English for International Relations and History

English for Specific Purposes:

History and International Relations

Unit 1

Spylessness, and Other British Values

There are many ways of defeating a nation. One is by destroying its ‘values’. If they
are liberal, it can be difficult to defend and preserve them in time of war. Modern terrorism,
we are told, is a kind of war. The French republic is struggling to maintain its founding
principles of liberty, equality and fraternity (the national motto of France) in the face of it.
Other nations have been through the same experience, and quandary, in recent years. The
United States was only half successful at keeping its ideals intact after 9/11. Norway was
much admired for its determination to do better after the Utøya massacre of 2011, the
deadliest attack in Norway since the Second World War.
In Britain, meanwhile, things do not look good for the liberal way. The home
secretary hopes shortly to bring in a measure – the Investigatory Powers Bill – that is
bound to undermine many of our liberties. Other government measures threaten to close the
doors to refugees. We are already the most surveilled country in the world, and the most
unwelcoming in Europe to poor asylum seekers (though not to rich oligarchs).
The liberal principles under threat are supposed to have been central to Britain’s
‘national identity’ in days gone by – so far, at least, as the British mainland was concerned.
The absence of a ‘political’ police, and of public surveillance of any kind, was crucial to most
Britons’ self-regard for most of the 19th century and well into the 20th. In particular, it
distinguished Britain from France. ‘They have an admirable police at Paris,’ the Earl of
Dudley said in 1811 after a particularly horrible sequence of murders in East London. ‘But
they pay for it dear enough. I had rather half-a-dozen people’s throats be cut in Ratcliffe
Highway every three or four years than be subject to domiciliary visits, spies, and all the rest
of Fouché’s contrivances.’ (Joseph Fouché was Napoleon’s police chief; he was particularly
known for his ferocity with which he suppressed the Lyon insurrection during the Revolution
in 1793 and for being minister of police under the Directory, the Consulate, and the Empire).
Most Victorians believed espionage was dishonourable, corruptible and destructive of stable
and happy government, which rested on trust between rulers and ruled.
Britain’s policy of admitting any foreigner into Britain, even known terrorists, ran
‘spylessness’ a close second. Even bombs planted by foreign anarchists in London couldn’t
shake that. Between 1823 and 1906, Britain had no laws to enable it effectively to refuse
admission to foreign political refugees, or to extradite any who were here. Consequently, no
immigrant was ever turned back or expelled. Some of them, early on, were even given
government grants.
Happy days! Of course we can’t bring them back. (Though I never thought Victorian
working conditions could come back, either.) But governments should be aware of what
they’re doing when they stick CCTV cameras at every street corner, read our emails, and stop
asylum seekers at Calais. They are undermining what were thought at one time to be two of
Britain’s proudest ‘values’, the principles that defined it as a nation. I’m not sure that
Conservatives – with their supposed respect for ‘British tradition’ – fully realise that. The
Investigatory Powers Bill may be justified; I can’t say. What I can say, however, as a
historian, is that it undermines what we used to think of as crucial to our ‘national identity’.
In this sense the terrorists might be said to have already won.
(adapted from Bernard Porter, London Book Review, 16th November 2015)

VOCABULARY STUDY

quandary (n. pl. quandaries) = a situation or circumstance that presents problems

difficult to solve; predicament; dilemma

in a quandary = not knowing what to do

eg. Many parents are in a quandary about how much time their kids should
spend on the Internet.

Home secretary = (British government) short for Secretary of State for the Home
Department; the head of the Home Office is the minister responsible for the Home
Office of the United Kingdom, one of the four Great Offices of State. The Home
Secretary is responsible for the internal affairs of England and Wales, and for
immigration and citizenship for the whole of the United Kingdom. The remit of the
Home Office also includes policing in England and Wales and matters of national
security, as the Security Service, MI5, is directly accountable to the Home Secretary.
Formerly, the Home Secretary was the minister responsible for prisons and probation
in England and Wales; however, in 2005 those responsibilities were transferred to the
newly created Ministry of Justice under the Lord Chancellor.

to bring in = 1. (Law) to give or submit (a verdict) to a court.

eg. She said the government would bring in the necessary legislation to
deal with the problem.
2. to produce, yield, or earn (profits or income).
eg. How much does the flower business bring in each month?

bill = proposed legislation (draft law) under consideration by a legislature. A bill does
not become law until it is passed by the legislature and, in most cases, approved by
the executive. Once a bill has been enacted into law, it is called an act or a statute.

