2. Тексты по специальности и послетекстовые задания для студентов экономического факультета

VII.A. Письменно переведите 2,3,4,5 и 6 абзацы текста:

What is Economics?

1. Economics is known to be a basic discipline, not an applied subject like accounting in which specific skills are taught. Economics is the science of making choices. Every choice involves a cost. In fact, economics is the study of the choice that people make and the actions that they take in order to make the best use of scarce resources in meeting their wants. Economics is about the everyday life. How do we get our living? Why do we sometimes get more and sometimes less? Are we producing the “right things”? What are the “right things”? Who ought to decide this and why? The study of economics helps us to answer this sort of questions.

What is Business?

2. A Dictionary and Thesaurus give many meanings of the noun "business":

-       A trade or profession — for example, "What business are you in?"

-       The purchase and sale of goods and services — for example, "Smith and I do business together".

-       A commercial or industrial establishment — for example, "This business employs 400 people".

-       Volume of commercial activity — for example, "Business is good at the moment".

-       Commercial policy — for example, "Overcharging[1] customers is bad business".

Other meanings exist, but they are not relevant here. So we want the problem to be cleared up before we start a study of business.

 

3. We consider business studies not to be a single, tidy subject with its own body of knowledge [2] and its own language. Rather, it is a blend [3] of many specialist subjects. Economics is the basis of business studies and provides a firm foundation upon which to build. Money (as represented by finance and accounting) is the language of business, and needs to be controlled and kept secure. People make business, and their behaviour must be understood and influenced when possible. Business must be controlled by laws, and society needs to be protected from its worst excesses. Communication is considered to be the lifeblood of business and pervades every aspect of it. Mathematics and statistics are known to be the key to understanding, describing and solving many of the problems faced by businesses.

4. For example, a company thinking about developing a new product or service ought to consider if there will be sufficient demand for it, and whether the level of demand would be affected by price (economics). Can the company afford to produce it and make a profit at the price customers would be willing to pay (finance)?

5. Has it got people with the right skills and expertise for designing and making the good (people)? Has the product been covered by any special legal regulations as the upholstery or toy industries have (law)? Ought the company to do some marketing research to find out what people think before spending too much money (mathematics and statistics)? In everything, that is mentioned here, information and ideas are being given and gathered by the company all the time (communication).

6. If any one of these activities turns up a problem, it will affect all the others. For example, if the law says that only flame resistant foam[4] may be used in the product, it may put up the costs, the price may have to be raised to cover it, that may mean fewer customers and less income, which may mean the company cannot afford to employ expert staff, so it may have to drop the whole idea.

7. Everyone considers advertising to be an important means of promoting the goods. Advertising attempts both to inform customers of a product or service and to persuade them to purchase it. There are specialized firms dealing with advertising and many different types of advertising appearing in a wide range of places. The cost of advertising varies directly with the expected size of audience. Firms are sure to take account of costs and the type of audience they are trying to reach [16] when selecting methods of advertising.

 

VIII.A Упражнения к тексту

Упр.1. Подчеркните пунктирной линией все случаи употребления герундия в тексте.

Упр. 2. Выпишите из текста существительные с левыми и правыми определениями, выраженными неличными формами глагола (Participle I (3), Participle II (4), Gerund (6),Infinitive (2). Полученные пары разместите соответственно в два столбца.

Например, specialized firms (P II) company thinking (P I)

key to solving the problems (Ger)

Упр. З. Найдите во 2-м, 3-м и 7-м абзацах текста и подчеркните волнистой линией инфинитивные обороты: сложное подлежащее (Complex Subject) (4 примера) и сложное дополнение (Complex Object) (4 примера).

Упр. 4. Опираясь на текст, переведите на английский язык следующие группы слов:

Выбор; недостаточные ресурсы; отвечать потребностям; ремесло или профессия; купля и продажа; товары и услуги; промышленное предприятие; закладывать прочную основу; бухгалтерское дело; надежно защищенный; спрос на...; цена; отражаться (на чем-либо); извлекать выгоду; опыт и компетентность; иметь особые правовые нормы по продаже данного товара; исследование конъюнктуры рынка; доход, привлекать специалистов, важное средство, продвижение товаров, убеждать, заниматься (иметь дело), иметь в виду (учитывать).

Упр. 5. Письменно ответьте на вопросы к тексту:

1) What do we mean by the term “business”?

2) What specialist subjects do business studies consist of?

3) What will happen if any one of these activities turns up a problem?