Anglais 2003 IEP Aix - Sciences Po Aix

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Examen du Supérieur IEP Aix - Sciences Po Aix. Sujet de Anglais 2003. Retrouvez le corrigé Anglais 2003 sur Bankexam.fr.

Sujets

• Anglais
• 2003

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• Publié par: bankexam
• Publié le: 02 juillet 2007
• Nombre de lectures: 132
• Langue: Français

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ème Examen d'Entrée en2003 Institut d'Etudes Politiques Aix-En-Provence2 Année ère Anglais. 1Langue Part One. Comprehension (1 mark for each correct answer.Total : 7 marks) lA After reading the text " Europe Misses The Point " Replace the underlined words or phrases by similar words or phrases which fit perfectly into the text.  a) to miss the crucial point  b) sluggish growth  c) to markedlyoutpace  d) the troubles brewing  e) in a nutshell  f) shrinking  g) to entice 1B Translate the paragraph which is arrowedinto French <...... > ( 5 marks)

Europe Misses The Point ONCE UPON A TIME, THE GOVERNMENTS OF GERMANY, France or Italy could revel in their considerable accomplishments - the creation of a single market, a common currency, a bigger and bolder Union. But lately the celebratory champagne has gone more than a little flat. For starters, there's last week's warning that Europe's vaunted "single market» is not living up to its potential. Sluggish growth and slackening productivity threaten to widen the economic gap between Europe and the United States, according to a survey by the European Commission. The report also warned of a developing "two tier" Europe, where some countries and regions (Scandinavia, for instance) will markedly outpace others, such as Greece, Italy and France. Worst, reforms are lagging on all fronts-putting in question Europe'sselfdeclared goal of becoming the world's must competitive economy by 2010. Then there are the troubles brewing on the fiscal front. Devised in 1997 to enforce financial discipline across the 12-member monetary union, the EU's Stability and Growth Pact imposes a ceiling on annual borrowing of 3 percent of GDP. Budgets must be balanced in the medium term, subject to heavy fines. These days the newspapers are full of reports about how these strictures are increasingly observed in the breach, as one EU member after another struggles to comply in a fast deteriorating economic climate. First came Portugal (2001 deficit: 4.1 percent). Then came Germany', whose shortfall spiraled to an estimated 3.7 percent lest year. A formal early warning has been issued to France, and Italy follows not far behind. This flap misses the crucial point. The real threat to Europe's finances - and to monetary union - isn't the relatively small fiscal changes of the past year. (Will this or that country’s deficit be 3.1 percent or a mere 2.8?) It’s the fact that the Stability and Growth Pact no longer positions Europe to meet critical future challenges. The biggest of those challenges is demographic. In a nutshell, the populations of the large European countries are (or will soon be) shrinking and aging. Over time, fewer and fewer workers will have to support more and more older people. This demographic time bomb threatens to make today's budget gaps look tiny. Reforms are lagging on all fronts-putting in question Europe's goal of becoming the world's most competitive economy by 2010 European pension systems exacerbate the problem. Public funding (mostly pay-as-you-go) leaves the bill for the younger generation. What's more, early-retirement schemes entice older workers to get out of the labor force early. Instead of paying into the system, millions of people who could otherwise be taxpayers are encouraged to prematurely cash out, deepening the fiscal crisis. All this is well known in Europe. Less well understood is just how bad things are. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development estimates that by 2050 the cost of pensions alone could add 5.0 percent of GDP to government spending in Germany, 3.8 percent in France and 8.0 percent in Spain. That makes the arguments over the Stability and Growth Pact-and the shaving of decimals to satisfy it-seem rather cute. And wait, there's more. All three "heavy weights" of monetary union - Germany, France and Italy - also suffer from a kind of "triple witching hour." First there's the early - retirement whammy, mentioned already. Second is the pensions imbroglio, made worse by the unusually generous scale of European benefits. Third, workers in all three countries have few personal retirement assets. That means that people depend to an alarming degree on the government for their retirement security. The bottom line : there's no solution to Europe's problems without higher economic growth. Even a small boost in growth rates - 0.5 to 1.0 percent per year - would significantly improve the long - run fiscal position of Europe's major economies. The Stability and Growth Part certainly bas been, and still is, an important force for fiscal discipline. But if European governments only resort to tax increases to meet budget shortfalls, then the pact could become damaging. *Stimulating growth requires Europe to reform its pension and social-welfare systems. Beyond that, it also requires the creation of efficient labor markets and appropriate changes in tax policies - in other words, a more market-oriented environment that would help Europe reap more efficiencies from its single market. If we embark on this course, Europe's economy will regain steam and its public finances will be restored to health. If we fail to address these problems, then the budget and fiscal cutbacks that we are contemplating today will seem almost pleasant by comparison to those of tomorrow.* HEISE is chief economist for the Allianz Group and Dresdner Bank in Frankfurt.

Part Two. Written Expression. ( 8 marks) Write a short essay of about 2 paragraphs on the following subject or about one of the cartoons to be found on the following page... " If at the end of my mandate all Brazilians cap eat 3 meals a day, I will have fulfilled my life's mission." Brazilian President Luiz Inacio da Silva, known as Lula, at his inauguration speech.

Remember you must choose only one cartoon… Do not describe the cartoon but the situation that it evokes…