Influences 1) ___ consumers

Smart consumers understand the factors that influence ²⁾ ___ their shopping habits. They think ³⁾ ___ whether they need the product, whether they can afford it, and how they can purchase it carefully. They also know the difference ⁴⁾ ___ wanting and needing a product. Of course, sometimes all consumers splurge and buy things they really don’t need. But smart shoppers don’t spend so much ⁵⁾ ___ things they want that they can’t afford what they really need.

Consumers often buy things ⁶⁾ ___ response ⁷⁾ ___ advertising. A great deal ⁸⁾ ___ television, radio, newspaper, and magazine advertising is geared ⁹⁾ ___ specific groups ¹⁰⁾ ___ people. For example, sellers know that teenagers are an extremely important market ¹¹⁾ ___ their goods and services, and so they develop specific ads ¹²⁾ ___ this audience. Advertising ¹³⁾ ___ teens has been stepped up as studies have shown that today’s parents make fewer buying decisions ¹⁴⁾ ___ their children. The ads, which are often purchased ¹⁵⁾ ___ shows or publications that particularly appeal ¹⁶⁾ ___ teens, are designed to increase sales ¹⁷⁾ ___ the products advertised. Many ads provide useful information ¹⁸⁾ ___ products or announce the start ¹⁹⁾ ___ a sale. However, ads may also attempt to influence ²⁰⁾ ___ you to purchase a product that you do not need or want or that you cannot afford.

Ex. 5. Supply the sentences with missing words given below.

court, complaint, range, research, be accustomed, right, demand, profit, consumer, institution, discontent, standard

Not surprisingly, ¹⁾ ______ law has grown most quickly in wealthier industrialized countries where people ²⁾ ______ to asserting their rights and have a wide ³⁾ ______ of information available to them. In Britain, the magazine Which? has been publishing independently ⁴⁾ ______ information about products, services and legal ⁵⁾ ______ for thirty years, and popular television programs discuss consumer ⁶⁾ ______. If a ⁷⁾ ______ consumer is forced to take legal action, there are judicial ⁸⁾ ______ which enable him or her to do this without spending a lot of money. In developing countries where manufacturers often have low ⁹⁾ ______ margins, consumers often have to accept lower ¹⁰⁾ ______ unless they are rich or have important friends. But there are changes here, too. The Chinese government, for example, has responded to a growing ¹¹⁾ ______ for better quality goods by setting up special ¹²⁾ ______ to deal with complaints.

Ex. 6. Test your criminal slang. Below there are four conversations. The conversations include 14 slang words. The definitions of the words are given below. Read the conversations, and use the context to match the words to the definitions given below.

a buyer of stolen property, a lawyer, a person who is easily deceived, a prison guard, a trick, an informer, corrupt, in prison, stolen, the police, to arrest, to rob using weapons, to inform the police, to transfer illegally gained money to a normal bank account

Conversation 1

— Have you heard about Henry?

— No. What?

— He’s been nicked¹.

— You’re joking. What happened?

— He was blagging² a bank with his brother and somebody grassed³ on them.

— Who’s the nark⁴?

— Who knows? Henry’s got a lot of enemies.

Conversation 2

— What did he get?

— Eight years.

— Eight years inside⁵! I thought you said he had a good brief⁶.

— Well, he thought he did.

— Where’s he going to do it?

— Isle of Wight.

— Oh no. The screws⁷ in there are the worst in the world.

Conversation 3

— So, what have you got for me?

— Rolex watches. Two hundred of them.

— Are they hot⁸?

— What do you think? Would I come to a fence⁹ like you with them if they weren’t?

— Leave them with me tonight and I’ll give you a price for them in the morning.

— Leave it out. Do I look like a mug¹⁰?

— Sorry?

— I’m surprised at you, trying a scam¹¹ like that. I wasn’t born yesterday. I want a price now.

Conversation 4

— At one time I had 50 people selling heroin in clubs around the city.

— Really? Didn’t you have any problem with the law¹²?

— No, they were all bent¹³ in those days. A bit of cash every month and they were happy.

— So why did you open the supermarkets?

— Originally it was a way to launder¹⁴ the drugs money. In the end it became more interesting to be legitimate.

Ex. 7. Give the synonyms to the following words. Use these words and their synonyms in your own sentences.

negligence, breach (n, v), punishment, supplier, accept, fraud, guarantee (n, v), prohibit, caveat, caveat venditor, discharge (n, v), truthful

Ex. 8. Give the antonyms to the following words. Use these words and their opposites in your own sentences.

liable, protected, negligence, charge, breach, punishment, private, supplier, agreement, accept, truthful

Ex. 9. Give the Russian equivalents to the following:

1. consumer law is concerned with the rights of private individuals, 2. to impose punishment on traders, 3. to grow at an unprecedented rate, 4. relevant to consumer matters, 5. new legislation is passed every year, 6. the supplier is in breach of an agreement, 7. take the case to court; transaction in question, 8. take possession of the goods, 9. refuse the services, 10. reasonable in the circumstances, 11. goods are lost in delivery, 12. warnings to the customer, 13. no responsibility will be accepted, 14. insurance bills to cover legal cases, 15. to balance the interests of the consumer against those of the producer.

Read the texts. Make notes of their main points. Be ready to discuss them.

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