The greatest nation on earth-the greatest nation on earth- cannot keep
conducting [1] business [2] drifting from one manufactured crisis to [3] next. We cant do it, fulminated Barack Obama last month. The crisis of the moment, the sequester (a package of budget cuts designed to be so ghastly that Congress would pass a better version), duly came [4] effect on March 1 st. Unless Congress agrees on [5] extension to its budget, the government will start to shut down on March 28th. In May, the greatest nation will hit its debt ceiling. Unless it is raised, uncle Sam will soon start defaulting on his bills. This is the American that Chinas leaders laugh [6], and the rest of the democratic world despairs of. Its debt is rising, its population [7] ageing in a budget-threatening way, its schools [8] mediocre by international standards, its infrastructure rickety, its regulation dense, its taxes code byzantine, its immigration systems hare-brained and it [9] fallen from first position in the World Economic Forums competitiveness rankings [10] seventh in just four years. Last year [11] Mr. Obama and his election opponent, Mitt Romney complained [12] the American dream slipping away. Today, the countrys main businesses sit on nearly $2 trillion in cash, afraid to invest [13] part because corporate bosses [14] imagine any of Washingtons feuding partisans fixing anything. Yet there is also another America, [15] things work. One hint comes from [16] those bosses like to call the real economy. Recent numbers from the jobs market and the housing sector [17] been quite healthy. Consumer balance- sheets are being repaired. The stock market has just hit a record high. Some of this is cyclical: the private sector is rebounding form the crunch. But is also reflects the fact [18], beyond the District of Columbia, the rest [19] the country is starting to tackle [20] of its deeper competitive problems. Business and politicians are not waiting for the federal government to ride to their rescue. Instead, as our special report this week shows, they are getting to grips with the failing Congress is ignoring. Answers 1) Its 2) By 3) The 4) Into 5) An 6) At 7) Is 8) Are 9) Has 10)To 11) Both 12)About 13)In 14)Cannot 15)Where 16)What 17)Have 18)That 19)Of 20)Some
Make a model of it, not a mess
Make a model of it, not a mess The country [1] fewer [2] a million inhabitants and its economy makes [3] less than 0.2% of the euro zones GDP. It is hard [4] believe that Europes policymakers would squander [5] progress in calming the single currencys crisis by botching the bail-out of such a minnow. Yet, judging by the bickering over [6] to handle Cypruss bust banks and help its cash-strapped government, the rescue plan that looks likely to emerge in the coming weeks will [7] full of fudged numbers and will fail [8] solve Cypruss problems. It will be a messy deal and a missed opportunity. [9] euro zones policymakers [10] use the plight of Cypruss not only to encourage reform on [11] island. They should [12] seize the chance to push ahead towards a banking union. They should do [13] by using European rescue funds [14] restructure, recapitalize [15] reform Cypruss broken banks.
Answers 1) Has 2) Than 3) Up 4) To 5) Their 6) How 7) Be 8) To 9) The 10)Should / must 11) The 12)Also 13)So / It / This 14)To 15)And
Looking for Indias Zuckerberg
Information technology has [1] a mighty force for good in India. [2] first tech revolution began 30 years [3], when a [4] engineers came [5] with the unlikely idea of doing back-office IT work for far-off Western firms. Today that outsourcing industry is a capitalist marvel. It [6] annual sales of $100 billion, mostly from abroad, and [7] export earnings have been vital in a country [8] a weak balance of payments. Millions of good jobs in India have been created. Young Indians have seen that globalization creates winners. Indias reputation in the world has changed, [9]: Bangalores shining IT campuses have become as famous [10] the Ganges and the Gandhis. Yet India has been a comparative failure in terms [11] innovation over the past decade. You might have expected Indias many advantages (the English language, abundant engineers and a thriving diaspora in Silicon Valley) to pay off spectacularly on the internet. But only [12] few start-ups have [13] clever technical innovations that have been sold abroad. And at home e-commerce is in [14] infancy, with sales only 6% of Chinas. Thanks [15] lousy infrastructure, useless regulation [16] a famously corrupt telecoms sector, the web is available to only 10% of Indians, many of them squinting at screens in cafs. India boasts no big internet firms to compare with Chinese giants [17] as Alibaba, Baidu and Tencent, nor start-up stars like Facebooks Mark Zuckerberg. Instead, it has seen a succession of false dawns, [18] its version of the dotcom bubble in 1998-2002 to more recent hype over deal- of-the-day websites and text-based cricket updates. [19] 2010-11 lots of start-ups raised cash, but they have struggled since. Venture capitalists grumble that their returns [20] been poor. The original emerging-market tech pioneer has fallen behind in the internet era. Answers 1) Been 2) Its 3) Ago 4) Few 5) Up 6) Has 7) These / Its 8) With 9) Too 10)As 11) Of 12)A 13)Made 14)Its 15)To 16)And 17)Such 18)From 19)In 20)Have