Текст книги "Английский для экономистов (учебник английского языка)"

Шевчук Денис Александрович
АНГЛИЙСКИЙ ДЛЯ ЭКОНОМИСТОВ (учебник английского языка)

ПРЕДИСЛОВИЕ (Introduction)

Данное пособие предназначено для студентов экономических специальностей вузов, а также для широкого круга лиц, использующих английский язык в своей практической деятельности в сфере экономики и бизнеса. Пособие рассчитано на лиц, обладающих знанием нормативной грамматики английского языка и имеющих словарный запас в 2000-2500 лексических единиц.

По своей структуре пособие представляет собой серию разделов, организованных по тематическому принципу. Тематика и характер учебных материалов, представленных в учебнике, обеспечивают формирование у студентов профессионального словаря, а также навыков чтения и говорения в рамках профессиональной тематики. Каждый раздел (Unit) – это самостоятельный комплекс, имеющий унифицированную структуру и состоящий из следующих частей: YOUR VOCABULARY, LET’S READ AND TALK, SPEAK AND WRITE.

YOUR VOCABULARY включает в себя языковые упражнения, основной целью которых является выработка лексических навыков, обеспечивающих готовность студента к включению в последующую деятельность, а также подготовка к работе с текстами, поскольку все отрабатываемые лексические единицы взяты из текстов раздела LET’S READ AND TALK. Кроме того, часть упражнений (на подстановку предлогов, пропущенных слов, раскрытие скобок) представляют собой законченные тексты и являются полноценным источником информации, которая может быть использована при обсуждении темы.

Тексты для чтения предназначены прежде всего для формирования речевых навыков по заданной теме. Вначале это происходит на базе содержания текстов, а затем переносится на обсуждение темы в целом. Тексты подобраны из аутентичных источников и представляют собой отрывки из научной и научно-популярной литературы. Предлагаемые тексты могут использоваться для обучения различным видам чтения.

Вопросы и задания, предлагаемые в SPEAK AND WRITE, носят репродуктивный и продуктивный характер. Выполнение заданий требует от студентов концентрации внимания на адекватности употребления лексических и грамматических средств, логичности и четкости изложения. Формирование речевых навыков происходит в условно заданных речевых ситуациях. Наряду с вопросно-ответными заданиями, требующими расширенного ответа или выражения мнения, предлагаются задания проблемного характера, интеллектуально насыщенные, развивающие умение творчески мыслить. От студента требуется не только точное знание того или иного вопроса, но и умение увязать в канву ответа свой личный опыт и наблюдения. Поскольку большая часть заданий может выполняться как устно, так и письменно, автор сочла возможным включить в Appendix рекомендации по написанию эссе.

Автор не предлагает строгих методических рекомендаций по использование данного пособия, поскольку кроме специальных вузов оно может быть применимо в самых разных условиях учебного процесса и преподаватель сам может определить конкретные методические приемы в зависимости от уровня подготовки студентов, целей обучения и количества часов, отводимых на работу с тем или иным разделом. Разделы могут изучаться в предлагаемой последовательности или выборочно. Это же касается и выполнения заданий в рамках раздела: их выбор определяется практическими задачами и конкретными условиями каждого учебного заведения. Определенная избыточность лексических упражнений, текстового материала продиктована желанием обеспечить большую вариативность и мобильность в адаптации к нуждам каждой конкретной аудитории. В полном объеме пособие ориентировано на студентов, занимающихся по углубленной программе.

The master-economist must possess a rare combination of gifts. He must be a mathematician, historian, statesman, philosopher – in some degree. He must understand symbols and speak in words. He must contemplate the particular in terms of the general, and touch abstract and concrete in the same flight of thought.

He must study the present in light of the past for the purpose of the future.

No part of man’s nature or his institutions must lie entirely outside his regard. He must be purposeful and disinterested in a simultaneous mood; as aloof and incorruptible as an artist, yet sometimes as near the earth as a politician.

J.M. Keynes

We are beginning our work. And I’d like to start with the text devoted to a WORD. Whatever you do in your life, wherever you work be careful about and sensitive to the WORD. It’s your main tool.

