Outstanding Economists

Sen ¹… in 1933 and ²… famine firsthand at an early age in his native India. He ³… from the University of Calcutta in India and ⁴… his doctorate at Cambridge University in England. He ⁵… an adviser to the United Nations (UN) and a host of other organizations. Sen ⁶… at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the 1980s and 1990s. He was recently named master of Trinity College at Cambridge University.

Indian-born economist Amartya Sen was awarded the 1998 Nobel Memorial Prize in economic science on October 14. The 64-year-old Sen, who ⁷… much of his career to the study of poverty and economic inequality, ⁸… the Nobel Prize for his "key contributions to the research on fundamental problems in welfare economics." The award ⁹… notable because it ¹⁰… to an economist whose work was not solely theoretical and who was concerned with ethical issues in the field.

Some of Sen's key work ¹¹… with causes of and solutions for famines, alternative ways to measure poverty and economic prosperity, and economic inequalities between men and women.

His 1981 book Poverty and Famines ¹²… an impact on how relief agencies and governments respond to famine conditions. Sen also ¹³… the impact of economic discrimination against girls and women in developing countries. By comparing the ratio of men to women in developed nations to the ratio that exists in poorer countries, he ¹⁴… that about 100 million women were "missing" in the developing nations—dying prematurely as a result of such inequities as inferior nutrition and health care.

1. bore/ was born/ has been born

2. sees/ saw/ was seeing

3. has graduated/ was graduating/ graduated

4. earned/ has earned/ was earning

5. has been/ was/ was being

6. has taught/ taught/ was teaching

7. devoted/ was devoting/ has devoted

8. gets/ got/ was getting

9. was being/ has been/ was

10. went/ was going/ has gone

11. dealt/ was dealing/ has dealt

12. was making/ made/ has made

13. was documenting/ documented/ has documented

14. was finding/ has found/ found

Exercise 3. Complete the following sentences with the correct form of the word.

1. price

   • On the eve of big holidays shops usually appoint discount … .

   • Not money run the world, but … , said one of popular politicians.

   • To his mind his assets … too low.

2. value

• Insurance … of the car completely satisfied the buyer.

• Money … of a unit of a good is called price.

• The Hesketh family … their kin pile in $90m.

3. market

• He works in the advertising office and he develops out the process of getting customers to buy a firm’s product, he is engaged in … .

• It’s rather shy but we should admit the existence of slavery … even in our days.

4. consume

• Western nations in their pursuit of welfare suffer from … , the disease of reach countries.

• Private … is divided between spending on non-durables and spending on durables.

• Dealers consider that markets of the third world … everything they will be proposed.

• The average … spends the less part of his salary on food in western countries, but in Ukraine he has to spend almost all his money for it.

5. sale

• Overcrowded streets, impossibility to park anywhere, stirring-all these signs of … on the eve of Christmas.

• The client was explained all advantages of the car by a young … who tried his best.

• His guests were awarded, he was lucky to find the discontinued scent the beautiful … wrapped him the perfume.

6. respond

• Usually the demand for necessities is very … to any changes in price.

• Nobody noticed the disappearance of D & J ltd and none of the stock exchanges … to it.

• His morbid honesty and … attracted many new clients and his firm thrived.

• Blue collars were … for the order in the trade halls and white collars tried to do their best to attract as many potential buyers as possible.

7. success

• A lot of … techniques are used in commodity promotion.

• Business is always between … and failure and price plays one of the main roles in it.

8. advertise

• If you are looking for a job, read … in “The Economist”.

• Some producers … their merchandise at suggested retail prices.

• … becomes the business bringing colossal gains.

Exercise 4. Give the definitions of the underlined words.

1. The Board of Directors decided to allocate 10% of the sales revenue to allowances for elderly people.

2. What happens when the increase in price is cancelled out by the decrease in demand?

3. This company is very successful in the market because their marketing department is well aware of fine tuning the price.

4. Sometimes to get rid of old stock owners introduce price lining on it.

5. There should be a great number of alternatives in the market because of the difference in incomes of citizens.

6. I consider psychological pricing to be targeted at naïve customers with unstable mind.

Exercise 5. Chose appropriate substitutes from the box for the underlined words.

trigger greed unprofitable moron mad bees canny

lucky bargain psychosis earlier clients

a bit of a line – in a thriving business frenetic shopping are hunting owners

1. Instead of going out for sales some people prefer to stay in bed and to relax a little.

2. The other people like blind kittens are looking for a deal.

3. Sales become prospering business for shop possessors.

4. In their turn customers consider themselves very sly and successful buying old stock with little discount.

5. Elderly people refuse of fast and energetic shopping on the eve of holidays and do it beforehand.

6. Every new sales is a start for a sort of collective madness.

7. If mean and excess run the society, it risks to turn into the herd of crazy people suffering from consumerism.

8. A lot of dubious dealers are looking for money making not less dubious bargains and ventured without any profit for anybody.

Exercise 6. Read the words of Samuel Butler (from Notebooks, 1912).

“Money is the last enemy that shall never be subdued. While there is flesh there is money – or the want of money; but money is always on the brain so long as there is a brain in reasonable order.“

What do you think about money?

Has his words become outdated or are they still contemporary?

Write a composition (200 – 250 words) where you reveal your understanding and your attitude to money. The following words may be helpful:

I would find it extremely easy/difficult to decide …

I personally feel that …

It seems to me that …

It is also my opinion that …

I would certainly not wish for …

Still in my opinion (to my mind) …

So, for that reason, I have come to conclusion that …

My third and final word would be …

LEXICAL AND GRAMMAR EXERCISES

Exercise 1.

1. Price is amount of money needed to obtain one unit of a good or service.

2. The price of a commodity is set solely by the interaction of supply and demand.

3. Consumers, producers or governments may have influence upon the price of the commodity concerned.

4. The best way to price is to charge what the market will sustain.

5. Demand for a good may be responsive or not very responsive to changes in price.

6. Fine tuning the price of a product means the difference between success and failure in a business.

7. To optimize their pricing companies use price lining, odd pricing, suggest pricing, discount pricing.

8. Price lining is a technique when the goods are offered only for ₤4 or ₤5 or ₤12 etc.

9. Price lining simplifies the process of selling and makes the consumer’s choice easier.

10. Odd or psychological pricing is used all over the world.

11. Discount pricing offers a reduction in price.

Exercise 2.

1.was born; 2. saw; 3. graduated; 4. earned; 5. has been; 6. taught; 7. has devoted; 8. got; 9. was; 10. went; 11. has dealt; 12. made; 13. documented; 14. found.

Exercise 2.

1. pricing, prices, were priced; 2. valuation, value, valued; 3. marketing, markets; 4. consumerism, consumption, consume, consumer; 5. sales, salesman, salesgirl (sales woman); 6. responsive, responded, responsibility, responsible; 7. successful, success; 8. advertisements, advertise, advertising.

Exercise 2.

1. a bit of a lie-in; 2. mad bees, bargain; 3. a thriving business, owners; 4. clients, canny, lucky; 5. frenetic, shopping, earlier; 6. trigger, psychosis; 7. greed, moron; 8. are hunting, unprofitable.