Investigatory Powers Bill = a bill to make provision about the interception of

communications, equipment interference and the acquisition and retention of
communications data, bulk personal datasets and other information; to make provision
about the treatment of material held as a result of such interception, equipment
interference or acquisition or retention; to establish the Investigatory Powers
Commissioner and other Judicial Commissioners and make provision about them and
other oversight arrangements.

to be bound to = to be certain or destined to; also, be determined or resolved to.

eg. We are bound to hear from them soon.
No matter what they say, she is bound to run for mayor.

days gone by = a time that has passed; a bygone era.

eg. I might be a successful businessman now, but in days gone by, I
was a slacker college student just like you!
 contrivance = 1. a plan to trick someone in order to get something for yourself, or the
use of such a plan; stratagem
2. a clever or complicated method of achieving a particular effect,
especially in a story, that seems artificial

a close second = almost as successful as someone or something else

eg. The Socialists came a close second with 36% of the vote.

to extradite = to send a criminal back to the country where a crime was committed
for trial.
eg. He was extradited to Romania on charges of theft.

CCTV= closed-circuit television

READING COMPREHENSION

Read the text and answer the following sentences:

1. Which are the liberal principles the text refers to? Can you name others?
2. What is “spylessness” according to the text? Why is it considered a value?
3. What is the Investigatory Powers Bill? Can you place it in a political context?
4. What is the author’s attitude towards the Investigatory Powers Bill?
5. Who coined the phrase “war on terror” and when?
6. Which are, in your opinion, the values the Romanian society relies on?
7. Pick up one of the historical events mentioned in the text and enlarge upon it.

Match the historical events and figures to the rest of the sentence that completes the
idea about the significance of the event or of the historical figure:

1. The French Revolution a. was a revolutionary wave of demonstrations and

2. The Declaration of Independence
3. The Arab Spring
4. The Cultural Revolution
5. The Boston Tea Party
6. The War of the Roses
7. The Battle of Agincourt
sometimes violent protests, riots, and civil wars in the
Arab world, beginning on 18th December 2010 in
Tunisia and spreading throughout the countries of the
Arab League and its surroundings.
b. was one of the most important families in Europe
from the 13th century onward.
c. was a series of wars over the control of the throne of
England, fought between supporters of two rival
branches of the royal House of Plantagenet - Lancaster
and York.
d. overthrew the monarchy, established a republic, and
finally culminated in a dictatorship under Napoleon,
who rapidly brought many of his principles to Western
Europe and beyond.
e. was a major English victory in the Hundred Years'
War.
f. left millions of people destitute.
g. originated as an unsuccessful attempt to achieve

8. Magna Carta
9. The Habsburg Dynasty
10. The Great Depression
peace between royalist and rebel factions in 1215, as
part of the events leading to the outbreak of the First
Barons' War.
h. formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural
Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement that took
place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 until
1976, whose stated goal was to preserve 'true'
Communist ideology in the country by purging
remnants of capitalist and traditional elements from
Chinese society, and to re-impose Maoist thought as
the dominant ideology within the Party.
i. was a political protest by the Sons of Liberty in
Boston, on December 16, 1773; the demonstrators,
some disguised as Native Americans, in defiance of the
Tea Act of May 10, 1773, destroyed an entire shipment
of tea sent by the East India Company.
j. is the statement adopted by the Second Continental
Congress meeting at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on
July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen
American colonies, then at war with the Kingdom of
Great Britain, regarded themselves as thirteen newly
independent sovereign states, and no longer under
British rule.

Read the following advertisements:

A. As a freelance writer, you can earn very good money in your spare time, writing the
stories, articles, books, scripts etc that editors and publishers want. Millions of pounds are
paid annually in fees and royalties. Earning your share can be fun, profitable and creatively
most fulfilling.
To help you become a successful writer, we offer you a first class, home-study course from
professional writers – with individual guidance from expert tutors and flexible tuition tailored
to your own requirements. You are shown how to make the most of your abilities, where to
find ideas, how to turn them into publishable writing and hoe to sell them. In short, we show
you how to become a published writer. If you want writing success – this is the way to start!

