former Soviet Union lost progress in the quality of life for their citizens. This was because of problems with economic reforms. They include Russia, Ukraine, Moldova and Tajikistan. This year's human development report centered on the issue of democracy. Researchers found that a majority of people live in countries claiming to be democratic. However, civil rights and political freedoms were limited in one-hundred-six nations. Also, the number of voters taking part in elections is decreasing. In addition, cheating, wrongdoing and unfair politics have weakened the democratic process. In some countries, elected governments have not carried out democratic reforms. This has led to public opposition to the government and a return to military rule. UN officials say that democratic changes are slow in some countries. However, the report shows that international development goals set at the start of the twenty-first century can be met. For this to happen, they say developing countries need to move quicker toward economic, social and political reforms. And they say rich countries must become more open to trade while increasing aid and other resources.

　　 Questions:

　　1）Why did the countries in Eastern and Central Europe and the former Soviet Union lose progress in the quality of life for their citizens?

　　2）What is the centre of this year's development report?

　　3）Which country provides the best quality of life for their citizens?

　　4）When was the development report started?

　　Suggested answers:

　　1）This is because of problems with economic reforms.

　　2）Democracy

　　3）Norway

　　4）1990

　　→ Step 2 Grammar: but & however

　　1. Show the following sentences to the whole class and ask students to translate them into Chinese.

　　1)Tom went to the party, but his brother didn't.

　　2)I'd love to go to the theatre tonight, but I'm too busy.

　　3)She felt ill. She went to work, however, and tried to concentrate.

　　4)I thought those figures were correct. However, I have recently heard they were not.

　　Suggested answers:

　　1)汤姆去参加聚会了, 他的兄弟没去。

　　2)我倒是很想今晚去看戏, 只是我太忙了。

　　3)她病了, 然而她照旧去上班, 并且尽力集中精力工作。

　　4)我原以为那些数字正确无误, 不过我最近听说并不正确。

　　2. Have students do Activity One on Page 14. And then call back their answers in a whole-class setting.

　　Suggested answers:

　　1. Yes　2. However　3. But　4. However

　　3. Ask students to sum up the differences between the two link words. If they have any difficulty, you may give them a hand.

　　Possible answer:

From the sentences above we can sum up the similarities and differences between But and