Money as a Unit of Account

The most difficult aspect of money to understand is its function as a unit of account. Money is difficult to define, because the value of anything changes with time and circumstances.

Sir Isaac Newton defined the pound sterling (£) in 1717 as 113 grains of pure gold. By the end of the nineteenth century the gold standard had spread around most of the trading world, with the re­sult that there was a single world money. It was called by different names in different countries, but all these supposedly different cur­rencies were interconnected through their particular definition in terms of a quantity of gold.

The end of the gold standard began with the introduction of the agreement in 1946. This fixed the value of all world currencies rela­tive to the US dollar, which in turn was fixed to a specific value of gold (US $ 0.35/oz.) However, in 1971 the US government finally refused to exchange US dollar for gold, and other countries soon followed. Governments printed as much paper money or coinage as they wanted, and the more that was printed, the less each unit of currency was worth.

The great advantage of the nineteenth-century gold standard was not just that it defined the unit of account, but that it operated throughout almost the entire world. A price in England was the same as a price in Australia or any other country.

Today we can determine price differences between countries by considering the exchange rate of the day.

The great advantage of having a single stable world money is that such money has very high information content. It tells people where to invest their time, energy and capital, all around the world, with much greater accuracy and predictability than would other­wise be possible.

Nowadays many specialists believe that within the next decade money, as we know it will probably cease to exist in technologically advanced countries. The familiar coins and notes will soon be re­placed entirely by plastic money — plastic cards of various kinds. And the shops of the future will be linked directly to the network of banking computers. The shop assistant will simply key in your bank account code number and the amount you have spent, and thank you politely.

Banks have invested huge amounts of money in new technol­ogy. Credit cards are issued by credit card companies such as Visa and MasterCard. These companies work closely with all the major banks. A credit card enables you to pay for goods or services imme­diately without cash or cheque. You are given free credit for an agreed period. At the end of this period you are charged high inter­est. Every credit card holder is given a credit limit.

Most banks provide their customers with banker’s cards. Using PIN (personal identification number) you can use this card to with­draw cash from the ATMs (Automated Teller Machines).

Some banks have already introduced «first generation» smart cards. A smart card contains a computer «chip». It can do all the things other cards can do but it can also store and display each transaction. In the near future you may be using these cards for «home shopping», satellite TV, telephone charges, and as passports and identity cards.

В. Подберите к каждому слову и словосочетанию из колонки А соответ­ствующее ему по значению из колонки В.

А

В

1. unit of account

2. bank account

3. value

1. take into account

2. take out money from the bank

3. money in coin or notes

4. grains' d. keeping one’s money at a bank

5. print e. stop, come to an end

6. consider f. unit of counting

7. cease g. worth of smth.

8. cash h. tiny, hard pieces

9. withdraw i. make books, pictures, etc.

Упражнение 7. Заполните пропуски терминами, переведите.

1. ... is money that may be used to start a business.

2. ... is the type of money used in a country.

3. ... is money in coin or notes.

4. ... are metal money, ... is system of coins in use.

5. ... are paper money.

6. ... money is different kinds of plastic cards.

7. ... is to be worth in terms of money.

8. ... is price asked for goods or services.

9. To ... means to ask smb. to pay.

10. To ... money means to keep some of one’s money, e.g., for a

new computer.

11. To ... money means to use it badly on things that one does not need.

12. The ... of living means how much people pay for things.

13.... of living is the level of money and comfort people have.

Упражнение 8. Заполните пропуски синонимами или антонимами.

value ... waste

condition ... lend

quantity ... cheap

common, often see or heard ... unstable

various ... minor

Упражнение 9. А. Назовите 20—25 ключевых слов и словосочетаний на тему: «Business and finance».

В. Speak about:

1. The state of the economy at the moment. Is it strong or is it in recession?

2. The current rate of inflation in the country. Has the govern­ment reduced company taxes or personal taxes lately? Has public expenditure risen or fallen recently?

3. New technology and money.

Какое значение имеют электронные средства связи в современной орга­низации производства?

А. Прочитайте текст и постарайтесь догадаться о значении в данном контексте слов: vital, corporate, compile, memo, pace, respond, intranet, empower.

Paperwork and the Digital Nervous System

Bill Gates states it did not take Microsoft Co. long to get rid of most of the company’s paper forms. The move from paper to elec­tronic forms is a vital step in the evolution of a modern organiza­tion’s nervous system. A corporate system defines how an organization deals with planned and unplanned events alike. It in­cludes meetings, paperwork and electronic systems. It governs the way information about customers is stored, the way workers are or­ganized, the way budgets are compiled and activities are coordi­nated, and the way information is exchanged.

In the past, companies were virtually alike in terms of how they managed these activities. Meetings, memos and managers were re­lied upon heavily. The pace was not usually too fast, and there was lots of paper.

But one of the lessons from Darwin is that the excellence of an organism’s nervous system helps determine its ability to sense change and quickly respond, thereby surviving or even thriving.

Today, new «digital nervous systems» are based on electronic communications tools that help corporations maintain themselves, defend from dangers and take advantage of opportunities rapidly. The Internet and intranets are essential.

You can easily bring the people you need together electroni­cally, even if they are all over the globe. The people in the company can gain a common understanding of what is going on. They can exchange ideas easily.

Perhaps the single most important element of a digital nervous system is a customer database. Having all your information about customers in one place gives you the tools to analyze and make de­cisions. It empowers you to be highly responsive to customers needs.

Microsoft’s system is far from perfect, but it improves as the company takes better advantage of technology. Its annual budget­ing process used to take three months. Microsoft invented a new process around electronic forms on the company’s intranet.

