Добавил:
ivanov666
Опубликованный материал нарушает ваши авторские права? Сообщите нам.
Вуз:
Предмет:
Файл:Английский язык в сфере сервиса объектов недвижимости. Учебное пособие
.pdf
3. The article begins with …
- the description of …
- the review of …
- the definition of …
- the author‘s opinion of …
- the enumeration of …
3. Статья начинается с …
- описания …
- обзора …
- определения …
- мнения автора о …
- перечисления …
4. Then (after that, next) the author …
- passes on to …
- goes on to say about …
- gives a detailed analysis (description)
of …
4. Затем (после этого) автор …
- переходит к …
- продолжает рассказывать о …
- дает детальный анализ (описание)
…
5. in addition (besides, moreover,
further) …
5. Кроме того, более того …
6. In conclusion the author …
- underlines …
- criticizes …
6. В заключении автор …
- подчеркивает …
- критикует …
7. At the end of the article the author
draws the conclusion that …
7. В конце статьи автор делает
вывод, что …
8. The article ends with …
- the analysis of …
8. Статья заканчивается …
- анализом …
9. In short …
- to sum it up …
9. Вкратце …
- суммируя …
Expressions for the commentary to the text (article)
- As it follows from the article …
- It says in the text …
- I think (consider, suppose) that …
- We get to know that (about) …
- In my opinion (to my mind) …
- It seems to me that …
- It is well known (everybody knows)
that …
- It is interesting to know that (about) …
- It is clear that …
- It is necessary (important) to
underline that …
- It is important to pay attention to the
fact that …
- In this connection I‘d like to note
that …
- In other words …
- I completely agree with the author‘s
opinion that …
- I am of the same opinion about …
- Из статьи следует, что …
- В тексте говорится …
- Я думаю (считаю, полагаю), что …
- Мы узнаем, что (о) …
- По моему мнению …
- Мне кажется, что …
- Хорошо известно (всем известно),
что …
- Интересно узнать, что …
- Ясно, что …
- Необходимо (важно) подчеркнуть,
что …
- Важно обратить внимание на тот
факт, что ...
- В этой связи я хотел бы заметить,
что …
- Другими словами …
- Я полностью согласен с мнением
авторa, что …
- Я того же мнения о …
51
- I find the author‘s opinion right
(wrong)
- I disagree with the statement that …
- There‘s no doubt that …
- I‘m not sure that …
- I have never heard about it before.
- I have never heard that
- It is a surprising fact that …
- It is fun to read that (about) …
- It is unbelievable that …
- I even couldn‘t imagine that …
- The text forms an opinion about (of) …
- Я нахожу мнение автора
правильным (неправильным)
- Я не согласен с утверждением, что …
- Несомненно, что …
- Я не уверен в том, что …
- Я никогда не слышал этого раньше.
- Я никогда не слышал, что …
- Удивителен тот факт, что …
- Увлекательно читать, что (о) …
- Невероятно, что …
- Я не мог представить, что …
- Текст формирует мнение о …
Text 1 Read the text and translate it. Use a dictionary if necessary. Make up
asummary of the text.
There are several options to consider when one has to decide who should pay
for the utility costs – landlords or tenants. Some landlords choose not to pay any
utility costs, others include utility costs into in the overall rent. Still others pay for
utilities that are unlikely to be overused, such as trash collection and regular
landscaping. You should keep in mind a few factors when deciding what is good for
your property. Expense and control. Some tenants, who use considerable amount of
electricity, heat and water, which could add for property owners and cause them to
lose money, should pay all utilities. Liability for unpaid bills. On occasion, some
tenants will forget to pay utility bills, or skip out paying them after moving out.
Many utility companies will hold you responsible for the debt. In fact, most utility
companies only offer service to rental properties under the condition that the owner
pays for missed payments. So, it may be wise for owners and managers to put
language of their own in a lease agreement with a tenant stating outright they are
responsible for all utilities they pay individually. By doing so, landlords can legally
protect themselves from becoming liable. Metered utilities. To keep track of how
much energy and water tenants are using at a property, it is also suggested that
owners install sub-metering system at their property, which can accurately monitor
exactly how much of a utility a renter uses. The thinking behind these sub-meters is
simple: tenants who use substantial amounts of electricity, water or heat each month
should be financially accountable for their extensive use, while rentals minimally
using utilities should pay only for their limited application.