Your boss has a bigger vocabulary than you have.

That's one good reason why he's your boss.

This discovery has been made in the word laboratories of the world. Not by theoretical English professors, but by practical, hard-headed scientists who have been searching for the secret of success.

After a host of experiments and years of testing they have found out:

• That if your vocabulary is limited your chances of success are limited.

• That one of the easiest and quickest ways to get ahead is by consciously building up your knowledge of words.

• That the vocabulary of the average person almost stops growing by the middle twenties.

• That from then on it is necessary to have an intelligent plan if progress is to be made. No hit-or-miss methods will do.

It has long since been satisfactory established that a high executive does not have a large vocabulary merely because of those opportunities of his positions. That would be putting the cart before the horse. Quite the reverse is true. His skill in words was a tremendous help in getting him his job.

It has been discovered that the one and only common characteristic of outstandingly successful people is an extensive knowledge of the exact meaning of English words.

Vocabulary is one indication of intelligence. Learning power measurably sharpens when vocabulary increases. Here is the proof.

Two classes in a high school were selected for an experiment. The ages and background of the members of both groups were the same, and each group represented a similar cross section of community. One, the control class, took the normal courses. The other class had an additional, special, and rigorous vocabulary training. At the end of the period the grades of the students in the vocabulary class surpassed the grades of the members of the control group, not only in English, but in every other subject, including mathematical and sciences.

Words are the tools of thinking. It naturally follows, then, that the more words you have at your command, the clearer and accurate your thinking will be.

Words are medium of exchange, the coin with which you do business with all those around you. With words you relate people, communicate your feelings and thoughts to them, persuade them, control them. In short, through words you shape your own destiny, for your words are your personality; your vocabulary is you.

How do words treat you? Are you comfortable with them? Do they easily come to you? When you write and speak, do your words paint the sort of picture of you that will do you the most good in the highly competitive world? Does your language usually present a true reflection of your mind, your emotions, and your personality? Or does it sometimes betray and blur your thoughts? Do people occasionally misunderstand you? Or can you compel them to listen, react, obey?

From now on we want you to look at words intently, to be inordinately curious about them and to examine them syllable and syllable, letter by letter. They are your tools of understanding and self-expression. Collect them. Keep them in condition. Learn how to handle them. Develop a fastidious, but not a fussy, choice. Work always toward good taste in their use. Train your ear for their harmonies.

We urge you not to take words for granted just because they have been part of your daily speech since childhood. You must examine them.

Words are not dead things. They are fairly wriggling with life. They are exciting and mysterious tokens of our thoughts, and like human beings, they are born, come to maturity, grow old and die, and sometimes they are even reborn in a new age. A word, from its birth to its death, is a process, not a static thing.

Words, like living trees, have roots, branches, and leaves. If the roots are the origin of words and the branches are the word families that stem out of them, the leaves of this language tree would be the words themselves and their meaning.

Like everyone else, you want certain things from life. No matter what those benefits are, or what particular way you have chosen to go about getting them, you know that your first and most effective means will be the words you use.

In short, the satisfaction and the success you get out of life depend very greatly on the skill with which you communicate your needs, your desires, your opinions to others.

Words are explosive. Phrases are packed with TNT. A single word can destroy a friendship, can start or end a mortal battle, can land a large order. The right words in the mouth of clerks have quadrupled the sales of a department store. The wrong words used by a campaign orator have lost an election. Words have changed the direction of history. Words can also change the direction of your life.

Один из способов тренировать ин. язык – обучать иностранцев русскому языку, русской литературе, философии и истории России (для чего стоит повышать их знание).

Денис Шевчук

Замечено, что многие люди не знают элементарных правил русского языка, например:

1. Количество кавычек всегда должно быть четным, как скобки в математике.

Рядом стоящие кавычки могут быть двух видов – «…» и «…» (лапки и елочки).

Правильно: «слова „слова“» или «слова „слова“»

Неправильно: «слова»» и "слова «слова»

Эти ошибки есть даже в названиях крупных фирм и некоторых статьях и книжках.

