Vocabulary Focus

Ex. 1. Read the international words and guess their meaning.

Criteria, monopoly, oligopoly, limitation, economy, substitute, permanent, service.

Ex. 2. Memorize the following singular and plural forms:

datum – data basis – bases crisis – crises thesis – theses

criterion – criteria phenomenon – phenomena memorandum – memoranda

Ex. 3. From two columns choose the words with similar meaning and arrange them in pairs.

A to produce wage	B customer to manufacture
limitation to persuade pure competition substantial advertising share premium to consume buyer artificial	salary to convince clean restriction rivalry considerable publicity portion reward to use up fake

Ex. 4. From two columns choose the words with opposite meaning and arrange them in pairs.

A standardized insignificant exit vigorous to expand combined

B entry substantial differentiated weak to narrow pure

Ex. 5. Complete the table by inserting the missing forms.

Noun	Verb	Adjective/Participle
monopoly
	complete
product
	pay
reduction
		differentiated
restriction
		standardized
	engage
	stipulate
	dominate

Ex. 6. Match English and Russian equivalents.

A	B
отсутствие искусственных ограничений свободное движение цен потенциальный конкурент стандартный продукт рыночная структура чистая конкуренция монополистическая конкуренция дифференцированный продукт существенные барьеры ко входу бесценовая конкуренция отсутствие близких заменителей относительно легкий вход и выход	1)a free movement of prices a differentiated product monopolistic competition pure competition market structure substantial barriers to entry a standardized product a potential competitor no artificial restrictions nonprice competition no close substitutes relatively easy entry and exit

Comprehension

Ex. 1. Match the words with their definitions.

Oligopoly	A market structure characterized by a few sellers, standardized or differentiated products and substantial nonprice competition.
Pure competition	A market structure characterized by a single seller, a product for which there are no close substitutes, and strong barriers to entry that prevent potential competitors from entering into the market.
Monopoly	A market structure characterized by many sellers, standardized products, easy entry and exit, and no artificial restrictions on the free movement of prices and wages up and down.
Monopolistic competition	A market structure characterized by many sellers, differentiated products, nonprice competition, and relatively easy entry and exit.

Ex. 2. Fill in the missing words from the text.

1. Although few ….. are controlled by a single firm, main ….. in the United States are dominated by a few giant firms.

2. Such a ….. is known as oligopoly, and it is …… under which most large corporations operate.

3. ……usually define oligopoly as few enough firms so that there is mutual interdependence among the firms.

4. Nonprice ……involves efforts to persuade consumers to buy a particular product for reasons other than price.

5. Monopolistic competition is similar to pure competition in the sense that there are … and no strong barriers to entry.

6. Unlike …, however, monopolistic competition is characterized by product differentiation and nonprice competition.

Ex. 3. Expand the sentences.

1. Market structure is determined primarily by… .

2. Economists usually group market structures into four basic categories: … .

3. The main characteristics of the pure competition are … .

4. Monopoly is the extreme opposite of pure competition and has the following characteristics: .… .

5. Oligopoly has the following characteristics: …. .

6. Monopolistic competition is a market structure that is characterized by … .

Ex. 4. Answer the following questions, using the text.

1. What are the four characteristics of pure competition? Does pure competition exist?

2. What problems would exist in a purely competitive economy?

3. Describe four characteristics of monopoly.

4. Identify four characteristics of oligopoly. What is meant by “mutual interdependence”? Describe nonprice competition.

5. What are the four characteristics of monopolistic competition? In what ways is monopolistic competition similar to oligopoly? In what ways is it similar to pure competition?

Text 2

Scan the text and find definitions of the following terms: cost-plus pricing, competitive pricing, value pricing. Give their Russian equivalents.