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HOUSING MARKET SLOWS IN DECEMBER AS SUPPLY

CRUNCH CONTINUES

By Julia Bradshaw

19 JANUARY 2017 • 12:01AM

The UK’s housing market showed signs of weakness in December, as the Сnumber of property sales fell as uncertainty and a shortage of supply kept

potential buyers at bay.

House price growth also appeared to slow, according to the data from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics), which polls its members for

the monthly survey.

иdisconnect between supply and demand in the housing market. This has resulted in a shortage of choice, leading to fewer sales, despite the number of new house buyers rising marginally in December.

Regionally, central London was the only area where prices actually fell in the last month of the year, while the North West enjoyed the strongest pace

of growth.

“A familiar story relating to supply continues to drive both the sales and lettings markets impacting on activity, prices and rents," he explained.

SimonбАRubinsohn, chief economist at Rics, highlighted the continuing

"The eagerly awaited housing white paper should help to create a more

positive framework for new build delivery but with the best will in the world, it is going to take time before the resulting uplift in the development pipeline begins to impact on the opportunities for either homebuyers or tenants."

The nation's surveyors were also gloomier about the prospects for sales and pricing over the next three months, although over the long-term, they

expect conditions to pick up, particularly in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

On the lettings side, rents continued to pick up across the country, apart from in London, where demand fell for the fourth month in a row and prices are cooling.

Rics expects that, in the next three months, rents will fall in the capital, but remain flat over the whole year.

Brian Murphy, head of lending at the Mortgage Advice Bureau, said the figures from Rics provided a valuable "view from the coalface" of the industry.

He said: "Rics members observed that the paucity of stock, seen across many parts of the UK throughout 2016, continued in December for the tenth month in a row and also suggest that this could be a trend which continues for the foreseeable future, which may help to maintain current prices."

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He added that stricter criteria on buy-to-let mortgages and higher taxes on landlords could push rental prices up this year.

From “The Telegraph” http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2017/01/19/housing-market-slows-

december-supply-crunch-continues/

С Appendix III.

Science-oriented texts

CHECK OR CHEQUE

иPayment is made from those funds of the maker or drawer that are in a primary demand deposit account (checking account) with the drawee.

Check or cheque, bill of exchange drawn upon a bank or trust company

or broker connected with a clearinghouse. Upon presentation of a check, the

embossed.бА

bank or other drawee pays cash to the bearer or to a specified person.

The check is intended for prompt presentation, rather than for use as a

continuing currency. When the check is presented, the drawee pays the designated sum to the holder and cancels the check, which is then returned to the drawer as his receipt. To prevent fraud, checks are usually of tinted paper and are filled in with ink; the figures may be punched out of the paper or

Many checks also have Дidentifying code numbers that have been printed with magnetically active ink. The numbers enable banks to clear

checks mechanically and thereby speed up operations. Whether or not the check will be paid by the bank depends upon its recognition of the drawer's

signature and upon the bank's confidence in the person presenting the check for payment. A bank becomes primarily liableИfor payment only when it

"certifies" on a check that the necessary funds are in the bank to the credit of the drawer.

However, a bank is usually responsible to its depositor for paying forged checks. All local checks accepted by a bank are turned over daily to a clearinghouse, which cancels checks due from and to all banks of a given neighborhood, the balances alone being paid in cash. Banks settle out-of- town checking claims by means of entries made in the books of the appropriate Federal Reserve banks.

Checks were probably used in Italy in the 15th cent. and in Holland in the 16th, from where their use spread to England and the American colonies in the 17th cent. Their rise to first place as a medium of exchange in industrialized nations took place in the 19th cent., their importance varying

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with differences in banking facilities, the density of population, and commercial activity.

