Assignment 6 (to p.99-118)

1. Get ready to answer the questions in class, make a list of topic vocabulary for each question and use it in your speech:

1. When, why and how did the Sevens secrete society originate? When did Harvard recognize the Sevens?

2. How was the tradition of the Sevens spectacular monetary gifts to Harvard established?

3. How can you prove that a Seven was a Seven for life?

4. How did the Sevens recruiting policy change after 1945?

5. What do all the Sevens have in common?

6. How does William Rutherford differ from the rest of the Sevens? Why have they recruited him?

7. Describe the mutual relations among the Sevens. What light does their way of treating D.Chambers throw on this relationship?

8. What update on the takeover did Chambers give to the Sevens?

9. Comment on the two other bidders in the takeover. Why does Chambers call Hoechst ‘a wild card’?

10. How does the lawsuit against Penn-Mar dovetail the Pleiade Project?

11. How do the Sevens plan to bring down the President? Who and what else are to be sacrificed?

12. What were Falcon’s memories about his childhood? Why didn’t he share them with anyone?

13. How did Falcon feel about the acquisition on the eve of its public announcement? Why did he call this moment a zero stage?

14. Speak about Falcon’s suspicions regarding the takeover. What precautions did he take?

15. Explain the role of the Stock Exchange in American economy.

16. What occupations are on demand at the stock exchange?

17. Describe the main stages the client’s order passes at the stock exchange.

18. How did the Stock Exchange react to the Veens press-release?

2. Make the list of the Sevens members. Revise your memo on the Pleiade Project and edit it with regards to new information.

3. Find in the text the English equivalents for the word combinations given below and recollect the context in which they were used:

1. (p.99) митинг протеста

2. (p.99) запугивание

3. (p. 100) вступать в союз

4. (p. 101) некролог

5. (p. 103) налог на недвижимость

6. (p.105) не стоить ломаного гроша

7. (p.106) служебная, докладная записка

8. (p.109) круглосуточно

9. (p.116) залп

10. (p.117) свалить все на кого-либо

4. Find in the text the synonyms for the words and word combinations below and comment on the stylistic peculiarities of their usage:

1. (p.104) to fit

2. (p.104) unpredictable

3. (p.104) wary, suspicious about sth

4. (p.104) challenging, refusing to obey

5. (p.106) to deduce

6. (p.107) in chaos

7. (p.110) full stop (punctuation mark)

8. (p.111) strange and frightening

5. Fill the gaps with topic vocabulary

1. The report said about using harassment and threats in _________of television journalists. 2. After World War II, the Sevens became more polit­ically active, ______ing themselves permanently with conservative ideology. 3. The committee was in complete ___________. 4. Environmental groups held a __________ in London this week. 5. Winthrop spoke to Chambers in a ___________ way. 6. Members were identified at death with a “7” at the end of their New York Times ___________. 7. Veens and Co didn’t make any _______________ acquisition records.

6. Fill in the blanks with American words from p.100:

	American English	British English
1st year student	freshman	fresher
2nd year student	sophomore
3d year student	junior
4th year student	?
a student with the first degree	graduate	postgraduate
a person who has graduated from the university (college)	?

7. Translate into English:

1. Новые члены были уже людьми, занимавшими высокие посты в больших корпорациях, солидных юридических фирмах, правительственных агентствах, или самых элитных инвестиционных компаниях Уолл-стрит. Они владели огромными суммами денег, преданно разделяли консервативные политические представления, и были выпускниками Гарварда. Таковы были критерии. 2. Нью-йоркская фондовая биржа позволяет корпоративной Америке ежегодно аккумулировать миллиарды долларов в инвестиционных фондах, необходимых для покрытия потребностей оборотного капитала, долгосрочных финансовых проектов и поглощений. Кроме того, биржа обеспечивает миллионы людей долгосрочными доходами, намного превышающими прибыль от облигаций и краткосрочных денежных вкладов.

8. Translate the Press Release on p.114 into Russian in writing.

9. Write a 100-word encyclopedia entry about the history of the Sevens.

10. Discussion points:

1. Ivy League provides the best higher education in modern world.

2. There is no substitute for repetition.

3. What are the world most powerful stock markets? What do you know about Russian RTS stock exchange and its role in national economy?

LISTENING:

You will hear a stock market specialist who is talking about the NASDAQ (North American Securitie Dearlers Automated Quotations), the NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) and the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Listen and choose the correct answer to the following questions.

1. What percentage of American shares are traded on the NASDAQ?

a less than 25%

b about 40%

c over 70%

d more than 50%

2. How many companies are listed on the NASDAQ?

a nearly 550

b over 50,000

c about 5,500

d around 1,500

3. How is the NASDAQ different from other stock exchanges?

a sales take place on the trading floor

b transactions are done electronically

c prices are set by supply and demand

d orders are taken by a broker who makes bids for a customer

4. Which of the following is NOT true about the NYSE?

a dealers shout out bids and offers

b orders can be placed via computer

c Market Makers sell and buy stock from their inventories

d specialists handle transactions in a specific stock

5. What is the Dow Jones Industrial Average used for?

a to select the highest yielding stocks on the NYSE

b to determine the stock prices of 30 companies

c to measure different sectors of the economy

d to indicate how the US stock market is performing