1. Governments of today are preoccupied, in different degrees, (1) with defense, development, and improving the economic welfare of their citizens. The way in which these objectives become formulated varies widely among countries, (2) depending on their form of government. An authoritarian government can select its objectives and assess their relative importance (3) with minimum reliance on the consent of the public. In a democratic society, the process is far more complicated. Consent to government policies is given or withheld in free elections, and the goals established by government result largely (4) from ideas and opinions that emerge from the whole society and are impressed on government by the groups actively interested. But, one way or another, a government does acquire a set of objectives and some idea of the relative weight to be given to each. The extent (5) to which an objective should be pursued, or whether one should be preferred to another, will depend on their costs. In a “classical” world, (6) where governments were supposed to perform minimum functions, the question of costs could be approached by fairly crude methods. In a world of nuclear weapons, space flight, and economic development, the question of cost estimation becomes vastly more important and difficult. Finally, governments must (7) assess the willingness of the public to pay for government programs, to provide money, in the form of taxes or loans, that could have been used for something else. To win acceptance for its budget the government must (8) persuade the legislature or the electorate that what it proposes is worth the cost.
2. The British economy is one of the strongest in Europe: as of the early 2000s, inflation, interest rates, and (1) unemployment remained low. The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) reports that in 2005 (2) the United Kingdom's gross domestic product (GDP) was estimated at $1.9 trillion. The CIA defines GDP (3) as the value of all final goods and services produced within a nation in a given year and computed on the basis of purchasing power parity (PPP) rather than value (4) as measured on the basis of the rate of exchange based on current dollars. The per capita GDP was estimated at $30,900. The annual growth rate of GDP was estimated at 1.8%. The average inflation rate in 2005 was 3.2%. It was estimated that agriculture accounted (5) for 1.1% of GDP, industry 26%, and services 72.9%. According to the World Bank, in 2003 remittances from citizens working abroad totaled $5.029 billion or about $85 per capita and accounted (6) for approximately 0.3% of GDP. The World Bank reports that in 2003 household consumption in United Kingdom totaled $1.174 trillion or about $19,814 per capita based on a GDP of $1.8 trillion, measured in current dollars rather than PPP. Household consumption includes expenditures of individuals, households, and nongovernmental organizations (7) on goods and services, excluding purchases of dwellings. It was estimated that for the period 1990 to 2003 household consumption (8) grew at an average annual rate of 3.1%. In 2001 it was estimated that approximately 14% of household consumption was spent on food, 9% on fuel, 3% on health care, and 3% on education.
1. Governments of today are preoccupied, in different degrees, (1) with defense, development, and improving the economic welfare of their citizens. The way in which these objectives become formulated varies widely among countries, (2) depending on their form of government. An authoritarian government can select its objectives and assess their relative importance (3) with minimum reliance on the consent of the public. In a democratic society, the process is far more complicated. Consent to government policies is given or withheld in free elections, and the goals established by government result largely (4) from ideas and opinions that emerge from the whole society and are impressed on government by the groups actively interested. But, one way or another, a government does acquire a set of objectives and some idea of the relative weight to be given to each. The extent (5) to which an objective should be pursued, or whether one should be preferred to another, will depend on their costs. In a “classical” world, (6) where governments were supposed to perform minimum functions, the question of costs could be approached by fairly crude methods. In a world of nuclear weapons, space flight, and economic development, the question of cost estimation becomes vastly more important and difficult. Finally, governments must (7) assess the willingness of the public to pay for government programs, to provide money, in the form of taxes or loans, that could have been used for something else. To win acceptance for its budget the government must (8) persuade the legislature or the electorate that what it proposes is worth the cost.
2. The British economy is one of the strongest in Europe: as of the early 2000s, inflation, interest rates, and (1) unemployment remained low. The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) reports that in 2005 (2) the United Kingdom's gross domestic product (GDP) was estimated at $1.9 trillion. The CIA defines GDP (3) as the value of all final goods and services produced within a nation in a given year and computed on the basis of purchasing power parity (PPP) rather than value (4) as measured on the basis of the rate of exchange based on current dollars. The per capita GDP was estimated at $30,900. The annual growth rate of GDP was estimated at 1.8%. The average inflation rate in 2005 was 3.2%. It was estimated that agriculture accounted (5) for 1.1% of GDP, industry 26%, and services 72.9%. According to the World Bank, in 2003 remittances from citizens working abroad totaled $5.029 billion or about $85 per capita and accounted (6) for approximately 0.3% of GDP. The World Bank reports that in 2003 household consumption in United Kingdom totaled $1.174 trillion or about $19,814 per capita based on a GDP of $1.8 trillion, measured in current dollars rather than PPP. Household consumption includes expenditures of individuals, households, and nongovernmental organizations (7) on goods and services, excluding purchases of dwellings. It was estimated that for the period 1990 to 2003 household consumption (8) grew at an average annual rate of 3.1%. In 2001 it was estimated that approximately 14% of household consumption was spent on food, 9% on fuel, 3% on health care, and 3% on education.
8. I am sorry, I haven't come to class lately.
9. The weather is fine today. The sun has been shining ever since we got up. It is still shining now.
10. Where is he now? — He is in the garden. He is playing football with his friends. They have been playing since breakfast time.
11. I've been reading this book on astrophysics for hours and I'm still only on page 6.
12. Lena is a very good girl. She always helps her mother about the house. Today she's been helping her since morning. They have cleaned it already.