Чтение литературы по специальности на английском языке. Теория и практика информационной обработки текста. Учебное пособие для студентов факультета эк

ГЛАВА 3. СПЕЦИФИКА РАБОТЫ С НАУЧНЫМИ

МАТЕРИАЛАМИ

Тексты по экономике – научные статьи, монографии, учебники, – будучи текстами научными, характеризуются когнитивным типом информации. Языковые средства оформления когнитивной информации находятся в строгих конвенциональных рамках. Структура и язык научного текста сохраняются, в основных чертах, неизменными независимо от его типа и раз-

мера, будь то аннотация (abstract), резюме (summary, synopsis), тезисы доклада (abstracts of communication), рецензия (review, book-review) или научная статья (paper).

3.1.Особенности научного текста

Сточки зрения словарного состава, основная особенность научного текста заключается в предельной насыщенности специальной терминологией, использовании лексикосинтаксических клише, характерных для языка науки (the study focuses on…, these findings indicate…, it can be concluded that…), и определенных групп слов (achieve, accomplish, imply, prevalent, research) и т.д. Известными языковыми средствами, обеспечивающими объективность подачи когнитивной информации, являются лексические сокращения (общеязыковые и терминологические), пассивная залоговая форма, безличные и неопределенно-личные предложения. Часто используются графические, синтаксические и вспомогательные знаковые системы (различные условные обозначения, формулы, схемы, чертежи и т.д.).

Научный стиль характеризуется эмоциональной и субъективно-оценочной нейтральностью, некатегоричностью утверждения, обобщенностью изложения, композиционной четкостью, однозначностью, ясностью и точностью изложения. Главный упор делается на логическую сторону излагаемого. В то же время, научный текст все же включает в себя известное количество более или менее нейтральных по окраске фразеологических сочетаний.

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В отношении синтаксической структуры английские тексты научного содержания отличаются своей конструктивной сложностью. Особенность книжного стиля проявляется в том, что применяются в основном модели, которые не вызывают ассоциаций с разговорной речью. Из грамматических конструкций в английском языке это, например, причастные, инфинитивные и герундиальные обороты, которые подчас затрудняют понимание текста. Для облегчения работы рекомендуется повторить соответствующие разделы грамматики.

Письменный характер научного текста порождает такие особенности, как высокий процент придаточных предложений, однородных членов, распространенных определений. Длинные предложения с громоздкой структурой затрудняют понимание, поэтому на первоначальном этапе их можно сокращать, опускаяуточняющуюидетализирующуюинформацию. Напри-

мер, предложение: “A large proportion of higher-income people – professional, technical and white-collar workers – work downtown; that is, they are employed in the banking and financial firms, the legal and consulting firms and the advertising agencies which have remained in the central city.” можно сократить следующим об-

разом:

“A large proportion of higher-income people employed in the banking, financial, legal and consulting firms work in the central city.”, что гораздо удобнее для понимания.

Типичная научная статья обычно начинается сAbstract или Summary, где содержатся краткие сведения о содержании статьи, и Introduction или Preface, где излагается история вопроса, перечисляются исследователи, работавшие над проблемой, а также этапы исследования. Introduction заканчивается указанием на то, что нового намерены предложить авторы данной статьи. Далее идут главы и параграфы, где подробно излагается ход исследования и даются результаты, часто в виде таблиц. Полученные результаты могут сравниваться с результатами, полученными другими авторами, и комментируются совпадения, расхождения и практическая значимость результатов. Далее следуют Conclusion (выводы) и References, содержащие перечень всех работ, упомянутых в статье.

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3.2. Лексико-синтаксические клише, наиболее характерные для языка науки

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Практические задания

Задание 19

19.1.Переведите следующие группы слов, наиболее часто встречающиеся в научных текстах.

19.2.Установите смысловые различия между ними.

Существительные

1) Action, operation, process, procedure; 2) increase, enlargement, expansion, extension; 3) aid, assistance, help; 4) aim,

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purpose, object, goal, target; 5) answer, response, reply, reaction; 6) arrangement, disposition, distribution, grouping, classification, organization; 7) book, writing, work, volume, dissertation, brochure, handbook, manual, textbook, booklet, publication, edition, encyclopaedia, digest, issue, number, periodical, review, annual; 8) information, enlightenment, acquaintance, notification, representation, record, account, description, statement, 9) study, research, investigation, exploration, analysis; 10) manuscript, copy, draft; 10) method, approach, technique; 11) news, information, communication; 12) newspaper, paper, daily, journal, weekly, magazine; 13) publication, announcement, bulletin, report; 14) size, dimension, volume, bulk, capacity, calibre; 15) specimen, sample, example, pattern; 16) structure, construction, composition; 17) substance, matter; 18) success, advance, progress; 19) theory, principle, doctrine, hypothesis, question, idea, subject, theme, item, thesis, argument; 20) author, publisher, editor, annotator, commentator, reviewer, correspondent; 21) zone, region, district, area.

