1.3 Кто такой спичрайтер
Спичра́йтер (англ. speechwriter) — составитель текстов речей, выступлений для высокопоставленных лиц государства.
Все известные политики имеют собственных спичрайтеров, которые являются практически главными их помощниками. Политическим деятелям приходится постоянно выступать на собраниях, заседаниях, давать интервью или комментарии по радио и телевидению. Без человека, который поможет подобрать нужную информацию для доклада и логически правильно выстроить текст, просто не обойтись. Самым высокопоставленным заказчиком для спичрайтеров является президент. Например, в администрации В.В. Путина служило чуть меньше 40 референтов (старших и младших). Во главе стоял личный спичрайтер – Джахан Поллыева. В коммерческих фирмах работу спичрайтера может выполнять PR-менеджер или секретарь-референт. Но зачастую бизнесмены предпочитают обращаться в специальные компании, которые принимают заказы на составление речей.
Чтобы стать лучшим из лучшим в этой области, нужно обладать следующими навыками:
1) прекрасное владение словом
Профессионал должен не только грамотно писать, но и иметь талант образного выражения мыслей. Хорошему спичрайтеру нужно уметь создавать несколько вариантов текстов речей, тезисов, докладов на одну и ту же тему. Такая способность есть далеко не у всех пишущих, даже хороших журналистов.
2) знание психологии
Спичрайтер должен интуитивно почувствовать и уловить тон, манеру и стилевые особенности речи человека, для которого он пишет. Можно сочинить замечательный текст, интересный и безукоризненный с точки зрения норм русского языка, но абсолютно не соответствующий характерным чертам речи и имиджа спикера (того, кто будет его произносить). Речь докладчика является частью его образа, причем очень важной. Именно поэтому личное знакомство и глубокий анализ психолингвистических качеств речи самого выступающего — залог успеха спичрайтера.
3) солидный багаж знаний в различных областях
Основой для спичрайтинга служит классическое гуманитарное образование: журналистское, филологическое, историческое, политологическое и другое. Среди возможных специализаций наиболее близкой является PR (связи с общественностью), но в качестве самостоятельной кафедры, специальности и даже дисциплины искусство написания современных речей пока не выделилось.
4) опыт
Лучший опыт для спичрайтера — работа в PR службе крупной компании или политической структуры.
5) владение иностранным языком (Каким -- зависит от области деятельности компании или спикера)
Кроме того, необходимо быть опытным пользователем ПК, обладать такими личными качествами, как коммуникабельность, стрессоустойчивость и умение работать в команде. Следует разбираться в той области, темы которой спичрайтер освещает в текстах. В противном случае не поможет ни хороший слог, ни тонкое психологическое чутье.
Данной профессией, как правило, занимаются люди, работающие в сфере журналистики, PR и рекламы. Большинство спичрайтеров — бывшие журналисты или специалисты, совмещающие работу в журналистике и в спичрайтинге. В любом случае необходимо уметь и любить писать. Научиться этому сложно, практически невозможно. Однако есть шанс освоить на практике определенные принципы и приемы.
Text 3: Three ways to fix globalisation
‘There is going to be rising concern about the negatives of globalisation, while the world economy is heading into a much tougher period’
The new rallying cry for the anti-capitalists is "globalisation". And you can see their point. Even people who have zero sympathy for the May Day protesters – who see them as the spoilt children of two generations of post-war peace and prosperity – must feel uncomfortable about some aspects of what has come to be called globalisation.
We all have our own very different concerns: for example, the exploitation of decent people in the sweatshops of China making trinkets for the West; the rewriting of history by Hollywood to suit America's jingoistic tastes; or the destruction of wildlife habitat by logging and farming, often subsidised by taxpayers. All these ills are by-products of globalisation. If we did not have so much trade with China, or have a global film distribution system, or were not able to buy wood products from countries that wreck their forests, then these unhappy effects would be much diminished.
Even those of us who rejoice in the global triumph of the liberal market economy must seek to fix the problems it generates. Or rather especially those of us who feel that way: it is people who believe in the system, who are the ones who can do something about it. The losers of the great intellectual battle – the former communists in Eastern Europe, the Marxist dictators in Africa, the extreme trade unionists in Western Europe – have little interest in fixing a system they spent the first half of their lives trying to pull to bits.
Fix it we must. Not only is there going to be rising concern about the negatives of globalisation, but the world economy is heading into a much tougher period. In particular, it is going to be very hard to deliver rising living standards when the proportion of people of working age is falling, not just in the developed world but pretty soon in most developing countries, too. If people are unhappy about an economic system when it is delivering, for the majority of people, higher living standards, they will be seriously miserable when it is struggling to do so.
What needs to be fixed? And to what extent are there market solutions to the problems? The second question is important because if there are market solutions, then the system can fix itself. If not, then we have to rely on weak global political institutions, which are likely to be ineffective, or worse, do more harm than good.
Three aspects of globalisation give particular cause for concern: its impact on the environment, inequality and cultural hegemony.