About 90% of all transactions in the United States are said to be effected by checks.

http://www.homeenglish.ru/ArticlesCheck.htm

С

CREDIT CARD

Credit card device used to obtain consumer credit at the time of purchasing an article or service. Credit cards may be issued by a business,

such as a department store or an oil company, to make it easier for consumers

иpurchases with an interest charge on the unpaid balance. Charge cards, such as American Express, require the consumer to pay for all purchases at the end

to buy their products. Alternatively credit cards may be issued by third

parties, such as a bank or a financial services company, and used by

consumers to purchase goods and services from other companies. There are

two types of cards — credit cards and charge cards. Credit cards such as Visa

DinersбАClub became the first credit card company in 1950, when it issued a card allowing members to charge meals at 27 New York City restaurants. In 1958, Bank of America issued the BankAmericard (now Visa), the first bank credit card. In 1965, only 5 million cards were in circulation; by 1996, U.S. consumers had nearly 1.4 billion cards, which they used to charge

and MasterCard allow the consumer to pay a monthly minimum on their

of the billing period. Consumers may also use bank cards to obtain short-term personal loans (including "cash advances" through automated teller machines). Credit card issuers receive revenue from fees paid by stores that accept their cards and by consumers that use the cards, and from interest charged consumers on unpaid balances.

$991 billion in goods annually.

Д The growth of credit cards has hadИan enormous impact on the

economy —changing buying habits by making it much easier for consumers to finance purchases and by lowering savings rates (because consumers do not need to save money for larger purchases). Oil companies, car makers, and retailers have also used the cards to market their goods and services, using credit as a way of encouraging consumers to buy. Concern has been voiced over widespread distribution of bank credit cards to consumers who may not be able to pay their bills; costly losses and theft of cards; inaccurate (and damaging) credit records; high interest rates on unpaid balances; and excessive encouragement of consumer debt that has cut savings in the United States.

Technology advances have facilitated the use of credit cards. Merchants are now connected to banks by modem, so purchases are approved rapidly; on-line shopping on the Internet is possible with credit card payment.

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Credit card companies are also experimenting with smart cards that would act like a small computer, storing account and other information necessary for its use. An alternative to credit cards is the debit card, which is used to deduct the price of goods and service directly from customers' bank balances.

www.homeenglish.ru/ArticlesCreditCard.htm

СA newly completed track from one of the UK’s biggest new factories links rail transport in the 21st century to the industrial revolution of the 19th.

HITACHI TO OPEN £82M TRAIN PLANT

IN DURHAM THIS YEAR

Hitachi Rail Europe has won a £5.7bn contract to supply the intercity

иThe same branch carried the first paying passenger train as it began its journey in 1825 on the Stockton and Darlington line.

express programme.

The track connects Hitachi Rail Europe’s new County Durham plant to

a nearby branch line it will use to deliver its trains into the intercity network.

A strong regional engineering tradition was one of the reasons that Hitachi chose the Newton Aycliffe site in 2012 from 40 potential UK locations. Darren Cumner, manager of the manufacturing plant, is focused on the future. “We have to be very careful with playing the heritage card,” he said.

The £82m plant, which will open this year, will be one of northeast

industry. It is the first train manufacturingДplant built in the UK for decades,

The industry that pioneered the steam train almost 200 years ago has been laid low by years of neglect and under-investment. It came close to extinction three years ago when the Bombardier plant in Derby lost out on a large contract to Siemens of Germany.

bringing hope that one of the country’s oldest industries can be revived. И

Bombardier’s Derby train plant can also trace its roots back to the early days of rail. The plant was established in 1839 as the Derby Midland Railway Workshops just around the corner from where it stands today. But after being privatised as part of British Rail in 1989, the site has passed between various overseas owners before being bought by Bombardier of Canada.

After coming under heavy criticism for selecting Siemens to build trains for Thameslink, ministers have tried to develop a strong UK-based rail manufacturing industry to maximise the benefit to the economy of the huge expansion taking place in the network, such as Crossrail, Thameslink and the High Speed 2 project.

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The government in 2013 launched a rail industry supply chain forum to support UK small and medium enterprises. Last year it awarded Bombardier a £1bn contract to supply Crossrail trains.

Hitachi’s decision last year to make London the headquarters of its global train business bolstered hopes that the UK was at the start of a new rail

industry boom.

