МИНИСТЕРСТВО ОБРАЗОВАНИЯ И НАУКИ РОССИЙСКОЙ ФЕДЕРАЦИИ
Ф
едеральное
агентство по образованию
Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет сервиса и экономики
Кафедра «Межкультурные коммуникации»
Английский язык
Ознакомительное чтение
ПРАКТИКУМ
для студентов 1 и 2 курса экономических специальностей
Санкт-Петербург
2009
Одобрены на заседании кафедры «Межкультурные коммуникации», протокол №3 от 28.10.2008 г.
Утверждены УМСС 080502.65 «Экономика и управление на предприятии сферы сервиса», протокол №4 от 8.04.2009 г.
Стерина М.Б. Английский язык. Ознакомительное чтение. Практикум для студентов 1 и 2 курса экономических специальностей / М.Б. Стерина, Л.С. Маслова, Н.В. Тищук. – СПб.: Изд-во СПбГУСЭ, 2009. – 27 с.
Настоящий практикум предназначен для студентов I-II курсов экономических специальностей. Его задача способствовать развитию навыков ознакомительного чтения по изучаемой студентами специальности. Ознакомительное чтение предполагает общий охват содержания конкретной статьи, умение выделить в прочитанном материале проблемы и пути их решения. Материалом практики послужили статьи, публикуемые на сайте.
Рекомендуется для студентов СПбГУСЭ, а также для всех желающих повысить свой уровень владения английским языком в области экономики. Может быть использован как для занятий под руководством преподавателя, так и для самостоятельной работы.
Составители: ст. преп. М.Б. Стерина;
ст. преп. Л.С. Маслова;
асс. Н.В. Тищук
Рецензент: доц. М.А. Никитина
© Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет
сервиса и экономики
2009 г.
Оглавление
1. French economic changes ahead 4
2. Zimbabwe's $10m banknotes 6
3. China economic growth 7
4. BA and Virgin to pay for price fixing 9
5. Teacake wrangle 11
6. Truckers strike worldwide 13
7. Germany, Liechtenstein in tax row 16
8. Commodities prices fall 18
9. Tax System in Russia 20
10. Monetary and Fiscal Policy 22
11. Monetary Policy 25
Список литературы 27
1. French economic changes ahead
The economy is one of the most important and urgent issues for Nicholas Sarkozy, France's new President. He focussed on change during his election campaign, but trade unions are expected to strongly disagree with some of the changes he is planning.
There's no doubting the scale of the economic problems facing Nicholas Sarkozy. France's unemployment rate hasn't fallen below 8 percent in a quarter of a century and its economic growth rate during 2006 was the slowest of any nation in the European Union, except Portugal. But the new President has promised change.
He wants to make it easier for businesses to hire and fire workers. Anyone who rejects a job offer will lose their unemployment benefit. The civil service will be slimmed down to help fund big tax cuts for both businesses and individuals. And any time the French work above the thirty-five hour week will be completely tax free.
These measures won't go down well with trade unions – who in the past have organised campaigns of open defiance to force French presidents with plans for painful reform to back down. But Mr. Sarkozy has made it an election pledge that unions will no longer be able to bring the country to a standstill. Workers in key areas like public transport will face new requirements to provide minimum levels of service even during strikes. The unions may not like it – but the new President's entire programme of reform depends on his winning any standoff.
a quarter of a century
twenty-five years – a century is one hundred years
hire and fire
employ and sack or dismiss from a job, e.g. because of poor work, bad behaviour or lack of money within the business
unemployment benefit
money that's paid to people to live on until they find a job
slimmed down
reduced, here, made up of a smaller number of people
won't go down well
will not be popular, seen as positive, easily accepted
open defiance
obvious disobedience, very public refusals to cooperate
to back down
to change their minds, discontinue their plans
to bring the country to a standstill
to completely stop the country from functioning normally
reform
planned changes for improvement
standoff
a tense time during which all negotiations have come to a stop and neither side will compromise
Answer the questions:
On what did Nicholas Sarkozy focussed during his election campaign?
What was the economic growth rate during 2006?
What has the new President promised?
Who will lose the unemployment benefit and why?
And what will be with the French work above the thirty five hour week?
What measures has Mr. Sarkozy taken that unions will no longer be able to bring the country to a standstill?
Find Russian equivalents to the following expressions from the text:
hire and fire, unemployment benefit, open defiance, to bring the country to a standstill.
Translate the following passage.
There's no doubting the scale of the economic problems facing Nicholas Sarkozy. France's unemployment rate hasn't fallen below 8 percent in a quarter of a century and its economic growth rate during 2006 was the slowest of any nation in the European Union, except Portugal. But the new President has promised change.
2. Zimbabwe's $10m banknotes
Zimbabwe's central bank is introducing new higher denomination banknotes today in an effort to ease the critical shortage of cash in the country. Zimbabwe's economic decline for the past eight years has caused annual inflation to be in excess of 50,000%.
The introduction of the new banknotes – or "bearer cheques" as they're officially called – is a further attempt to stabilise the Zimbabwean economy. There have been long queues every day at banks as people have struggled to withdraw cash.
The government's only response is to print more money, and that's seen as the main reason for the hyper-inflation. There have been no official inflation figures published for the past three or four months.
Zimbabwe's Reserve Bank Governor, Gideon Gono, has called on the business community not to increase prices every time new measures are taken to adjust the currency.
The new higher denomination banknotes are certain to cause more confusion, and they may only bring short-term relief. In the meantime, many people have become dependent upon imported goods, there are still severe shortages of fuel, and power supplies remain erratic.
a further attempt to stabilise
another step/measure to try to stop the decline of
struggled to withdraw cash
spent a lot of time in the queues to take out money from the banks
hyper-inflation
a very high continuous increase in prices
called on
asked, encouraged
to adjust the currency
here, to introduce new banknotes to improve the money situation
higher denomination
worth more money
are certain to cause more confusion
will definitely make the situation where people don't understand what is going on even worse
bring short-term relief
improve the situation for a short period of time