The Flaws of Age Discrimination

1. The British employment laws have encouraged younger people to value the wisdom that age and experience brings - often confounding their prejudices and establishing a new respect and friendship that bridge the age-gap. There is also a measurable change in the recognition of age-linked capability. "60 is the new 40" people are fond of saying. And it's true. Given better health, education and opportunity, the middle-aged are far more ambitious, adaptable and teachable than they used to be, just a generation ago.

2. In the case of ageism, there must be very few who would want to return to that old workplace atmosphere, in the UK, where the over 40's lived in permanent fear of redundancy, just because their boss might feel one morning that they were past their 'sell by date'. That was a type of institutionalized, bullying behaviour, and was certainly a stress factor to the employee involved. Also fear itself is known to inhibit performance out of all proportion to the actual risk and a constant mood of apprehension would certainly impact upon both team and individual productivity. But if the UK can claim to be at the forefront of anti-ageism, I can assure you that some profoundly mixed messages can come out of the whole ageism agenda. Take the selection of TV news presenters. The television stations have to achieve ratings based on viewer choice, so it is possible to argue that the bias in favour of young, female newscasters is justified, as it's clearly an appearance-based role.

3. Sometimes it appears that it may soon become an offence to remunerate people in respect of their valuable experience and qualification! I certainly hope not. A job should be given on the person's ability to do it - whether the applicant is 20 or 60, a slim young female with a pretty face or a middle-aged man with a moustache. The person specification should relate closely to the criteria of the job specification.

VII. Определите, являются ли приведенные ниже утверждения (1, 2, 3)

а) истинными (true)

б) ложными (false)

в) в тексте нет информации (no information)

1) The British employment laws have improved peace of mind.

2) It never appears that it may soon become an offence to remunerate people in respect of their valuable experience and qualification!

3) Ageism leads a person to a stress.

VIII. Прочитайте абзац 3 и ответьте письменно на следующий вопрос:

What are the criteria to be given a job?

Контрольная работа №2

Вариант №1

I. Переведите письменно существительные (1-10). Выберите определения

(a – j), соответствующие существительным:

1) commerce	a) the activity of buying, selling, or exchanging goods within a country or between countries
2) trade	b) a country or area that is under political control of a more powerful country
3) import	c) the people who live in the same area, town, etc.
4) colony	d) the sale of goods in shops to customers for their own use
5) equipment	e) the buying and selling of goods and services
6) currency	f) very large shop
7) community	g) place where you buy things
8) retail	h) the system or type of money that a country uses
9) shop	i) the tools, machines, clothes etc. that you need to do a particular job
10) supermarket	j) a product that that is brought from one country into another

II. a) Выполните КОПР № 2, 3.

б) В следующих предложениях подчеркните глагол-сказуемое, определите его видовременную форму и залог. Переведите предложения на русский язык.

1) Japan’s growth is becoming much less dependent on exports.

2) The end of Britain’s supremacy was hastened by an unhappy combination of economic circumstances.

3) The value of goods and services can be measured in money.

III. a) Выполните КОПР № 1.

б) В следующих предложениях подчеркните герундий и инфинитив. Переведите предложения на русский язык.

1) American consumers cannot keep spending more than they earn.

2) Tracing the complex flows of funds is often difficult.

3) Congress failed to approve a proposal that the two countries normalize trade relations.

IV. a) Выполните КОПР № 1.

б) Перепишите и письменно переведите на русский язык следующие предложения. Помните, что инфинитивные обороты часто соответствуют придаточным предложениям.

1) Russia’s population is expected to fall by 22 % between 2005 and 2050.

2) Insurance companies consider manual workers to be high risk.

3) Price rises are likely to exceed the authorities objective substantially.

