A. Choose the right word or word combination.

1. ... is simply a one-owner firm.

a) a partnership

b) a sole proprietorship

c) a corporation

2. A sole proprietor is responsible for all personal and business ....

a) debts and losses

b) banks

c) enterprises

3. ... are firms owned jointly by two or more persons.

a) enterprises

b) proprietorships

c) partnerships

4. ... is an entity formed and owned by a group of people called
stock-holders.

a) a partnership

b) a sole proprietorship

c) a corporation

5. ... of the corporation are variety of skills, abilities, and ideas.

a) services

b) advantages

c) profits

B. Agree or disagree with the following statements. Give your
arguments.

1. A company makes or sells goods or services in order to get profit. 2. A proprietor is an owner of a business. 3. A partnership is a business owned by two or more partners who share the profits and losses. 4. Partners share the profits and losses according to the number of stocks they possess. 5. It's easier to make more money

if you are a sole proprietor rather than a member of a partnership. 6. Stock-holders' shares of ownership depend on their investment or contribution. 7. Stock certificates show shares of ownership of stock­holders. 8. A corporation has more opportunities for attracting experts. 9. Anyone can buy shares of a private limited company.

C. Give detailed answers to the following questions.

1. What is meant by the term "company"? 2. What forms do business enterprises usually take? 3. What is meant by the term "individual proprietorship"? 4. What is a sole proprietor responsible for? 5. What kind of a businessman does the sole proprietorship suit? 6. Why may a sole proprietor decide to form a partnership? 7. What is the difference between a partnership and a sole proprietorship? 8. What advantages are common both to sole proprietorships and partnerships? 9. What are the peculiarities of a corporation? 10. What is represented by a stock-certificate? 11. Who is a stock-holder? 12. What makes a corporation different from a sole proprietorship and a partnership? 13. What is the difference between public and private limited companies?

D. Write out the advantages and disadvantages of each business
form. Can you add any points of your own?

E. Say which business form (a sole proprietorship, a partnership, or
a limited company) is described. Decide what each point describes —
an advantage or a disadvantage of a certain business form.

1.A ... is a stronger entity than a proprietorship and can attract new employees more easily. 2. A ... must send each shareholder an annual report detailing the financial condition of the firm. 3. ... are the least risky from an owner's point of view. 4. The financial condition of the firm is the same as the financial condition of the owner. The owner must pay his company's debts from his or her own pocket. 5. A ... and a ... are the easiest forms of business to organise. The only legal requirements for starting such forms of business are a municipal licence to operate a business and a registration licence to ensure that two firms do not use the same name. 6. In ..., the unlimited liability is both joint and personal. 7. The owner has absolute control over the use of the company's resources. 8. ... do not end with the death of owners. 9. ... are subject to federal and provincial income taxes. 10. A ... offers the owner freedom and flexibility in making decisions.

6. Speaking

Give a short summary of the text. It is not difficult to sum up the main events described in the text if you follow the system:

1) read through the text very carefully and underline all the points which should come into your answer; 2) make a list of notes; 3) without looking at the original text, join these points together. To make the construction more logical use conjunctions and adverbs like "therefore" or "however"; 4) look back at the text and check that you have produced a good summary of what was said.

Reading

A. Read the dialogue and write down the information you get to know about:

a) the International Peterson Organisation

1) basic holding company is ...;

2) most shares owned by ...;

3) three main activities are ... .

b) Peterson Travel

1) owned by ...;

2) consists of ... .

Hugh is Marketing Director of the Holiday Tour Company. This company is part of a much larger organisation. Susan is a reporter. She is talking to Hugh.

Susan: Can you give me a picture of the structure of your company?

Hugh: Yes.

Susan: You are part of the Peterson Organisation, the main activities of which used to be in newspapers.

Hugh: Yes, the basic holding company is Australian — we are an Australian owned private company. Well, by "owned" I mean that the majority of the shares are the ownership of the Peterson family. The British company is the International Peterson Organisation, and that has three main activities: oil, travel, and publishing, of which newspapers is the major part.

Susan: I see.

Hugh: The Travel group, called Peterson Travel, has four companies: an airline, a retail travel agency, which own about eight shops

up and down the country, a small hotel company, and then Peterson Holidays and a sister company called Mortimer Holidays, which is a direct-sell company.

Susan: And all of this are run as independent businesses?

Hugh: Well, no, they have a fair bit of contact. But they are run as independent profit centres.

Susan: Yeah.

Hugh: Well, 1 report to the Peterson Managing Director. And basically the company is run by the Managing Director and what is called the Executive Team, of which I am a member.

B. Translate into English:

структура компании; основная деятельность организации; глав­ная компания, осуществляющая контроль за деятельностью осталь­ных; нефть, туризм и издательское дело; авиационная компания; агентство по продаже турпоездок; небольшая гостиничная ком­пания; по всей стране; филиал; компания по непосредственному сбыту товаров (без посредника); самостоятельная компания; быть тесно связанными; самостоятельные отделы, основная цель кото­рых — получение прибыли; отчитываться перед директором фир­мы; осуществлять руководство компанией; директорат.

Role-Playing

Student A: Get ready to take an interview. What questions will you ask a representative of the Vacation Travel Agency to find out about:

1) the structure of his/her company;

2) the main activities of the company;

3) the company's management?

Student B: You are a representative of the Vacation Travel Agency. Answer the interviewer's questions.

Reading

A. Study the following words and expressions:

exploration of oil — разведка и добыча нефти; offshore — в при­брежных водах; pipeline — трубопровод; load into a tanker — за­гружать в танкер; dealing (with) — занимающийся (чём-л.); area — область; refining — очистка (нефти).