B. A one-year, interdisciplinary programme, enabling students to examine the interrelation

between architecture, art, and social history in the evolution of the country house from the
Tudors to the end of the Second World War.
Based in central London, but designed also for those who may live further afield, the course
enable students to undertake independent research on a topic of their choice under expert
supervision. Assessment is by a dissertation.
A central feature of the programme is its series of evening seminars and post-seminar dinners
in a London club, in Pall Mall, at which participants can engage in general discussion with
the speakers.

C. As a proofreader and copy editor you can earn a good income making sure that copy is
professional and error free. Earning your share can be fun, varied and profitable. Our
Proofreading and Copy Editing Course will show you how to set yourself up as a freelancer –
either full or part-time – putting you in control of your working life! You’ll receive:
 A first-class, home-study course created by professional
 Expert, personal tuition from your tutor
 Advice on all types of proofreading and copy editing techniques
If you want to be a proofreader and copy editor, this is the way to start! It’s ideal for
beginners. No previous experience or special education required.

D. With up to eight years to complete your degree, you have the flexibility to shape your
learning to your needs and interests. You benefit from the guidance of expert online tutors
and the opportunity to share ideas with other students through our online learning
environment.
Designed to incite and inspire, this degree provides a route into the past – from the birth of
Western Christendom to the Civil Rights Movement in the USA, from Roman history to US
foreign policy during the Cold War.

Now say which advertisement the following statements refer to (several answers may be
possible):

1. This advertisement mentions that the courses can also be attended face-to-face:
A B C D

2. This advertisement mentions the span of the course:

A B C D

3. This advertisement says that there are no prerequisites for the course completion:
A B C D

4. This advertisement adopts an informal, almost chatty style:

A B C D

5. This advertisement promises special benefits upon course completion:

A B C D

VOCABULARY PRACTICE

LEXIS IN CONTEXT

Pick the best word to complete each sentence. Use each word once:

government grants, quandary, asylum seekers, oligarchs, to extradite

a) Most ......................... purchasing a private stronghold in the Promised Land do not spend
more than a few weekends a year there. Even so, many of them have gone to the trouble of
obtaining Israeli citizenship.
b) When the lawyer told us our lawsuit options, we realised we were in a ..................... about
which legal path to take.
c) The prosecutor announced plans ............................ the international fugitive back to his
native country.
d) ................................... are not expected to be repaid and do not include technical
assistance or other financial assistance, such as a loan or loan guarantee, an interest rate
subsidy, direct appropriation, or revenue sharing.
e) Dozens of Pakistani ....................... have been locked up in a detention camp in southern
Sri Lanka following mass arrests that the UN’s refugee agency, UNHCR, says it never saw
coming.

1. Word Formation
Word formation: the suffix –ee
to employ someone - employee
to retire - retiree
-ee is added to certain verbs to form a noun. It is typically added to transitive verbs to
indicate a person who is the recipient or the beneficiary of an action, as opposed to the agent,
indicated by –er (employer). A draftee is a person who is drafted, not a person who drafts
other people.
Beginning around the mid-19th century, primarily in American English, the -ee suffix was
extended to denote the subject of an intransitive verb, as in standee ("a person who stands")
and returnee ("a person who returns"). The coining of new words ending in -ee continues to
be common. A number of these coinages, such as honoree, deportee, and escapee, have
become widely accepted. However, many others are created on an ad-hoc basis and tend to
have a comic effect. Thus, a firee is one who is fired from a job, a jokee is one who is the
subject of a joke.

Fill in the blanks with one of the following nouns:

goatee, addressee, absentee, donee, grantee, trustee

1. A …………… is the recipient of a sum of money intended to fund a specific undertaking,

like college education or a research.
2. An ………….. ballot is a vote cast by someone who is unable or unwilling to attend the
official polling station or to which the voter is normally allocated.
3. He is my aunt’s …………… . He is responsible for looking after her money and all her
properties.
4. Growing and grooming a ……… takes a little attention, a lot of practice, and a good dose
of confidence.
5. A ……………beneficiary could also be the third party that benefits from a donation or gift.
6. The envelope says that postage will be paid by ……………….. .

