Staying in a job and being a good parent is demanding enough for most people, says Alasdair Palmer.

ДЕМОВЕРСИЯ ЗАДАНИЙ ПОАНГЛИЙСКОМУ ЯЗЫКУ

Лингвистический этап

Лингвистический этап проходит в письменной форме, предлагаются задания не ниже уровня В1. Лингвистический этап состоит из 1) чтения, включающего в себя понимание прочитанного текста и выполнение послетекстовых заданий открытого и закрытого типов; 2) понимания видеосюжета, включающего контроль пониманиявидеосюжетас помощью заданий открытого и закрытого типов. Длительность письменного этапа – 2 академических часа.

1. VideoComprehension (задание на понимание просмотренного видеосюжета).

Время выполнения - 20 минут.

Двукратный просмотр видеосюжета длительностью показа 2,5-3,5 минуты на одну из предложенных тем: SportandEntertainment, CrimeandPunishment, FamilyandUpbringing, Travelling, EducationandScience, Environment, MassMedia, LiteratureandArt, HealthCare.

Контроль понимания осуществляется с помощью заполнения 10 пропусков в скрипте (объем не более 2500 знаков). В скрипте могут быть пропущены как знаменательные, так и служебные слова. Не допускается пропуск составных слов и фраз.

ReadingComprehension (тест на понимание прочитанного текста).

Время выполнения - 40 минут.

Чтение текста (общий объем 2500-3000 знаков), контроль понимания которого осуществляется с помощью выбора правильного ответа из четырех предложенных (10 утверждений). Максимальное количество баллов за выполнение теста на понимание прочитанного текста — 10.

The Big Society is irresistible, but do we have the time?

Staying in a job and being a good parent is demanding enough for most people, says Alasdair Palmer.

David Cameron insisted last week that "the Big Society" is his "big idea". He explained it as "a society where the leading force for progress is social responsibility, not state control". This involves "a redistribution of power away from the central state to local communities", and individual citizens, or groups of them, taking over many of the services now provided by central or local government.

On the face of it, the Big Society is an irresistible idea. Who could object to transferring decisions away from the state and towards those they affect – except the civil servants whose powers, jobs and pensions depend on keeping individuals out of the decision-making process?

But the problem with "the Big Society" isn't with principles. It's with practice. There are plenty of examples of small-scale volunteer work that have had magnificent results. The trouble lies in expanding them on the colossal scale that Mr Cameron hopes: "The big society," he insists, "demands a big social response, mass engagement. We want every adult to be a member of an active neighbourhood group."

I wonder if Mr Cameron actually knows what "being a member of an active neighbourhood group" involves for someone whose day job has nothing to do with politics, and whose life does not revolve around it. The first thing it involves is giving up large chunks of your leisure time. Instead of spending it with your family or your friends, you have to devote it to arguing about administrative procedures with people you don't know and may not like.

Mr Cameron claims that "those who say there is no appetite for social action are just out of touch with what's really going on in this country". There is certainly at least some desire to get involved in local issues. But are those who doubt whether there is enough to sustain the change he envisages really "out of touch"?

Turnout in local elections is even lower than the miserable 40 per cent of us who vote once every five years in the national ballot. Most Britons do not manifest any appetite at all for greater involvement in local decisions. This failure to get involved isn't necessarily the result of not caring. It's simply that most people, especially those with jobs and families, care about other things more, and don't have the spare time to devote to "taking control of their destiny" – staying in a job and remaining responsible parents is demanding enough.

My wife has been active in local committees for about a decade, sometimes producing remarkable results, such as the provision of a new children's playground. But she says that to be able to get involved, "you basically need to be retired with an income: it takes that much time and effort". And even then, you may be ground down by the remorseless opposition of council officials, who are paid to attend meetings and produce 100-page documents – and who can always find complicated legal obstacles to any initiative they do not control.

The 18th-century political theorist Jean-Jacques Rousseau despaired of the British precisely because we were content with the pursuit of our own private happiness, and weren't interested in devoting our lives to serving the community. He noted that the citystates in the ancient world were true democracies, in the sense that every (male) adult participated directly in every major political decision. But then, as he pointed out, the slaves did the work.

Rousseau never solved the problem of how, without slaves, every citizen could become a full-time, or even a half-time, politician. David Cameron hasn't solved it either. It isn't that the ideal of a politically engaged citizenry, involved in all critical decisions, fails to be inspiring or noble. It's just that no one knows how to get us all engaged to the extent that is needed if the ideal is to work in practice – which is one reason why we evolved representative democracy. It is also why the Big Society, attractive as it is, may not turn out to be quite the panacea that Mr Cameron hopes.

Alasdair Palmer

The Daily Telegraph

Choose the correct answer:

1. The trouble with “the Big Society” lies in

    a. absence of principles

    b. absence of practical results

    c. involvement of people

    d. involvement of money

    2. What does the creation of “The Big Society” according to D. Cameron require?

    a. to take control of the services

    b. to take away any of the services

    c. to liquidate local communities

    d. to liquidate central government  

    3. Who could object to redistribution of powers?

    a.   D. Cameron

    b. A. Palmer

    c. members of active neighbourhood group

    d. people who do a job or perform duties for a person or organization

    4. What is the main factor that hinders active participation inneighbourhood groups according to A. Palmer?

    a. It is time-consuming

    b. It involves political argues

    c. It involves family

    d. It is low-paid

    5. The results of the national ballot show that

    a. the number of people who took part in the ballot was less than 40 %

    b. the rate at which people leave a place and new people arrive was less than 40 %

    c. more than 40 % of voters object to involvement in local decisions

    d. less than 40 % of voters are responsible parents

    6. Mr. Cameron claims that “out of touch” people are those who

       a. don't understand the situation or subject

    b. no longer have recent knowledge or information about something

    c. make something unpleasant or dangerous to happen

    d. cannot change or influence somebody or something in a positive way

    7. Mrs. Palmer has been active in local committees for about

    a. a period of 20 years

    b. a period of 12 years

    c. a period of 10 years

    d. a period of 15 years

    8. Mrs. Palmer complains that the opposition of councel officials may

    a. underpay the members of local committees

    b. treat the members of local committees in disrespectful way over a long period   and gradually destroy their confidence 

    c. refuse to change opinions and decisions despite pressure to change them

    d.  lose control of the committee

    9. It is difficult to achieve the ideal of “The Big Society” because

       a. It results in democracy

       b. It does not result in democracy

       c. It is not inspiring

       d. It is not easy to attract all people in the decision-making process to the degree necessary  

    10. A representative democracy is

    a. the system of the government in which people cannot vote in elections to choose the people who will govern them

    b. the form of the government in which politicians vote for representatives

    c. the form of the government in which people vote for politicians who represent  their opinions

    d. the system of the government in which a country is ruled by a king or a queen