- •Business English
- •Unit 1 Being an economist
- •1. Reading. Read the article and find the following:
- •Working in a foreign country
- •2. Read the article again. Are these statements true or false?
- •3. Speaking. Do you like the idea of working in a different country as part of your job? What countries do you think are interesting to work in?
- •4. Complete the table with a country or nationality. 1-5 are from the article. Use a dictionary to help you with 6-12.
- •8 (1). Listening. Listen to the conversation and answer the questions.
- •9. Speaking. Use the information from the table. Introduce yourself to your partner and ask questions.
- •11. Read the text and explain the words in bold. What is Economics?
- •Unit 2 Money
- •3 (2). Listening. Listen and complete the information.
- •4. Reading. Read the article and answer the question:
- •The Business of Giving
- •5. Read the article again and answer the questions.
- •11. Speaking. How much do the items in the table cost in your country? Is the cost of living high in your country? Where is the cost of living low?
- •12. Read the text and explain the words in bold. Money
- •Vocabulary
- •Unit 3 Economy
- •2. Reading. Read the article below. Write t (true) or f (false) under “What the article says” in the previous exercise.
- •An Economy
- •Vocabulary
- •8. Give Russian equivalents:
- •9. Choose words from the list to fill in the gaps, then use them to make sentences:
- •10. Answer the questions:
- •11. Make notes under the following headings:
- •Unit 4 Company
- •1 (5). Listening. Listen and practice.
- •2. Translate the following words.
- •3. Put places above in the correct group. Add more for each sector.
- •4. Reading. Read the article. Which of the following best describes the subject of the article?
- •Look east
- •5. Are these statements true or false?
- •6. Match the numbers 1-6 with the information they describe a-f.
- •7. Speaking. Think of three more luxury goods companies. What products do they make and sell? Are they family or multinational companies?
- •8. Word families. Complete the table.
- •9. Complete the sentences with the correct word in italics.
- •10. Complete the text with the correct word from the table above. There may be more than one possible answer.
- •11(6). Listening. Sam and Alex work for the training company. Listen to their telephone conversation and answer the questions.
- •12. Company information.
- •13 (7). Listening. Listen to Miles Norton answering questions about his company. Find suitable answers to the questions in exercise 12.
- •14. Work with a partner. Ask questions about his/her company.
- •15. Read the text. Planned Economy
- •Unit 5 Company history
- •Ford of Britain
- •4. What do these numbers from the text refer to?
- •5. Complete these sentences.
- •6. Reading. Read this history of Dr. Martens Shoes. The writer uses present tense to make the summary seem ‘alive’. Change the verbs into past tense while reading.
- •Dr. Martens
- •7(10). Listening. Faith Walker talks about her first pair of Dr. Martens (dMs). Listen, fill in the gaps and then answer the questions.
- •8. Speaking. Speak on the history of the company you know.
- •9. Read the text and explain the words in bold. Market Economy
- •Vocabulary
- •10. Give Russian equivalents:
- •11. Choose words from the list to fill in the gaps, then use them to make sentences:
- •Unit 6 Company structure (a) Jobs
- •4. Reading. Read the text about the French company Perrier Vittel and fill in the gaps. Use the words in the box.
- •Perrier Vittel
- •5. Look at the organization chart. Use the information from the text above to complete the missing information. The first is done for you. Give the summary of the text.
- •6. Read the text and explain the words in bold. Mixed Economy
- •Unit 7 Company structure (b) Departments
- •2. Where do these people usually work?
- •3 (12). Listening. At a budget meeting four managers talk about their departments. Listen and complete the table below.
- •4. Listen again and complete these sentences.
- •5. Speaking. Think about your department or the department you’d like to work in. Draw an organization chart. Use the phrases from the box below to give a short presentation about your department.
- •6. Read the text and explain the words in bold. A Market
- •Unit 8 Business travel
- •2. Discuss the questions.
- •3. Match the words with the correct picture.
- •4. Complete the sentences with some of the words above.
- •6. Complete the headings in the text with the words in the exercise above. Results from a survey: Business travel is boring!
- •7. Match the words in bold in the text above to these definitions.
- •8. Discuss these questions.
