Women seek ways to bridge power gap

Say a few words about the situation in Russia as far as the problem discussed is concerned.

Read the following article and sum it up.

Ex.4.29. Fill in the gaps with words from the previous exercise and translate the sentences into Russian.

1) The _____________ of the US presidency is four years.

2) The full _____________ of these changes has not yet been felt.

3) I was _____________ at school because I didn’t like games.

4) The battlefiled was a scene of terrible _______________.

5) In order to keep the prices low, there has to be a ____________ between quality and quantity.

6) I bitterly ____________ your criticism.

7) Her speech made a tremendous _____________ on everyone.

8) He knew that _____________ of high political office was beyond him.

9) Union leaders claimed that some members had been _______________ (e.g. by being dismissed) for taking part in the strike.

10) I find her performance absolutely ______________ - I couldn’t take my eyes off her!

11) Does she _____________ my being here?

12) We only got down to the real ______________ at the end of the meeting.

13) I recommended the deal, but with certain _____________.

14) The computer has had/made a great ______________ on modern life.

Ex.4.30. The noun fraternity has several meanings:

1) a group of people sharing the same profession or common interests or believes: members of the medical/banking/racing fraternity

2) (US) a group of male students at a university who form a social club

3) (fml) a feeling of friendship, loyalty and mutual support within a group: believe in liberty, equality and fraternity

According to the article, the word was used in the conversation between Henry Kissinger and Madeleine Albright. Did they mean the same? Prove your point of view.

Article 2

Napoleon III's view that "it is the absence of women that enables men to tackle important daily questions", is shared by the world's parliaments, according to a new survey. It shows that women make up fewer than 12 per cent of MP's - 2 per cent less than there were 100 years ago.

Members of Parliament from 77 countries will meet in New Delhi today to discuss ways to bridge the gender gap in a follow-up to the United Nations Conference on Women, of which the survey forms a key part.

"The percentage of women involved in politics is far below parity," says Pierre Cornillon, secretary-general of the Geneva-based Inter-Parliamentary Union. Its study of 179 parliaments released yesterday in Geneva, Washington and New Delhi, showed that only 11.7 per cent of the MPs world-wide are women, down from a high of 14.6 per cent in 1898, despite women comprising half of the world's population. The IPU, which surveyed 1,000 political parties, also said that only one out of every 10 party leaders was a woman despite a large number of female activists, and the gap between the sexes in political power was wider now than in 1985.

Countries with a high proportion of women MP's, such as Sweden, which came out best with more than 40 per cent, or Norway, with 39 per cent, tend to use a different electoral system. Women make up 9 per cent of the MPs in Britain - where Nancy Astor was one of the first female MPs - and 6 per cent of those in France.

Some countries did not even have enough women legislators to meet a request that their small delegations to New Delhi be half female. They were told to make up the numbers with men. "The IPU will be advocating a new social contract for demoicracy based on parity between men and women in politics," Mr Cornillon said in a statement.

But he added that the IPU had given up its aim to achieve gender parity in parliaments by 2000 in favour of a more pragmatic approach.

Organisers said the conference would debate key issues to help boost women in parliaments such as financing women's electoral campaigns, quotas for women in parliaments and the image of women politicians in the media.

Article 3

Дата добавления: 2014-12-24