Прилагательные

1)Accurate, correct, exact, precise; 2) actual, real, true, genuine;

3)general, prevalent, widespread, universal, common, ordinary, usual; 4) important, notable, prominent, significant, essential, vital, considerable; 5) similar, resembling, analogous, parallel, comparable; 6) new, recent, modern, up-to-date, contemporary;

7)unmistakable, obvious, evident, clear, apparent, plain, certain;

8)unusual, uncommon, rare, exceptional, extraordinary, various,

peculiar, multiform, different; 9) several, many, numerous; 10) whole, total, integral, entire, complete, overall.

Глаголы

1) Achieve, accomplish, attain, reach; 2) act, do, perform, function, accomplish; 3) begin, commence, start, originate; 4) end, terminate, stop, conclude, finish.

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Задание 20

20.1.Прочитайте статью.

20.2.Выделите ключевые фрагменты.

20.3.Изложите содержание статьи в форме конспекта.

Footprint of Financial Crisis in the Media

R. Ruduša

Open Society Institute Media Program

January 2010

Preface

The Emergency Fund of the Open Society Institute (OSI) was established as an extra-budgetary fund to tackle some of the most pressing social and economic issues arising from the financial crisis as this has affected the traditional OSI target countries. The Fund aims to ensure that previous advances towards Open Society goals are not reversed by the social and economic strains created by the crisis. The countries concerned are: Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Tajikistan, and Ukraine.

This snapshot study, Footprint of Financial Crisis in the Media, was commissioned by the Open Society Media Program to stimulate debate within the Emergency Fund and the OSI Network about the effects of the financial crisis on the independent media and accountability journalism as well as on public debate – both fundamental elements of a free and open society. The decision to conduct the study was inspired by the concerns raised by local Soros foundations about the negative impact of the crisis on news delivery and, by extension, on citizens’ ability to make informed decisions. There were reasons to suggest that the financial strain caused by the crisis has affected the breadth and depth of public information, the scope of investigative reporting and also the opportunities for an open public debate. All but two (Kosovo and Tajikistan) of the Emergency Fund’s target countries took part in the study.

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The study was conducted during December 2009, using a methodology that provides a comparative insight into media economics across the region, and into consumers’ opinions of media content. Researchers focused on the most important news carriers in their respective countries, up to three outlets per type of media: print; public and commercial broadcasters; and news websites. The quantitative data covers the period from 2006 to 2009 and includes: the main economic indicators of the country, focusing on changes in income, employment and access to modern communication tools; media sector indicators, focusing on the dynamics of advertising revenue; and the performance and output of specific outlets. The qualitative data, gathered by means of focus groups or interviews with consumers as well as with media professionals, covers five main topics: output, editorial independence, ownership, journalists’ employment and patterns of new media usage. Depending on the country, access to quantitative data about privately-owned outlets ranged from adequate to poor. In countries with limited quantitative data accessibility, researchers relied mostly on qualitative findings and expert estimates. In addition to 18 country reports, the study includes an overview of the main findings across the region.

Executive summary and conclusions

The crisis and subsequent recession have hit the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, the Balkans and the Commonwealth of Independent States particularly hard, with GDP levels dropping, in some cases, below minus 15 per cent and forcing several countries to seek IMF assistance. Falling incomes forced governments, businesses and households to make spending cuts. In media, a double-digit drop in advertising revenue has led to reductions in staff, output and news sources, with particular cuts in investigative, regional and international reporting. As cash-strapped media increasingly opt for stories with mass appeal, accountability journalism suffers. Media consumers across the board note that the crisis has aggravated several negative trends in media, namely, progovernment slants in public media, apparent political or business interests shaping content, increases in entertainment coverage, use of hidden advertising, reliance on PR products and lack of in-

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depth reporting on crucial issues, including the crisis itself. The crisis also left hundreds of journalists jobless and forced several highly respected foreign investors to pull out of the market. With advertising expenditures on hold, the trends are likely to persist in 2010 and audiences remain at high risk of receiving increasingly simplified, irrelevant and politicized information.