Сgeneration of trains for the East Coast and Great Western main lines. Under this £5.7bn contract, which includes maintenance and runs for 27.5 years, Hitachi will build 122 trains comprising 866 carriages. Twelve trains are being manufactured at its Kasado works in Japan and the rest at Newton

The Newton Aycliffe site, the Japanese company’s first European train

factory, was given the go-ahead after the government awarded Hitachi Rail Europe the contract to supply the intercity express programme, the next

иThis month sees the start of recruiting of technicians, craftsmen and engineers who will fill most of the 730 jobs being created at the plant, ready for production to begin in January 2016.

Aycliffe. Hitachi has also been named by Abellio, an arm of the Dutch state rail operator, as preferred bidder for 70 trains for ScotRail.

6,000 jobs.бАHitachi has used a number of UK companies for its key systems and is now looking for tier-two suppliers, a key moment for companies hoping to enter the rail sector. More than 1,000 businesses attended one Durham supply chain event early in the project.

We aren’t going to rely on the Japanese supplier base for components. We are going to Europeanise as much of this plant as we can

- Jamie Foster, Hitachi Rail Europe procurement director

Champions of the plant estimate the supply chain could support another

“We had an overwhelming, huge, response,” said Jamie Foster, procurement director. “The rail industry is a new opportunity for many tier-

announcement that Hitachi Rail Europe would open its design office at Newton Aycliffe, a clear signal that this is not merely an assembly plant.

“We aren’t going to rely on the Japanese supplier base for components. We are going to Europeanise as much of this plant as we can,” Mr Foster said. The company said it was working with 56 suppliers in Europe, 32 of them based in the UK.

In contrast to Nissan’s high-volume, “just in time” Sunderland operation, which requires some suppliers to be located next to, or even in, the plant, Hitachi, with its longer manufacturing timescales, does not need them on the doorstep.

“We aren’t stipulating it as a requirement”, Mr Foster said.

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Even so, the decision to build the plant at Newton Aycliffe has brought a “Hitachi effect”, said Geoff Hunton, a director of Merchant Anglo Property Holdings, owner of Merchant Park which includes Hitachi’s site. “It’s the catalyst for everything we’ve been trying to achieve.”

https://www.ft.com/content/972f7360-89fa-11e4-9b5f-00144feabdc0

СComputers project that between now and the year of 2030 we are going to have increase of the average temperature between 1.5 — 4.5 Degrees C.

иwater. It looks like the end of civilization on the Earth. For hundreds of thousands of years the human race has thriven in Earth's environment.

Sea levels would rise by several metres, flooding coastal areas and ruining

vast tracts of farmland. Huge areas would be infertile and become

uninhabitable. Water contamination could lead to shortages of safe drinking

ButбАthe matters of people's great concern nowadays are atmosphere and climate changes, depletion of the ozone layer, freshwater resources, oceans

But now, at the end of the 20th century, we are at a crucial turning

point. We have upset nature's sensitive equilibrium releasing harmful substances into the air, polluting rivers and oceans with industrial waste and tearing up the countryside to accommodate our rubbish. These are the consequences of the development of civilization. We are to stop it by joint efforts of all the people of the world. The range of environmental problems is

and coastal areas, deforestation and desertification, biological diversity, biotechnology, health and chemical safety. United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) concentrates its activities on these issues. Acid Rains One of the most alarming forms of air pollutionИis acid rain. It results from the release into the atmosphere of sulphur and nitrogen oxides that react with water droplets and return to earth in the form of acid rain, mist or snow.

Acid rain is killing forests (Nearly every species of tree is affected) It has acidified lakes and streams and they can't support fish, wildlife, plants or insects. Depletion of the Ozone Layer The protective layer of the Earth, the ozone layer, which protects the Earth from the sun's destructive UV (ultraviolet) rays, is being damaged by CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons). They are released by the daily use of industrial and household products: refrigerators, air conditioners, foam insulation, cleaning chemicals, food packaging. In the ozone layer they attack the ozone molecules making a «hole». This «hole» allows more UV rays to penetrate to the Earth. It increases the risk of skin cancer, weakens the immune system of people.

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Besides, UV rays influence the oceans, the growth of plankton, an essential part of the marine-life food chain in the negative way, reduce economically important-crops (rice, cotton, soy beans).

