Contemporary Topics Unit 12

Exercise 1
Fill in the blanks with the words from the box.
government handle ultimately cabinet account ignore ironic
temporary secretary
The Prime Minister is the head of the 1)……………………………... He or she will have to 2)
………………….. the most important executive decisions and national crises. However, the
Prime Minister is assisted by their 3)……………………., which is comprised of senior members
of the government who advise the Prime Minister on policy. The latter can choose to 4)
………………… their advice, but since the head of the government is 5)……………………..
responsible for any decision, it is advisable to consult as many people as possible first.
In the UK, cabinet members are granted titles, such as that of Foreign 6) ……………………….,
who is the person in charge of the Foreign Office. The Foreign Office is officially responsible for
‘protecting and promoting British interests worldwide’, even though its full name is Foreign,
Commonwealth and Development Office – where do the interests of the Commonwealth feature
in all this? A touch 7) …………………, you could say.
The position of cabinet member is a 8)…………………… one, with most individuals serving for
no more than two or three years on 9)……………….. of the fact that it is both a competitive and
a stressful job.
Exercise 2
Choose the correct word for each blank.
Novice teachers
Teaching is a 1)…………………….. which many consider challenging, but which can be
immensely rewarding. 2)…………………….. teachers often find the job stressful, and indeed it
is 3)……………….. that for the first year or two there will be a lot of work because materials
have to be prepared for absolutely everything – they have no archives of resources to fall back
on. The bureaucracy of a school can sometimes seem 4)…………………………… to those
unfamiliar with all of the procedures. In addition, trainee teachers are often seen as weak by
students and so they need to develop strategies to make their pupils 5)…………………… with
them.
However, once these new teachers have established a routine and learned to deal with 6)
……………………. problems, they should be able to enjoy the feeling that their job is
worthwhile and makes a real 7)……………………. to their students. This is what is known as
the feel-good 8)…………………, and it is what motivates many university students to choose
teaching as a career. It takes a lot of hard work to get to this point, and it is inevitable that there
will be difficult moments along the way which will 9)………………… to overwhelm them, but
with patience and perseverance these moments can be overcome.

1. a. commission b. cult c. profession d. series e. tradition

2. a. homeless b. novice c. remarkable d. steady e. willing
3. a. desirable b. hopeful c. likely d. sufficient e. visible
4. a. concentrated b. desirable c. different d. remarkable e.
unintelligible
5. a. cooperate b. disturb c. release d. restore e. warn
6. a. federal b. external c. sufficient d. unexpected e. uprising
7. a. difference b. factor c. fate d. stroke e. welfare
8. a. candidate b. factor c. justice d. servant e. weapon
9. a. cope b. disturb c. predict d. threaten e. warn