The benefits of putting in sub-meters in the apartments can be really
tremendous, as they not only save you and tenants from being overcharged, but
add to your property‘s value. Prices comparison. Before deciding how to handle
utility payments you should determine how other landlords in your area charge
for utilities. If you intend to pay for all utilities yourself and other landlords in
Utilities payments
52
your neighborhood or community don‘t, that may give you a leg on the
competition. And if you make tenants pay for all utilities and other property
owners don‘t, that may put you at a business disadvantage.
Text 2 Read and translate the text with a dictionary. Make up a summary
ofthe text.
How to celebrate Earth Day
Earth Day is celebrated in April and there are some great ideas how to
start a celebration a few days before. One can plan various activities surrounding
the theme of conservation. The sustainability department put together an
interactive event each day to participate in the reduction of the negative
environmental impact.
April 16 Paperless Day. Ink and printing supply manufacturer
LexmarkInternational Inc. conducted a study in 2006 and found that an average of
17% ofprintouts are waste and immediately discarded. On this day it is suggested to
immediately reduce your carbon footprint: put meeting agendas on the projector
instead of printing them and don‘t print e-mails, but save them on your computer.
April 17 Turn-off-lights day. Interior lighting accounts for 43% of a
commercial buildings‘ energy consumption. On this day try to turn off the lights
and use natural light from the window instead.
April 18 Meatless day. The meat industry generates nearly 14% of the
world‘s greenhouse gas emissions, which are accelerating climate change across
the globe far more than transportation emissions. Take the challenge to go
vegetarian for a day.
April 19 Carpool day. There are many benefits to carpooling, which
include reducing gas usage and lowering maintenance costs, keeping miles off
your car, lessening air pollution, having company during your commute, and
preferred parking here at your office.
April 20 Fuel-less lunch day. Today leave your car parked for lunch and
walk to a local eatery to lunch or bring a bagged lunch instead.
April 21 Local park cleanup. This family-friendly event will be to help
restore the park in your local area and hiking trails that surround it while
children learn about the importance of the park to our environment.
All of April. Electronics recycling. Electronics are made up of many
materials, including lead, cadmium, and mercury, which could pose health risks
to people and harm the environment. The Environmental Agency says that
recycling one million laptops saves enough energy to power 3657 homes in a
year. Each time an electronic device is recycled instead of thrown away, the
materials are reused and do not land up in a landfill.
What are you and your apartment communities doing to celebrate Earth
Day? Try some of the above activities and think of implementing more
sustainable practiceson the job and in your daily life.
53
Text 3. Read and translate the text with a dictionary. Make up a summary
of the text.
State Information System of Housing and Communal Services
In July 2014 the Federal Law ―On state information system of housing
and communal services‖ (HGS GIS) was prepared and entered into force. The
purpose of this system was to replace scattered sites with information on
management companies, various departments of HGS and other organizations
with the unified resource, covering practically all information in the sphere of
housing and communal services.
According to the initiators and developers of the system, it should give the
citizens the opportunity to obtain complete, actual and reliable data on
management companies, the works carried out and services provided, their cost
and other necessary information about housing and communal services, and will
let government authorities make educated and informed management decision.
The state information system of housing and communal services is integrated
with information systems of the Federal Service for State Registration, Cadaster and
Cartography, as well as with antimonopoly and tax services.
The system is divided into open and close parts. The close part includes
personal profiles of citizens, management companies and government
authorities. The open part provides the following information:
-legal acts and other normative documents;
-registers of open data: housing facilities, providers of information,
inspections, information about heating system preparedness, licenses of
constituent entities of the Russian Federation, consolidated register of licenses,
register of disqualified persons and the list of government authorities;
-tariffs for housing and communal services and indexes of the change of
payment for them;
-information on subsidies and benefits for consumers;
-standards of municipal services.
Citizens can use the system on a voluntary basis and for organizations of
housing and communal services and government authorities the connection and
work in HGS GIS is of obligatory character. All providers and operators of housing
and communal services are required to place information in the system. In case the
data on the amount of payment for a residential unit and municipal services is not
placed in the system, or such information does not correspond to the payment
document in hard copy, his billing document will not be deemed submitted in
accordance with the requirements of the legislation of the Russian Federation.
