1. Forum on Globalization and Inequality

2. Background

3. George Soros

4. George Soros (born August 12, 1930) is an American currency speculator, stock investor, businessman, philanthropist, and political activist. Forbes lists Soros as the 29th-richest person in the world, with a net worth estimated at $11.0 billion. Soros has given $6 billion to various causes since 1979. Soros is chairman of Soros Fund Management and the Open Society Institute and is also a former member of the Board of Directors of the Council on Foreign Relations.

5. He is also one of three initial funders of Center for American Progress, and is represented on the board. His funding and organization of Georgia's Rose Revolution was considered by Russian and Western observers to have been crucial to its success. In the United States, he is known for having donated large sums of money in a failed effort to defeat President George W. Bush' s bid for re- election in 2004.

6. The bulk of his enormous winnings is now devoted to encouraging transitional and emerging nations to become 'open societies,' open not only in the sense of freedom of commerce but, more important, tolerant of new ideas and different modes of thinking and behavior.

7. Words and Expressions

8. academic Academic is used to describe things that relate to the work done in schools, colleges, and universities, especially work which involves studying and reasoning rather than practical or technical skills. e.g. Their academic standards are high.

9. hollow Something that is hollow has a space inside it, as opposed to being solid all the way through. e.g. Fill the follow with the coffee ice- cream, leaving a small hollow in the centre.

10. decline If something declines, it becomes less in quantity, importance, or strength. e.g. The number of staff has declined from 217,000 to 114,000.

11. tremendous Terrific; You use tremendous to emphasize how strong a feeling or quality is, or how large an amount is. e.g. I felt a tremendous pressure on my chest.

12. average An average is the result that you get when you add two or more numbers together and divide the total by the number of numbers you added together. e.g. Take the average of those ratios and multiply by a hundred.

13. controversial If you describe something or someone as controversial, you mean that they are the subject of intense public argument, disagreement, or disapproval. e.g. Immigration is a controversial issue in many countries.

14. currency The money used in a particular country is referred to as its currency. e.g. Tourism is the country's top earner of foreign currency.

15. IMF IMF is an abbreviation for `International Monetary Fund'. The IMF is an international agency which tries to promote trade and improve economic conditions in poorer countries, sometimes by lending them money.

16. domestic Domestic political activities, events, and situations happen or exist within one particular country. e.g. We will lose so much money, both in the domestic and the export industry.

17. destiny Destiny is the force which some people believe controls the things that happen to you in your life. e.g. Is it destiny that brings people together, or is it accident?

18. autonomy Independence; Autonomy is the control or government of a country, organization, or group by itself rather than by others. e.g. Activists stepped up their demands for local autonomy last month.

19. sovereignty Autonomy; Sovereignty is the power that a country has to govern itself or another country or state. e.g. Britain's concern to protect national sovereignty is far from new.

20. reinforce If something reinforces a feeling, situation, or process, it makes it stronger or more intense. e.g. A stronger European Parliament would, they fear, only reinforce the power of the larger countries.

21. ingredient An ingredient of a situation is one of the essential parts of it. e.g. The meeting had all the ingredients of high political drama.

22. devastate ravage, wreck; If something devastates an area or a place, it damages it very badly or destroys it totally. e.g. A few days before, a fire had devastated large parts of Windsor Castle.

23. disclose Reveal; If you disclose new or secret information, you tell people about it. e.g. Neither side would disclose details of the transaction.