The life cycle is going to be undermined by the ozone. Destruction of

the Tropical Forest It's generally agreed that the destruction of the tropical forest has a major impact on the world climate. The tropical rain forest is a natural recycler, provider and protector for our planet. It recycles carbon, nitrogen and oxygen, helps determine temperature, rainfall and other climatic conditions and supports the most diverse ecosystem in the world. Deforestation could cause one forth of all species on earth to vanish in the next 25 years.

СThese forests in Amazonia, South-East Asia and West and Central Africa are being destroyed at an alarming rate of 42 million acres per year.

иrecycle more, conserve wildlife and nature, act according to the dictum «think locally, think globally, act locally».

Measures to Be Taken We have only a few years to attempt to turn things

been alreadyбАmade in this direction. 159 countries-members of the UNO have set up environmental protection agencies.

around. We must review our wasteful, careless ways, we must consume less,

To my mind, we are obliged to remove factories and plants from cities,

use modern technologies, redesign and modify purifying systems for cleaning

and trapping harmful substances, protect and increase the greenery and

broaden ecological education. These are the main practical measures, which

must be taken in order to improve the ecological situation. Some progress has

They hold conferences discussing ecological problems, set up environmental research centres and take practical urgent measures to avoid ecological catastrophe. There are numerous public organisations such as Greenpeace that are doing much to preserve environment. The 5th of June is

Whiskey - [from the Gaelic for "water of life"], spirituous liquor distilled from a fermented mash of grains, usually rye, barley, oats, wheat, or corn. Inferior whiskeys are made from potatoes, beets, and other roots. The standard whiskeys of the world are Scotch (commonly spelled whisky), Irish, American, and Canadian.

The Scotch Highland whisky (made in pot stills) and that of the Lowlands (patent stills) differ in the percentage of barley used, quality of the

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water, quantity of peat employed in curing the malt, manner of distilling, and kind of casks in which they are matured.

Irish whiskey resembles Scotch, but no peat is used in the curing, and instead of the dry, somewhat smoky flavor of Scotch, it has a full, sweet taste. American whiskeys are divided into two main varieties, rye and bourbon, a corn whiskey that derives its name from Bourbon co., Ky. They

Сhave a higher flavor and a much deeper color than Scotch or Irish and require from two to three years longer to mature.

Newly made whiskey is colorless, the rich brown of the matured liquor being acquired from the cask in which it is stored. иCanadian whiskey has a characteristic lightness of body and must, according to law, be produced from cereal grain only. Whiskey was made in England in the 11th cent., chiefly in monasteries, but in the 16th cent. distilling was carried on commercially.

No бАwhiskey can be released from bond in Great Britain until it has matured in wood at least three years, and in practice most whiskey is stored seven or eight years before marketing. In the United States bonded whiskey must stay a minimum of four years in bond before it can be labeled as bonded rye or bourbon. The illicit manufacture of whiskey to avoid payment of excise taxes has been common. In the United States this is known as moonshining.

http://www.homeenglish.ru/topic_wh.htm

ДWINDOWS XP

Windows XP is a line of proprietary operating systems developed by Microsoft for use on general-purpose computer systems, including home and business desktops, notebook computers, and media centers. The letters "XP" stand for eXPerience.[2] Codenamed "Whistler"Иafter Whistler, British Columbia, as many Microsoft employees skied at the Whistler-Blackcomb ski resort during its development, Windows XP is the successor to both Windows 2000 and Windows Me, and is the first consumer-oriented operating system produced by Microsoft to be built on the Windows NT kernel and architecture. Windows XP was first released on October 25, 2001, and over 400 million copies are in use, according to a January 2006 estimate by an IDC analyst. It is succeeded by Windows Vista, which was released to volume license customers on November 8, 2006, and worldwide to the general public on January 30, 2007.

The most common editions of the operating system are Windows XP Home Edition, which is targeted at home users, and Windows XP Professional, which has additional features such as support for Windows Server domains and dual processors, and is targeted at power users and

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business clients. Windows XP Media Center Edition has additional multimedia features enhancing the ability to record and watch TV shows, view DVD movies, and listen to music. Windows XP Tablet PC Edition is designed to run the ink-aware Tablet PC platform. Two separate 64-bit versions of Windows XP were also released, Windows XP 64-bit Edition for IA-64 (Itanium) processors and Windows XP Professional x64 Edition for

Сx86-64 processors.

