Germany and the newly appointed European Commission have different visions for Europe’s future, which has caused tension between the two, according to global intelligence company Strafor.
To find out more about the root of the problem, read the full article Euractiv, and for a powerful vocabulary-building mental workout, download all the activities (proficiency level: B2/C1)
Here is a nice reading comprehension task to go with the article:
Read the extract from the article below. Find the synonyms of the expressions in the text. Some expressions may have more than one synonym.
“The new Commission, led by Juncker, took up duty on 1 November 2014. But Juncker’s selection of 2 the new Commission was controversial because in trying to avoid conflict, he put country representatives in control of the issues that most affected them.
For example, the United Kingdom’s Jonathan Hill was put in control of financial services regulation when it could be argued that London was in the most need of regulation; Greece, with its porous eastern border, headed immigration; and former French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici was placed in charge of economic affairs. Moscovici’s first task was to propose appropriate penalties for government overspending, of which France and Italy were the main offenders. Germany, the driving force behind the tightening of budgetary rules in 2012, now saw responsibility for their enforcement handed to a man who had repeatedly broken the rules while finance minister of France.”
again and again – ……………………………
to enter into office – ………………………….
to assign a task to someone – ……………………………..
sanctions – …………………………..
main actor – ……………………………
to impose tougher fiscal rules – …………………………………..
budget deficit – ……………………………………..
ANSWERS
again and again – repeatedly
to enter into office – to take up duty
to assign a task to someone – to put in control of / to place in charge of / to hand responsibility to someone
sanctions – penalties
main actor – driving force
to impose tougher fiscal rules – to tighten budgetary rules (in the text: the tightening of budgetary rules)
budget deficit – government overspending
If you like our activities, share them with friends and colleagues using the button below.
Featured image courtesy of http://ec.europa.eu/avservices
