Text 3 People in Business: the History of Success

A. Barbara Proctor is the owner of Proctor & Gardner, one of the leading advertising agencies in Chicago, the USA. It specializes in the black consumer market and handles more than US$ 12 million in business annually.

Barbara Proctor was born in Asheville, North Carolina, in 1932. She graduated from Talladega College in Alabama. After a short career in the record business, Barbara worked for several advertising agencies in Chicago. She had her own ideas about running an advertising agency. In 1980 she received an US$ 80,000 loan from the Small Business Administration that enabled her to open her own company. Her single-mindedness combined with enormous creative abilities guaranteed her success.

Today she is considered one of America’s outstanding businesswomen. Her innovative marketing and creative concept have been widely recognized. Her awards include Achievement in the Business World of Black Women, Women’s Day Advertising Merit Award, and Dynamic Woman of the Year.

B. In the 1990s, the stock markets decided that Internet companies were the future of business. When these companies wanted to borrow money, the stock markets were happy to help them.

Two young business people in Britain called Brent Hoberman and Martha Lane Fox borrowed 600,000 pounds to start an Internet company called lastminute.com. The idea of the company was to give people at home a chance to buy flights, theatre tickets, and other goods at the last minute; this way they could get them cheaply.

“It was Brent’s idea and I actually told him it was not a very good one when I heard it,” said Martha Lane Fox. But they started their website in 1998, and after eighteen months, 800,000 people were using it.

In March 1999, Hoberman and Fox sold part of their company. More than 200,000 people bought stocks in the company, and Hoberman and Fox became rich. At that time, the value of the company was 732 million pounds. It was one of the big success stories of the Internet business world.

7. Ответьте на вопросы:

1) What does Proctor & Gardner specialize in?

2) Whom was it founded by?

3) What do you know about Barbara Proctor?

4) What features of the character guaranteed Barbara’s success?

5) When did two young business people in Britain start an Internet company?

6) Whose idea was it?

7) How did they become rich?

8) How much did they earn?

8. Выберите черты характера и умения, необходимые для работы a) в рекламном бизнесе, b) в торговой фирме:

creativity, communication skills, single-mindedness, honesty, fantasy, responsibility, salesmanship, design skills, broad-mindedness, bravery, talent, risk, market research skills.

9. Используя слова и выражения из текстов A и B, расскажите на английском языке об известных вам отечественных и зарубежных предпринимателях. Чем, на ваш взгляд, можно объяснить их успешность (неудачи).

Unit five. Forms of business ownership Part 1

1. Прочтите и запомните значение следующих слов и выражений:

suit v	соответствовать, подходить
make decisions	принимать решения
ownership n	собственность, владение
sole proprietorship	единоличная собственность
partnership	партнерство, товарищество
corporation n	корпорация, акционерное общество
establish v	основывать, создавать, устанавливать
account for v	составлять определенную часть
liability n	юридическая ответственность
obligations n pl	обязательства
income n	доход
tax v	облагать налогом
at the favourable income rate	при благоприятной ставке налога с дохода
because of	из-за, вследствие
advantage n	преимущество, выгода, польза
disadvantage n	недостаток, неудобство

2. Переведите следующие слова, обращая внимание на суффиксы, характерные для разных частей речи:

proprietor, total, owner, knowledge, greatest, action, responsibility, individual.

3. Подберите слова близкие по значению:

1) major a	a) all a
2) establish v	b) director n
3) proprietor n	c) hire v
4) total a	d) set up v
5) employ v	e) responsibility n
6) principal n	f) open a company
7) liability n	g) main a
8) connect v	h) businessman n
9) start a business	i) link v

4. Соотнесите английские фразы из левой колонки с их русскими эквивалентами в правой:

1) explains the fact that	a) действует как директор
2) acts as the principal	b) с правом руководить
3) knowledge and skills	c) остаются таковыми
4) connected with	d) знания и умения
5) remain so	e) связанные с
6) the ease with which	f) управляемое одним человеком
7) run by one individual	g) объясняет тот факт, что
8) with the right to direct	h) легкость, с которой

5. Прочтите текст и постарайтесь понять его содержание: