1.  Define the following words as used in Thomas Sowell's commentary:
entitlement (from the headline)
exempt (from para. 9)
sustain (para. 10)
inherently (para. 10)
unsustainable (para. 10)
assets (para. 11)
liabilities (para. 11)
annuity (para. 13)

2.  For each of the following statements made by Mr. Sowell, explain whether you think he has a legitimate point:

a)  "If there were not a single Republican in any office, arithmetic would still end “Medicare as we know it,” for the simple reason that the money in the till is not enough to keep paying for it. The same is true of Social Security."

b)  "In both Europe and America, there are many people who get angry at those who tell them the truth that the money is just not there to sustain huge welfare-state programs indefinitely. But that anger might be better directed at those [politicians] who lied to them by promising them benefits that were inherently unsustainable."