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1. Warmer

What do you know about the following headline?

US shutdown: a guide

for non-AmericansThe American government has begun shutting itsnon-essential services. Why? And what will it mean?

Graeme Wearden

The Guardian, Tuesday 1 October 2013

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/30/us-shutdown-explainer-non-americans

2. Questions

Who are the main political parties involved? Can you describe them?

What do they stand for?

Which part of government do they control?

Lower house:

Senate

Presidency

What is Obamacare?

Who are the Tea Party?

What government services are involved?Which are essential and non-essential services?

military

The United Kingdoms international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity.

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park rangers

police

meat inspectors

passport office

food assistance for poor women and children

research for childrens diseases

3. Vocabulary

These words are in the text. Can you give them brief definitions?

1. shutdown

2. triggered

3. unpaid leave

4. a standstill

5. 'stopgap'

6. unilaterally

7. grinds to a halt

8. to crowbar

9. mortgages

a loan from the bank for your house

to slowly stop

a temporary emergency measure

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a forced vacation from work where you get no money

a closing of the government

an automatic start

no movement

by himself without any help

to strongly change

Find the words in the text and check

US shutdown: a guide for non-

AmericansThe American government has begun shutting itsnon-essential services. Why? And what will it mean?

Graeme Wearden

The Guardian, Tuesday 1 October 2013

Please explain what just happened

The US government has begun shutting its non-essentialservices. Hundreds of thousands of workers are waking up to thenews that they are on unpaid leave, and they don't know howlong it will last. The shutdown, triggered at midnightWashington time, will bring a range of services to a standstillacross the world's largest economy.

Why?

The Federal government had no choice. The US financial yearended on 30 September, and politicians on Capitol Hill have

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failed to agree a new budget for the 2013-2014 financial year.

Even a 'stopgap' funding deal proved beyond them. Without abudget deal approved by both parts of Congress, the House ofRepresentative and the Senate, there's no legal agreement to paynon-essential staff.

Why couldn't they agree a deal?Under the US constitution, the president cannot unilaterally bring in

legislation. And despite weeks of talks, Republicans continue toinclude cuts and delays to Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act inthe budget legislation they sent up to the Senate.

The House of Representatives is controlled by the Republican Party,whose Tea Party movement remain deeply opposed toObamacare. They tried to use the budget as leverage to crowbarchanges to the Act. The Senate, which is under the control ofObama's Democrats, has stood firm.

Will the shutdown mean the entire US government grinds to ahalt?No. Essential services, such as social security and Medicarepayments, will continue. The US military service will keepoperating, and Obama signed emergency legislation on Mondaynight to keep paying staff. But hundreds of thousands of workersat non-essential services, from Pentagon employees to parkrangers in national parks, will be told to take an unpaid holiday.

How much damage will it cause?If people aren't getting paid, they won't spend as much in theshops. They may be unable to meet essential financialcommitments, such as mortgages and credit card payments.

Analysts at IHS Global Insight have calculated that it will knock$300m a day off US economic output (total US nominal GDP, oroutput, was around $16 trillion last year).

The key issue is how long it lasts. Moody's Analytics reckons that

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a two-week shutdown would cut 0.3% off US GDP, while a

month-long outage would knock a whole 1.4% off growth.

Questions

What did you learn about the shutdown?

What are the consequences?

4. Consequences

Which of these questions is more natural in this situation?

If the American government defaults, it will be very serious for Japan.

If the American government defaulted, it would be very serious for Japan.

Which is first conditional and second conditional?

5. First or Second Conditional Based on the Situation

The first and second conditional, in English, refer to a present or future situation.Generally, the difference between the two forms depends on whether a person

believes that a situation is possible or unlikely.

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Often, the condition or imagined situation is ridiculous or clearly impossible, and inthis case the choice between first or second conditional is easy: We choose the

second conditional.If I met the President, I would tell him to negotiate.

6. First or Second Conditional Based on Opinion

The choice between first or second conditional is often not so clear. Sometimes, wechoose the first or second conditional based on our opinion of a situation. In otherwords, if we feel something or someone can do something, then we'll choose the firstconditional because believe it is a real possibility.

If I win the staff lottery, Ill buy everyone lunch.If I won ten million yen, Id buy a new car.

How do you feel about the following situations?What would the consequences be?

move to a new city

sell your flat

lose your job

go back in time

What do you think are the consequences of the following situations?

they cancel health care in America

America defaults on its debt

China becomes more powerful because of American military cuts

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There is no money for pensions for Japan

the birthrate in Japan keeps getting lower

Japan defaults on its debt

If they cancel health care in America, it will.

If they cancelled health care in America, it would

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