2. Если в конце предложения есть информация в скобках, точка ставится после скобок, не ставится перед скобками и внутри перед закрывающей скобкой.

Правильно: слова (слова).

Неправильно: слова. (слова.)

LEARNING HAPPENS TO BE A DIFFICULT PROCESS: NO PAIN, NO GAIN.

UNIT 1
ECONOMY

Менеджер – наемный управленец, начальник!

Если у вас нет ни одного подчиненного – вы не менеджер,

а максимум специалист!

Денис Шевчук

Your vocabulary

Economy

– a system according to which the money, industry, and trade of a country or region are organized.

– a country’s economy is the wealth that it gets from business and industry.

– careful spending or the use of things in order to save money.

– large-size packages of goods which are cheaper than the normal sized packages on sale.

Economic

– concerned with economics and with the organization of the money, industry, and trade of a country, region, or social group.

– relating to services, businesses, etc. that produce a profit.

Economical

– something that is economical does not require a lot of money to operate.

– using the minimum amount of time, effort, language, etc. that is necessary.

Economics

– the study of the production of wealth and the consumption of goods and services in a society, and the organization of its money, industry, and trade.

Economist

– an expert or student of economics.

Economize

– save money by spending it very carefully and not buying expensive things.

Economic Institution

– a physical or mental structure that significantly influences economic decisions

Economic policy

– an action (or inaction) taken, usually by government, to influence economic events.

Economic model

– simplified representation of reality.

Positive Economics

– the study of what is, and how the economy works.

Normative Economics

– the study of how the economy should be, from society’s standpoint.

Ex. 1. To show that you understand the words given above, choose the best word to complete the following sentences. Add noun, verb or adverb endings if necessary.

1. Home … is a subject studied at school and college in which students are taught how to run a house well and efficiently.

2. New England’s … is still largely based on manufacturing.

3. All Western … are competing against each other.

4.These businesses contribute hundreds of millions of pounds to the … of the country.

5. I switched off the lights as an … measure.

6. If you make …, you take action in order to save money, by not spending it on unnecessary things.

7. You’ll have to travel … class.

8. Buy our new … packs of 100.

9. If you are really going to buy a car, we’ll have to … on other things.

10. In his works he explains the ideas of the great English … J.M. Keynes.

11. She thought of herself as an … wife.

12. This system was extremely … because it ran on half-price electricity.

13. What has gone wrong with the … system during the last ten years?

14. The book is very … written, but very warm.

15. … is the oldest of social sciences.

Ex. 2. Look at the following derivatives. Use your knowledge of English and logical reasoning to explain the meaning of each word below.

system, systematic, systematically, systematize, systemic

Use these words in the following sentences.

1. The police made a .... search of the building.

2. You need some … in your work if you want to succeed.

3. I wish they’d organize themselves more … .

4. … insecticides spread all through a plant and kill any insects that feed on it.

5. This method helps … the information received.

Ex. 3. Add appropriate words where there are blanks in the sentences below and you’ll get the definitions of the words in bold. Some words can be used in their different meanings.

imply, convey, standpoint, overall, range, scarce, free, available, utility, rate, output, environment, artifact, discretion

1. The … is the total set of outside forces surrounding and shaping the behaviour of the organization and its members.

2. To … information, ideas, feelings, etc. means to cause them to be known or understood by someone.

3. Someone or something that is … is not restricted, controlled by rules, customs, or other people.

4. An … is an object that is made by a person.

5. The … of something is the total area or extent within which it can operate effectively, and beyond which it is no longer effective.

6. If something is …, there is not very much of it, and there may be enough for those who want or need it.

7. If something is …, you can have it or use it without paying for it.

8. If you … people or things, you arrange them in a line or in lines.

9. If you … that something is the case, you suggest that it is the case without actually saying so.

10. The … at which something happens is the speed at which it happens over a period of time.

11. The … of something is how useful and practical it is.

12. … is used to describe a situation in general, including everything but not considering the details.

