UNIVERSITATEA BUCURETI FACULTATEA DE LIMBI I LITERATURI STRINE CATEDRA DE ENGLEZ EXAMEN DE LICEN LA LIMBI MODERNE APLICATE PROBA DE LIMBA

ENGLEZ SESIUNEA IUNIE 2010 I. TRANSLATE INTO ROMANIAN Euro !"# $%&# 'or '(#)%$ %u#*!r(*+ %r! &o* ,u(*! *-! *-r!%* *o r!)o.!r+ *-!+ #!!/ INVESTORS who may once have doubted that euro-zone countries could right their public inances seem now to ear that crisis has spurred too much austerity! " hand ul o countries# notably $reece but also Spain# %ortugal and Ireland# have been orced to ta&e drastic action by nervy bond mar&ets! Now even the most creditworthy are 'oining in! On (une )th $ermany*s government announced a pac&age o measures that will save it around +), billion by -,./! Its chancellor# "ngela 0er&el# said $ermany should set an e1ample o budgetary discipline to other euro-zone countries! 2rance has also said it will act to trim its de icit by abolishing ta1 e1emptions and reezing most spending programmes rom ne1t year! This rush to don the hair-shirt raises a resh concern3 i budget cuts are too severe# might they push the economy bac& into recession# de eating their purpose4 (udged by the claims o those who welcome the new iscal austerity# as well as those who ear it# a gigantic iscal blow is about to land! The true picture is not 5uite so dramatic! Ta&e $ermany*s measures# or instance! The +), billion o cuts claimed by the government will be made over our years! 0ost o the savings are coming in -,.6 and -,./! The e ect on ne1t year*s budget will be 'ust +..!- billion# less than ,!78 o $9%! :ith all the tal& o cuts# it is easy to orget that $ermany*s budget de icit will widen this year by .!7--8 o $9% as the delayed e ect o earlier stimulus measures comes through! The smaller countries at the edges o the euro bloc& are pulling bac& harder! $reece*s budget cuts amount to ;8 o $9% this year and /8 ne1t year! Spain# %ortugal and Ireland are set to cut their budgets by --68 o $9% in -,., and -,..! <et they are a airly small part o the region*s economy! These countries account or less than a i th o euro-area $9%! Their planned austerity will have a correspondingly small e ect on the euro-zone economy! The measures aimed at cutting budget de icits in the euro area will come to around .8 o $9% ne1t year# when weighted by the size o each country*s economy! That is big but not e1cessive or a bloc& that is orecast by the European =ommission to have an average budget de icit o >!>8 o $9% in -,.,!There is much uncertainty about the economic impact o iscal tightening# not least because some temporary measures will also have run their course by ne1t year! ?udget cuts wea&en $9% growth by shrin&ing aggregate demand! The simplest gauges o such @AeynesianB e ects suggest that each euro o lost public spending reduces $9% by around the same amount! ?ut in some circumstances budget cuts can help growthC or cause less harm to it than Aeynesian models suggest! 2irm action to tac&le budget de icits may induce an1ious consumers to save less Dand irms to invest moreE by lowering uncertainty about uture ta1 changes! Such an1iety is li&ely to be bigger when public debts are worryingly high because ta1payers 'udge that the need to reduce the de icit will soon hurt their inances! Research by the European =entral ?an& ound that rising budget de icits in high-debt countries are associated with higher private savings! " lot also depends on how budgets are cut! ?udget ad'ustments that rely on cuts in wel are payments or the government*s wage bill are more li&ely to produce lasting bene itsC lower public debt and aster $9% growthCthan those based on ta1 increases or cuts in public investment! The least harm ul ta1es were on irms* pro its or on consumer spending! E1amples o such @e1pansionary iscal contractionsB are much harder to replicate now! =ountries that managed to grow strongly in the past while cutting budget de icits were o ten aided by a alling e1change rate or were rewarded by a big drop in borrowing costs! 0ost rich countries today already en'oy low bond yields! "nd not everyone can devalue their currencies! It is clear# nonetheless# that certain &inds o austerity are less harm ul to growth! The pac&ages announced by euro-area countries seem airly well designed! ?udget cuts are rarely good news or the economy! ?ut Europe*s austerity drive could have been a lot worse!