This study shows that the crisis has had some positive effects, too. It forced outlets to increase efficiency and invest in online presence. It has also increased resourcefulness among audiences with people consuming more sources in order to form their opinion. The crisis, which has largely bypassed online media, has brought new audiences to the internet. The rapid rise of Twitter and Facebook coincided with the crisis and, combined with the drop in consumers’ disposable income and the need for traditional media to find new audiences, led to an explosion of online communities of consumers.

The negative trends identified in this study will, if left unattended, diminish opportunities for independent media to provide citizens with balanced in-depth information and thus increase the risk of losing some of the advances made towards democratic journalism. We hope that the findings will be taken into account by the Emergency Fund when it considers support for the crisis-hit region.

We recommend providing training for journalists in business and economy journalism in order to tackle the problem of insufficient or incompetent coverage of crisis-related issues. Targeted support for investigative reporting projects will help to keep dubious governance practices in public view. In communities with limited access to printed media and low internet penetration, a more balanced news delivery can be achieved by means of subsidized subscriptions to quality print media or free distribution of printed copies of online publications. Support for public service content is recommended as a response to the trend towards “infotainment” in public media. We also recommend support for innovative and flexible media business models to ensure sustainable and diverse news delivery. These initiatives will help to ensure that cash-strapped media do not compromise their public function and do not leave citizens poorly informed and open to political manipulation.

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Region of the deepest recession

For countries in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), 2009 could have been a year of celebrations. It was the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the fifth of the European Union’s first wave of expansion, both life-changing events and a cause for celebration. But the global recession forced the region to focus on the present and on ways of reaching the future without losing much of what had been achieved since those remarkable events.

When the pre-crisis boom ended abruptly, the region, which had experienced high, in some cases, double-digit, growth, fell into deep recession. In 2009, GDP in the post-communist region (CEE and CIS) is forecast to nosedive to minus 5 and minus 6,7 per cent respectively1, reaching the record levels in several countries, including Lithuania (minus 15 per cent) and Armenia (minus 16 per cent). The IMF and EU propped up the most vulnerable and defaultprone countries, lending them billions of Euros with heavy austerity strings attached and promised to stay engaged in the region, fearing contagion. The crisis has led to prime ministers losing their jobs (Hungary) and angry citizens resorting to violent window-smashing (Latvia).

Prominent economist Anders Åslund of the Peterson Institute for International Economics has said that by the end of the crisis, the hardest-hit economies “will have lost a year of rapid growth”2, but will have good business development prospects and, hopefully, will be wiser for the wear. When it comes to media, the picture is much less optimistic. Just like other businesses, media had to adjust to a vast drop in revenue, ranging from 30 to 70 per cent, and adopt harsh cost-cutting measures from reducing output to cutting staff numbers. And, as with other businesses, some either did not survive or changed beyond recognition. Unlike other businesses, however, when media are hit, it is not just their turnover, their employees and national GDP that suffer. Their primary function, the delivery of news and analysis to citizens, feels the impact too.

1International Monetary Fund // World Economic Outlook, October 2009; http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2009/02/

2R. Ruduša. ‘Canary in Coal Mine’. – Diena. – 2009. – 13 May.

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The economy in general may have lost two years of rapid growth, but media have lost many more years, and other things as well. Today, the crisis-hit media of the region, struggling to get back in the black, are loosening their guard, getting lighter and shallower, more isolationist and urban-centred, leaving citizens malnourished, news-wise, and their elected and executive representatives, freer to engage in dubious governing practices.

Задание 21

21.1.Прочтите текст (здесь приводится только Введение и первая глава статьи) и определите сферу интересов авторов.

21.2.Найдите абзац, посвященный структуре статьи, и напишите заголовки к второй, третьей и четвертой главам.

The New Economic Powers (NEPs) Leadership opportunities post-crisis

Danny Leipziger and William O’Boyle1

Introduction: beyond the BRICs

We are witnessing important and profound changes in the global economic order. Who could have imagined that the only shock absorber currently available to the global economy in terms of aggregate demand would come from the non-OECD economies? At the same time, in terms of absolute poor and near poor, the developing world still leads the globe in terms of human misery. How should the global community deal with this duality? How should those currently controlling international institutions relinquish some of their powers? How quickly can one expect newly emerging economic actors to reflect the needs of the commons? After all,

1 Danny Leipziger is the current Senior Advisor to the Managing Director and former Vice President of the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Network (PREM, 2004–2009) at the World Bank. William G. O’Boyle is a Researcher in the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Network (PREM) at the World Bank. A preliminary draft was presented at the XXI National Forum of the Instituto Nacional de Altos Estudos in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on 19 May 2009. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions are the authors’ own and should not be attributed to the World Bank or its member countries.

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