13. The … of taxation is the level of it.

14. If something is …, you are able to use it or obtain it.

15. A … is an important service such as water, electricity, or gas provided for everyone.

16. If you … something highly, you consider that it is important.

17. Someone who is … is not busy and is therefore free for you to talk to.

18. A … is a particular way of looking at or thinking about an event, situation, or idea.

19. Someone’s … is the amount of something that they make or produce.

20. … is the quality of behaving in a quiet and controlled way without drawing attention to yourself or giving away personal or private information.

Ex. 4. Give synonyms to the following words. Be ready to give your own examples to show the difference in their meanings.

Affect, effect, aggregate, change, demand, allocate, borrow, income, seek, require, fair, refer to, scarcity, ultimate, restrict.

Ex. 5.  Give the opposite meaning to each word. Make up your own sentence with each word.

Push, appear, diverse, lend, facilitate, available, output, fair, increase, completely, complicate.

Ex. 6. Consult the dictionary and find the root words to the following:

Help, participate, contribute, allocate, mean, equitable, prevent, assemble, perform, imply, consider, scarce, benefit, value, societal, vary, certainly, compete.

Ex. 7. Make the following words negative.

Regard, responsible, desirable, respective, checked, doubt, certainty.

Ex. 8. Read the following definitions. Can you guess the word they all refer to?

1. A company or a business.

2. Something new, difficult, or important that you do or try to do.

3. A system of business, especially one in a particular country.

4. The ability to think of new and effective things to do, together with an eagerness to do them

(You can find the word in text 1, paragraph 1).

Now check your understanding. Insert the missing words. Translate the sentences into Russian.

1. He said he had doubts about the whole … .

2. This has done much to damage national … .

3. They are known to be the men of …, energy, and ambition.

4. I admire their … in trying to start up a new business.

5. This company is one of the largest … of this kind.

Ex. 9. Study the following words and word-combinations. What are their Russian equivalents?

to aim at, to arrange (for), game plan, to go ahead, a means to an end, on purpose, to set up, to tackle, to take action (on), to take steps, to take the initiative.

Translate the following sentences into Russian.

1. Our products are aimed at working mothers.

2. Let’s arrange for a meeting now. How about Friday, nine o’clock, your office?

3. OK, so we have arranged for finance and now we can go ahead with marketing.

4. The game plan for this morning’s meeting is to finish ordinary business in the first half hour, then take time out for coffee, so that, in the second half, we can zero in on the all-important question of new product development.

5. We use special offers in order to attract bigger orders – in other words, as a means to an end.

6. We have to reduce our overhead expenses. This will lead to job losses in some departments – an unpleasant fact, I’m afraid, but the end justifies the means.

7. Although everyone has to be at the meeting on time, the chairman will be a few minutes late, as usual, He does this on purpose, just to let everyone know who’s who in charge.

8. The company was set up ten years ago.

9. The government is doing all it can do to tackle the problems of housing and unemployment.

10. We need to take firm action, now, on the reduction in our market share – before matters get worse.

11. In the course of the next day or so, we shall be taking steps to put our plans into action.

12. For this job, we’re looking for someone with a go-ahead attitude, a self-starter, someone who’s prepared to take and maintain the initiative.

13.

Ex. 10. Look at the following Latin words. They may be helpful in your work with the texts on Economics and Business.

e.g. exempli gratia for example

i.e. id est that is

etc. et cetera and so on

viz. vide licet namely

c circa about, around (time)

v vide see

et al et ali and others

per se in itself

qua as

vice versa the reverse

ad hoc for this particular purpose

vs versus opposed

via 1.through

2.with the help of

per capita per head

ceteris paribus other things equal

ad valorem according to value

Ex. 11. What do the following words have in common and what do they differ in?

 Matter, problem, dilemma, trouble, alternative, predicament, difficulty.

Ex. 12. Translate into Russian in written form.

In 1776, the Scottish professor of philosophy, Adam Smith, published The Wealth of Nations. In this book, the first systematic study of capitalism, Smith described his principle of the “invisible hand”. This principle states that each person, pursuing his or her self-interest without interference by government, will be led, as if by an invisible hand, to achievethe best good for society.

Self-interest drives people to action, but alone it is not enough. People must understand the effects of their decision and their economic well-being. They must think rationally if they are to make the right decisions.