EXAMEN DE LICEN LA LIMBI MODERNE APLICATE PROBA DE LIMBA ENGLEZ SESIUNEA FEBRUARIE 2010 I. TRANSLATE INTO ROMANIAN Ro/%&(%0# r!#(1!&*(%$ !$!)*(o&. A2%(&#* %$$ o11#. Tr%(%& B%#!#)u 3(&# % *(2-* 4u* /u)5+ r%)!. No3 -! /u#* 5!! -(# ro/(#!# IT SEE0E9 li&e a sa e bet! 0ircea $eoana# the centre-le t challenger in Romania*s presidential election# had the money# media and political bac&ing that he needed to win! Slee& and :esterneducated# he portrayed himsel as the sa e consensus candidate against Traian ?asescu# the lively but e1asperating ormer sea-captain Dand once mayor o ?ucharestE who has been the country*s president since -,,/!2or a ew hours on 9ecember >th it even appeared to have paid o ! E1it polls gave 0r $eoana a narrow victory! Fe did win inside the country by ./#;6) votes! ?ut Romanians abroad cast ./>#);> votes and 0r ?asescu too& ;)8 o them! The campaign was e1ceptionally dirty3 observers thin& that both sides cheated! 0r ?asescu*s victory against largely hostile news coverage was impressive! 0r $eoana wants a rerun# but his support is dwindling! Fis Giberal allies now hope to orm a government with 0r ?asescu*s centre-right 9emocrats! 0r ?asescu*s record is mi1ed! Elected on an anti-corruption tic&et# he has &ept up pressure on the country*s endemic sleaze# but selectively! Supporters who once saw him as the apostle o clean government now regard him merely as the lesser o two evils! =ritics ma&e un o his private li e# colour ul even by local standards! "n impulsive and abrasive manner too o ten curbs his e ectiveness! On oreign policy# he has been a stalwart "tlanticist and strong critic o Russian mischie -ma&ing! ?ut his interventions in neighbouring 0oldova# an e1-Soviet republic that some see as a lost Romanian province# have been counterproductive! 0r ?asescu bac&ed the issuing o Romanian passports to 0oldovans D'ust the sort o thing Russia does in its ormer empireE! That brought him some H, 8 o the votes cast there Da handy )#,,,E! ?ut his near-irredentist stance dismays those who want to stabilise 0oldova# not undermine it! Europe*s poorest country# 0oldova aces another year o political limbo a ter its parliament yet again ailed this wee& to elect a new president! 0r $eoana# a ormer oreign minister# too& a more conciliatory stance! Too much so# some eared3 a private visit to 0oscow earlier this year# revealed during the campaign# raised ears about the loyalties o some o his e1-communist bac&ers! Fis other big wea&ness was ties with the tycoons who dominate Romania*s big business and media! Outsiders are hoping or a stable government able to wor& with 0r ?asescu and pass a budget or -,.,# the top priority! The I02 has delayed the ne1t tranche o a +-, billion DI6, billionE loan until the parliament agrees to a budget de icit no bigger than 7!H 8 o $9%! 0r ?asescu has pledged a crac&down on the public inances! Sorin Ionita rom the "cademic Romanian Society# a ?ucharest thin&-tan&# says that many ban&ruptcies# especially among irms doing business with the state# were postponed this year# pending the election! 0any o 0r $eoana*s bac&ers owed the state money in ta1es! Romanians want to believe in 0r ?asescu! ?ut his ailure to ollow through on his ine ideas ma&es them wary! Fis win owes less to his record than to voters* wishes to see him honour past promises!

EXAMEN DE LICEN LA LIMBI MODERNE APLICATE PROBA DE LIMBA ENGLEZ SESIUNEA FEBRUARIE 2011 I. TRANSLATE INTO ROMANIAN F(6(&2 Euro !0# #(&2$! )urr!&)+. FISTORI"NS may loo& bac& on -,., as the year when time sped up in continental Europe! " region that has been habitually slow to tac&le its economic problems and that puts greater emphasis on reaching @consensusB than on re orm has pac&ed a decade*s worth o change into a ew short months! 2irst $reece# the euro zone*s most iscally incontinent country# was spared rom de ault by a +.., billion DI./7 billionE bail-out# mainly rom other euro-zone countries# partly rom the I02! "s the sovereign-debt crisis threatened Ireland# %ortugal# Spain and perhaps others# a +//, billion und# the European 2inancial Stability 2acility DE2S2E# was con'ured up in a wee&end Dwith promises o +-7, billion more rom the I02E as a bac&stop or countries should they be shut out o bond mar&ets! The three big ratings agencies gave the E2S2 a """ grade on September -,th! The European =entral ?an& DE=?E has since spent more than +>, billion buying the government bonds o troubled euro-area countries to help put a cap on yields and &eep mar&ets in these bonds unctioning! =ountries rom troubled %ortugal to well-o $ermany have set out plans or cutting their budget de icits! Spain has embar&ed on re orms to ree its notoriously rigid 'obs mar&et that would have seemed unthin&able a year earlier!These e orts have staved o the sense o emergency# but the euro zone*s underlying problems are not easily i1ed! Investors are again demanding much higher interest rates or holding the debt o the most troubled sovereign borrowers than or $erman ?unds! Then there are concerns about the unevenness o economic recovery in the currency bloc&! Its $9% grew more than twice as ast as "merica*s in the second 5uarter# but that was mostly because o $ermany*s best igures since reuni ication! "ustria and the Netherlands# closely tied to the $erman e1port machine# also grew strongly! ?ut in Spain and %ortugal growth was eeble and $9% in $reece ell sharply! ?ecause central ban&s elsewhere are more committed to &eeping monetary policy la1 Dor are intervening directly in oreign-e1change mar&etsE# the euro has strengthened against the world*s other main currencies# ma&ing it harder or the region*s e1porters to compete! "gainst this bac&ground# Eurocrats are about to set out detailed plans to i1 the euro! The European =ommission will ma&e recommendations or legislation on the @economic governanceB o the euro area# li&ely to concentrate on new strictures to limit government de icits and debts# and to say rather less about tac&ling the region*s growing imbalances! " ocus on iscal discipline seems appropriate given the panic over sovereign debt! ?ut without additional measures to revive the sluggish economies on the periphery o the euro zone# investors will continue to ret about these countries* growing debt burdensCand about the euro itsel ! :hy should euro-zone countries agree on iscal rules# or worry i ellow members* economies are too rigid to oster much growth4 The answer is that bond-mar&et vigilantes have not always been this vigilant! They have wo&en up to the varying ris& o sovereign de ault across the euro zone! ?ut had they stirred sooner# $reece might not have got into such a pic&le! "nd they might one day go bac& to sleep! :hen the euro was being designed# its creators decided# in e ect# not to rely on mar&et discipline alone! They assumed that without rules iscal la1ity by one member would impose costs on all!