragraph 2 means “almost unnoticeable”?
- Which adjective in paragraph 3 means “respect”?
- What does he say is being denied older people?
General
- Do old people suffer from a lack of respect in your country?
- As people live longer, the problems related to aging grow. How can we deal with these issues in the future?
- Should we always try to keep people alive?
Answers
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Reading (RC311): General Motors says it will stop advertising on Facebook. (Telegraph)
General Motors said it will stop advertising on Facebook, even as the social networking website prepares to go public.
A source familiar with the matter told Reuters the car maker had decided Facebook’s adverts had little impact on consumers.
The decision by GM, the third-largest advertiser in the United States, marks the first highly visible crack in Facebook’s strategy and underscores doubts about whether advertising on Facebook works better than traditional media.
“This does highlight what we are arguing is the riskiness of the overall Facebook business model,” said Brian Wieser, Internet and media analyst at Pivotal Research Group
Questions
Answer with complete sentences.
- Which company is going to stop advertising on Facebook?
- What kind of site is Facebook?
- Who has reported this fact?
- How many advertisers in the US spend more than General Motors?
- Which word in paragraph 3 means “emphasises”?
- Who says that the business model is uncertain?
General
- Do you think that Facebook would be good site to advertise on? Why? / Why not?
- Between Google and Facebook – which do you think has the best business model?
- If you were going to invest money for 10 years in one of the two companies, which would you choose?
Answers
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Reading (RC310): Osborne: Merkel damaging UK economic interests. (Telegraph)
George Osborne accused Angela Merkel of damaging Britain’s economic interests after she speculated that Greece would leave the euro.
Speaking after he arrived in Brussels for meetings with other European finance ministers about the worsening eurozone crisis, Mr Osborne implied that the German chancellor was destabilising the global economy.
“The eurozone crisis is very serious and it’s having a real impact on economic growth across the European continent, including in Britain, and it’s the uncertainty that’s causing the damage,” said Mr Osborne, the Chancellor.
Earlier Mrs Merkel had warned that Greece may be forced to leave the euro if it refused to implement spending cuts agreed with the European Union. Raising the spectre of a Greek exit, she said “solidarity for the euro” was threatened by the ongoing political crisis in Athens.
Questions
Answer with complete sentences.
- What did the British Chancellor accuse Angela Merkel of?
- What did she speculate about?
- Where was the Chancellor speaking?
- What does he believe is the main cause of the damage?
- In what situation did Merkel say Greece may be forced to leave the euro?
- What is happening in Greece at the moment, according to her?
General
- Should Greece leave the euro?
- If you were Greek would you want to leave the euro?
- What would happen to Greece if it left the euro?
Answers
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Reading (RC309): Backlash in Europe threatens to derail austerity measures. (Telegraph)
German chancellor Angela Merkel suffered an electoral setback yesterday as opposition to European austerity measures spread across the continent.
In Spain police launched a show of force to contend with widespread demonstrations against harsh economic conditions. And in Italy the interior minister threatened to deploy troops to protect tax offices after demands for tax returns led to several violent attacks in recent months.
At home, Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, also expressed concern over the euro crisis spreading to Italy and Spain. He said: “The problem would affect us if it spread, if you had these contagion effects in Italy and Spain, and Mr Barnier [the European Union Commissioner] has expressed optimism that those firewalls have now been created, and we must hope he’s right, because if they’re not, then of course it has a massive impact on our trade … our banks are quite substantially exposed to those countries.”
The German chancellor may be tempted to rethink her approach after her allies in the country’s largest state, North Rhine-Westphalia, lost 9 per cent of the vote in their worst showing since the Second World War. The result left her in a weaker position for her first meeting tomorrow with François Hollande, the socialist president-elect of France, who has demanded that the EU adopt higher-spending policies to battle the recession.
Questions
Answer with complete sentences.
- What happened to Merkel yesterday?
- What were demonstrators in Spain protesting against?
- Why might troops be used to protect tax offices in Italy?
- Who is the Business Secretary in Britain?
- According to Cable, what would happen to Britain’s trade if the “firewalls” are not strong enough?
- What happened to Merkel’s allies in North-Rhine Westphalia?
- When is Merkel meeting Hollande?
- Has her position been strengthened or weakened by the election results?
General
- This is a continuing story. The pressure for growth measures is growing. Do you think it will be successful?
- “The process of debt repayment will be painful – and this pain can’t be avoided whichever governments are in power.” Do you agree?
Answers
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Reading (RC308): Greek threat to the euro scares world’s stock markets. (Telegraph)
Financial markets have taken fright after Greece took another step towards leaving the euro by rejecting “barbarous” international bail-out deals.
Stock markets around the world fell sharply as fears grew that Greece was moving towards a euro exit following Sunday’s general election, where parties rejecting internationally-imposed austerity measures made major gains.
Alexis Tsipras, the head of Greece’s radical Left-wing Syriza party, said that the result “nullified” bail-out deals with the European Union and International Monetary fund.
Adding to the sense of panic over the eurozone, European Union leaders yesterday said they would hold an emergency summit later this month to discuss the latest phase of the European debt crisis.
Questions
Answer with complete sentences.
- Which word in paragraph 1 means “unfair” in this context?
- What happened to stock markets?
- Why did this happen?
