Practice hour. Part one. Memory training.

Instructions. Listen to the following 2 passages without taking notes. Reproduce passage one in the source language and passage two in the target language.

Passage one. Opening remarks by NATO secretary general Laud Robertson at the meeting of the North Atlantic Council at the level of heads of state and government. Read by Steve Waltson.

Distinguished heads of state and government, colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to beautiful Prague into NATO’s first summit of the 21st century. I would like to extend a special welcome today to the prime ministers of Hungary, the Netherlands, and Portugal, for joining us for the first time in this council. I also welcome doctor Javere Solana, the EU high representative for the common foreign and security policy. His present here today symbolizes the excellent co-operation between NATO and the European Union. For NATO Prague is a transformation summit. It is a truly defining moment for the Atlantic Alliance. We will welcome new members, take on new missions, modernize our military capabilities, and strengthen our relations with friends and partners throughout the Europe Atlantic area. NATO was at the heart of Europe’s transformation in the 1990s. It reached out to heal a divided continent. And it acted to bring and then keep the peace in the Balkans. NATO is still doing these jobs and doing them well. But September 11, 2001 and its aftermath confronted the whole world with new challenges.