V. Прочитайте и устно переведите на русский язык весь текст. Перепишите и письменно переведите абзацы 1, 3.

Foreign Trade of the UK

1. The prominent position of British commerce in world trade during the 18^th and 19^th centuries resulted largely from the geographical isolation of the British Isles from the wars and political troubles that afflicted the centers of trade on the European continent. The development of the great trading companies, colonial expansion, and naval control of the high seas were corollary factors. Before the 17^th century the foreign trade of England was almost completely in the hands of foreigners; wool was the principal export, and manufactured goods were the chief imports. Under the mercantile system, which in Great Britain was the prevailing economic theory of the 17^th and 18^th centuries, the government fostered British foreign trade, the development of shipping, and trading companies. As British overseas possessions increased, the raising of sheep for wool and mutton became a major occupation in the colonies; the practice of exporting wool from England and importing manufactured woolen articles was gradually replaced by the import of wool and the manufacture and export of yarns and fabrics. Cotton textiles iron and steel, and coal soon became significant British exports.

2. In the early 1990s Britain remained one of the world’s leading trading nations. Its major exports were road vehicles and other transportation equipment, industrial machinery, petroleum and petroleum products, etc. Exports were valued at $190,1 billion annually in the early 1990s. In the same period, annual imports totaled $221,6 billion. Trade with other Commonwealth members and with the sterling area (a group of countries whose currencies are tied to the British pound sterling) declined after Great Britain joined the European Economic Community (now the European Union) in 1973, and trade with Western Europe has become more important.

3. Most domestic retail trade is conducted through independently owned shops, although the number of chain, and cooperative stores and supermarkets is increasing. More than half of all wholesale trade is carried out in London.

VI. Определите, являются ли приведенные ниже утверждения (1, 2, 3)

а) истинными (true)

б) ложными (false)

в) в тексте нет информации (no information)

1) As British overseas possessions increased, the raising of sheep for wool and mutton became a minor occupation in the colonies

2) In the early 1990s the major exports lf Britain were road vehicles and other transportation equipment.

3) Stonehenge is Britain’s prehistoric monument.

VII. Прочитайте абзац 2 и ответьте письменно на следующий вопрос:

When did trade with other Commonwealth members and with the sterling area decline?

Вариант №2

I. Переведите письменно существительные (1-10). Выберите определения

(a – j), соответствующие существительным:

1) manager	a) raising money for a person
2) consumer	b) danger; a chance of suffering harm or loss
3) entrepreneur	c) anything that is done
4) benefits	d) a person who buys goods or services
5) risk	e) one in charge of managing an enterprise for business
6) job	f) a trademark or label that names a product
7) business	g) a person who launches or manages a business venture
8) brand	h) a business
9) company	i) offers a public service as water, heat, electricity
10) utility (ies)	j) a person’s professional occupation

II. a) Выполните КОПР № 2, 3.

1) Managing change effectively is directly related to survival and success.

2) Results in mutual benefit or profit for both parties involved.

3) The exhibition has always been the place for introducing new products and new technologies.

III. a) Выполните КОПР № 1.

б) В следующих предложениях подчеркните герундий и инфинитив. Переведите предложения на русский язык.

1) Organizations exist to combine human efforts in order to achieve certain goals.

2) We have to decide whether it’s worth risking the money

3) Entrepreneurs are responsible for such economic decisions as what to produce, how much to produce and what method of production to adopt.

IV. a) Выполните КОПР № 1.

б) Письменно переведите на русский язык следующие предложения. Помните, что инфинитивные обороты часто соответствуют придаточным предложениям.

1) Entrepreneurship is regarded to be the first track to success.

2) You want us to help your company out of its difficulties by lending you money.

3) You expect us to save the day for you and get nothing in return.

V. Прочитайте и устно переведите на русский язык весь текст. Перепишите и письменно переведите абзацы 1, 2, 3.

Entrepreneurs

1. Entrepreneur is a person who organizes and manages a business.

This is a French word that has been accepted into the English language.

Its popularity probably has something to do with its grand sound which befits anyone who has the initiative to create and run a business.

2. Entrepreneurs are a mystery to some people, especially those who are only comfortable with a nine-to-five existence and assured weekly paychecks and fringe benefits. The entrepreneur is a business person who prefers to take calculated risks in order to be his or her own boss.

3. Sometimes the entrepreneur is regarded as a business person who takes risks. This is not so. An entrepreneur is a business person who minimizes risks. He or she does this by advance planning, research, and meticulous consideration of all factors that could affect and possibly endanger her or his enterprise. When the entrepreneur forgets to do advance investigation and preparation, then he or she is a gambler at best and a failure statistic at worst.