- •9 (14). Listening. Listen to the conversation at the check-in desk and look at the departure board. What is the flight number and destination?
- •10. Listen again. Complete the conversation and check. Reproduce it with your partner.
- •11 (15). Listening. Listen to Colin Knapp talking about travelling to the Far East and answer the questions.
- •12. Discuss these questions.
- •13. Speaking. Speak on the transport you prefer for business and pleasure travelling. Give examples of advantages and disadvantages of different means of transport.
- •14. Read the text and explain the words in bold. Financial Market
- •Vocabulary
- •15. Give Russian equivalents:
- •16. Choose words from the list to fill in the gaps, then use them to make sentences:
- •17. Answer the questions:
- •18. Use words/phrases from the list to help you retell the text:
- •Supplementary reading The Economy of Great Britain
- •The Economy of Germany
- •The Economy of France
- •The Economy of Spain
- •The Economy of Italy
- •The Economy of the Netherlands
- •Contents
12. Company information.
Sometimes we talk about our company’s activities in a professional or social situation. Translate the questions and answers. 1. What is the name of the company? / What is the company called? (The company name is [Riva]./It’s called [Riva]) 2. Who do you work for? (I work for [Riva]) 3. What type of company is it? (It is a [manufacturing] company) 4. How many employees does the company have? / It employs [100 people]. 5. What does it do/sell? / It sells [medicine equipment] 6. Where is it based?/ It’s based in [London] 7. Where are its offices? It has offices in [Berlin] |
13 (7). Listening. Listen to Miles Norton answering questions about his company. Find suitable answers to the questions in exercise 12.
14. Work with a partner. Ask questions about his/her company.
15. Read the text. Planned Economy
Planned economy or directed economy is an economic system in which the state or workers' councils manage the economy. It is an economic system in which the central government makes all decisions on the production and consumption of goods and services. Its most extensive form is referred to as a command economy, centrally planned economy, or command and control economy. In such economies, central economic planning by the state or government controls all major sectors of the economy and formulates all decisions about the use of resources and the distribution of output. Planners decide what should be produced and direct lower-level enterprises to produce those goods in accordance with national and social objectives. Planned economies are in contrast to unplanned economies, such as a market economy, where production, distribution, pricing, and investment decisions are made by the private owners of the factors of production based upon their own interests. Less extensive forms of planned economies include those that use indicative planning, in which the state employs "influence, subsidies, grants, and taxes, but does not compel." This latter is sometimes referred to as a "planned market economy".
A planned economy has a number of advantages:
Everyone in society receives enough goods and services to enjoy a basic standard of living.
Nations do not waste resources duplicating production.
The state can use its control of the economy to divert resources to wherever it wants. As a result, it can ensure that everyone receives a good education, proper health care or that transport is available.
Several disadvantages also exist:
There is no incentive for individuals to work hard in planned economies.
Any profits that are made are paid to the government.
Citizens cannot start their own business and so new ideas rarely come forward.
As a result, industries in planned economies can be very inefficient.
Vocabulary
output – продукция, продукт
planner - плановик
in accordance with – в соответствии с,
согласно чему-л.
objective – цель, задача
owner – владелец, собственник, хозяин
advantage – преимущество
standard of living – уровень жизни
to duplicate production – дублировать
производство
to divert – отвлекать (напр., ресурсы на
другие цели)
profit - прибыль
16. Give Russian equivalents:
directed economy to waste
manage to ensure
direct incentive
lower-level inefficient
17. Choose words from the list to fill in the gaps, then use them to make sentences:
private, social, inefficient, economic, proper, central, lower-level
1. _____ enterprise |
5. _____ industries |
2. _____ health |
6. _____ objectives |
3. _____ system |
7. _____ government |
4. _____ owners |
|
18. Answer the questions:
1) What is a planned economy?
2) What is the role of the government in planned economy?
3) How do planned economies differ from unplanned economies?
4) What are the advantages of planned economies?
5) What are the disadvantages?
19. Use words/phrases from the list to help you retell the text:
planned economy, manage, make decisions, use of resources, distribution of output, planners, in accordance with, private owners, advantages, standard of living, duplicating production, divert resources, disadvantages, incentive, start business, inefficient.