Isthmus, annexation, collide, ultimatum, crucial, negotiate, armistice, consumerism, disparity, subsidy

1.Territorial disputes are sometimes resolved by annexation of parts of other

countries.

2.Wilson's evidence proved crucial to that legal case.

3. Consumerism is a state when too much attention is given to buying and

owning many things.

4. Today many farms would have been closed without government subsidy.

5. Isthmus is a narrow piece of land that joins two larger areas and has

water on both sides.

6. They issued ultimatum as the last action to prevent the war.

7. Two cars collide at the crossroads.

8. After severe fighting a two week armistice was declared.

9. During the strike manager refused negotiate with the unions.

10.There is a great disparity in the standards of living between the rich

and the poor.

Task 4. Answer the following questions.

1. What were the causes of World War II?

Among the causes of World War II were Italian fascism in the 1920s, Japanese militarism and invasions of China in the 1930s, and especially the political takeover in 1933 of Germany by Hitler and his Nazi Party and its aggressive foreign policy. The immediate cause was Britain and France declaring war on Germany after it invaded Poland in September 1939.

2. What was the attitude of Americans to this war?

Results of the American Institute of Public Opinion mirrored the fact that uppermost in the minds-of most Americans was "keeping out of war". Strong sentiment was voiced for strengthening the national defense forces by in-creasing the preparedness of the army, navy, and air force.

3. When did the USA enter the war?

The America entered into World War I in April 1917, after two and a half years of efforts by President Woodrow Wilson to keep the United States neutral during the war.

4. What did D-Day mark?

D-Day marked start of Europe invasion in 1944.

5. What were the spoils of the Potsdam Conference?

1) Denazification, demilitarization, democratization;

2) confirmation of affected nations to obtain reparations from Germany;

3) The Navy of the Third Reich divided between the USSR, USA and Great Britain;

4) transfer the East of Prussia and the territory of "Free City of Danzig" (Gdansk) to Poland;

5) transfer to the USSR the city of Konigsberg (Kaliningrad) and adjacent territory;

6) establishment of the Council of Foreign Ministers of five states (USSR, USA, Great Britain, France and the Republic of China);

7) publication of the Declaration of the US, the UK and the Republic of China - the requirement of unconditional surrender of the Japanese empire.

6. What was the effect of World War II on the USA?

The United States economy was greatly stimulated by the war, even more so than in World War I. The depression was brought decisively to an end, and new industrial complexes were built all over the United States. Spared the physical destruction of war, the U.S. economy dominated the world economy. After 4 years of military buildup, the U.S. had also become the leading military power. The position of the United States as world leader was now more obvious than ever.

7. Why did the development of the Cold War seem inevitable after World War II?

There was no way to avoid the Cold War, because the situation was too escalated after the end of WWII, because after the victory, there were two superpowers with sharp ideological demarcation. Their cooperation was simply unthinkable. The situation would have certainly been different if there were no power vacuum left after Germany and Japan. Also, Britain and France were devastated so they were not able to influence others countries or to sufficiently support the US in order to stop the expansionary policy of the USSR. Nowadays people might think that there was certainly a solution to avoid the conflict back in 1945, but in my opinion it was not possible. The differences were so immense that it must have ended with a conflict, but the humanity have definitely learned a lesson from it and hopefully this situation savouring with nuclear threat will not happen again.

8. When did the Cold War begin?

Historians do not fully agree on the dates, but a common timeframe is the period between 1947, the year the Truman Doctrine (a U.S. policy pledging to aid nations threatened by Soviet expansionism) was announced, and 1991, the year the Soviet Union collapsed.

9. What military treaty gave way to a global defense system?

The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). It was a proposed missile defense system intended to protect the United States from attack by ballistic strategic nuclear weapons (intercontinental ballistic missiles and submarine-launched ballistic missiles).

10. What were the consequences of the anti-communist witch-hunt in the USA?
Although McCarthyism was dead by the mid-1950s, its effects lasted for decades. Thousands of people lost their jobs and had their reputations tarnished.

Task 5. Vocabulary development. State the meaning of the following words and fill in the gaps.