4. Speaking about entrepreneurship, professor K.Vesper of the University of Washington says that “Business continue to be launched by people who didn’t make it the first time around. A driving force in entrepreneurship…. Is addictiveness. Once people have a taste of freedom in a business of their own, they like it. They don’t want to go back to working for someone else.”

5. While the percentage of growth for men entering into business independence could be measured in the teens, women’s increase in a single decade was 69 percent. There is no mystery here. Women go into business for the same reason men do – to make money and to be their own bosses. The rise in female entrepreneurship is reminiscent of what the early-20^th-century immigrants did – and the more recent waves of immigrants from different parts of the world. Entrepreneurship is regarded to be the first track to success. Rather than to take low-wage, big industry job, people opt to use their wits and energy to climb the ladder of independence the entrepreneurial way.

VI. Определите, являются ли приведенные ниже утверждения (1, 2, 3)

а) истинными (true)

б) ложными (false)

в) в тексте нет информации (no information)

1) An entrepreneur is regarded as a business person who takes risks.

2) Once people have a taste of freedom in a business of their own, they don’t want to go back to working for someone else.

3) Each person who owns stock in a corporation becomes its co-owner.

VII. Прочитайте абзац 5 и ответьте письменно на следующий вопрос:

What is the reason women go into business?

Вариант №3

I. Переведите письменно существительные (1-10). Выберите определения

(a – j), соответствующие существительным:

1) decade	a) the amount as of money or goods, asked for or given in exchange for something else
2) export	b) business enterprise; a firm
3) business	c) to send or transport abroad, especially for trade or sale
4) company	d) the occupation, work, or trade in which a person is engaged
5) wage	e) a period of ten years
6) profit	f) articles produced to be sold
7) goods	g) payment for labor or services to a worker, especially remuneration on an hourly, daily, or weekly basis
8) consumer	h) the capacity of a physical system to do work
9) price	i) the return received on an investment after all charges have been paid
10) energy	j) a person who buys goods or uses services

II. a) Выполните КОПР № 4.

1) Figures based on the labour-fource survey showed that employment continued to grow.

2) Proposals have also been put forward for increasing worker and researcher mobility.

3) Protesters had decried the risks of mad-cow disease, so the new deal limits imports to low-risk animals under 30 months old.

III. a) Выполните КОПР № 1.

б) В следующих предложениях подчеркните герундий и инфинитив. Переведите предложения на русский язык.

1) The two carmakers hope to achieve savings of 5% on common projects.

2) The growing diversification of services rendered by American corporations resulted in their beginning to offer entire packages of services.

3) After some hard talking officials the decision went China’s way at a meeting in Geneva of the Convention on International Trade.

IV. a) Выполните КОПР № 1.

1) Mobile operators appear to have realized that they need to open up their networks.

2) The Fed is reported to accept paper issued by “government-sponsored” enterprises.

3) They called for America’s illegal immigrants to be treated sensibly and humanely.

V. Прочитайте и устно переведите на русский язык весь текст. Перепишите и письменно переведите абзацы 2, 3, 4.

Land of the Rising Price

1. Japan, people like to argue, is one place that should greet the return of inflation with joy. The country, after all, has been in the grip of deflationary forces for over a decade. Even after an economic recovery which began in 2002, the lingering deflationary mindset has meant firms have struggled to raise prices or pay better wages. A burst of inflation, the Japan bulls say, will provide just the shot in the arm that economy needs.

2. Prices are indeed on the rise. The Bank of Japan (BOJ) raised its forecast for ‘core’ inflation in the fiscal year ending in March 2009 to 1.8% up from 1.1%. But even Japan’s “core” inflation rate, which strips out both energy and fresh food, is ticking up, as higher prices for wholesale goods pass on to consumers. Higher prices not only do harm to Japan’s external strength. They are eating into workers’ real earnings, and hurting companies’ profit margins at home (as they have difficulty passing on higher costs).