See also the following suffixes:

-arium/orium (a place for) terrarium aquarium solarium
-cide (act of killing) homicide suicide genocide
-cracy (rule, government, power) bureaucracy aristocracy theocracy
-crat (someone who has power) bureaucrat aristocrat technocrat
-cy (state, condition, quality) efficiency privacy belligerency
-esque (in the style of) Kafkaesque grotesque burlesque
-like (resembling, characteristic) childlike homelike
-ology (study of, science of) anthropology archaeology biology
-some (characterised by, group of) cumbersome quarrelsome foursome
-ward (specifies direction) backward eastward homeward
-wise (in what manner or direction) clockwise lengthwise otherwise

Fill in the blanks with a word formed from the word given in brackets at the end of the
sentence:

1. He has always looked for a challenging job which does not become ................ after a
while. (repeat)
2. The couple adopted a ...................... attitude towards their divorce, as difficult as this might
have been. (business)
3. There was a call for an immediate ....................... of hostilities. (cease)
4. The king did not trust the earl an inch. He had shown himself a ..................... friend on far
too many occasions. (traitor)
5. Monsieur, you act wrongly in endeavoring to mortify me," said D'Artagnan, in whom the
natural ................... spirit began to speak more loudly than his pacific resolutions. (quarrel)
6. The .................. of work after the strike has been delayed by further disagreements.
(resume)
7. You need to untangle the cable and crank ................ to wind it back onto the drum and
raise the wing. (clock)

Nota Bene

 -ish (having the characteristics) is usually pejorative (fiendish, brutish, prudish)

childish (pejorative) versus childlike (neutral)
But the pejorative meaning is not inherent in ethnic adjectives (British, Jewish,
Polish)
-ish (approximative meaning) is not pejorative (youngish, smallish, reddish, sixtyish).

 -ic versus –ical

economic: economic situation, economic theory
economical: economical life-style, economical car
historic (= smth. of great importance in history): historic speech, place, event,
discovery
historical:
1. belonging to history, not to legend; real, not imaginary: historical building,
events, people
2. dealing with history: historical approach, research, novel, studies

 Some additional suffixes are used in forming small sets of words:

-free (gluten-free), -friendly (ozone-friendly), -genic (telegenic), -holic (chocoholic),
-proof (bullet-proof), -worthy (trustworthy).

Translate into English:

1. Mă tem ca subtilitatea comică nu ȋl caracterizează pe acest actor de altfel faimos.

2. M-am trezit protagonistul unei situaţii comice şi mă temeam că indiferent ce voi spune mă
voi face şi mai mult de rȃs.
3. În romanul istoric, trecutul istoric și prezentul, viața adevărată și ficţiunea se ȋntrepătrund
în permanență, pȃnă ȋn punctul ȋn care sunt greu de deosebit una de cealaltă.
4. M-am plimbat cȃteva ore bune prin centrul istoric al acelui oraş de pe malul oceanului.
5. Ziua de 1 decembrie este de importanţă istorică pentru poporul român.
6. Ce monument istorice sunt de vizitat în Roma?
7. Produsele fără gluten sunt tot mai căutate nu doar de cei care suferă de anumite afecţiuni,
ci şi de persoanele care doresc să aibă un trai sănătos.
8. Comportamentul lui copilăresc nu se potrivea deloc cu solemnitatea ocaziei.
9. În privirea lui copilărească se citea o onestitate pe care nu o mai ȋntȃlnisem pȃnă atunci.
10. Casa care ne apăru ȋn faţa ochilor era micuţă şi roşiatică, parcă desprinsă dintr-o poveste a
fraţilor Grimm.
11. Vȃnzătorul m-a asigurat că pălăria de paie era rezistentă la apă şi, prin urmare, merita
fiecare bănuţ.

