Английский язык. Устный последовательный перевод. Учебное пособие

Task 2. Background reading

Study the text

SCHOOLVIOLENCE

A15-year-oldhighschoolfreshmanwhosethreatsabouttak- ing a gun to school were apparently shrugged off as not serious opened fire at his campus in this San Diego suburb this morning, the authorities said, killing 2 fellow students and wounding 13 other people in the worst episode of school violence since the shootings at Columbine High School in 1999.

The authorities said the teenager used a .22 caliber pistol, and surrendered on his knees in a school restroom, saying, “It’s only me.”

Under a California law that leaves no discretion in such cases, officials said the young man would be charged as an adult with murder, assault and weapons possession, though they said his status as a juvenile barred the release of his name.

“I know in your minds is the overriding question: `Why?’ “District Attorney Paul Pfingst said at a news conference this afternoon. “The suspect has made statements. I will not share the contents of the statements with you at this time, but there is no real answer. I am not sure in any real way we will ever know why.”

Witnesses described pandemonium and panic as the 1,900 students of Santana High School in this bedroom community of 58,000 people about 20 miles northeast of downtown San Diego fled the campus after the shootings shortly before 9:30 a.m. Within minutes, sheriff’s deputies and police officers, including anoff-dutyofficerwhowasregisteringhisdaughterattheschool, were on the scene and cornered the suspect in the bathroom.

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The dead students were identified as Brian Zuckor, 14, and Randy Gordon, 17. The authorities said Randy’s sister, Kirschner Gordon, was injured.

A school security guard and a student teacher were among the wounded. Another youth who witnessed the shooting was treated for injuries he received in a car accident as he fled the scene.

Friends and fellow students painted a sketchy, divergent portrait of the accused gunman, whom they identified as Charles AndrewWilliams. Some described the young man, who is known asAndy, as a skinny outsider who was mocked as a nerd, but others said he was sunny and well-liked. Several said that he had joked as recently as the weekend about taking a gun to school, but that he had insisted he was only kidding and no one took him seriously.

Shannon Durrett, 15, was in the women’s restroom next to the men’s room when the shooting started, and “I heard the tap- tap-tap, tap-tap-tap.” She ran outside and saw a school security guard dragging himself along the ground using a food cart as a shield, unable to use his foot. “A few minutes later I saw Andy taken away in handcuffs,” she said. “I never thoughtAndy would do this. He was nice and funny. I never saw him get picked on.”

Another student, a 13-year-old who dated Mr. Williams for a month last year, also said, “Andy is real nice.” The girl, whose mother would not let a reporter use her name, added: “He’s very popular. I hung out with him and we talked about normal kid stuff. He wore the same goofy yellow shirt every day. He was just over at my house Saturday night.”

Friends and neighbors said Mr. Williams, whose parents are divorced, had moved here about a year ago from Maryland with his father, Charles Jeffrey Williams, known as Jeff. His mother, Linda Wells, lives in South Carolina, and when told by a reporter

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today that her son was in custody in the killing, she burst into sobs.

Ms. Wells said her son was a normal, good-natured boy. The authorities said tonight that they believed the shoot-

ings were indiscriminate and that no victims were singled out. Witnesses reported Mr. Williams was smiling as he fired, and officials said he stopped at least once to reload his revolver.

Though at least one of the victims had a Hispanic surname and though some students said the overwhelmingly white school had been the scene of some racial tension, Sheriff William Kolender and other officials discounted any suggestion that the shootings had any racial motivation.

Christopher Reynolds, whose girlfriend, Karen Stevens, is the mother of one of Andy Williams’s closest friends, told CNN that Mr. Williams “got picked on a bit” but was a sociable young man. Mr. Reynolds said that some of Mr. Williams’s friends said he had made some sort of veiled threat over the weekend and that perhaps a dozen of his fellow students were discussing the remarks.

Mr. Reynolds said that he had questioned Mr. Williams on Sunday night, but that Mr. Williams denied he had any intention of violence.

“No one believed him,” Mr. Reynolds said of Mr.Williams’s supposed threats. “Everyone can’t believe he actually did it.” He added: “I do regret that I didn’t do something. That’s going to be with me for a long time.”

