| News story | Words | Meanings |
| Barack Obama has sought to realign American policy on the Middle East, pledging to shift from decades of support for autocratic regimes to backing for pro-democracy movements, and setting out the shape of an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal. On the eve of a visit by the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, to the White House, Obama showed frustration with the lack of any progress towards peace by setting out broadly what a future Palestinian state may look like, based on the border that existed before the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. "The dream of a Jewish and democratic state cannot be fulfilled with permanent occupation," he said. While his speech might be seen to tilt the US marginally towards the Palestinians, he tempered this by rejecting a Palestinian attempt to seek de facto independence at the UN in September, dismissing it as merely a "symbolic" move. | realign | change; readjust; alter |
| autocratic | oppressive; dictatorial; having absolute sovereignty | |
| setting out | presenting; outlining | |
| on the eve of | just before; just prior to | |
| broadly | roughly; generally, without considering details | |
| tilt | incline | |
| marginally | very slightly; not very much | |
| tempered | moderated; soothed; toned down | |
| de facto | actual; existing in fact but without legal sanction | |
| move | action |
Exercise
Fill in the blanks with the following words:
1. move 2. tilted 3. realigned 4. broadly 5. autocratic
1. Several politicians left the party and . . . . . . themselves with the opposition.
2. The President resigned after 30 years of . . . . . . rule.
3. . . . . . . speaking, I agree with you.
4. Popular opinion has . . . . . . in favour of the socialists.
5. This latest . . . . . . by the government has aroused fierce opposition.
Answer key: 1. realigned 2. autocratic 3. broadly 4. tilted 5. move
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