Обучение чтению экономической литературы на английском языке. В 4 ч. Ч. 3 (96

Read the text and answer the questions. Guess the meanings of the following words: health-conscious, over-the-counter drug, psychological addition.

1. What company is known to be one of the major players in the nicotine market and why? 2. What company is an Elan’s distributer in the USA? 3. Where (list the companies) has Elan product been doing great business?

Text 9C. Smokeless Elan Steams on

While tobacco stocks continue to prosper as the smoking habit spreads through developing countries, a new class of stock is booming as health-conscious westerners turn to pharmaceutical aids in their battle to give up smoking.

One commentator suggested recently that a system to satisfy the physical craving for nicotine while the smoker fights the psychological addiction could become the fastest-growing pharmaceutical product ever.

Industry sources think the prediction is a little over the top, but it still suggests plenty of excitement ahead for Elan Corporation, a little-known Irish company which, with its nicotine patches, is one of the major players in the market.

Elan is much smaller than its rivals, which are giant US corporations. So its success could have a much greater impact on future profitability.

An unusual feature of the market is that three nicotine-delivery products have won approval and been launched in the US in close succession.

After Ciba Geigy came Marion Merrill Dow in December and then Elan in February.

It would be a mistake to imagine that Elan is a long-odds outsider, despite the power of the opposition.

Its distributor in the US is a company called Lederle, which is a subsidiary of a mighty US corporation called American Cyanamid.

Sales arc already off to a flying start, with shipments to date of more than four million 24-hour patches in weekly packages of seven with a sales value of over $12m.

Like its rivals. Elan is also addressing the global market. The product has been doing great business in Ireland for 18 months and is now on sale

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in South Korea and Italy, where it is sold without prescription as an over-the-counter drug. Approval has recently been received for Germany, Denmark and Greece, with others expected shortly, though no date has vet been set for the UK.

Read the text and answer the questions. Guess the meanings of the following words: tracking device, car-theft victims, electronic-trip wire, length and breadth.

1.How can a computer chip installed in the car help the police?

2.How will a control center monitor a car position? 3. What is the necessity of installing the system caused by?

Text 9D. Aspirin-Sized Bug Gives Car Thieves a Headache

The James-Bond-style tracking device that distraught car-theft victims have always dreamed of can now finally be theirs. A computer chip available to French motorists for installation in their cars will alert police to its location anywhere in the country – should it ever have the misfortune of being driven away illegally.

The device is a revolution in the war against car crime, now at epidemic levels throughout Europe. From May, when the system goes live, an electronic tripwire will stretch the length and breadth of France, enabling monitors in a control centre to fix a ‘hot’ car’s position as it crosses its beam. Eventually, say the system’s backers there is no reason why the network should not extend across the continent.

All an owner has to do is secrete the transmitter, no bigger than an aspirin, somewhere about the vehicle: in the roof lining, under the carpet or in the bodywork. The chip carries encoded details of the car’s identity, which are only activated once the owner reports the car stolen. Then it squawks like an airliner transponder, enabling the car’s progress to be monitored.

Electronic beacons have been installed at secret strategic points along France’s autoroutes, near frontier crossings, ports and airports. Some 270,000 cars were stolen in France last year and 15,000 of those were ‘exported’. The pattern is disturbingly similar in other countries.

The chip costs Ffr250 ($45) to install with a yearly Ffr530 ($96) premium to the firm which developed it.

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ЛИТЕРАТУРА

Аникин А.В. Англо-русский словарь по экономике и финансам. СПб.: Эконом. шк., 1993.

Courtney R. Longman Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs. Harlow: Londman Group Limited, 1998.

Gadsby A. Longman Business English Dictionary. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited, 2001.

Hornby A.S. Oxford Advanced Learner‘s Dictionary. Oxford University Press, 2005.

Surridge M., Bushell T., Gunn P. The Business Environment. London: Collins Educational Ltd, 1994.

Периодические издания

The Economist. London, 2004–2005.

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