Text 4. Read and translate the text with a dictionary. Make up a summary of it.
Housing discrimination
It‘s hard to identify, but housing discrimination by sellers, landlords, and
housing agents still runs high in America. A new report from the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development finds out that in major cities
54
across the country, Blacks, Hispanics, Asians face greater struggles to find a
place to live compared to equally qualified whites. The study sent white, Black,
Hispanic and Asian participants out to pose as potential renters or homebuyers
with each taking on a scripted socioeconomic persona that included annual
salary, car and credit card payments, and debt loads that made them equally
qualified financially. They logged details about their search, from how many
units they were told about to how many units they actually saw and what
comments agents made them in the process.
Despite laws like the Fair Housing Act and the creation of the Fair Housing
Council, all of which worked to criminalize discrimination in the housing market,
participants found that sellers and agents still use loopholes to make it harder for
people of certain race and ethnicities to find housing. This tactics included not only
telling clients about fewer properties or showing them fewer in person, but attempts
to intimidate buyers from a certain home, condo or apartment.
Among potential homebuyers, Blacks are most discriminated against,
learning 17 % fewer available homes, Asians are told about 18 % fewer
available homes, while discrimination against Hispanic homebuyers are not
statistically significant.
The degree of discrimination varies by cities, especially where larger
populations of particular presented groups. Statistics are published in the report
for participants posing as renters in certain cities. Atlanta. 5% of Black renters
were offered month-to month leasers (no whites were), while nearly three times
as many whites were offered two-year leasers. More than twice as many whites
were told that fees were required for units and nearly three times more whites
were informed about the payments required at move-in. Blacks were 50 percent
more likely to be told that background checks must be done, while whites were
57 percent more likely to receive a positive remark and more than twice as likely
to receive a follow-up phone call or email from the agent.
Chicago: Blacks and Hispanics were told about 10 percent fewer units
than whites. Blacks paid 46 percent more than whites at move-in, while
Hispanics paid 79 percent more. Blacks were also nearly twice as likely to be
told that applications and credit checks must be completed and 63 percent more
likely to be told a background check is necessary.
Dallas: Hispanic renters were 50 percent more likely to be told that no
units were available than whites and nearly twice as likely to be offered a
month-to-month lease, but also nearly four times more likely to be offered a
two-year lease and more than four times more likely to be told fees are
negotiable. Hispanics also paid 30 percent less in fees at move-in, but were 41
percent more likely to be told credit checks were required and 73 percent more
likely than whites to be told that background checks were necessary.
Detroit: Whites were more than two-and-a-half times more likely to be
told units were available than Blacks, who faced twice the average fees per unit.
Blacks were also nearly twice as likely to be told that background checks have
55
to be done on perspective tenants, while whites had a 37 percent greater chance
of hearing a positive remark and were more than three-and-a-half times more
likely to receive a follow-up from the agent.
Houston: Blacks were told about 20 percent fewer units than whites, and
were three times more likely to be offered a month-to-month lease. Whites were
twice as likely to be told that the rent is negotiable than Blacks, and 50 percent
more likely than Hispanics. Hispanics were actually less likely than whites to be
offered a month-to-month lease, but 15 times more likely to be tied into a two-year
lease. Hispanics also were offered 30 percent less in yearly incentives than whites.
Los Angeles: Whites were more than twice as likely as Blacks or
Hispanics to see more units and were more likely to be told that the rent is
negotiable (four times more likely than Blacks, 76 percent more likely than
Hispanics) and to be offered a two-year lease (nearly five times more likely than
Blacks and 53 percent more likely than Hispanics). Both Blacks and Hispanics
paid more than whites at move-in—more than 75 percent more!—and were half
as likely to receive a follow-up from agents.
Miami: Whites were twice as likely to be told about available units than
Hispanics. They were also nearly twice as likely to be told that the rent is
negotiable and more than four times more likely to be told that payments (at
move-in) are negotiable. No Hispanic participants were offered a two-year lease,
but Hispanics were three times more likely to be told that a background check
must be completed.
New York: Blacks were four times more likely than whites to be offered a
month-to-month lease, while whites were three times more likely than Blacks to
be told that move-in payments were negotiable. Blacks were nearly twice as
likely to be told about their credit standing, but whites were actually nearly three
times as likely to be told that a background check must be done and nearly three
times less likely to receive a follow-up from an agent.
Philadelphia: Blacks were about half as likely as whites to hear about the
number of units available and saw about 20 percent fewer units than whites.
Whites were four times more likely to be told that the rent was negotiable,
nearly four times more likely to be told that fees were negotiable and nearly
three times more likely to be told that move-in payments were negotiable, while
Blacks paid 45 percent more than whites in actual move-in payments and were
only about half as likely to receive a follow-up from an agent.
Washington, D.C.:Blacks saw 24 percent fewer units than whites, and
whites were three times more likely to be told about incentives. Blacks paid
twice as much at move-in, got only two-thirds of the incentives that whites did
and, while the yearly net cost for Blacks was only two percent higher than it was
for whites, they were three times more likely to be told that those costs would be
more. Blacks were also 58 percent more likely to be told that a background
check must be done and 40 percent less likely to hear a positive remark.
56
Text 5. Read and translate the text with a dictionary. Make up a summary of it.
How The Poor, The Middle Class And The Rich Spend Their Money
For a historic look at spending in America, see our post What America
Buys. For more, see our Graphing America series.
How do Americans spend their money? And how do budgets change
across the income spectrum?
The graph below answers these questions. It shows average spending patterns
for U.S. households in three income categories — one just below the poverty line,
one at the middle of the income distribution and one at the top of the distribution.
57
Both the similarities and the differences are striking.
Everyone devotes a huge chunk of their budget to housing, for example.
Poor, middle class and rich families spend similar shares of their budgets on
clothing and shoes, and on food outside the home.
But poor families spend a much larger share of their budget on basic
necessities such as food at home, utilities and health care. Rich families are able
to devote a much bigger chunk of their spending to education, and a much, much
bigger share to saving for retirement. The retirement line includes contributions
to Social Security and to private retirement plans, by the way.
The figures in the graph come from the Consumer Expenditure Survey,
which has tons of data on spending patterns in the U.S.
Text 6. Read and translate the text with a dictionary. Make up a summary
of thetext.
Why the Housing Market Is Still Stalling the Economy
If the economy still feels stuck, blame the housing market.
That may not match how people in a handful of big, prosperous cities
see things. After a disastrous and historic crash, housing is booming in
places like San Francisco and New York. Bidding wars are back, and the
question is not whether the real estate market is recovering but whether new
bubbles are inflating.
But there‘s another reality that is more important for the national
economy. Except in a few booming markets, housing is nowhere close to pulling
its economic weight. Consider this:
Investment in residential property remains a smaller share of the overall
economy than at any time since World War II, contributing less to growth than it
did even in previous steep downturns in the early 1980s, when mortgage rates
hit 20 percent, or the early 1990s, when hundreds of mortgage lenders failed.
If building activity returned merely to its postwar average proportion of
the economy, growth would jump this year to a booming, 1990s-like level of 4
percent, from today‘s mediocre 2-plus percent. The additional building,
renovating and selling of homes would add about 1.5 million jobs and knock
about a percentage point off the unemployment rate, now 6.7 percent. That
activity would close nearly 40 percent of the gap between America‘s current
weak economic state and full economic health.
So what is holding housing back?
Sure, a glut of housing was built during the last great mania, and in some
markets buyers are still working through those supplies. Bank lending is only
now thawing, both for homebuilders and buyers. But those restraining factors
have eased a lot in the last few years. The bigger thing holding back housing is
simply demand. Fewer people can or want to fulfill the American dream of
starting a household of their own.
58
It may yet prove to be temporary, but for now at least, millions more
people are doubling up with roommates, living at home with parents and
otherwise finding ways to avoid doing the one thing that would get the housing
economy back to normal: buying a home.
Text 7. Read and translate the text with a dictionary. Make up a summary of it.
Overbuilding and underbuilding
The housing market in Roanoke is a good place to see what‘s happening. A city
of just under 100,000 people in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Roanoke
has a history as a rail and manufacturing hub and nowadays has a strong health care
industry. It also has this distinction: Its housing market — based on measures like
housing prices and building activity — closely matches the nationwide data.
The number of new houses and apartments that are needed in the United
States is determined over the long term largely by demographics — immigrants
arriving and young people moving away from home. From 2000 to 2007, the
number of households rose 1.24 million a year on average — about what
economists would expect, given those demographic trends.
Add in the 300,000 or so homes that fall into disrepair each year and need
to be replaced, and builders would have to construct around 1.5 million homes a
year to keep up with the longer-term demand.
During the boom, builders were much busier than that, putting up 2.1
million more houses from 2000 to 2006 than if they had stuck to that 1.5 million
trend rate.
But the correction underway since the housing bubble burst has been far
more severe than the overbuilding that preceded it. From 2007 to 2013, builders
constructed 4.8 million fewer homes than they kept to the trend rate. In fact, if
the challenge was solely to work through the 2.1 million ―extra‖ homes created
during the boom, that job would have been finished around the middle of 2010.
―We built a heck of a lot of homes during the last housing bubble,‖ said
Stan Humphries, chief economist of the real estate company Zillow. ―And it‘s
taken some time to work off that glut. But we have largely worked off that glut
at this point. Now our main challenge is housing demand, and that means we
need more people forming households.‖
Roanoke never experienced the sort of extreme bubble in prices and
construction of Phoenix or Miami, or the structural economic decline of the
industrial Midwest, or the kind of humming regional economy that spurred a
speedy rebound in the likes of San Francisco and Washington. In that sense,
Roanoke is like hundreds of midsize cities nationwide that are trying to climb
out of a long, deep downturn.
Back in 2005, builders in the Roanoke metropolitan area took out permits for
more than 1,600 new housing units. At the low point, in 2009, they took out just 449.
The rebound since then has been modest, with only 656 permits issued in 2013.
59
Peter Fields, the president of Fields Construction, was responsible for
more than a few of those 1,600 homes started in 2005. That year, he began work
on a 100-house subdivision called North Oaks, in neighboring Salem, Va. Just
as the empty streets of North Oaks started filling in with new houses that were to
be priced at approximately $300,000.
―A lot of builders just quit building,‖ Mr. Fields said. ―They parked their
trucks and decided to do something else.‖ Banks stopped lending for new
development. Nearby subdivisions that had been in the planning stages remained
only blueprints. Houses, that had been started before the bust, stay empty,
waiting for buyers.
Now, though, those houses have owners, and new houses are rising. But
things aren‘t good enough to lead a builder like Mr. Fields to crank up the pace of
production. Whereas three years ago a builder would offer a $20,000 discount to a
willing buyer, now the discounts run only $5,000 or so. Thanks to a run-up in
prices for supplies like lumber and wallboard, his profit margins remain squeezed.
Standing over the granite countertops in a house nearing completion,
waiting for a washer and dryer to be installed and some tile work to be finished,
Mr. Fields explained that he wants no more than three houses in inventory at any
given time, to avoid the risk of being stuck with empty houses.
What is keeping Peter Fields from building more houses isn‘t too much
competition from foreclosures or excess houses from the boom years
(inventories are fairly tight by historical standards) or a shortage of land (he has
30 more lots graded and ready to build upon) or a shortage of capital (his
bankers are eager for him to continue building). It‘s simple as can be: ―We‘ll
build more houses as soon as we see some people ready to buy them,‖ he said.
Text 8. Read the text and translate it with a dictionary. Make up a
summary of it.
Mystery of the Missing Buyers
Given demographic trends, there should be plenty of housing demand.
Immigration has slowed in recent years, but the nation‘s population has still
grown by about 20 million since the housing downturn began in 2006. Yet those
additional people are translating into fewer new households than historical
patterns would predict.
This is a problem for the whole economy, and at its core is the mystery of
the missing buyers.
―Household formation,‖ as economists call it, ―is the foundation of demand in
the housing market.‖ When a young adult moves away from home and gets her own
apartment, a household is formed; when a retiree moves out of his own place and
into the apartment above an adult child‘s garage, one ceases to exist. The number of
American households is in constant motion; it is determined by millions of
individual decisions that Americans ma ke about their living situations.
60
Соседние файлы в предмете [НЕСОРТИРОВАННОЕ]