- Which parties improved their position in the Greek national elections?
- Which word in paragraph 3 means “cancelled”?
- When is the next meeting of European leaders to be held?
- What are they going to talk about?
General
- Should Greece leave the Euro?
- Is the Euro a good idea?
- Will it survive? (Meaning: still exist with all the current members 5 years from now).
Answers
Click here for answers.
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Reading (RC307): France elections 2012: François Hollande victory sets EU on course for turmoil. (Telegraph)
François Hollande became the first Socialist French President for over 20 years on Sunday night and the moment of his victory over Nicolas Sarkozy to declare a fight back against Germany’s austerity policies.
Accepting his mandate as French president, Mr Hollande threw down the gauntlet to Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, who has made austerity policies a condition of euro membership.
“Europe is watching us. The moment that I was announced president, I am sure in many European countries there was a relief, hope at the idea that at last austerity is no longer inevitable, and my mission is to give to European construction the dream of growth,” he said.
His words, just after inflicting a humiliating defeat on Mr Sarkozy, previously the Chancellor’s closest ally, are a call to arms against the economic policies that Germany has enshrined in a eurozone “fiskalpakt” treaty
Questions
Answer with complete sentences.
- Who is the new President of France?
- Which political party does he belong to?
- Which policies is he against?
- Why does he say other countries will see his election as a source of hope?
- Who used to be the strongest supporter of the German strategy?
General
- Which do you think is the best way to reduce government debt – (1) stop spending so much with the result that unemployment may increase and tax revenue fall (2) spend more to increase growth and therefore more tax revenue?
- Do you think there is likely to be increased tension between France and Germany?
Answers
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Reading (RC306): Sir Mervyn King blasts banks for bringing UK to brink of ruin. (Telegraph)
Sir Mervyn King has attacked Britain’s banks for bringing the country to the brink of ruin and demanded urgent reform to spare “our grandchildren” a similar fate.
The Governor of the Bank of England has blamed the banks for the recession and stressed that an overhaul of the financial system, including the separation of retail banking from “risky investment banking“, was essential “to make our economy safer”.
The comments will pile pressure on the Chancellor not to cave into the banking lobby and to press ahead with planned legislation to ringfence retail banking by 2015.
“We don’t build nuclear power stations in densely populated areas, nor should we allow essential banking services and risky investment banking activities to be carried out in the same ‘too important to fail’ bank,” Sir Mervyn said on Wednesday. “It is vital that Parliament legislates to enact these proposals sooner rather than later.”
Questions
Answer with complete sentences.
- What job does Sir Mervyn King have?
- Which word in paragraph 1 means “disaster”?
- Who does King think bears responsibility for the recession?
- Which word in paragraph 2 means “change” or “reform”/
- When is the new legislation expected to be fully operational?
- What two types of banking is it designed to separate?
- Which of the two does King believe is more dangerous?
General
- Do you blame the banks for the recession?
- London is a global banking centre. Should British people be more supportive of bankers?
- Investment bankers are very well paid. This is good for all of London. Do you agree or not?
Answers
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IELTS Topics (IT16): Censorship: sex and violence
This exercise is based on Censorship: sex and violence (topic 16) in the IELTS Topics eBook.
The book helps you learn collocations that can be used across a range of writing and speaking topics – the collocations are not limited to the subject being discussed.
It is not enough to know the language – you must be able to use it naturally.
Complete the sentences below with collocations from the text. Often you are given the first letter(s) to help you.
The exercise should be easy – if it is not then you need to review the topic.
- People who arrive at work late and then spend hours chatting to their friends have no r_____ _____ c______ when they are fired!
- F_____ of e_____ is one of the foundations of a democratic country, because people need to be able to say what thet think without being punished or restricted.
- The law regarding the possession of illegal drugs is very strict in some countries, and anyone found with drugs is likely to be s_____ p_____.
- Many in the Labour Party in Britain want to m____ it i_____ for a parent to smack his or her child.
- Even though I f____ your i_____ ap_____, I think that you have the complete right to express them.
- As a r_____ of a_____ when he was a child, David has always had trouble establishing lasting relationships as an adult.
Reading (RC305): Extra staff to be deployed to tackle Heathrow immigration crisis. (Telegraph)
Extra border staff are to be deployed to tackle the immigration crisis after the Home Secretary was hauled in by the Prime Minister to explain the “unacceptable queues”.
Damian Green, the immigration minister, announced that up to 80 back office staff would be made available to provide reinforcements at Heathrow airport just hours after Theresa May was called in by David Cameron.
In many cases they will form part of rapid deployment “hit squads” who can be sent at short notice to anywhere in the airport as queues build up. But the change of heart was dismissed by Mark Serwotka, the general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union.
The new staff will be available immediately and will work throughout the summer, Mr Green, who on Monday downplayed the immigration problems, said
Questions
Answer with complete sentences.
- What does the article mean by “immigration crisis”?
- Who is the minister responsible for immigration?
- How many extra staff are going to be used in this area?
- Does the union support these changes?
- For how long will these extra staff be available?
- Which word means “minimised”? (paragraph 4)
General
- Do you think that long queues at immigration (as is usually the case in the US) are a serious problem?
- Which summer event in London is probably making the government more sensitive about this?
- Have you ever has a bad experience at immigration?
Answers
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