Professional English for economists. Учебное пособие

3.4.2 Now complete the chart with information each country provides in its

advertisements

3.4.3Speak about job advertisements typical of each country. Say which of them is more preferable for you. Why?

3.4.4Make a report on job advertisements in your country. Give an example and say what makes an essential piece of information in a Russian job ad, what are the typical requirements to the applicants?

3.5 Grammar practice

3.5.1 Put the verbs in brackets into the appropriate conditional form, using the information given (consult appendix if necessary)

1 You have a $500 overdraft and have just received a letter from the bank asking you to reduce this by $200 by the end of the month, or they will start legal proceedings against you.

If you ______________ (not reduce) your overdraft, the bank _________ (start) legal proceedings.

2 One of your clients has written to you applying for a personal loan. However, she has not included enough information about her financial situation for you to decide whether or not to approve the loan.

If you _______ (have) more complete information, you ____________ (be able to) make a decision.

21

3 You have just received a selection of press articles about your bank. Two of them are in German. Unfortunately Jack Wubben, who is the only person in the office who speaks German, is on holiday.

If Jack Wubben _________ (be) here, he __________ (translate) the articles.

4 For the second year running, the results of your bank have been very disappointing.

If the situation __________ (not improve) significantly next year, the bank _______

(have to) consider closing some of its branches.

5 One of your major business clients has just hinted that it may change banks unless you arrange more favorable credit terms.

If you ________ (not provide) them with cheaper credit, you ________ (lose) one of your best customers.

6 A bank representative has just refused your request for a $2,000 loan because you do not have enough money in your savings account.

If you ________ (have) more money in your account, the bank _______ (lend) you the $2,000.

7 Your bank manager has just told you that she can only lend you $5,000 to enable you to buy a new car. The car you want costs $11,000 and you only have $4,000 of your own money available.

If you ______ (not find) the remaining $2,000, you ___________ (not be able to)

buy it.

8 You have recently applied for a transfer from your present job in London to another position with the company's Scottish subsidiary.

If your application _______ (be) successful, you _______ (have to) move house to Edinburgh.

9 You are making arrangements with your bank for a holiday in Italy next month.

If you ________ (take) traveler’s cheques it _________ (cost) less than if you

________ (buy) foreign currency.

10 A friend has invited you to join her as a partner in a new business venture. You feel that you do not have the necessary experience.

22

If you ________ (have) more experience, you _______ (accept) her offer.

11 You are talking to a customer who has asked you to replace a lost credit card for the fifth time.

If you _______ (lose) your card again in the future, I'm afraid that the bank ______

(refuse) to issue a replacement.

3.6 Working with a resume. Read some tips on resume writing and say whether

they are useful or not

3.6.1 Read the tips and say if you agree with all of them or not

1 What IS a resume anyway?

A resume is a self-promotional document that presents you in the best possible light, for the purpose of getting invited to a job interview.

2 What should the resume content be about?

It's about YOU, and how you performed and what you accomplished in those past jobs especially those accomplishments that are most relevant to the work you want to do next. A good resume predicts how you might perform in that desired future job.

3 What is the most common resume mistake made by job hunters?

Leaving out their Job Objective! If you don't show a sense of direction, employers won't be interested. Having a clearly stated goal doesn't have to confine you if it's stated well.

4 What's the first step in writing a resume?

Decide on a job target (or "job objective") that can be stated in about 5 or 6 words. Anything beyond that is probably "fluff" and indicates a lack of clarity and direction.

5 What's the best way to impress an employer?

Fill your resume with "PAR" statements. PAR stands for Problem-Action-Results; in other words, first you state the problem that existed in your workplace, then you describe what you did about it, and finally you point out the beneficial results.

6 How can a student list summer jobs?

23

Students can make their resume look neater by listing seasonal jobs very simply, such as "Spring 1996" or "Summer 1996" rather than 6/96 to 9/96. (The word "Spring" can be in very tiny letters, say 8-point in size.)

7 What about listing hobbies and interests?

Don't include hobbies on a resume unless the activity is somehow relevant to your job objective, or clearly reveals a characteristic that supports your job objective. For example, a hobby of Sky Diving (adventure, courage) might seem relevant to some job objectives (Security Guard?) but not to others.

