Samples

1) The article headlined “Why the War” was published in The Times on September 25, 2003. It comments on one of the most burning issues of world politics. The author Robert Skidelsky, who is a cross-bench peer in the House of Lords and professor of political economy at Warwick University, expresses a deep concern over the situation in the Middle East in connection with the US military operation in Iraq and tries to reveal the true motives for the war.

To begin with, Robert Skidelsky highlights the history of the two countries’ relations, calling the reader’s attention to certain aspects which are normally neglected by both mass media and political analysts. And namely, he focuses on the personalities of the Iraqi and US leaders, their responsibility for the growing controversies. Specifying his personal vision of the problem, the author is not apt to take sides in the conflict. Thus, he claims that Saddam seems to be the curb-stone of the contradiction. At the same time, the professor is rather critical of the US policies in the region, moreover, he is outraged by the US ultimatum.

In conclusion the author states that he has failed to find arguments to justify the war. On the contrary, he believes that a military operation can hardly be regarded as a proper means of settling a conflict. I quite agree with Robert Skidelsky and think that politicians who don’t seek political ways to solve international controversies should be placed responsible for numerous casualties, both military and civilian, suffered in wars.

2) The article under review is headlined “A Deaf Ear to the Deaf”. It was issued in The Moscow Times on October 12, 2003. It is a feature which is concerned with the activities of an extraordinary Moscow theatre – a new theatre for the deaf. It highlights a few interesting issues related to Moscow’s cultural life and at the same time aims to call the readers’ attention to most vital problems of invalids.

The theatre was organized at the city’s Specialized Institute for the deaf, the company including graduate students of the Institute. Lately they have staged a few plays, each being a great success. The stage director of the theatre claims that the deaf are in no way different from other people and, thus, can act on the stage no worse than hearing actors. Moreover, in his opinion, the actors don’t face any difficulty in communicating with the audience. In this respect their theatre is as worthy as any other theatre. So it’s unfair and even cruel to disregard creative abilities of people with some physical defects and exclude them from real work and cultural life, actually turning them into outcasts.

Furthermore, the article tackles another problem that deserves public attention, i.e. the problem of unemployment that faces the majority of invalids. The theatre has solved it for at least a dozen students, the author states. In this connection, the author hopefully concludes that it may be a good start.

Needless to say that the article tackles a very important problem which is especially topical for contemporary Russia. The material provided by the author inspires hopes that something is being done in this direction, though I personally can’t share completely his optimism.