B. Fill in articles “a” or “the” wherever necessary.

1. The Chinese don’t like Japanese. That’s a matter of history.

2. The British have got richer, but not as fast as other countries.

3. Helped by increasing popularity of - English as an international language and London’s position mid-way between the Asian and American time zones, the British financial institutions seem more dynamic than ever.

4. A Vietnamese is a native or inhabitant of Vietnam, or a person of - Vietnamese descent.

5. - English is the most widely learnt second language.

6. The two most important minorities in the Philippines include the Chinese and the Spaniards.

7. - English is the principal language of Great Britain, the US, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and many other countries.

8. A large majority of - Danes speak - English as a second language.

9. As a foreign language, - Dutch is mainly taught in primary and secondary schools in areas around the Netherlands.

10. the Japanese also improved public education and made it compulsory for all residents of - Taiwan.

11. After World War II, when - Japan lost, the Chinese of Taiwanese origin persecuted, robbed and sometimes beat up the Japanese.

12. In - Finland as a whole - Swedish is one of the two "national" languages, with the same official status as the Finnish language.

13. the Swiss provide money a safe, boring place where nothing dramatic will happen to it.

14. The Bureau of the Census counts anyone - Indian who declares himself or herself to be one.

C. Chose the correct variant.

Scandinavia /Scandinavian people, mainly Sweden / Swedes and Norwegian/Norwegians, were both listed and sent over 10,000 immigrants each, with the presence of around 17,000 Danes/Danish . Finns/Finnish and Estonians/Estonian were also present, especially in the Southeast, and often forgotten Icelanders/Iceland and Faroese, were pretty rare, but left descendants. The Baltic Region was also entirely present, where Lithuanians/Lithuania composed the most numerous group, with ~50,000 entrances, followed by Latvians/Latvia. Jews / Jewish, mostly of Askhenazic origin, also arrived as around 48,000 Jewish/Jew citizens from several countries chose Brazil/Brazilian as their destination.

Skills focus

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Financial decisions in Britain are heavily influenced by what happens overseas. The exchange rate of the pound, foreign interest rates, and the view that outside investors take of Britain as a profitable place to park their money all profoundly influence  -  decisions about saving and investment by British people. It is important, however, to distinguish between the impact on ordinary people and the impact on professional investors who manage trillions (thousands of billions) of pounds in pension fund s, life insurance, and bonds on behalf of individuals. If I find the interest rate on my house mortgage has gone up because German interest rates have risen, there is little I can do, at least in the short run. I may be able to counteract the effect on my mortgage by shifting savings into accounts which offer higher interest rates, and many British people have become skilled at hunting down the banks which offer the most favourable returns. In the long run, these innumerable individual decisions can and do move markets.

…(1)… Fund managers can move markets immediately. Their power has grown immensely. …(2)… Insurance companies, pension funds and other types of …(3)… collective investment own at least 60 per cent of the …(4)… stock market. British fund managers …(5)… invest heavily overseas. About a quarter of pension fund …(6)… assets are abroad, a much bigger proportion than for any other major …(7)… industrial country. Partly this is historical. In the nineteenth century, when Britain was an imperial power and the richest country in the world, the increasingly …(8)… wealthy middle class invested in …(9)… savings everywhere from Shanghai to San Francisco. It also reflects Britain’s continued importance as a …(10)… trading nation, exporting more …(11)… goods per head of population than most other countries. Above all, London has survived Britain’s relative economic decline (the British have got richer, but not as fast as other countries) and remained the world’s most important international …(12)… financial centre.