Windows XP is known for its improved stability and efficiency over

previous versions of Microsoft Windows. It presents a significantly

redesigned graphical user interface, a change Microsoft promoted as more

иby some users for security vulnerabilities, tight integration of applications such as Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player, and for aspects of its user interface.

user-friendly than previous versions of Windows. New software management

capabilities were introduced to avoid the "DLL hell" that plagued older

consumer versions of Windows. It is also the first version of Windows to use

product activation to combat software piracy, a restriction that did not sit well

WindowsбАXP. Many ideas from Neptune and Odyssey (another cancelled Windows version) were used in WindowsДXP.

with some users and privacy advocates. Windows XP has also been criticized

Windows XP had been in development since early 1999, when

Microsoft started working on Windows Neptune, an operating system

intended to be the "Home Edition" equivalent to Windows 2000 Professional.

It was eventually cancelled and became Whistler, which later became

http://lingualeo.com/ru/jungle/windows-xp-112002#/page/1

WINDSURFING

Windsurfing is a surface water sportИusing a windsurf board, also commonly called a sailboard, usually two to five meters long and powered by a single sail. The rig is connected to the board by a free-rotating flexible joint called the Universal Joint (U-Joint). Unlike a rudder-steered sailboat, a windsurfer is steered by the tilting and rotating of the mast and sail as well as tilting and carving the board. This method of controlling the board's direction is called the free-sail system.

The sport combines aspects of both sailing and surfing, along with certain athletic aspects shared with other board sports like skateboarding, snowboarding, waterskiing, wakeboarding and kitesurfing. Although it might be considered a minimalistic version of a sailboat, a windsurfer offers experiences that are outside the scope of most other sailing craft design. A windsurfer holds the world speed record for sailing craft (see below); and, windsurfers can perform jumps, inverted loops, spinning maneuvers, and

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other "freestyle" moves that cannot be matched by any sailboat. Windsurfers were the first to ride the world's largest waves, such as Jaws on the island of Maui, and, with very few exceptions, it was not until the advent of tow-in surfing that waves of that size became accessible to surfers.

Windsurfing includes speed sailing, slalom, course racing, wave sailing, superX, and freestyle as distinct disciplines.

СThough windsurfing is possible in winds from near 0 to 50 knots, the ideal planing conditions for most recreational sailors is 15-25 knots, with lighter winds resulting in displacement mode sailing.

Lessons can be taken with a school. With coaching and favorable иconditions, the basic skills of sailing, steering, and turning can be learned within a few hours. Competence in the sport and mastery of more advanced maneuvers such as planing, carve gybing (turning downwind at speed), water starting, jumping, and more advanced moves can require lengthy practice.

бАhttps://windsurfing.askdefine.com/

GUILT, STRESS AND GETTING RIPPED OFF: THE TRUTH ABOUT HOLIDAYS AS A LONE PARENT

One of the features of lone parenting is the slightly off-kilter nature of high days and holidays. Marketing images of family holidays tend to major on golden-limbed couples joyfully tossing toddlers into the air; it’s harder to come by images of a lone mum or dad trying to look in four directions simultaneously for their child whileДhoping nobody’s stolen the purse they’ve stashed under the sun lounger.

At Mumsnet, we’ve recently done some research into the experiences of lone parents, and one of the more striking statistics showed that more than three-quarters (77 per cent) of them say that companies don’t consider the realities of lone parents when developing products,Иservices and marketing campaigns. Lone parents also feel wretched about relaxing; 75 per cent of them feel guilty about taking time out for themselves.

When it comes to holidays away from home, single parents have a few extra factors to consider. Most lone parents understand the rationale for single occupancy supplements, but it can make villa and hotels unaffordable.

Then there’s the relaxation factor - or, more often, the lack of it. Looking after children in unfamiliar environments, negotiating heat and new types of food, and keeping children occupied without the full contents of the domestic toy box can be hard work with two parents; with only one it can feel like an endurance event.

The advice from Mumsnet users, though, is not to give it all up as a bad job. With some research and planning, and a bit of gumption, taking your children on holiday on your own can be an absolute blast. From the

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