3 Read the following text and draw a chart for the unemployment in the two countries over the given period:

Here are the effects of cyclical unemployment in Germany and the USA over a period of ten years. Although these are two very different economies, the pattern of unemployment is very similar. In 1995, unemployment in the USA stood at 5.6 per cent. As the American economy grew over the next five years, unemployment fell steadily until 2000, when it was only 4 per cent. However, soon afterwards the economy was in trouble for a number of reasons. Unemployment began to increase quickly, and by 2003 it had reached 6 per cent.

If we look at Germany, we see a similar pattern. In 1995, Germany’s economy was not strong, and unemployment was at a high level of 8 per cent. This continued to rise until 1997, when it reached 9.2 per cent

However, the economy began to improve and over the following years unemployment fell – just as it did in the USA. By the year 2000, German unemployment had fallen to 7.2 per cent – a big drop, but still higher than the USA. However, the economic difficulties that affected the USA after 2001 were felt all over the world, including Germany. Unemployment began to rise again and by 2004 it was at a new high level of 9.5 per cent.

9. Wealth, Income and Inequality

What does it mean to be wealthy? The answer to this question varies from culture to culture. In the modernized industrial world that we live in, wealth generally means all the collected store of valuable things that belong to a person (or family, company or country). Wealth can include money invested or saved in bank accounts, land, houses, works of art, jewels and other property. Many people also own stocks and shares in companies. The various things that make up a person’s wealth are often called assets.

So wealth is a static thing. The term “income”, on the other hand, suggests a flow of money. Income is the amount of money that a person (or family or company) receives over a period of time. For most people, this means the salary they get for the work they do. However, there are other sources of income. One source is government benefits, such as unemployment benefit or family support. Another source is rent from property and another is interest from savings.

Huge inequalities in wealth owned by individuals exist in many countries. Take the United Kingdom for example. The fifth of all the marketable wealth is owned by one per cent of the UK’s population. That one per cent own over 355 billion pounds of assets. How is the rest of the UK’s wealth distributed? The richest 50 per cent of the population own over 93 per cent of the wealth. In other words, half the population own nearly all the wealth and the other half own only a tiny percentage. The richest one per cent of the population own over a fifth of all the country’s wealth.

How about income? Large inequalities also exist in the distribution of income. Half of the population earn just under a third of the total income. 90 per cent of the population take only 70 per cent of the total income. This means that the top ten per cent of the population earn nearly 30 per cent of the country’s total income. (1577)

1. Find in the text the English equivalents to the following words and word combinations: быть богатым, накопленный запас ценностей, принадлежать человеку, произведения искусства, ценные бумаги и акции, имущество, постоянная вещь, поток денег, доход, зарплата, источники дохода, правительственные пособия, пособие по безработице, поддержка семьи, процент от сбережений, огромные неравенства, владеть, богатство страны, распределение дохода, меньше одной третьей общего дохода.