I. Match each of these headlines with one of the texts above.

A. Consortia of firms ________________

B. The sole proprietor ________________

C. The partnership ________________

D. Companies ________________

II. Which text reports on these items?

A. Personal liability for all losses ________________

B. Company’s distributed profit ________________

C. High risk projects ________________

D. Jeopardy of personal assets ________________

III. In most of the lines below there is one extra word. It is either grammatically incorrect or does not fit in with the sense of the text. Some lines, however, are correct. If there is an extra word in the line, write out the extra word in CAPITAL LETTERS.

00 Co-operatives. These are of two types.

01 Consumer co-operatives. These, like the old high street Co-ops, are

02 officially owned by the consumers. Consumers in a fact play no part in

03 the running of these co-ops. They are run by various professional

04 the managers.

05 Producer co-operatives. These are firms that are owned by their workers,

06 who share in the firm’s profit according to some agreed formula. They are

07 sometimes formed by people in the same trade coming together: in

08 example, producers of handicraft goods. At an other times they are formed

09 by workers buying out their factory from the owners; this is most likely if

10 it is due to close, with a resultant loss of jobs. Producer co-operatives,

11 although still relatively few in number, have grown in recent years.

IV. Choose the best answer to complete each gap in the text.

Public corporations

These are state-owned enterprises such as the BBC, the Bank of England and nationalised industries.

They have a legal identity separate ___ (1) the government. The corporation is run ___ (2) a board, but the members of the board are ___ (3) by the relevant government minister. The boards have to act within various ___ (4) of reference laid down by Act of Parliament. Profits of public corporations that are not reinvested accrue to the ___ (5). Since 1980 many public corporations have been “privatised”: that is, they have been sold directly to other firms in the ___ (6) sector (such as Austin Rover to British Aerospace) or to the general public through a public issue of shares (such as British Gas).

1. a) in	b) from	c) away	d) out of
2. a) with	b) that	c) those	d) by
3. a) appointed	b) managed	c) controlled	d) run
4. a) terms	b) conditions	c) items	d) notes
5. a) Central Bank	b) Foreign Office	c) Treasury	d) Cabinet
6. a) industry	b) commerce	c) private	d) manufacturing

Should central bank be independent of government?

I. Read the text. Some parts of the text have been taken out. These extracts are listed below. Complete each gap with the appropriate extract. One sentence does not belong in any of the gaps.

a) An independent central bank is free from political manipulation.

b) But the Bundesbank was concerned to dampen the inflationary pressures caused by German reunification.

c) The advocates of independence frequently cite the experience of Germany.

d) Technology provides both opportunities and threats to the banking community.

e) But with an independent central bank committed to monetary stability, it may be difficult for the government to achieve such economic policy goals.

In recent years there has been much discussion among both economists and politicians as to whether the Bank of England should be independent. ___ (1). The Bundesbank, Germany’s central bank, is fiercely independent, and is credited with being instrumental in Germany’s economic success. The Bundesbank’s philosophy is simple: Monetary and price stability are of overriding importance in the pursuit of growth. Inflation should be tightly controlled at all times.

The arguments in favour of an independent central bank are strong.

– ___ (2) It can devote itself to attaining long-run economic goals, rather than to helping politicians achieve short-run success in time for the next election.

– Independence may strengthen the credibility of monetary policy. This may then play an important part in shaping expectations: workers may put in moderate wage demands and businesses may be more willing to invest.

– An independent central bank has a clear legal status and set of responsibilities. It is the “protector of the currency” and as such it is not subordinate to government. This is important given the political nature of economic policy making in both a domestic and an international context. The Bundesbank’s policy concerning the ERM (European Monetary System) is a good example. In 1992, international pressure mounted on Germany to cut interest rates as other ERM members faced a deeping recession. ___ (3). It stuck firmly to its statutory obligations and refused to cut interest rates, except when the domestic economy allowed.

The statistics show that the greater the independence of a country’s central bank, the lower and more stable is its rate of inflation. If this is the goal of economic policy, it seems that more rather than less independence is desirable.

One of the major arguments against having an independent central bank is that it makes it more difficult to integrate monetary management into wider economic objectives. On some occasions it may be desirable to accept a higher rate of inflation – if this were the consequence of a growth stimulus aimed at reducing unemployment. ___ (4).