Independent reading:

TEXT 1. Consumerism as a by-product of the global market

economy.

TEXT 2. New terms from the last global recession.

TEXT 3. Access to information technology in “information society”.

PRE-TEXT TASKS

1. Study carefully the meanings of the following words and phrases in bold type from text a to avoid any difficulty in understanding.

1) catch-all phrase	– расплывчатое, туманное выражение
2) pretty soon	– in a very short time from now
3) the advances	– движение вперед, успехи, прогресс
4) pace of globalisation	– темпы/скорость глобализации
5) access to goods	– доступ к товарам
6) the spread of English	– распространение
7) significant	– важный, значительный
8) consequence	– последствие, результат (ч.-либо)
9) barriers …have broken down	– препятствия/границы разрушились
10) advantages	– преимущества, выгоды
11) lifted themselves out of poverty	– …поднялись из нищеты/ бедности
12) definite winners	– абсолютные победители
13) to expand	– развивать(ся)
14) losers	– проигравшие
15) competitive	– конкурентоспособный
16) developing	– развивающиеся (экономики)
17) heavy price	– большая цена
18) I’d like to stress …	– я хотел бы подчеркнуть/сделать акцент на …
19) inevitable	– неизбежный, неотвратимый
20) benefits	– выгоды, польза
21) concerns	– озабоченности, проблемы, вызывающие беспокойство

2. Work through TEXT A. The text is intended for intensive reading and vocabulary building. When reading the text give special attention to the underlined tense forms of the verbs that show past actions (Simple Past Tense and Present Perfect Tense). Consult the GRAMMAR GUIDES for information about their meanings.

TEXT A

Talk on Globalization

Good afternoon everyone. Let me introduce myself. I am Richard Black and I am a visiting professor at your university. I am going to give you a short talk about globalization.

Well, ‘globalization’ has become a kind of catch-all phrase that’s used to describe a process of ever-greater economic integration – a process in which economic events in one place pretty soon have huge implications (big effect) almost everywhere else.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word ‘globalization’ (or ‘globalisation’) was first employed in 1952 by specialists in education. It was not until the 1960s that the term began to be widely used by economists and other social scientists. The term has since then achieved widespread use in the press. Now ‘globalization’ is a commonly used term in economics. It simply means that the world has become integrated economically, socially, politically and culturally through the advances in science, technology and communication.

Globalization is not a new phenomenon. The history of capitalism has been a history of the globalization of production. However, the pace of globalization is faster and faster nowadays.

There are different aspects to it. From the consumers’ point of view, it is an easy access to goods produced abroad. For example, Coca-cola is bought in many different countries of the world. The hamburger you buy in Moscow is exactly the same as the one you buy in New York.

Then, of course, there’s another aspect of it: the integration of markets and the increased volumes of international trade. You’ve got global financial institutions: the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the growth of global financial markets. Everybody has heard of the names of huge multinational companies such as Sony, Microsoft, IBM, Toyota, General Electric, etc. Besides, technological developments and the Internet have made communication and travel much easier, so that the world seems to be a smaller place.

There are also cultural aspects of globalization – such as the increasing use of English: about 35 % of the world's mail, telexes,

and cables are in English, approximately 40 % of the world's radio programs are in English. The spread of English as an international language is, of course, a significant and important consequence of globalization.

So, increasingly, it makes sense to say that everything is “globalized”, that the economic barriers between countries have broken down.

If you ask me, ‘What are the the advantages of this global integration?” I would answer your question in the following way. Well, with globalization you have greater efficiency and thus greater wealth. Globalization provided better economic opportunities for many people and many countries in the second half of the 20^th century. Some poor countries lifted themselves out of poverty because of their access to global markets.

Of course, a lot of people would say that globalization is a process in which many countries are winners. And there have been some definite winners. For example, if you’ve got very cheap labour like China, you expand enormously in areas that involve cheap labour. And yet if you’ve got very good technology, like Japan or the USA, you do very well, you are economically successful.

But you know, if there are winners, there are losers as well. National or regional economies which are not competitive or less developed technologically become losers. Globalization can often lead to the destruction of local customs and cultures. Globalization has brought very little real benefit to developing countries; poor countries have become too dependent on foreign investment. We begin to see that economic globalization has come at a heavy price.

In conclusion, I’d like to stress that globalization is inevitable. Companies and governments must use a more balanced approach to it. They should take appropriate steps to deal with matters relating to the financial or economical benefits of globalization. Of course, without forgetting about the social, political or ecological concerns of the world.

I am very happy to take any questions and to thank you very much for listening.

Exercise 1. True or false? Follow the model working in pairs.

Is this statement true/ false?

Model: Yes, it is true/ false.

No, it isn’t true/ false.

1. The concept of “globalization” means that the world is integrated politically and culturally.

2. The only idea of globalisation is an easy access to goods produced abroad.

3. The Internet has made exchange of information easier.

4. Globalisation has contributed to the world’s economies in many beneficial ways.

5. A wide spread of English as a second language is a significant result of globalisation.

6. Globalization has never led to the destruction of local customs and cultures.

7. All developing countries have benefited from a global common market, based on the freedom of exchange of goods and capital.

Exercise 2. Complete the chart practising word-formation. The words in the chart come from TEXT A. Consult an ABBYY Lingvo or any other electronic dictionary if necessary.

N	Adj	V
	successful
communication
consumer
development
		benefit
	competitive
		expand
	increasing

Exercise 3. Mark the advantages and disadvantages of globalization using the chart. The first has been done for you.

	Advantage	Disadvantage
Integration of markets.	+
Widening of gap between rich and poor countries.		+
Cheaper products for consumers.
Intense competition.
Consumers get much wider variety of products to choose from.
Businesses and investors get much wider opportunities for investment.
Developed countries can stop poor countries from developing.
Businesses and investors get much wider opportunities for investment.
Economic depression in one country can start negative reaction across the globe.
Companies get access to much wider markets.
Increasing spread of communicable diseases.
Some cultures are getting lost.

Грамматический обзор 1

Глаголы в форме Simple Past представляют действие как факт и употребляются для выражения обычных, повторяющихся, регулярных действий в прошлом.

По форме образования этого глагольного времени английские глаголы подразделяются на стандартные и нестандартные Стандартные глаголы образуют это глагольное время путем прибавления суффикса -ed к исходной форме глагола translate – translated, discover – discovered. Нестандартные глаголы образуют Simple Past путем изменения исходной формы: write – wrote, see – saw.

Вопросительная и отрицательная формы предложения с глаголами в Simple Past образуются при помощи вспомогательного глагола did (при вопросе к подлежащему он не используется!) и смыслового глагола в форме инфинитива без частицы to (см таблицы 1 и 2).

Форма страдательного залога образуется с помощью вспомогательного глагола to be (в прошедшем времени was/were) и причастия прошедшего времени (V₃) смыслового глагола, которое у стандартных глаголов совпадает с формой Simple Past, а у нестандартных глаголов – путем изменения исходной формы (табл. 3).

Таблица 1 (CHART 1)

I	translated			yesterday
He/ she	wrote			last week
You We	did not/ didn’t	translate write	this article	two years ago last October
They	lived	in Moscow		from 1998 to 2004

Таблица 2 (CHART 2)

	Did	he they	translate write	this article	last year? in 1998?
When	did	he they	translate write	this article?
Who			translated wrote	this article	last week?

Таблица 3 (CHART 3)