Venezuela’s president Hugo Chávez is using his country’s oil wealth to create a sphere of influence in Latin America. He has given his open support to Cuba and funded leftist politicians in Bolivia and Ecuador. ----. Chávez’s growing influence, however, means that a collapse in Venezuela could take much of the continent down with it.
He maintains that the Venezuelan economy should not mainly depend on oil revenues but that more efforts must be made to upgrade the other sectors of the national economy
He knows that with the Mexican, Asian, and Russian market crashes of the 1990s long forgotten, developing-country stocks in the world keep jumping to all-time highs
Moreover, by buying bonds from Argentina, he has helped stocks there jump tenfold since 2001, thus greatly contributing to the improvement of the country’s economy
He believes that political turmoil elsewhere could be just as devastating for the Venezuelan economy, which is currently doing very well
He is well aware of the fact that, since 2003, stocks in developing economies have averaged gains of 30% annually
In recent years, the amount of aid for developing countries has increased, and the price of many drugs has fallen. So why does one third of the world’s population still lack access to properhealthcare? ----. Many charge high tariffs on lifesaving medicines and equipment, sometimes even taxing products that are donated for free.
To a large extent, the fault lies with the poor countries themselves
Naturally, it is the right of any nation to raise income as it sees fit
These regulatory constraints are imposed on a wide variety of medical equipment as well as drugs
If these tariffs were lowered, it would dramatically increase access to pharmaceuticals
Thus, even in places where tariffs are waived, other barriers remain
Ice climbing and rock climbing share some important features. Both use ropes, harnesses, and other specialized equipment for ascending steep granite or blue ice. ----. A rock climber follows the natural cracks or weaknesses in therock whereas, with ice tools in each hand, an ice climber has more freedom to blaze a path up and is limited only by the ice conditions and the technology of the tools.
Most ice climbing trips require an arduous trek into the mountains and possibly several nights out in the cold
But once you find your footing, ice climbing can become addictive
There are many tragic stories of climbing accidents
However, climbing itself has always been considered to be very dangerous
But, the method of climbing in each case is different
At the beginning of the 1990s, it seemed to all appearances that the US comprehensively dominated global affairs. ---- Thus, it was described as “the lonely superpower”. However,that said, the 1990s proved to be a decade of uncertainty and questioning for many Americans. In broad terms, the challenges of the post-ColdWar era were as demanding for the US as they were for other countries.
It occupied a pre-eminent position in terms of military power, technology and global economic reach.
In many respects, the ending of the Cold War was expected to usher in a period of profound uncertainty.
Indeed, the US has always found it difficult to reconcile the issue of world order with national perspectives.
The debates about US foreign policy in the post- Cold War period have been shaped by the impact of world events.
One of the most frequently used images of US foreign-policy making has been that of contest and struggle.
No description of embarrassment would be complete without considering the blush. For many of us, it is the hallmark display of embarrassment. ----. Although the physiology of the blush is not fully understood, we are gettingnearer to a better understanding of it.
Actually, however, blushing does not necessarily accompany embarrassment, and facial reddening can occur during other physical and emotional states as well
On the other hand, in embarrassment, the lips turn up but without the accompanying action of the crinkling of the eyes
Their results showed that blushing begins with a sharp increase of blood flow, which is then followed by a slower rise in facial temperature
Generally speaking, heart rate and blood pressure tend to rise and fall in many emotional states such as anger, fear and happiness
Although smiling occurs during embarrassment, it has a different appearance from that of amusement
Compared to its Balkan neighbours, Greece is a wealthy country, but it remains one of the poorer members of the European Union. ---- Nevertheless, with a nominally capitalist orientation, it has overcome its resemblance to pre-1989 Eastern Europe. Loss-making state enterprises have been sold off, and inflation and interest rates have fallen. However, unemployment remains high.
Accordingly, it now seems poised to become a significant regional power.
It is still a developing economy, with the agriculture and service sectors accounting for two-thirds of its GNP.
Still, the Greek islands attract thousands of tourists, many of whom come simply to enjoy the sun and sand and the relaxed pace of life.
Yet family life and social life are usually one and the same, and tend to revolve around eating out.
Furthermore, it has one of the lowest birth rates in Europe.
Most Western industrialized nations have an individualistic orientation, which values independence and self-assertiveness. ----. They stress the interdependence of people within thecommunity.
This is why Americans tend to use psychological traits to describe themselves
Actually, situational factors also play quite an important role
In contrast, many non-Western cultures have a more collectivist orientation
There is no internal evidence to suggest this
Individuals in collectivist Asian cultures are even less likely to commit such errors
How common are other civilizations in the universe? This question has fascinated humanity for centuries, but so far no definitive answer has been found. ----. Chief among these is theconfirmation, after a long wait and several false starts, that planets exist outside our solar system.
So far, astronomers have found no Earth-like planets, but we can be fairly confident that they will do so
A number of recent developments have brought the question once again to the fore
In spite of all this activity, researchers have made no positive detections of extraterrestrial signals
Most surprising of all is the speed with which life was established on this planet
The lack of success to date cannot be used to infer that Earth is the only planet with life
----. What he really seeks, however, are the most meaningful ones, and these vary from one context to another. His words may be grandiose or humble, fanciful or matter of fact, romantic orrealistic, archaic or modern, technical or everyday, monosyllabic or polysyllabic.
A poet creates new experiences for the reader in which the reader can participate
Language has many levels and varieties, and poets may choose from them all
In the poem “Winter” Shakespeare is attempting to communicate the quality of winter life around a sixteenth century English country house
It is not unusual for a poet also to be a musician
A frequent misconception of poetic language is that the poet seeks always the most beautiful or noble-sounding words
Elizabeth Barrett Browning, who was to become Victorian England’s most famous woman poet in the nineteenth century, received an unusual education for a woman of her time. Availing herself of her brother’s tutor, she studied Latin and Greek. ---- But as her intellectual and literary powers matured, her personal life became increasingly undermined by ill health. Although, by the age of thirty-nine, she was a prominent woman of letters, she continued to live in semiseclusionas an invalid in her father’s house,where she occasionally received visitors.
Moreover, she read voraciously in history, philosophy and literature and began to write poetry from an early age.
In her later poems, in which she took up the cause of Italian nationalism, she was mostly concerned with the political issues of her time.
Once in Italy, she regained much health and strength, bearing and raising a son, to whom she was ardently devoted.
Hence, in her early work, she tended to use the visionary modes of Romantic narrative poetry.
However, her work fell into disrepute with the modernist reaction against the didacticism and rhetorical excess of Victorian poetry.
Mollusks can be found in virtually every habitat on Earth and range in size from microscopic to more than 10 m long. ----. But others, the octopus for instance, are considered to be delicacies.
They are indeed an extremely fascinating group of creatures
Not all of them, however, are encased in a shell
The octopus even has problem-solving abilities
Some, like the snails in our gardens, are regarded as pests
All the mollusks are invertebrate animals
Many professions, such as law, rely almost exclusively on the written and oral word. Although engineers also must write and speak well, this alone is insufficient to convey complexengineering information. For this, graphical or visual communication is required. ---- In addition, it can provide readers with insight they can obtain through no other means.
A well-prepared graph can accurately communicate a great deal of information in just a few seconds.
On the contrary, tables are useful for presenting technical information.
However, a wide variety of graphs are available to help visualize data.
Nevertheless, graphs should have a descriptive title.
As a matter of fact, graphs are prepared from tabulated data.
In the annals of computing, nothing has caused as much disappointment as putting ideas on paper. ----. However, with the coming of the inkjet printer it was soon possible to print really highquality images.
To start with, thermal inkjets were no match for the costlier laser printers that had just been introduced
For decades, printing computer files was a thankless task for users seeking to reproduce precisely what they saw on their screens
For all its originality the idea behind the inkjet is far from new
The first inkjet printers were slow, messy machines, but they gradually got better and better
Designers of printers grew more ambitious and they started to want colour, speed and low costs
The human body changes in many noticeable ways with age. Perhaps the first sign of aging occurs when the eye cannot focus easily on close objects. Often by age 40 or so, many people find it difficult to read without using glasses. ---- People tend to lose some ability to hear the highest pitched tones. Therefore, older people may find that violin music no longer sounds as exciting as it did when they were young.
Hearing also changes with age.
Hearing loss may be caused by a mechanical problem in the ear canal or middle ear that blocks the conduction of sound.