3. The prices of Japan’s exports relative to imports have deteriorated for at least four years, but until recently growth in companies’ sales volumes had more than made up for that. Japan’s recovery was underpinned by strong exports, first to China and more recently to Europe and oil-exporting countries. In value terms, exports to America are shrinking. Now, export growth to Europe looks as if it is wobbling.

4. For as long as money remains cheap, the second element of the optimists’ case – corporate restructuring – is unlikely to take hold. Without the discipline of higher rates, some companies will continue to eke out a living on a drip of cheap credit, while plenty of unproductive sectors and smaller businesses will escape the kind of consolidation they need. Falling profits and a lack of reform: that hardly makes for a bullish story quite yet.

VI. Определите, являются ли приведенные ниже утверждения (1, 2, 3)

а) истинными (true)

б) ложными (false)

в) в тексте нет информации (no information)

1) Japan has been in the grip of deflationary forces for over a decade.

2) A burst of inflation won’t provide just the shot in the arm that economy needs.

3) Consumers are not satisfied with higher prices in Japan.

VII. Прочитайте абзац 1 и ответьте письменно на следующий вопрос:

What will a burst of inflation provide in Japan?

Вариант №4

I. Переведите письменно существительные (1-10). Выберите определения

(a – j), соответствующие существительным:

1) workforce	a) people living in a place, country, etc.
2) service	b) making of goods and materials
3) bank	c) the members of the population able to work
4) job	d) money paid regularly for work done
5) rise	e) the number of people in an area or group who have regular paid job
6) industry	f) system or arrangement that supplies public needs
7) employment	g) establishment for keeping money and valuables safely
8) wage	h) employment, post
9) manufacturing	i) upward progress
10) population	j) branch of trade and manufacture

II. a) Выполните КОПР № 2, 4.

1) The world’s leading gas and oil exporter, Russia has become one of the most attractive emerging markets in the world.

2) Nobody in the world knows the exact date when the first rent deal in the history of mankind was concluded.

3) The Russian government of the early 1990s decided to use shock therapy approach.

III. a) Выполните КОПР № 1.

б) В следующих предложениях подчеркните герундий и инфинитив. Переведите предложения на русский язык.

1) Banks are interested in keeping most of their money in circulation so that it should bring them profit.

2) In 1913 H. Ford began to use assembly-line techniques in his plant.

3) Many countries in Asia have an absolute advantage in manufacturing electronic goods.

IV. a) Выполните КОПР № 1.

1) The RF government is expected to put considerable efforts and financial resources into transport infrastructure, development and modernization.

2) Most secretarial and clerical jobs require the applicant to take a written examination.

3) Some of the major investors wanted the bank to pay a higher interest rate.

V. Прочитайте и устно переведите на русский язык весь текст. Перепишите и письменно переведите абзацы 2, 3.

Employment

1. By the year 2000 Britain’s working population – the workforce – was 27 million (nearly 50 per cent of the total population). Those in employment include full-time, part-time and self-employed people. People are employed in the three sectors: primary, manufacturing and service.

2. Employment is also often divided into sections according to the types of work and social class. These categories include professional, manual and non-manual. A doctor, for example, would be classed as a professional in the service sector, while a steelworker would be a manual worker (skilled or unskilled) in the manufacturing sector. One trend is very clear in Britain: fewer people now make cars or work in coal mines; more work for banks and hotels.

3. In 1951 ninety-six per cent of the people in work in Britain had full-time jobs and the majority of these (seventy per cent) were held by men. By 2000 twenty-one per cent of jobs were part-time and fourty-four per cent of workers were women. The basic employment trend of the 1980s continued, with a general rise in the number of part-time jobs for women, particularly in service industries. The number of people who were self-employed also rose due partly to new technologies and to changing work patterns.

4. There are big differences in pay between men and women. The average full-time wage for women is still only 80 per cent of the male average, even when the same job is involved. Certain highly-paid occupations such as surgery are still almost exclusively confined to men.

VI. Определите, являются ли приведенные ниже утверждения (1, 2, 3)

а) истинными (true)

б) ложными (false)

в) в тексте нет информации (no information)

1) Employment has risen among people over 55.

