- •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
The Economy of Spain
The economy of Spain is the ninth-largest economy in the world, based on nominal GDP comparisons, and the fifth-largest in Europe. It is regarded as the world’s 15th most developed country. Spain’s economy had been credited with having avoided the virtual zero growth rate of some of its largest partners in the EU.
The Spanish government official GDP growth forecast for 2008 in April was 2.3%. This figure was successively revised down by the Spanish Ministry of Economy to 1.6. In reality, this rate effectively represented stagnant GDP per person due to Spain’s high population growth, itself the result of a high rate of immigration.
Since the 1990s some Spanish companies have gained multinational status, often expending their activities in culturally closed Latin America. Spain is the second biggest foreign investor there, after the United States. Others have expanded into Asia, especially China.
During the last four decades the Spanish tourism industry has grown to become the second biggest in the world, worth approximately 40 billion Euros, about 5% of GDP, in 2006. Being the second tourism destination in the world, Spain has a tourism industry sector which contributes nearly 11% to the country’s GDP employing about 2 million of the total labour force.
The automobile industry in Spain is a large employer in the country, employing 9% of the total workforce in 2009 and contributing to 3.3% of the Spanish GDP, despite the decline due to the economic recession of the past couples of years. In 2009, Spain was in the top ten of the largest automobile producer countries in the world.
The Economy of Italy
Italy has a capitalist economy with high GDP per capita and developed infrastructure. According to both the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, in 2009 Italy was the seventh-largest economy in the world and the fourth-largest in Europe. Italy is a member of the Group of Eight (G8) industrialized nations, the European Union and the OECD.
In Italy there is a considerable north-south divide, where Northern Italy is dominated by a highly developed and capitalistic economy, whilst Southern Italy is far less advanced and more based on agriculture and tourism.
Italy has few natural resources. With much of the land unsuited for farming, it is a net food importer. There are no substantial deposits of iron, coal, or oil. Proven natural gas reserves, mainly in the Po Valley and offshore Adriatic, have grown in recent years and constitute the country’s most important mineral resource. Most raw materials needed for manufacturing and more than 80% of the country’s energy sources are imported.
The energy sector is highly dependent on imports from abroad: in 2006 the country imported more than 86% of its total energy consumption.
The northern part of Italy produces primarily maize corn, rice, sugar beets, soybeans, meat, fruits and dairy products, while the south specializes in wheat and citrus fruits. Italy is the first or the second largest producer of wine in the world and one of the leading in olive oil, fruits, flowers and vegetables.
Unemployment is a regional issue in Italy – low in the north, high in the south. Chronic problems of inadequate infrastructure, corruption, and organized crime act as disincentives to investment and job creation in the south. A significant underground economy absorbs substantial numbers of people, but they work for low wages and without standard social benefits and protections. Women and youth have significantly higher rates of unemployment than do men.