V. Discuss these questions with your partner.

Imagine a world without money.

• How do you think society would be run?

• Would there be an economy as we understand it?

• Can you think of any examples of situations where people don’t use money, either from the past or now?

• Do you know what a traditional economy is?

• What kind of people do you think still live in a traditional economy today?

• Where do they live?

• What are their lives like?

VI. Say what you have learned about:

— Traditional economy

— Division of labour between men and women in a traditional economy

• The role of customs

• Protection from environmental disasters

• The future of traditional economy

Grammar exercises

VII. Translate word combinations, the last noun is defined by previous nouns — here they are attributes (§ 3).

Government offices, service price regulation, government planning, price level, production and consumption decision, economy planning.

VIII. Translate the sentences with the construction there + be, form interrogative and negative sentences where it is possible (§ 10).

Practise the use of this construction.

1. There were several vacant seats in the bus.

2. There is a great number of goods that can be transported by air.

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3. There are very powerful cranes for unloading railway cars.

4. There has been an increased demand for this kind of goods.

5. There are always some problems to be solved.

6. There is no technology in the traditional economy.

7. There were no excuses for his being late.

8. There will be no fear of damaging the machine if it is properly fixed.

IX. Supply the correct forms of the verbs (§ 11). Translate the sentences.

1. We expected your call at 10 o’clock.

We (to have) no time to call you then because an important contract (to discuss).

2. Natural resources often (to use) irrationally before people (to understand) the importance of saving wildlife.

3. By the time people (to realize) that environmental problems were serious, some species of flora and fauna (to disappear) completely.

4. The construction of this purifying system (to accomplish) by now.

5. The ecological balance of the planet never (to disturb) to such an extent as in our times.

6. Before the joint-venture (to begin) to work, a lot of preparatory work (to carry out).

At leisure

1. Read the article without a dictionary, try to retell it.

Word origin SYMPOSIUM: THEY DRANK TOGETHER

This interesting word is based on the Greek term SYMPOSION, from SYM, «together», and PINO, «drink». The Greeks of old held their SYMPOSIUMS after dinner, when they would drink wine together and mix enter tainment with intellectual con versation. The dialogues of the Greek philosopher Plato, which he called the SYMPOSIUM, is an imagined conversation at such a gathering. And so with us a SYMPOSIUM has come to mean a collection of comments, opin ions,

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and short essays — especial ly several articles on the same subject by different writers — as in a pamphlet or magazine.

2. Translate the proverbs, think of Russian equivalents, give a situation using them.

• Can the leopard change his spots?

• Barking dogs seldom bite.

3. The poem to enjoy. Try to learn it by heart.

Robert Frost

October

Oh, hushed October morning mild, Thy leaves have ripened to the fall, Tomorrow’s wind if it be wild Should waste them all.

The crows above the forest call. Tomorrow they may form and go. Oh, hushed October morning mild Begins the hours of this day slow.

Unit 4

Pre-text exercises

1. Find the transcription of new words in a dictionary, try to read them fluently.

government, influence, characteristic, supply, compete, afford, raw, theoretical, nevertheless, incentive.

2. Word-building Compile and translate: own υ. + -er → compete υ. + -tion → produce υ. + -er →

The market economy

The market economy is sometimes called the free market. A free market is not controlled in any way by a government. It is also free from the influence of custom or tradition. In a free market, the only reason

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why things are bought and sold is because there is a demand for them. Prices for goods and services are simply what people are prepared to pay. The market economy is not really controlled by anyone. It controls itself.

The street market has many of the characteristics of the free market. Customers arrive at the market with a shopping list of things they need. They also come with an idea of how much they are prepared to pay. Stall owners sell what customers demand, and try to get the highest price they can for it. Supply and demand control what is on the market and how much it sells for. In the wider economy, we are all customers, and the stall owners are like companies.

The role of the company in the free market is to supply what people want. However, companies need an incentive. The incentive is profit. There are two ways for companies to make a profit. The first way is to raise their prices. The second way is to reduce their production costs. And this brings us to two more features of the market economy: competition and technology.

Competition exists in a free market because, theoretically, anyone can be a producer. This means that companies have to compete with each other for a share of the market. Competition is good for consumers because it helps to control prices and quality. If customers aren’t happy with a product or service, or if they can’t afford it, they will go to a competitor.

Technology exists in a free market because producers need ways to reduce their costs. They cannot buy cheaper raw materials. Instead, they must make better use of time and labour. Technology is the use of tools and machines to do jobs in a better way. This helps companies produce more goods in less time and with less effort. The result: more profit.

People often think that most economies are free markets. However, at the macroeconomic level, a truly free market economy does not exist anywhere in the world. This is because all governments set limits in order to control the economy. Some governments set many limits, other governments set very few, but they all set some. For this reason, a true market economy is only theoretical. Nevertheless, many of the features of the market economy do exist in most societies today.

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Words:

market — рынок profit — прибыль

in order to — для того, чтобы share — доля

goods — товары price — цена

stall owner — владелец торгового to reduce — уменьшать

места на рынке labour — труд

to advertise — рекламировать limit — ограничение

competition — конкуренция nevertheless — тем не менее

incentive — стимул job — работа

Post-text exercises

Working on the text