Neural hearing loss may be caused by brain tumours that also damage nearby nerves and the brain stem.
Some hearing tests can detect disorders in the auditory processing areas of the brain.
People who can’t hear well enough may need hearing aids that keep the volume of sound at a suitable level.
Archaeologists have a duty, both to colleagues and to the general public, to explain what they are doing and why. ----. Further, their work can also be enjoyed by the wider public which, after all, has usually paid the bill for the work, however indirectly.
Up to 60 per cent of modern excavations apparently remain unpublished
Many projects depend upon the willing hands of amateur enthusiasts
Unfortunately, some archaeologists hoard their finds and prevent colleagues from gaining access to them
Basically, this means publishing the discoveries so that the results are available to other scholars
Archaeologists often prefer to dig new sites rather than devote time to laborious postexcavation analysis
This year a lot of good things have happened in the US economy. US companies have become more competitive, and exports are now booming. This strong export growth is helping to stabilize the trade gap, and slower US demand will bring down imports. ----. Moreover, long-term interest rates are still low, stock prices are setting records, and the economy continues to grow at a moderate pace.
The US dollar will be somewhat more vulnerable against the euro, given that the European Central Bank will most likely continue to raise interest rates
In the meantime, profits from overseas operations and returns on international investments are rising as the gains are translated back into dollars
The dollar is down 3% from a year ago against the Chinese yuan, and futures markets expect an additional 5% decline later in the year
Some leading economists have forecast that the US dollar’s value could plunge by a third over the next few years
The biggest danger in the weeks ahead is a US recession, since currency markets began to worry at the end of 2006 that the housing recession could spill over to other areas of the economy
Headaches are among the most common medical problems. Some people have headaches often, while others hardly ever have them. ---- However, a change in the pattern or nature of headaches could signal a serious problem and calls for prompt medical attention.
In addition to drugs, which are enormously beneficial in treating diseases, many other treatments can help relieve pain.
On the contrary, high blood pressure may produce a throbbing sensation in the head.
Actually, pain begins in and around the eyes and begins to affect the whole head.
Pain is an unpleasant sensation signalling that the body is damaged or threatened with an injury.
In general, though headaches may be painful and distressing, they rarely reflect a serious medical condition.
----. Traditionally, one of the most important tools used to study cell structures has been the microscope. In fact, cells were not described until1665, when Robert Hooke examined the cell walls of dead cork cells using a microscope he had made. Hooke used the term “cell” because the tissue reminded him of the small rooms thatmonks lived in during that period.
Because cells are so small, scientists have had to be extremely clever in devising methods for studying them
A light microscope can be used to view stained or living cells, but at relatively low resolution
Most of the methods used to prepare and stain cells for observation also kill them in the process
Early biologists thought that the cell consisted of a homogeneous jelly, which they called protoplasm
Lenses in the electron microscopes are actually magnets that bend the beam of electrons
The American West remained divided from the East by the harsh nature of the country’s interior. ----. Their aim was to build a railroad across the formidable mountainouslands of the Sierra Nevada. They were ridiculed on all sides, but the ambitious enterprise eventually succeeded.
Then four merchants began raising money to fund a seemingly impossible project
Naturally, politicians were not in favour of uniting East and West
Top engineers had agreed that the Sierra Nevada could not be crossed by road or rail
The high peaks of the Sierra Nevada were acknowledged as being impassable
Their high-flying goal comes with similarly steep challenges
Norwegians, like the Danes and Swedes, are of Teutonic origin. The Norsemen, also known as Vikings, ravaged the coasts of northwest Europefrom the 8th to the 11th century and were ruled by local chieftains. ----. After 1442, the country was ruled by Danish kings until 1814, when it was united with Sweden in an uneasy partnership.
Despite severe losses in the World War II, it recovered quickly as its economy expanded
Norway became the second largest net oil exporter after Saudi Arabia in 1995
In the late 20th century, the Labor Party and the Conservative Party seesawed for control, each sometimes having to lead minority governments
When the World War I broke out, Norway joined with Sweden and Denmark in a decision to cooperate in the joint interest of the three countries
Olaf II Haraldsson became the first effective king of all Norway in 1015 and began converting the Norwegians to Christianity
