3. Read the text, find equivalents to the words in bold, answer the questions.

Changes in attitudes to war

One area in which great changes occurred in the twentieth century is in the public attitude to war and peace. The vocabulary of war has been stripped of its former glamour and ceased to be one of courage and patriotism. Instead it has become one of failure or of unimaginable disaster. The “War Office” has in general been replaced by “the Ministry of Defense”, the greatest destructive weapons ever invented have become deterrents. Most people went out of the century with a view of the military “virtues”, of the place of war in a civilized society, fundamentally different from that of the nineteenth century and earlier.

The inventor of dynamite at the end of the nineteenth century believed that his invention would outlaw war, since the devastation it could produce would make any major outbreak destructive beyond imagination. After 1918 the same view was held about aerial warfare. People had a serious conviction that a major war would end up wiping out the cities of the industrial world. Since 1945 the possibility of nuclear annihilation has seemed to make war between the great powers an act of collective suicide. These factors alone have contributed to a revulsion against large-scale military operations among thinking people in all nations – though the world is unquestionably still full of national, ethnic and political causes whose supporters see a resort to bullets and bombs as the only means of achieving their aims.

(Based on “New Internationalist”, 1999)

 ways of discouraging people from doing sth because of the negative results;

 feeling of total disgust;

 fighting a war using aeroplanes;

 loyalty to your own country;

 total destruction by nuclear weapon;

 movements, organizations;

 make war illegal or impossible;

 most important political powers.

● How had people’s view of the place of war in civilized society changed by the year of 2000?

● The inventor of dynamite was Alfred Nobel, who founded Nobel prizes. How does the text help to understand why he made one of those prizes a Peace Prize?

● What twentieth-century changes in the nature of war are mentioned?

● What is the connection between these changes and the general attitude to war?

● What kind of people don’t share this general attitude to war?

2.2 Raise the Issue

➢ What do you know about human rights?

➢ What differs them from constitutional rights?

2.2 A. Words in Context

1. Tick the word closest in meaning to that of the each boldfaced word. Use the context of the sentences to help you figure out each word’s meaning.

disparity (n) The wide disparity between men’s and

women’s pay in our company led to a protest by the women. The management tried to squelch the protest saying that the women were subversive and were trying to ruin company morale.

Disparity means a. a combination b. a gap c. closeness

forestall (v) When the environmentalists were unable

to forestall the destruction of the forest

by legal means, they lay down in front of the developer’s bulldozers.

Forestall means a. to keep from happening b. to predict c. to pay for

insidious (adj) The effects of certain prescription drugs,

such as Valium, can be insidious.

People who take them may slip into addiction without being aware of it.

Insidious means a. badly timed b. subtly harmful c. all-powerful

insinuate (v) Instead of directly saying “Buy our

product”, many ads use slick images to insinuate that the product will give the buyer sex appeal, power, or prestige.

Insinuate means a. to say indirectly b. to cry

c. keep from happening

interrogate (v) In many countries political prisoners

who are being interrogated by the secret police are likely to be tortured in an attempt to force answers from them.

Interrogate means a. to ask questions b. to delay c. to abuse

obsequious (adj) In a job interview, use discretion. Don’t

react as though you were being questioned by a police officer; but don’t be obsequious either, as if the interviewer were a king or queen and you were a humble servant.

Obsequious means a. unequal in rank b. methodical

c. overly eager to please

omnipotent (adj) Small children think of their parents as

omnipotent – able to do anything, control everything, and grant whatever a child might wish for.

Omnipotent means a. totally good b. willing to serve c. all-powerful

opportune (adj) Quite often we look for an opportune

moment to break some news to our family, especially when it is far from welcoming.

Opportune means a. appropriate b. difficult c. early

permeate (v) A sense of deep loss permeated her

after she learned about the death of hostages. She suffered as if they were part of her own family.

Permeate means a. to harm b. to penetrate c. to improve

retribution (n) For much of human history, before

science could explain diseases, many people believed that any illness was a retribution for immoral behaviour.

Retribution means a. inequality b. obstacle c. penalty