Useful expressions

1. Due to political inertia, extremists are insidiously widening their influence.

2. Punjab Governor Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar has vindicated those who oppose the Sharifs.

inertia: unwillingness to move or act; apathy

insidiously: subtly; craftily

vindicate: justify

Exercise

Fill in the blanks with the following words:

inertia; insidiously; vindicated

1.      I have every confidence that this decision will be fully ….  

2.      I can't seem to throw off this feeling of ….

3.      This kind of advertising acts … on young minds.

Answers

vindicated 2. inertia 3. insidiously

Useful expressions

1. India wants to offset China’s increasingly assertive role in Asia.

2. Modi plans to build India into an economic powerhouse.

3. Allah repays the guilty.

offset: counteract; balance

powerhouse: something that is productive

repay: requite; reward

Exercise

Fill in the blanks with the following words:

powerhouse; offset; repaid

1. The extra cost of travelling to work is … by the lower price of houses here.

2. I felt that I had been amply … for my exertions.

3. China has been described as an ‘emerging economic …’.

Answers

1. offset 2. repaid 3. powerhouse

1. The 16 December school massacre sent shock waves through the country and beyond.

2. The military should take on Islamist militants of all shades.

3. The government was forced to backpedal on some of its earlier announcements.

shock wave: a very strong reaction

take on: fight against

backpedal: retreat or move backward; recant

Useful expressions

1. The treason trial of Pervez Musharraf is a travesty of justice.

2. Cutting clandestine deals with militant groups may unravel the state.

3. The government’s policy of dialogue with militants is riddled with holes.

travesty: mockery; farce

clandestine: secret

riddled with: full of sth, especially sth bad or unpleasant

Useful expressions

1. Tradition and custom often take precedence over legislation.

2. While the group (ie the ISIS) oppresses many women, many also flock to its ranks.

3. Women have long been involved in terror of all stripes.

precedence: priority

flock: go in large numbers

stripe: type

Useful Expressions

1. The Taliban attack on a school in Peshawar sparked global condemnation.

2. Temperatures plummeted below zero.

3. The jihadist group Islamic State controls large swathes of Syria and Iraq.

4. The fight against extremism must be multipronged.

5. We want Pakistan to emerge as a dynamic Islamic welfare state.

spark: cause 

plummet: fall or plunge rapidly

swathe: a long strip of land

multipronged: having several distinct aspects

dynamic: always changing and making progress

Guardian - 15 December 2011 - Pakistan: bombs, spies and wild parties

Viewed from the outside, Pakistan looms as the Fukushima of fundamentalism: a volatile[1], treacherous[2] place filled with frothing[3] Islamists and double-dealing generals, leaking plutonium-grade terrorist trouble. Forget the "world's most dangerous country" moniker[4], by now old hat[5]. Look to recent coverage: "Hornet's Nest[6]" declares this week's Economist; "The Ally from Hell" proclaims the Atlantic.

But pull off[7] the road and everything changes. Pakistanis are welcoming, generous and voluble[8]. They insist you stay for tea, or the night. They love to gab[9], often with glorious indiscretion[10] – national politics and local tattle[11], cricket scandals, movie stars and conspiracy theories. This is fun, and good for the business of journalism.

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[1] unstable; likely to change suddenly; easily becoming dangerous

[2] that cannot be trusted; intending to harm you; deceitful

[3] extremely angry

[4] a name

[5] something that is old-fashioned and no longer interesting

[6] a difficult situation in which a lot of people get very angry

[7] leave the road in order to stop for a short time

[8] talking a lot, and with enthusiasm, about a subject

[9] talk for a long time about things that are not important

[10] carelessness; an act or remark that is indiscreet, especially one that is not morally acceptable

[11] tittle-tattle; gossip; unimportant talk, usually not true, about other people and their lives

While Islam is technically the glue[1] of society, you learn, the real bonds are forged around clans, tribes, personal contacts. To get anything done, the official route is often pointless – the key is sifarish, the reference of an influential friend. Journalists use sifarish a lot; occasionally they are called on to dispense[2] it too.

That, however, is just the cosseted capital – the real pain has been felt elsewhere. Pakistan has paid a high blood price for what my guardian colleague Jason Burke calls the "9/11 wars". Since 2001, up to 5,000 Pakistanis have died in more that 300 suicide attacks; the victims range from toddlers[3] to three-star generals. Another 13,000 have been wounded. This is partly the legacy from the military's decades-old dabbling[4] in Islamist extremism, but for most Pakistanis the culprit is America.

Television shows fizz[5] with anti-American anger; many say the "Ally from Hell" epithet[6] applies to the US, not them. Things have never been worse: outrage at the killing of 24 Pakistani soldiers in a murky[7] border incident triggered a blockade on Nato supplies, the closure of a CIA drone base and the boycott of a conference on the future of Afghanistan – and that's just in the last week.

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[1] a sticky substance that is used for joining things together

[2] provide something, especially a service, for people

[3] a child who has only recently learnt to walk

[4] take part in a sport, an activity, etc. but not very seriously

[5] when a liquid fizzes, it produces a lot of bubbles and makes a long sound like an ‘s’

[6] an offensive word or phrase that is used about a person or group of people

[7] dark and dirty or difficult to see through

Washington, meanwhile, is moving to restrict $700m (£450m) in aid. The relationship is beset by frustrations and misunderstandings on both sides, but the net effect is that Pakistanis are more profoundly isolated from the outside world than they have been in decades. This cannot be good.

Pakistan is beset with problems that no amount of jolly beer stories or whirling dervishes can remedy. It is, as a psychologist might say, a country with serious issues. Most are decades old – the overweening[1] army, the confused place of Islam, the covert[2] support for jihad, deep-rooted corruption, the poisoned bond with America. Resolving them has never been so urgent.

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[1] arrogant; showing too much confidence or pride

[2] secret or hidden, making it difficult to notice

One reason is Afghanistan. As western troops draw down[1] by 2014, Pakistan can help construct a stable future for the war-ravaged[2] country – or spoil a deal it dislikes. But beyond that, it is the internal stability of Pakistan that is more worrying. The country is riven[3] by ethnic, tribal and political faultlines[4], which, in turn, are being exacerbated[5] by galloping population growth and deepening poverty. Turmoil[6] in a country with at least 120 nuclear warheads and a projected population of 300m people by 2030 could make Afghanistan look like a walk in the park. Talk of a "nuclear Somalia" is overstated[7], but you get the point.

Yet there is little sign of revolution. As the Arab spring swept the Middle East, Pakistan was quiet because, in a sense, it already has what others are demanding: elections. The problem is that few like the results.

Will ordinary Pakistanis tire of this power game? While there is no sign of a spring tide, millions of tiny waves are lapping[8] the shores of despair.

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[1] reduce a supply of something that has been created over a period of time; be reduced

[2] damage something badly; devastate

[3] divided because of disagreements, especially in a violent way

[4] a potentially disruptive division or area of contention

[5] aggravate; make something worse, especially a disease or problem

[6] a state of great anxiety and confusion; confusion

[7] say something in a way that makes it seem more important than it really is; exaggerate

[8] touch something gently and regularly, often making a soft sound