The problem of the environment is a problem of both success and excess. If there are more people in the world, and we are still adding more than 70 million to the global population each year, they will need more resources to feed and house themselves. In as far as population is rising as a result of increased life expectancy, that is a great success. We don't really want people to die younger, do we?
These additional people are, on balance, getting richer. With the sad exception of sub-Saharan Africa, every region of the world is on balance richer than it was a quarter century ago. Some parts, China and East Asia, are spectacularly so. Generating more wealth, of itself, need not damage the environment. On the contrary, we can use wealth to solve many environmental problems: put clean water into cities, generate electricity without burning dirty coal. However, as we become richer, we do use more energy, and while the world remains a fossil-fuel economy, that means that we will increase carbon dioxide emissions.
The market, left to itself, can alleviate many environmental concerns, particularly if it is nudged in the right direction by thoughtful regulation. Governments have often acted perversely towards the environment: look what the Common Agricultural Policy has done to our farmland. But there are some things the market cannot fix and the increasing use of fossil fuels is one of the most serious.
Countries are profoundly hypocritical about environmental regulation. The US has tough regulations on car fuel consumption, and accordingly has driven US motorists to four-wheel drives and light trucks that escape the regulation. Japan prides itself on environmental correctness, but sees nothing wrong with throwaway chopsticks and the killing of whales for "research". Many continental European countries criticise the US for excessive car use, but actually have higher car ownership and shorter distances to drive themselves (little Luxembourg has the highest car ownership in the world).
But increasing the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere does matter, because the long-term effects are so uncertain. We may end up flooding large parts of fertile low-lying land. The solution lies in changing policy in two countries, the US and China, and global self-interest can help solve it. You just have to convince them both to rein back their excess. It should be easier to do so in an interdependent world than one in which large countries operate without caring what their trade partners think.
Inequality: as a rule of thumb, the effect of globalisation is to increase inequality within countries but diminish it between them. There are exceptions: parts of sub-Saharan Africa may be losing ground simply because they cannot produce the products the rich world wants to buy, and not just because of corruption and civil war. Western banks and governments have also been extremely irresponsible in lending money to countries that wanted to borrow, but would always be unlikely to be able to repay. International financial markets are a facet of globalisation, and it would have been hard to deny countries access to them, even when that access was inappropriate. But lenders should always carry responsibility as well as borrowers, and when the relationship is unequal, the responsibility on the more powerful party is all the greater.
But for much of the rest of the world, inequality between rich countries and poor ones has diminished during the past 20 years. A simple fact: both China and India have grown faster both absolutely and per capita than either Western Europe or the US over this period. The gap between the world's two most populous nations and the two richest regions has narrowed.
The alarming problem, surely, is rising inequality within countries. This has happened everywhere, showing in some places (such as the US and UK) in rising income and wealth differentials and in others (much of Continental Europe) in different employment prospects. Both are profoundly distressing, and it is a fine point whether it is worse to have people working on low wages or to exclude them from the job market altogether.
The problem is determining to what extent globalisation is responsible for widening differentials, and to what extent other economic changes have increased the relative demand for skills. Some of the reason for holding down the real wages of working people in rich countries must be greater imports from lower-wage countries abroad. But part is the result of the need for skills. Everything we can do to lift skills must be an effort well-directed.
But the aspect of globalisation that worries me most is the third: cultural hegemony. Most people use this expression as a coded attack on the US: the imposition of hamburger values on the rest of us. I don't mean that: if intelligent adults really want to drink Coca-Cola, they should be free to do so. My worry is more fundamental; in myriad ways, we are being nudged to adopt customs that are foreign to our heritage. You can see it in Britain, with the imposition of continental weights and measures. You see it in France, with the creeping growth of the English language. If this jars in rich, developed countries, how must it feel in poorer ones, where the background noise from the developed world is all the louder?
I see no way of fixing this, except by being more self-confident about our own diversity and by respecting and relishing the diversity of others. Globalisation brings huge benefits; but it must never be allowed to crush diversity.
(Hamish McRae: The Independent)
Vocabulary practice
1. Read the text.
2. Match the words and phrases in List A with those in List B. Learn these lexical units.
-
List A
List B
1. life expectancy
a. пользоваться спросом
2. to deliver rising living standards
b. получать маленькую / невысокую / низкую / скудную заработную плату
3. habitat
c. запрещать кому-л. доступ к ч-л.
4. tough regulations on car fuel consumption
d. обеспечивать все возрастающий уровень благосостояния / жизненный уровень
5. to work on low wages / salaries
e. производить / давать электричество
6. an income differential
f. удовлетворять спрос
7. demand for goods
g. среда обитания
8. to be in demand
h. разница в доходах
9. to meet demand
i. спрос на товары
19. to generate / produce electricity
j. жесткие нормы потребления / расхода горючего / топлива
11. a by-product
k. средняя продолжительность жизни
12. to deny sb. access to sth.
l. побочный продукт
3. Learn the words and phrases listed in the ‘Essential vocabulary’ section.
4. Match the words and phrases in List A with those in List B.
-
List A
List B
1. to deal / trade in sth.
a. производить товары
2. to do business with sb. | to deal / trade with sb.
b. предоставлять (кому-л.) субсидию / дотацию
3. to design / develop a product
c. оказывать / предоставлять / предлагать услуги
4. an end-product / finished product
d. повышать / увеличивать налоги
5. duty-free goods
e. прийти к соглашению
6. to carry a line of merchandise
f. не облагаемые пошлиной товары
7. the tourist trade
g. заключать сделку / договор / соглашение
8. an article of clothing / dress
h. взимать налог (с кого-л.)
9. to provide services
i. развивать торговлю
19. to make / produce / manufacture goods
j. торговать / работать / вести дела с кем-л.
11. retail trade
k. двойное налогообложение
12. to carry on / conduct trade
l. разрабатывать изделие
13. the arms trade
m. облагать что-л. налогом
14. to build up / develop trade
n. торговать чем-л.
15. to make / do / strike a deal
o. розничная торговля / торговля в розницу
16. to come to / arrive at a deal
p. предмет одежды
17. to negotiate a deal (with sb.)
q. подавать / представлять налоговую декларацию
18. to charge / impose a tax on sth.
r. вести переговоры об условиях сделки / договора / соглашения
19. to collect a tax (from sb.)
s. продавать определенный товар (в магазине)
20. to increase / raise taxes
t. готовое изделие / готовый продукт / конечный продукт
21. to cut / lower / reduce taxes
u. вести торговлю / торговать
22. to file / submit a tax return
v. туристический бизнес / туризм
23. double / dual taxation
w. уменьшать / сокращать налоги
24. to provide a subsidy for sth.
x. торговля оружием
5. Suggest words and expressions that correspond to the following definitions. Give their Russian equivalents. Consult the ‘Essential vocabulary’ section.
the total amount of tax paid by an average person
to pay part of the cost of something so that the buyer can pay less for it
a person or organization that pays tax
to have business relations with someone
work done for others as an occupation or a business
the act or process of taxing someone or something
something useful that is made in a factory, grown, or taken from nature
to buy and sell goods, services, etc.
to produce or make an agreement
a thing, especially one of a group of things
something that has been produced, especially by growing or farming
the activity of buying, selling, or exchanging goods or services within a country or between countries
an amount of money that you must pay to the government according to your income, property, goods, etc. that is used to pay for public services
the buying and selling of weapons
money that is paid by a government or organization to make prices lower, reduce the cost of producing goods, etc.
to buy something at a good price
6. Explain the meaning of the words and phrases listed below and translate them.
a rallying cry, wholesale trade, to deal in sth., to conduct transactions, a tax return, to merchandise sth., a commodity, overseas trade, an end-product
7. Explain the difference between the meanings of the following of words.
product – produce, goods – merchandise, commodity – article, product – service, deal – transaction, dealer – dealership, tax avoidance – tax evasion – tax exemption, tax – taxation
Translation practice
1. Translate these sentences. Give synonymous translations if possible. Consult the ‘Essential vocabulary’ section.
The company has heavily invested in product development.
It took a long time to do, but the finished product was worth it.
If the product is properly merchandised, it should sell very well.
Most of our wedding presents were household articles that we really needed.
There has been a marked increase in trade between East and West.
My husband worked in the jewellery trade all his life.
These companies trade mainly in furs and animal skins.
The firm now trades under the name ‘Lanski and Weber’.
Over a million shares were traded during the day.
I've dealt with them for a long time.
We do a lot of business with Italian companies.
Most deals are transacted over the phone.
The band has negotiated a new deal with their record company.
The bank charges a fixed rate for each transaction.
What are you earning before tax?
He paid a tax on the new car.
Cigarettes are heavily taxed in Britain.
Farming is partly subsidized by the government.
2. Translate the following sentences. Give synonymous translations if possible. Consult the ‘Essential vocabulary’ section.
Спрос на товары и услуги в этом году ниже, чем в прошлом.
Спрос на такие товары падает / снижается.
Эти товары считаются предметами роскоши.
Они ведут торговлю / торгуют с большинством стран мира.
Великобритания значительно увеличила свой торговый оборот со странами арабского мира.
Коммивояжеры торгуют новыми товарами по всей стране.
Наша компания работает / ведет дела / имеет торговые отношения с большим количеством заказчиков / клиентов.
Сейчас мы ведем переговоры об условиях новой сделки с нашими постоянными клиентами.
В этом месяце компания заключила две выгодные сделки с зарубежными партнерами.
Размер банковских комиссионных платежей частично зависит от объема банковских операций, произведенных в течение месяца.
Правительство заявило о своем намерении сократить / уменьшить налоги.
Если вы попытаетесь уклониться от уплаты налогов, вы очень скоро можете оказаться в тюрьме.
Сокращение / уменьшение размера налогов может привести к оживлению деловой активности.
Практика освобождения от уплаты налогов / Практика предоставления налоговых льгот не должна использоваться в широких масштабах.