2) People are engaged in the three sectors: primary, production and service.

3) The numbers of part-time jobs for women rose due partly to new technologies.

VII. Прочитайте абзац 4 и ответьте письменно на следующий вопрос:

What are differences in pay between men and women?

Вариант №5

I. Переведите письменно существительные (1-10). Выберите определения

(a – j), соответствующие существительным:

1) debt	a) the business of buying and selling a specified commodity
2) market	b) a governing body or organization
3) goods	c) articles produced to be sold
4) government	d) the amount of money or goods, asked for or given in exchange for something else
5) price	e) something owed, such as money, goods, or services
6) taxpayer	f) an amount of cash or credit
7) money	g) a person who buys goods or uses services
8) bank	h) money in the form of bills or coins; currency
9) cash	i) a business establishment in which money is kept for saving or commercial purposes or is invested
10) consumer	j) one that pays taxes

II. a) Выполните КОПР № 2.

1) Some people prefer to use the Internet and others call a travel agent.

2) His bosses thought he was very good.

3) Why aren't advertising agencies and marketing companies interested?

III. a) Выполните КОПР № 1.

б) В следующих предложениях подчеркните герундий и инфинитив. Переведите предложения на русский язык.

1) It is also important to listen.

2) You can enjoy the conversation without worrying about how to eat the meal.

3) You should start by offering 10 percent to 15 percent less than the list price.

IV. a) Выполните КОПР № 1.

1) Advertisers are supposed to focus on young people.

2) The company is likely to expand into new markets in the US.

3) Retailers are expected to have a website, where customers can do research before going to the store.

V. Прочитайте и устно переведите на русский язык весь текст. Перепишите и письменно переведите абзацы 1, 2, 3.

The US Economy

1. The largest and still the most important market in the world, the United States of America's economy is driven by consumers but is troubled by high debt levels.

The United States of America (US or USA) has the world's largest economy. According to the CIA World Factbook, 2007 GDP is believed to be $13.84 trillion. This is three times the size of the next largest economy, Japan, which has a GDP of $4.4 trillion. US dominance has been eroded however by the creation of the European Union common market, which has an equivalent GDP of over $13 trillion, and by the rapid growth of the BRIC economies, in particular China, which is forecast to overtake the US in size within 30 years.

2. The recent failure in the US housing and credit markets have resulted in a slowdown in the US economy. 2007 GDP growth was estimated at 2.2% but in 2008 it is projected to be just 0.9%, down from the 10-year average of 2.8%.

The forces of supply and demand directly drive the price levels of goods and services. What to produce, and how much of it is to be produced depends on the price level fixed by the interaction of supply and demand.

3. The role of government in the US economy is crucial when it comes to decision-making regarding monetary and fiscal policies. The federal government takes all the necessary initiatives to ensure the growth and stability of the United States. The US government makes full use of economic tools such as money supply, tax rates, and credit control, among other things, to adjust the rate of economic growth. For the most part, the US Federal Government also regulates the operations of private business concerns in order to prevent monopolies. The government renders a number of direct services in the form of providing support for national defense, monetary aid for research and development programs, and funds for highway construction & infrastructure in general.

4. The question of national debt is a controversial one within the US. At the start of 2008, the US federal debt stood at $9.2 trillion. This is a worrying 67% of GDP and equates to $79,000 for each American taxpayer, a number just over 117 million people. To add to the concern, American consumers are also increasingly dependent on debt and have been re-mortgaging their houses to higher loan amounts, and using the extra cash to fund high street purchases. This debt figure is the largest in the world in absolute terms, but as a percentage of GDP it is less than Japan and similar to several European countries. Most of the debt is funded by central banks and sovereign wealth funds from Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

VI. Определите, являются ли приведенные ниже утверждения (1, 2, 3)

а) истинными (true)

б) ложными (false)

в) в тексте нет информации (no information)

1) The US government makes full use of economic tools.

2) The president takes all the necessary initiatives to ensure the growth and stability of the United States.

3) The capital of the USA is Washington D.C.

VII. Прочитайте абзац 4 и ответьте письменно на следующий вопрос:

Are American consumers dependent on national debt?