The attack was the nation’s deadliest school shooting since the April 1999 bloodbath at Columbine High outside Denver, where two teenagers killed 12 fellow students and a teacher before committing suicide.

In Washington, President Bush called the shooting “a disgraceful act of cowardice”.

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Task 3. Sight translation skills

Give a sight translation of the article

20 апреля 1999 года. Бойня в американской школе

Страшная кровавая бойня в учебном заведении произошла в средней школе Колумбина в городке Литлтон, штат Колорадо 20 апреля 1999 года.

Двое юношей, Эрик Харрис и Дилан Клиболд, ворвались в школу Колумбина с оружием в руках. Ужасная бойня длилась четыре с половиной часа. За это время юные террористы ранили десятки учащихся и убили двенадцать соучеников и одного учителя, после чего покончили с собой. Школа нынче отремонтирована и внешне ничто не напоминает о недавней трагедии.

Расследованием занимались восемьдесят следователей. Они собрали десять тысяч вещественных доказательств и допросили тысячу четыреста свидетелей. Комментаторы попытались разобраться, как могла произойти такая бессмысленная бойня, — иными словами, как предотвратить повторение этого кошмара с помощью логического мышления, научно-технических достижений, энергичных действий и добрых намерений?

Таким образом, страна смогла познакомиться с двумя ныне покойными мальчиками-подростками, которые все это устроили.

Оба были “изгоями”: в спорте не блистали, обаянием не отличались, любовью одноклассников не пользовались. Носили длинные черные плащи. Играли в кровавые компьютерные игры. Слушали композиции рок-групп, изысканными словами воспевающих ненависть. Они были помешаны на нацистах - их преступление, безусловно, было приурочено ко дню рождения Гитлера. Их воображение

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Колумбины носили черные плащи-френчи — и во многих школах запретили носить длинные черные плащи. Сумки и рюкзаки теперь проверялись, или разрешались только прозрачные, или вообще запрещались. В школах появились новые высокотехнологические устройства: охранные системы, громкая связь и домофоны, видеокамеры наблюдения.

Тем не менее в отеле, где проходил выпускной бал одной флоридской школы, была найдена самодельная бомба из отрезка трубы, набитого гвоздями. Другая “самодельная бомба” обнаружилась в школьном туалете в маленьком оклахомском городке. Неподалеку от Детройта пришлось срочно закрыть одну школу: вначале снаружи была обнаружена бомба, затем выяснилось, что четверо учеников — двое четырнадцатилетних, один тринадцатилетний и один двенадцатилетний — готовят массовое побоище.

20 мая, ровно через месяц после трагедии в Колумбине, в пригороде Атланты пятнадцатилетний мальчик, вооруженный ружьем 22-го калибра и револьвером 357-го калибра, застрелил в школе шестерых соучеников, после чего, весь дрожа, упал на колени, засунул дуло револьвера себе в рот и позволил себя связать. Он жил в большом доме с обширным зеленым газоном. Он играл в бейсбол и был бойскаутом. Осталось неясным, любил ли он Бога, но, как выяснили репортеры, по воскресеньям этот ребенок ходил в церковь. Спустя три с половиной часа после этого теракта Сенат США впервые одобрил относительно суровый закон о контроле над оружием.

Еще несколько раз после 2001 года в школах США психически неуравновешенные школьники открывали стрельбу, но не в таких масштабах.

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UNIT 10. Economics.Business Orga-

nization. Company Structure.

Products and Markets

Task 1. Background reading

Read the text and give Russian equivalents to the underlined expressions

Business organization Internal structure

The structure of business organisations depends on the nature of their activities. A manufacturing firm may have a different structure from one providing a service. Two common ways of organising firms internally are dividing by:

•Functions (departments)

•Products

Amanufacturing firm may divide its operations up by product, as it probably produces a range of products.

Mostlargecompanieshavedepartmentsorfunctionsastheirbasis for internal structure, for example: Production, Finance, Marketing and Personnel.The head of each area is called a director.

The chain of command is the formal line of communication from that starts with the Board of Directors and the Managing Director, who make the firm’s decisions. Below them are the department managers,thenthesectionheadsandfinallytotheshopfloororoffice staff.This is a hierarchical structure.