TRANSLATION PRACTICE

1. Translate the following texts into English:

a) Cum arãta Londra victorianã? Pãi, la fel de mohorâtã ca oamenii care o populau. În vremea
aceea îşi câştigase o reputaţie pentru faimoasele sale “pea-soupers”, nişte neguri atât de dense
încât abia se vedea la un metru. Cum se produceau? Erau un fel de combinaţie între ceţurile
de deasupra râului Tamisa şi fumul pe care îl produceau cãrbunii industriali, parte
fundamentalã a vieţii în era victorianã. Fenomenul nu era însã ceva nou, el data deja de
secole. In 1306, regele Edward I interzisese folosirea cãrbunilor. În epoca industrialã este clar
cã lucrurile scapã de sub control. În 1952, nu mai puţin de 12.000 de londonezi pier din cauza
smogului, ceea ce determinã guvernul sã adopte Clear Air Act, care faciliteazã crearea unor
zone eliberate de smog. Atmosfera victorianã nu poate fi descrisã fãrã aceste ceţuri macabre,
tenebroase, care au fãcut posibile numeroase acte criminale, cum ar fi atrocitãţile comise de
Jack Spintecãtorul.
Nici regina Victoria nu poate lipsi din tenebrosul peisaj, desigur. Şi ea era un personaj
destul de înfiorãtor. Când moare soţul sãu Albert în 1861 intrã într-un doliu prelungit,
îmbrãcându-se în mantii negre pânã la propria sa moarte. In plus, pretinde naţiunii sã poarte
aceeaşi culoare. Evita apariţiile în public şi rareori isi facea apaitia in Londra. Izolarea sa
exacerbatã i-a adus porecla de “Vãduva din Windsor”. Domnia sa lugubrã a aruncat un vãl
trist asupra Marii Britanii, astfel încât toatã epoca sa este marcatã de un sentiment general de
înfricoşare şi iminenţã a morţii. În mod ironic, reginei Victoria îi displãceau înmormântãrile
la care toţi purtau negru, Londra alegând albul şi purpuriul drept culori de doliu în cinstea sa.
(adapted and abridged from Irina-Maria Manea, Ciudateniile epocii victoriene, Historia.ro,
available at http://www.historia.ro/exclusiv_web/general/articol/ciud-eniile-epocii-victoriene)

b) Marea Britanie promova drepturile omului, însă era eurosceptică, așa că impactul plecării
sale din UE va fi unul mixt atunci când vine vorba despre politicile UE privind drepturile
fundamentale.
Politicienii și mass-media britanică militează de 10 ani pentru acordarea unui rol mai
important Legii britanice privind drepturile omului şi pentru retragerea obligațiilor asumate
cu privire la respectarea Convenției Europene a Drepturilor Omului. Dar acest lucru nu
înseamnă că Marea Britanie este ostilă față de drepturile omului în sine. Oponența nu există
de fapt atât de mult în legătură cu ce spun aceste drepturi. Este vorba mai mult despre
percepția (eronată) cu privire la acestea, potrivit cărora ele sunt impuse prin norme europene,
de birocrați europeni, monitorizarea respectării lor fiind realizată de judecători europeni. Însă
chiar și euroscepticii din Marea Britanie sunt încă destul de atașați de așa-numitele „libertăți
civile".
Marea Britanie este departe de a avea o reputație imaculată atunci când vine vorba
despre respectarea drepturilor omului; e suficient să ne uităm la încercările recente ale
Guvernului de a legaliza supravegherea în masă. Dar, în comparație cu statele care curând vor
deveni foștii săi parteneri din UE, Marea Britanie stă destul de bine. Are un sistem judiciar
integru și de calitate, o mass-medie publică care e probabil cea mai independentă de acest tip
din lume, o instituție națională responsabilă pentru promovarea drepturilor omului, niveluri
scăzute de corupție și o democrație care e, în general, funcțională și rațională.
Multe dintre practicile din Marea Britanie cu privire la drepturile omului au fost
deseori oferite drept modele care ar trebui urmate de către alte țări de Agenția UE pentru
Drepturi Fundamentale, care colectează informații cu privire la astfel de modele din întreaga
Europă pentru a ajuta guvernele să învețe unele de la altele. Cercetătorii lor au descoperit de
multe ori că este dificil să se asigure că toate țările sunt reprezentate în mod egal printre
aceste exemple de „practici promițătoare", deoarece Marea Britanie are de obicei un număr
disproporționat de mare de politici bune în comparație cu vecinii săi.
(adapted and abridged from Israel Butler, Va fi oare mai ușor pentru UE să își protejeze
valorile fundamentale acum că Marea Britanie a plecat?, LibertiesEU, available at
http://www.liberties.eu/ro/news/protejarea-valorilor-ue-dup-brexit

