B2 ( Keys): the global economy

Exercise 2
1, 3, and 6 are facts. The rest are opinions


3. Topics 1, 4,7, and 8 are mentioned


4. 1. True
    2. False: the majority of us are deeply worried
    3. False: More spending doesn't mean that like is getting better. We all know it often means the opposite
    4. True
    5. False: We don't need the things that the economy produces as much as the economy needs our sense of need for these things
    6. False: We buy clothes that are manufactured in sweat shops by virtual slaves in por parts of the world
    7. True
    8. True


5.
1. men in suits: businessmen and anyone working in the world of high finance.
2. drained and stressed: exhausted and under a lot of pressure.
3. ironic...devices in our lives: it's a joke that we have no free time when there are so many machines in the house, such as dishwashers, which are supposed to save us time
4. hassling for...gadgets: the children are always demanding the most modern electronic products, which they have perhaps seen advertised
 5. goes into stalemate: the system stops workiing
 6. Need is the miracle...: need is the 'magic solution' to the problema of keeping the economy in a state of constant growth
7. hunger that cannot be satiated:metaphorically, this feeling of needing to buy godos is a feeling that cannot be satisfied. We go on buying even though we don't need to buy anything
8. this ecstasy of consumption: this wonderful feeling of spending and spending. The writer is being ironic.
9. break the cycle: put an end to this self-perpetuating system, which keeps the rich countries rich and the poor countries poor
10. oblivious to the impact...: unaware of the influence our behaviour has on the world.


What do you think?
Sample answers
1. Jonathan Rowe mentions: an American company manufactures both high fat food and diet products. You can buy luxury foods from poor countries that can't feed their own people
Other examples: luxury products such as computers are often exported to be assembled in poorer countries, then reimported back to rich countries.
Call centres are often located in poor countries, where salaries are low, so when someone rings their 'local' electricity company, they are actually ringing someone on the other side of the world.
Developing countries are often prevented from manufacturing their own raw materials by strict import tariffs in developed countries.