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| Business Words in the News
Friday 26 October 2001
Vocabulary from the business news. Listen to and read the report then find explanations of difficult words below.
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Britain: is entry to the euro inevitable?
Summary: The British government minister in charge of European Affairs, Peter Hain, is on a tour of Britain to talk about the benefits of being in the European Union. But it's also interpreted as a warm-up campaign for a referendum on British membership of the Euro. This report from Bethan Rhys Roberts:
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| | The News | |
| | | It's one of the biggest secrets of British politics - does the governing Labour party intend to take Britain into the single European currency? It's committed to making an assessment of the economic pros and cons of membership within the next two years. Until then, Labour says it's keeping its options open.
The Minister in charge of European affairs is embarking on a tour of British cities to sell what he considers to be the benefits of being in the European Union but Peter Hain denies it's also a tour to sell the euro. He's confident that the British public will bebetter placed to make a judgement after the coins become a reality in twelve member states next January.
Opinion polls consistently suggest that the British public remains largely hostile to the single European currency, as do several influential newspapers. If it does decide to join the euro, the government knows that winning a referendum will be an uphill battle. Before starting any official campaign it would have to soften public opinion - the real aim of this tour could be to do just that.
BETHAN RHYS ROBERTS, BBC, LONDON
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| | The Words
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| | | making an assessment
considering and/or evaluating
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| | | the economic pros and cons
the economic advantages and disadvantages
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| | | it's keeping its options open
it hasn't made a final decision yet - it's prepared to choose whichever way is best under the circumstances
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| | | to sell
here - to convince people that a certain idea is a good one
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| | | will be better placed
here - will have more information and knowledge to make a better decision
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| | | make a judgement
form an opinion to help you make a decision
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| | | hostile to
if you are hostile to an idea, you disagree with it and/or disapprove of it
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| | | influential
having the power to make people agree with your opinions or do what you want
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| | | an uphill battle
efforts to achieve something in spite of very difficult circumstances
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| | | to soften public opinion
here - to make the public less hostile to the idea of Britain joining the euro
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