2.4. Explain the meanings of the following notions, draw examples to illustrate their usage.

a) global European companies;

b) diversified business;

c) offshoring;

d) outsourcing;

e) a majority holding;

f) Silicon Valley.

2.5. a) Complete the following collocations as they occur in the text

A	B
1. prime	a) overheads
2. low-cost	b) products
3. mass	c) recovery
4. redundant	d) manufacturing
5. huge	e) scandal
6. heavy	f) losses
7. continuing	g) production
8. basic	h) facilities
9. service	i) example
10. bribery	j) worker

b) translate the above collocations into Russian;

c) make use of them to express the main ideas of the article.

2.6. Complete the sentences below using the following words from the text

to operate; to come; to engage; to move; to refresh; to fall; to arouse; to overtake; to cut

1. In the first half of the 20th century the company ..... into the record business.

2. The company ..... down its 30 divisions to just five.

3. The Taiwanese firm was shut down with heavy losses, and the blame ..... on Siemens.

4. Things ..... to a head when the company had to shed about a quarter of its workforce.

5. In 2005 America ..... Germany becoming the company's largest single market.

6. The company's management decided to ..... the company's brand to compete with cheaper products from China and East Asia.

7. This Americanised capitalist boss ..... strong feelings in Europe.

8. Today Siemens is Europe's largest engineering firm which ..... in 190 countries of the world.

9. Philips is ..... in an endless round of restructuring in an effort to make its business more competitive.

2.7. A) Say how you understand the following sentences from the text, pay special attention to the words and expressions in bold type.

1. Both these giants are prime examples of successful global European companies.

2. They have done a lot of restructuring, giving the lie to the idea that this is something European companies are incapable of doing.

3. Siemens got into a spot of bother over its handset-maker BenQ, which it sold to a Taiwanese firm in 2005.

4. The deal was announced in June, but since then Nokia executives are said to have been fretting over potential hidden liabilities from the bribery scandal.

5. Siemens systematically uses low-cost countries for making components for products that are assembled in Europe or America.

6. But it goes further than mere offshoring of low-value-added work.

7. A low-cast version of one of its expensive medical body scanners, tailor-made for the Chinese market, was initially developed jointly at its headquarters in Munich and in China, where it is also being manufactured.

8. Mr Kleinfeld, who comes across as a rather Americanised capitalist boss, arouses strong feelings in Germany.

9. Andrea Ragnetti was given the job of refreshing the company's brand to compete with cheaper products from China and South Asia.

10. Philips, too, is moving upmarket to survive in a world where most basic products can be made in China.

11. The Executive Officer spoke of his company's semiconductor facilities in Hamburg and Grenoble as one of the pillars of the group.

b) Translate the above sentences into Russian.