8 What if you got your degree from a different country?

You can say "Degree equivalent to U.S. Bachelor's Degree in Economics-Teheran,

Iran."

3.6.2 Retell the text using the words and phrases listed below, add your own advice

a common resume mistake self-promotional - рекламирующий себя; content – содержание;

accomplishment – достижение; to predict – предсказывать;

job hunters - «охотники за работой»; job objective - профессиональная цель; relevant – соответствующий;

a job target – профессиональная цель;

to list summer jobs – перечислить место работы в летнее время; seasonal jobs – временная (сезонная) работа;

to reveal – раскрыть; to include – включить; to point out – указать; to describe – описать;

24

to state – указать, установить;

in other words – другими словами; a resume – резюме;

to look neater – выглядеть аккуратнее.

3.7 Writing a resume

3.7.1 Study the following examples (picture 1, 2) of CVs both in Russian and in English. Say what parts a CV consists of

25

4 Unit 4 Money and trade

4.1 Speaking drills

4.1.1 Discuss the following questions:

What is money?

What would there be in the world without money?

How do you understand the notion “trade”?

4.2 Useful words and phrases

4.2.1 Words and phrases to memorize:

payment – выплата, платеж, оплата

a means of exchange – средство обмена a store of value – сбережения

purchasing power of individuals – покупательская способность физических лиц to derive – происходить

a boundary – граница

to be available – быть доступным currency – валюта

to date back – датироваться

a commodity – товар, предмет потребления value – стоимость, ценность

trade – торговля

to involve – вовлекать, привлекать ownership – владение, собственность to be separated – быть разделенным an invention – изобретение

retail trade – розничная торговля wholesale trade – оптовая торговля

28

4.2.2Explain the meaning of the words and word combinations in English: - retail trade

- purchasing power

- a means of exchange - ownership

- an invention

4.2.3Make up sentences with the following words and word groups:

to date back, to involve, to derive, a commodity, to be separated, payment, retail

trade.

4.3 Reading

4.3.1 Read the text “Money” and translate it without using a dictionary:

Money is an object, record or anything that is generally acceptable for payment and repayment of economic debt in the economic context. Money should be accepted as a means of exchange and a store of value in an economy by all the players. The term means of exchange is used to describe money’s ability to settle debts and to increase the purchasing power of individuals. Money derives its power and value from being the legal tender that is accepted as a universal method of payment within the boundaries of each country. Money and money supply are sometimes used by people to mean the same thing but this is not true. Money supply is the form in which money is available in the economy. It can be in the form of currency or bank money. Currency is described as the physical nature of money supply in an economy. It is grouped into coins and bank notes. Coins were the earliest forms of currency after barter trade and were later followed by notes. Bank money can be described as the non physical form of money in supply in an economy. The major examples of bank money are direct deposits, cheques, money orders, debit cards and the other methods of money transfers.

29

The history of money dates back to as early as the start of civilization around 2000 BC in Mesopotamia and Egypt. The first and the earliest primitive form of money was the commodity money. Commodities such as hides, skins and some grins were universally accepted as medium of exchange. Metallic economy was what followed after the commodity economy and was later followed by coinage and paper money economy respectively. Some of the modern forms of money are the credit money and plastic money.

Money has a lot of functionality in each economy. Some of the main functions of money are: it acts as a medium of exchange; it is used as a store for value; it is also used as a unit for account; and was used as a standard for deferred payments. When money is used as a medium of exchange it eliminates the inefficiency that was often associated with barter trade in the intermediation of goods and services. Money as a unit of account is the numerical measures of values of goods and services in the market.

4.3.2Answer the questions to the text: What is money?

What types of money can you name? What are the main functions of money?

What time does the history of money date back to? What was the earliest money?

What is money supply? What does money serve for? What is currency?

4.3.3Speak about money in general, its history and functions, supply additional information about the history of your national currency (when it first came to use, how it looked like, how it changed and why, rate of your national currency in the world market)

4.4 Speaking

30