Thechainofcommandisatypicalpyramidshape.Ateachstage inthechain,onepersonhasanumberofworkersdirectlyunderthem,

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within their span of control. This person directly responsible for a group of workers is called their line manager.

The private sector

In the private sector, most businesses are sole traders, partnerships or limited companies. Other types of ownership include franchises and co-operatives.

Franchises

Big companies make agreements for private individuals to buy the right to sell their goods, for example fast-food outlets like Burger King. The franchisee runs a private business, buying products from the company franchisor that is given a percentage of the profits. In return, the franchisee can use the company’s logo and have the shop fitted out in the company style. The franchisee benefits from specialist training and the company’s own national advertising. The franchisor can expand without financial risks.

There are two main categories of co-operatives:

Worker co-operatives

Sometimes groups of workers buy out their company if it is in financial difficulties. By co-operating with each other, they can share expertise, buy more expensive equipment, and gain economies of scale. The members of the co-operative invest their own capital, and share the profits. The management of the firm is usually run on democratic lines. Examples of businesses run as worker co-operatives include printing, engineering and textile enterprises.

Retail co-operatives

The Co-operative Retail Societies (the Co-op) has wider aims than most other business organisations, for example, sponsoring Labour MPs, since it has political and social, as well as financial, objectives. Anyone can join, by buying shares for

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Ј1.00, but these cannot be bought or sold on the Stock Market. All members share the profits and have an equal vote to elect the management.

Size of organizations

A firm may want to expand for a number of reasons. The main one is that it can benefit from economies of scale. A bigger firm will probably have a larger market share and a wider range of products than if it remains small.

Alarge firm can borrow more cheaply. Its chances of survival are increased, as is its ability to make a profit. The larger it becomes, the more power and status it will have.This gives it a good negotiating position, if it wishes to expand still further.

The most powerful companies may want to diversify still further, and take control of other companies. If they buy the majority of shares in another company (at least 51 % of them), this is called a takeover, with the board of directors of the smaller firm unable to prevent it.

If two companies agree to merge, it usually means a complete restructuring of the combined companies. This is called a merger. The advantages of these forms of integration are that they can expand more quickly, and diversify into other areas of production. This increases the chances of growth, and reduces the risks.

A firm’s size can be measured in different ways: through its turnover, net profit, and number of employees.

Task 2. Sight translation skills

Give a sight translation of the article

22 ноября 2005 года состоялось торжественное открытие фабрики «Нестле Кубань» — первой в России фабрики полного цикла по выпуску растворимого кофе NESCAFE Classic.

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Новая фабрика, расположенная в городе Тимашевске (Краснодарский край), станет 12-м предприятием группы компаний «Нестле» в России. Стоимость проекта в ходе всего строительства фабрики составит около 120 миллионов долларов США.

Планируемый объем производства в 2006 году составит около 12 тысяч тонн, что позволит компании заместить им-

порт кофе NESCAFE Classic.

Выбор Краснодарского края для строительства фабрики был обусловлен инвестиционной привлекательностью этого региона, а также конструктивными деловыми отношениями компании с краевой и местной администрацией. Договор с Администрацией Краснодарского края о строительстве фабрики руководство компании «Нестле» заключило в 2004 году, тогда же на экономическом форуме в Сочи было подписано инвестиционное соглашение.

Глава Администрации Краснодарского края Александр Ткачев подчеркнул: «Нам очень приятно, что в числе наших партнеров — один из лидеров мировой экономики— компания «Нестле». Это событие является еще одним доказательством инвестиционной привлекательности и надежности экономического потенциала Краснодарского края».

«Нестле Кубань» — первая фабрика компании, построенная в России с нуля. По данным посольства Швейцарии, инвестиционный проект «Нестле» по строительству своей двенадцатой по счету фабрики на территории Российской Федерации является одним из самых крупных проектов, реализованных швейцарскими компаниями в России.

Председатель Совета директоров и Исполнительный директор группы компаний «Нестле» Питер Брабек отметил: «Россия велика, и компании-инвесторы имеют реальные воз-

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