Comprehension check

I. Give English equivalents to the following:

Распределять ресурсы, удовлетворять неограниченные потребности, владеть и управлять бизнесом, вмешиваться, частное предпринимательство, частная собственность на средства производства, частный капитал, распределение доходов, правительственные власти, основные экономические проблемы, состояние экономики, уровень занятости, распределять ресурсы, имеющиеся в распоряжении ресурсы, иметь высокий жизненный уровень, факторы производства, зависеть от, размещение и распределение ресурсов, быть конкурентоспособным, большой объем, центральное планирование и руководство, частный сектор, взаимодействовать в решении проблем.

II. Read the words and guess their meanings:

Factors of production, production and consumption, natural resources, capital and entrepreneurship, competitive, state ownership, public property/common ownership, large-scale intervention, state-controlled industry, considerable economic freedom of choice, the government controls a share of the output, labour-intensive production, to allocate the factors of production, the problem of allocating resources, the subject matter of economics, money paid as wages, rent and other forms of income, to specialize in particular tasks, the standard of living, in a decentralized way, in response to the demands of consumers, in solving economic problems.

III. Are the following statements true or false?

1. There are five main economic systems.

2. Economics is concerned with everyday issues, such as unemployment, prices, wages etc.

3. The allocation of scarce resources is the only subject matter of economics.

4. A cornerstone of the market system is that production alters swiftly to meet changing demands.

5. In a market economy the government takes all the decisions in the management of the economy.

6. If some economic decisions are taken by the government, we have a centralized economy.

7. Market economies are sometimes called “command economies”.

8. Command economies tend to be slow when responding to changes in people’s tastes and fashions.

9. There is no incentive for individuals to work hard in planned economies.

10. In a free market individual people are free to pursue their own interests.

11. In a market economy there is a maximal control on working conditions and safety standards concerning goods and services.

IV. Complete these sentences with the words in appropriate form and translate the sentences into Russian:

1. Economics is the study of how people choose _______scarce resources to satisfy their _____ .

2. It also deals with different _____ questions, especially ______ with labour, finance, taxation etc.

3. An economic system is the way in which a country uses its _____ to satisfy the demands of ___

for goods and services.

4. The more goods and services that can be produced, the higher the standard of living _____ by the country’s citizens.

5. Economists _________economic systems into ____ Western _________ are _____ mostly ________ economic systems in which economic events are the outcome of _________ decisions.

6. If government planners _______ some of the most important ________ decisions, the economy is __________.

7. Planned economies are economies with _____ of _____ , when the government _____ all ___ , decides ___ and ___ .

8. There is no ___ for individuals to work hard in planned economies.

9. ___ contains elements of both market and planned economies.

10. In a mixed economy the government and the private sector ___ in ___ .