ВУЗ:
Составители:
Рубрика:
41
1. Read the text and say if the following statement are true or
false.
1) The author of the article describes advantages and disadvan-
tages of “securitised” tobacco bonds.
2) The tobacco money will enable politicians to finance new
spendings, cut taxes or minimize unpopular spending cuts.
3) The author warns of a possible risk that not all the settlement
cash will come in.
4) Ordinary general bonds issued by most local governments
typically get a higher rating.
5) The author of the article doubts if politicians will want to sell
tobacco bonds.
2. Make up a plan of the text in English.
3. Give a summary of the text.
42
Ploughshares into Swords
The European Union spends $45
billion a year of taxpayers' money on
subsidising farmers through the common
agricultural policy. Taxpayers are fleeced
a second time as consumers, because the
EU protects and rigs the market in farm
goods to ensure that consumers have to
pay artificially high prices for their food.
The system makes nobody happy. It en-
courages high levels of fraud. It appears
to encourage the industrialised produc-
tion of food by disgusting means. And it
creates a riot-prone caste of subsidy-ad-
dicted farmers who, despite the transfers they receive from the tax-
payer, frequently declare themselves poor and miserable.
At the same time the EU wants to develop a common defence
capacity that will help it punch its collective weight in the world and so
make it less dependent on America for its security. But unless Euro-
pean defence spending and procurement programmes change funda-
mentally, Europe's forces will be woefully under-armed when meas-
ured against America's. Europe spends only a third as much as America
on research and development for defence. The maintenance of national
armies and national weapons programmes within the EU denies the
European defence establishment the economies of scale available to its
counterpart in the United States. That leaves the Europeans lagging
behind in most areas of high-technology weaponry, the research and
development for which strains even a Pentagon-sized budget.
Hence this modest proposal: let the EU stop wasting $45 billion
a year on driving up the price of food, and let it use the money to pay
for a new research and development agency serving the European de-
fence industry. At a stroke, European spending on defence research
would outstrip even that of the United States. And, since national gov-
ernments would be mad to waste their taxpayers' money maintaining
rival weapons programmes of their own when world-beating European
designs were available and paid for, over time European armies would
1. Read the text and say if the following statement are true or Ploughshares into Swords
false.
1) The author of the article describes advantages and disadvan- The European Union spends $45
tages of “securitised” tobacco bonds. billion a year of taxpayers' money on
2) The tobacco money will enable politicians to finance new subsidising farmers through the common
spendings, cut taxes or minimize unpopular spending cuts. agricultural policy. Taxpayers are fleeced
3) The author warns of a possible risk that not all the settlement a second time as consumers, because the
cash will come in. EU protects and rigs the market in farm
4) Ordinary general bonds issued by most local governments goods to ensure that consumers have to
typically get a higher rating. pay artificially high prices for their food.
5) The author of the article doubts if politicians will want to sell The system makes nobody happy. It en-
tobacco bonds. courages high levels of fraud. It appears
to encourage the industrialised produc-
2. Make up a plan of the text in English. tion of food by disgusting means. And it
creates a riot-prone caste of subsidy-ad-
3. Give a summary of the text. dicted farmers who, despite the transfers they receive from the tax-
payer, frequently declare themselves poor and miserable.
At the same time the EU wants to develop a common defence
capacity that will help it punch its collective weight in the world and so
make it less dependent on America for its security. But unless Euro-
pean defence spending and procurement programmes change funda-
mentally, Europe's forces will be woefully under-armed when meas-
ured against America's. Europe spends only a third as much as America
on research and development for defence. The maintenance of national
armies and national weapons programmes within the EU denies the
European defence establishment the economies of scale available to its
counterpart in the United States. That leaves the Europeans lagging
behind in most areas of high-technology weaponry, the research and
development for which strains even a Pentagon-sized budget.
Hence this modest proposal: let the EU stop wasting $45 billion
a year on driving up the price of food, and let it use the money to pay
for a new research and development agency serving the European de-
fence industry. At a stroke, European spending on defence research
would outstrip even that of the United States. And, since national gov-
ernments would be mad to waste their taxpayers' money maintaining
rival weapons programmes of their own when world-beating European
designs were available and paid for, over time European armies would
41 42
Страницы
- « первая
- ‹ предыдущая
- …
- 19
- 20
- 21
- 22
- 23
- …
- следующая ›
- последняя »