The budget cycle is now a very tense three-week period. The company’s digital system lets everybody see immediately what the other people in the company are planning. The managers see com­parisons of sales and expense forecasts relative to market size in other divisions and regions. The product groups see the numbers organized by product. The subsidiaries see the numbers geographi­cally. The finance people see them in on a profit-and-loss basis.

In other words, information can automatically be analyzed and compared and summarized and brought to the attention of the peo­ple who need to know about it.

В. Подберите к каждому слову или словосочетанию в колонке Л соответ­ствующее по значению из колонки В.

1. take smb. to do smth. a.

И.В. Орловская, JI.C. Самсонова, А.И. Скубриева 3

для технических университетов и вузов 3

2006 4

LESSON 1 4

LESSON 2 21

LESSON 3 36

REVISION OF LESSONS 1-3 48

LESSON 5 69

LESSON 6 88

REVISION OF LESSONS 4-6 107

LESSON 7 111

LESSON 8 128

LESSON 9 139

REVISION OF LESSONS 7-9 154

LESSON 10 157

в. 175

LESSON 11 177

LESSON 12 194

REVISION OF LESSONS 10-12 214

SUPPLEMENTARY TEXTS 217

* J 255

ОГЛАВЛЕНИЕ 404

В

use for one’s own benefit be successful, prosper act in answer to necessary for living need, require give power to act in the same way be similar

controlled by a larger company

collect (information) and arrange it in a list

note for future use

belonging to a corporation or group

become free of

move at an unhurried rate

С. Заполните пропуски синонимами, control

feel, realize

virtually

determine

allow at once

excellent most important ...

similar

protect

D. Составьте возможные словосочетания из глаголов в колонке А и су­ществительных из колонки В:

1. compile

2. take

3. manage / organize

В

1. information

2. understanding

3. decisions

4. store / exchange / analyze d. ideas

5. make e. workers, activities

6. gain f. advantage

7. exchange g. a budget

Б. Составьте возможные словосочетания прилагательных из колонки А и существительных из колонки В.

А В

1. annual a. forms

2. vital b. budget

3. digital с. understanding

4. common d. communications tools

5. electronic e. step

6. paper and electronic f. system

F. Заполните пропуски, образуя составные слова, общеизвестные слово­сочетания или термины. Запомните их.

profit and ... market...

three-week ... ... group

... forecast paper ...

expense ... ... people

Упражнение 1. А. Назовите 10—15 ключевых слов и словосочетаний на тему «Electronic communication tools».

В. Speak about:

The role and importance of electronic communications tools in a modern company organization.

Text 4

Что такое логистика? Каковы последние направления в этой области?

А. Прочитайте текст и постарайтесь догадаться о значении следующих слов: retrieve, storage, package of services, to contract, totality.

Flexible Logistics Systems

Several organisations are expanding beyond their national bor­ders as a strategy to improve competitiveness and their ability to of­fer diverse products to an expanded market. Many companies have become very proficient at supplying products throughout the world. The task requires not only the ability to recognize opportunities, but also an information system to co-ordinate the supply of goods and materials to places where they are needed throughout the world.

Logistics is supply, distribution and replacement of materials, goods and personnel. It is a problem for all organisations, both public and private. For instance, there were tremendous logistics challenges of moving the US military — army, navy, and air force — to carry out the military operations called «Desert Storm», prob­lems which were even more complex when other nations belonging to the United Nations assisted with the operations. Large logistical problems are faced by relief agencies which are trying to give public assistance to people during emergencies.

In a small warehouse, improvements can be obtained from better information systems, productivity improvements, inventory (инвентаризация) savings, reductions in returns (возврат, обо­рот, прибыль), space saving (10—30 per cent), and extra customer service profit. That is, for a warehouse of 80,000 sq. ft, 50 staff, and $100 million sales per annum, and inventory of $40 million, it is possible to save over $2 million per annum from improved meth­ods. The costs of such improvements can be retrieved after just three months.

The logistics aspects of the distribution chain (цепочка) in any organisation relate to the use of information to manage more effec­tively the functions of transportation, storage, warehousing, and freight forwarding (пересылка груза). The information system has to co-ordinate a distribution network which consists of transporta­tion services between suppliers to factories, factories to storage fa­cilities, ports and warehouses, storage services in the warehouses, transportation services between the warehouses and buyers and linkages between countries. As a result of implementing an efficient information system and computer network, McDonald’s restau­rants are able to receive food products from various suppliers, re­package them to meet McDonald’s specifications, and then deliver them to their restaurants throughout the world, and still maintain consistent (соответствующие) standards.

Some companies perform logistics services themselves, but many are contracting these services to specialists who have infor­mation systems to offer a package of services — from simple stor­age and warehousing to a total package or complete service which might include consolidation (объединение) of cargo, transporta­tion, storage and inventory management. Companies within the lo­gistics sector distinguish themselves by the totality of the services they offer. Generally, smaller firms may have less sophisticated

information systems and may only provide services such as ware­housing and transportation. Large firms have the resources and economies of larger scale to develop more sophisticated informa­tion and computer systems. However, developing a sophisticated and centralized information and mechanized warehouse may not necessary lead to a success.

Certain larger companies choose to rely on more flexible sys­tems, which allow for learning and adaptation.

В. Подберите к словам в колонке А синонимы или близкие по значению слова из колонки В.

А

1. complex

2. total

3. diverse

4. keep up

5. profit

6. very great, enormous

7. help

8. totality

В

1. tremendous

2. of different kind

3. sophisticated

4. assistance

5. maintain

6. returns

7. entirety

8. complete