MOCK READING TEST

Thời gian: 120 phút

Ghi chú: Sinh viên được sử dụng từ điển đơn ngữ.
Please read the following article and do the exercises:
State dinner niceties can't erase simmering U.S.-France tensions
David A. Andelman (01/12/2022, nbcnews.com)
1. The White House is rolling out the red carpet for French President Emmanuel Macron – again. The
French leader is the rare recipient of two state receptions within four years under two successive
presidents.
2. Thursday’s dinner — the first of President Joe Biden’s administration — is a tribute to the visitor’s
unique role as leader of Europe after the departure of German Chancellor Angela Merkel as well as a
tribute to France’s historic position as America’s oldest ally. But it’s also a sign that a desperate effort is
underway to bring back into alignment a relationship that has gone seriously off the rails in the past
and threatens to do so again. France and the United States need each other to deal with Russia, China
and global inflation, but recently the U.S. has alienated Macron with its economic decisions.
3. In his two days of talks with President Joe Biden in D.C., Macron will be making a valiant effort to
salvage his own fortunes and that of Europe, which he hopes to continue serving as its unofficial leader
despite losing control of his own parliament in June. Top of the agenda will be the U.S.’s Inflation
Reduction Act, whose subsidies benefiting American companies, especially electronic car makers, have
become a major thorn in the side of France and much of Europe.
4. That thorn is made even more pointed by the bitterness that still overhangs the U.S.-France
relationship following a dispute last year over a lucrative defense contract. In September 2021, the U.S.
snatched from France the sale of $66 billion worth of submarines to Australia in an effort to restore
American dominance in containing Chinese expansion.
5. The discord with Macron started earlier, however. Though Macron was also honored with the first state
dinner of Donald Trump’s presidency, the relationship between the two leaders devolved
into tension that both Macron and Biden now are hoping to reverse. But even though Biden offers a
dramatically different world view, it will be a steep hill to climb.
6. An Élysée Palace official briefing the press ahead of the trip was not subtle in pointing to the divide
between the two countries. “This legislation has a direct impact on our industries,” he said Friday of the
Inflation Reduction Act. The official, who spoke to the media on condition of anonymity, said that
Europe wanted to avoid “the capture of [our] markets by the Americans to the detriment of the
Europeans.”
7. Macron will also be visiting with congressional leaders from both parties in a further effort to impress
on Washington the dangers of a potential trade war. Without any give by the American side, Macron is
prepared to lead Europe into a Buy European Act that could herald the launch of an outright trade battle.
If his meetings in Washington don’t produce results, many Europeans would likely say “bring it on” to
threats from the American side of a tit-for-tat tariff war.
8. But there could be off ramps. “We do not imagine that Congress, moreover, with a House of
Representatives with a Republican majority, could fundamentally revise the IRA,” the Élysée official
observed. “We can imagine that the American administration [can] grant exemptions, for a certain
number of European industries, perhaps on the model of what it already grants for Mexico or for
Canada.”
9. And then there’s China. Macron, and Europe more broadly, hope China can develop into more of a
partner than a competitor, particularly with respect to trade. “What we are saying to the United States is
 that, deep down, we understand their concern to stay at the top of world leadership and to ensure that in
their relations with China they maintain the advantage,” the Élysée official said, offering a foretaste of
Macron’s argument to Biden. “What we also tell them is that we Europeans cannot develop exactly the
same policy simply because we are in Europe, not in America. Basically, we want China to deal with
Europe as a full partner.”
10. The Biden-Macron meetings start with a firmer foundation on perhaps the leading international
challenge today: Russia and its war in Ukraine, where both parties are committed to seeing the conflict
through to the end. Still, there is a feeling in some circles that Europe is being forced to carry a heavier
load in satisfying Ukraine’s needs.
11. Paris believes that Europe “provides most of the effort in terms of sanctions against Russia,” as the
senior official told journalists last week. It’s a heavy burden for European voters that France would like
to see shared a bit more equitably despite the far larger quantity of military aid provided by the U.S.
Especially when a GOP-controlled Congress continuing to give such substantial aid to Ukraine.
12. But above all, Macron is simply looking for some respect — or as the senior Élysée official put it,
“Sovereignty. That is to say, the means of deciding for ourselves and therefore to be fully
relevant.” Such a recognition has been all too absent in recent years from the trans-Atlantic relationship.
If Biden will not, or cannot, find a way of providing some concrete evidence of that, then both sides
may suffer. (862 words)

I. Words & Expressions (2.5 pts)

Explain the following words & expressions in the context of the article, using your OWN words.
1. gone seriously off the rails
2. a valiant effort to salvage
3. major thorn in the side
4. bitterness that still overhangs
5. tit-for-tat tariff war
II. Comprehension Questions (3 pts)
Answer the following questions regarding the article, using your OWN words.
1. Why does Biden put out the welcome mat for French President?
2. What does the author imply by using the phrase “a steep hill to climb” in paragraph 5?
3. Why is the Inflation Reduction Act one of the reasons for the crack between the US and France?
4. What does French President want to achieve through this visit?
5. What will happen if Macron’s purposes are not satisfied?
III. Summary (2 pts)
Summarise the main points of last four paragraphs (from “And then there’s China...” to the end) into 5-6
sentences (70-80 words).
IV. Translation (2.5 pts)
Translate paragraphs 9-10 into Vietnamese, from “And then there’s China…” to “in satisfying Ukraine’s
needs”.

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