IELTS vocabulary test 2
Fill in the blanks using appropriate form of the word given in the brackets.
Wherever you look these days, there are headlines about the curious way in which some people use other people’s money. The European Parliament has ———————— (stir) itself to take a serious look at the sleaze which goes on under the European Commission’s too often undiscerning nose. Some of the locals who were keen that the 2002 Winter Olympics should take place in Salt Lake City are —————- (accuse) of having used ——————- (bribe) to get their way. On a rather larger scale, the question of how on earth Indonesia’s President Suharto had piled so much wealth was one of the chief causes of ———————– (demonstrate) that pushed him out of power last year.
In the 1990s alone, governments in Italy, Brazil, Pakistan and Zaire have fallen ——————- (part) because the people they governed would no ———————- (long) tolerate the ———————– (corrupt) of politicians. It is not the first time that the people have ————————- (mutiny). Imelda Marcos’s amazing shoe collection enraged Filipinos in the early 1980s every bit as much as the high living of Mr. Suharto’s children infuriated Indonesians. But a ——————— (concert) attempt to bring corruption under control has at last become possible because the ———————- (indignant) of ordinary people has been reinforced by an ———————- (ally) of aid donors, law makers and businessmen who had previously ———————– (wring) their hands.
The alliance has come into being at least partly because the ———————– (crisis) that have laid low economies from Indonesia to Russia in the late 1990s were to some extent caused by a corrupt form of ————————– (capital) which diverted resources from economically well-founded enterprises to those that were ——————— (mere) well-connected. For the first time, there is a campaign to treat corruption as a global problem about which, perhaps, something can be done.
Answers
Wherever you look these days, there are headlines about the curious way in which some people use other people’s money. The European Parliament has stirred itself to take a serious look at the sleaze which goes on under the European Commission’s too often undiscerning nose. Some of the locals who were keen that the 2002 Winter Olympics should take place in Salt Lake City are accused of having used bribery to get their way. On a rather larger scale, the question of how on earth Indonesia’s President Suharto had piled so much wealth was one of the chief causes of demonstrations that pushed him out of power last year.
In the 1990s alone, governments in Italy, Brazil, Pakistan and Zaire have fallen partly because the people they governed would no longer tolerate the corruption of politicians. It is not the first time that the people have mutinied. Imelda Marcos’s amazing shoe collection enraged Filipinos in the early 1980s every bit as much as the high living of Mr. Suharto’s children infuriated Indonesians. But a concerted attempt to bring corruption under control has at last become possible because the indignation of ordinary people has been reinforced by an alliance of aid donors, law makers and businessmen who had previously wrung their hands.
The alliance has come into being at least partly because the crises that have laid low economies from Indonesia to Russia in the late 1990s were to some extent caused by a corrupt form of capitalism which diverted resources from economically well-founded enterprises to those that were merely well-connected. For the first time, there is a campaign to treat corruption as a global problem about which, perhaps, something can be done.
Adapted from an article published in The Economist on January 16, 1999