2. Translate the following texts into Romanian:

a) The traveller at the end of the twentieth century cannot help but be powerfully aware that
the Commonwealth as an institution is not the only international legacy of the Empire. Even
more obvious, and arguably more significant for the lives of ordinary people, are numerous
shared things in common. There is, at the level of popular entertainment and leisure, the
shared legacy of similar sporting cultures, particularly those evolved around cricket, football,
and rugby. Imperial educators argued that team sport, particularly cricket, encouraged a co-
operative spirit, which might be conducive to civic virtue and democracy, and a suitable
'manliness'. Historians may properly query such assumptions, but it is clear that they should
not underestimate the significance of sport and sporting success in the emergence of a sense
of national identity, perhaps particularly in comparatively small nation states.
Shared experiences within the old Empire are visible in physical structures which, in
their turn, often feed cultural and political patterns and mould identities. A shared colonial
architecture ranges from domestic housing and commercial warehousing to the great Gothic
churches and civic buildings, which mark virtually all the great cities of the former Empire.
The railway station, the post office, the town hall, the lawcourt, the Legislative Council or
Parliament building, and even the botanic garden testify to the abiding cultural connections
and common political styles. These are not mere monuments to a shared past. They are often
living institutions, making the visitor powerfully aware that this was once a part of the British
Empire.
(adapted and abridged from The Oxford History of the British Empire. The Twentieth
Century, Eds. Judith Brown and WM. Roger Louis, p. 705)

b) Most significant of all is the legacy of the school and the university. Lord Macaulay was
prescient in the 1830s when he spoke of the power of an English language education in India,
which would fashion a new elite, which would, in consequence, share with its rulers cultural
values and political capabilities. Throughout the Empire, it was such elites which first
articulated new national identities and aspirations, and which began processes of cultural
transformation and interaction in their homelands. The continuing influence of English
education is evident at the end of the twentieth century in the role of English as an
international language, and as a shared national language in countries where indigenous
tongues are multiple and diverse, as in India, or where other languages are identified with
distinctive ethnic or regional groups within one nation state. It is still manifest in the
educational systems within what used to be the old Empire, in the easy movement of
university students within the English-speaking world, and in the flourishing of literatures in
local variants of standard English. The presence of English-language education has often
encouraged and enriched new vernacular literatures, with some authors writing with ease in
both English and a vernacular. By the end of the century, the result has been increasingly
well-educated and reading publics, far exceeding expectations at the beginning of the century,
with expanding cultural and political horizons among ordinary people. Literacy has equipped
them with new skills and made them into a more discerning and demanding citizenry.
(adapted and abridged from The Oxford History of the British Empire. The Twentieth
Century, Eds. Judith Brown and WM. Roger Louis, p. 706)

c) While the state under the Bush administration was hollowed out—abdicating its power to
regulate the social sphere, act as the guardian of the public interest, and provide social
guarantees for the needs of children, the poor, and the aged—the state was far from rendered
inconsequential. What emerged under Bush’s first term was not an impotent state, but a
garrison state that increasingly protected corporate interests and glorified financial markets
while stepping up the level of repression and militarization on the domestic front. Bush’s war
on terrorism appeared to mimic the very forces it was fighting as it gutted civil liberties and
organized civic society around a culture of fear rather than a discourse of shared
responsibility and democratic values. Under a flurry of repressive legislation passed after the
events of September 11, American citizens were denied any legal rights and could be
detained indefinitely by the American government without due access to a lawyer, family, or
friends. Needless to say, the Bush administration’s contempt for law and due process
emboldened those “defenders of democracy” who blithely argued against freedom in the
name of providing security against potential acts of terrorism. In the name of providing
security, the fear industry with its massive security system is sprouting up everywhere,
making it easier for the government to expand its potential for control, surveillance, and just
plain spying on people. Seemingly indifferent to the fact that societies that offer to exchange
liberty for security often end up “with neither liberty nor security,” the Bush administration
used the spectacle of fear and the culture of insecurity to narrow political dialogue, escalate
the forces of authoritarianism, and further promote the militarization of everyday life.
(adapted and abridged from Henry Giroux, America on the Edge, p. 26)