a.Read the headline and the first sentence of each paragraph of the text. Pair up to discuss the guessed-at topic of the article.
b. Read the first paragraph and the last paragraph of the text. Then work in pairs to discuss the guessed-at contents of the piece.
c. Read the text during two minutes. After two minutes, get into pairs to discuss the contents of the piece.
Ex.2. SCANNING:
a. While scanning the text find the answers for content-specific questions given by the teacher.
b.While scanning the text read the sentences containing the key vocabulary words given by the teacher.
Ex.3. READING:Read and translate the text “World Trade Organization”.
Ex.4. CHAT: In pairs/groups, decide which of these topics or words from the article are most interesting and which are most boring.
contractual obligations, implement, trade legislation, evolve, collective debate, adjudication, political backing, employment, income growth, embodiment, administering, multilateral and plurilateral trade, seeking to resolve, overseeing, portion of national sovereignty, cooperating, global economic policy-making, individual legal texts, agriculture, textiles, clothing, procurement, rules of origin, intellectual property, declarations, decisions, spell out, commitments, run throughout, trading system, non-discrimination provisions, preshipment inspection, investment measures, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, investors, employers, employees, consumers, investment and job creation, stable and predictable, secure and predictable, customs duties, quotas, transparency of domestic laws, regulations and practices, disclosure, publication, accurate to say, dedicated to open, fair and undistorted competition, fair conditions, dumping and subsidies, GATT rules, impose compensating duties.
Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.
Ex.5. WTO:What was the main aim of the WTO creation? Talk about this with your partner(s). Rate each item from 10 (This is essential) to 1 (How ridiculous).
_____ intellectual property
_____ phytosanitary measures
_____ regulations and practices
_____ dumping and subsidies
Ex.6. Non-discrimination provisions:Spend one minute writing down all of the
different words you associate with the word combination ‘Non-discrimination provisions’. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.
Ex.7. QUICK DEBATE:Students A; The WTO principles provide all necessary conditions for free trade: the Students B are strongly against this. Change partners again and talk about your roles and conversations.
Ex.8. TRUE / FALSE: Look through the article and guess whether these
sentences are true (T) or false (F):
a.
The World Trade Organization (WTO) is the only global international organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations.
T / F
b.
The WTO is currently the host to new negotiations, under the
‘Doha Development Agenda’ launched in 1947.
T / F
c.
The goal is to help producers of goods and services, exporters, and importers conduct their business.
T / F
d.
Foreign companies, investors and governments should be confident that trade barriers should not be raised arbitrarily.
T / F
e.
Trade relations often never involve conflicting interests.
T / F
f.
The WTO agreements come into force immediately and do not give the countries transition periods to adjust to the more unfamiliar and, perhaps, difficult WTO provisions.
T / F
g.
The WTO’s agreements permit members to take measures to protect
not only the environment but also public health, animal health and
plant health.
T / F
h.
Members must use environmental protection measures as a means of disguising protectionist policies.
T / F
Ex.9. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article
(sometimes more than one combination is possible):
1.
Essentially, the WTO is a place where member governments try to …
a.
because they are legal texts covering a wide range of activities.
Giving them more time to adjust, greater flexibility and special privileges; …
b.
it should not discriminate between its own and foreign products, services or nationals.
3.
Lowering trade barriers is one of the
most obvious ways of encouraging trade; …
c.
over three-quarters of WTO members are developing countries and countries in transition to market
economies.
4.
The WTO’s agreements permit members to take measures to protect …
d.
and giving them the
confidence that there will be
no sudden changes of policy.
5.
The system’s overriding purpose is to help trade flow as freely as possible — so …
e.
and signed by the bulk of the world’s trading nations.
6.
It also means ensuring that individuals, companies and governments know what the trade rules are around the world, …
f.
conflicting interests.
7.
At its heart are the WTO agreements, negotiated …
g.
long as there are no
undesirable side effects — because this is important for economic development and
well-being.
8.
Trade relations often involve …
h.
not only the environment but also public health, animal
health and plant health.
9.
A country should not discriminate
between its trading partners and …
i.
these barriers include customs duties (or tariffs) and
measures such as import
bans or quotas that restrict quantities selectively.
10.
The WTO agreements are lengthy and
complex …
j.
sort out the trade problems
they face with each other.
Ex. 10.WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionaries / computer to find collocates,
other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘contractual
obligations’and ‘dumping and subsidies ’.
contractual obligations
dumping and subsidies
Share your findings with your partners.
Make questions using the words you found.
Ask your partner / group your questions.
Ex.11. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the text and write down some
questions you would like to ask the class about the text.
Share your questions with other classmates / groups.
Ask your partner / group your questions.
Ex.12. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool
unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.
Ex.11. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to
recall how they were used in the text:
contractual obligations, implement,
trade legislation, evolve, collective
debate, adjudication, political
backing, employment, income growth,
regulations and practices, disclosure,
publication, accurate to say, dedicated
to open, fair and undistorted competition, fair conditions, dumping and subsidies, compensating duties.
Ex.13. STUDENT “WTO” SURVEY
Write five GOOD questions about the topic.
Ex.14. WRITING:
Write about the World Trade Organizationfor 10 minutes. Correct your partner’s
paper.
Text 2
Russia’s accession to the WTO
On 16 December 2011, Russia cleared the final hurdle to become a WTO member. WTO Ministers adopted Russia’s WTO terms of entry at the 8th Ministerial Conference in Geneva. Trade Ministers welcomed Russia as a new member to the Organization and called this accession a historic achievement. According to WTO Ministers, Russia’s accession to the WTO will strengthen the multilateral trading system, making the WTO a more universal organization.
As part of the accession accord, Russia has agreed to undertake a series of important commitments to further open its trade regime and accelerate its integration in the world economy. The deal offers a transparent and predictable environment for trade and foreign investment. From the date of accession, the Russian Federation has committed to fully apply all WTO provisions, with recourse to very few transitional periods.
The Russian Federation’s commitments will include the following: