Speaking

1. Study and discuss the key highlights of Belarusian economy (2007) in pairs:

- Territory - 207 600 sq. km (ranked 86 in the world)

- Population - 9.7 million (ranked 79 in the world)

- Population density - 49 people per sq. km.

- Workforce - 4.5 million

- Literacy - 99.6%

- Capital - Minsk (1.81million)

- Regional centers: Gomel (480 000), Mogilev (390 000), Vitebsk (360 000), Grodno (320000), Brest (300 000), Minsk (2 000 000)

- Total GDP - US$44.67 billion.

- Real GDP growth rate - 8.1%; nominal GDP growth rate - 20.7%

- GDP per capita ( $ ) - 4 6 0 8

- Inflation rate - 12.1%

- Exports - US$24.8 billion (48% of total external trade turnover), imports - US$27 billion (52%)

- Exports to CIS - 46.4% of total exports, to other countries - 53.6%

- Imports from CIS - 66.3% of total imports, from other countries - 33.7%

- Imports/GDP ratio = 0.6; Exports/GDP ratio = 0.56

- Unemployment Rate - 1% (officially); 4.1 - 4.5% (independent estimates)

- Current Account Deficit (% GDP) - 6.4

- FDI inflow (% GDP) - 3.96

- Gross Foreign Debt (% GDP) - 28.4

- Year-average government bond yield - Not issued

2. Comment on the above data using the given verbs (active or passive voice):

Affirm, announce, appraise, assess, assert, calculate, constitute, consider, declare, estimate, express, maintain, make known, mean, proclaim, rank, reach, represent, stand for, show.

3. Match the Russian and English idioms. Use them to speak about Belarusians.

1. жить открытым домом 2. знать как свои пять пальцев 3. королевский приём 4. кровь с молоком 5. на широкую ногу 6. приложить все старания 7. принимать близко к сердцу 8. работать как вол 9. утечка мозгов

the Brain Drain to work like a horse to take to hart to leave no stone unturned to do everything in a big way the picture of health a royal welcome to have at one's fingertips to keep open house

4. Study the table below. Speak about changes in key economic indicators over the 2001-2008 period using the following phrases:

To increase by …%, to fall steadily, to remain stable,

to rise from … to …, to drop slowly, to level off,

to improve rapidly, to decline gradually, to stay at the same level,

to grow substantially, to go down slightly, to continue to be,

to go up step by step, to fall off dramatically, to go on as.

to take off, to decrease,

to shoot up, to lessen,