Because of this, economists long ago introduced the concept of economic man. This notion holds that each person is motivated by economic forces. In other words, each person will always attempt to obtain the greatest amount of satisfaction for the least amount of sacrifice or cost. This satisfaction may take the form of greater profits for a businessperson, higher wages or more leisure time for a worker, and greater pleasure from goods purchased for a consumer.

Of course, these assumptions are not entirely realistic. People may be motivated by forces other than self-interest. Nevertheless, the idea of economic man does deserve as a reasonable approximation of the prevailing pattern of economic behaviour in a capitalistic society. And in economics, as in other social sciences, reasonable approximations are often the best that can be made.

LET’S READ AND TALK

1. What is meant by the word «system»? How do you understand it?

2. What systems do you know? Give your examples.

3. To what systems do you belong?

TEXT 1

WHAT IS SYSTEM?

Everybody is familiar with the word system and uses it in everyday language. We speak of heating systems, communication systems, economic systems, and transportation systems. We talk of cultural and social systems. The word system is used because it conveys the idea that these things are made up of parts and that the parts somehow interact with each other for some purpose or reason.  A system is an organized or complex whole – an assemblage or combination of thingsor parts performing asa complex or unitary whole.

This definition implies several ideas. First is the concept ofinterdependency. If a change occurs in one part or set of parts, it affects all other parts of the system. This affect on each part may be direct or indirect.

A second implication of the definition of a system is the concept of wholism. This means that the system should be considered as a functioning whole. Changes in parts of the system and in the functioning of elements of the system should be considered from the standpoint of the system’s overall performance.

A third concept implied by the definition is synergism. This refers to the interactive effect of the parts of the system working together. The actual interaction of the parts creates an effect which is greater than the effect of the parts acting separately.

We’ve started our work with this small text about a system because we want you to bear in mind and apply the systematic approach to everything you see, hear, read or discuss, for everything in this world belongs to this or that system. While reading the texts pay attention to the economic and business terms. They’ll become the basis of your professional vocabulary.

TEXT 2

HISTORY OF ECONOMICS

In the 1500s there were few universities. Those that existed taught religion, Latin, Greek, philosophy, history, and mathematics. No economics. Then came the Enlightenment (about 1700) in which reasoning replaced God as the explanation of why things were the way they were. Pre-Enlightenment thinkers would answer the question, “Why am I poor?” with, “Because God wills it.” Enlightenment scholars looked for a different explanation. “Because of the nature of land ownership” is one answer they found.

Such reasoned explanations required more knowledge of the way things were, and the amount of information expanded so rapidly that it had to be divided or categorized for an individual to have hope of knowing a subject. Soon philosophy was subdivided into science and philosophy. In the 1700s, the sciences were split into natural sciences and social sciences. The amount of knowledge kept increasing, and in the late 1800s and early 1900s social science itself split into subdivisions: economics, political science, history, geography, sociology, anthropology, and psychology. Many of the insights about how the economic system worked were codified in Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations, written in 1776. Notice that this is before economics as a subdiscipline developed, and Adam Smith could also be classified as an anthropologist, a sociologist, a political scientist, and a social philosopher.

Throughout the 18^th and 19^th centuries economists such as Adam Smith, Thomas Malthus, John Stuart Mill, David Ricardo, and Karl Marx were more than economists; they were social philosophers who covered all aspects of social science. These writers were subsequently called Classical economists. Alfred Marshall continued in that classical tradition, and his book, Principles of Economics, published in the late 1800s, was written with the other social sciences in evidence. But Marshall also changed the question economists ask; he focused on the questions that could be asked in a graphical supply-demand framework. In doing so he began what is called neo-classical economics.

For a while economics got lost in itself, and economists learned little else. Marshall’s analysis was downplayed, and the work of more formal economists of the 1800s (such as Leon Walras, Francis Edgeworth, and Antoine Cournot) was seen as the basis of the science of economics. Economic analysis that focuses only on formal interrelationships is called Walrasian economics.…….

1. The text you’ve read gives a very brief view of the history of Economics. What other names (schools, theories) can you give to continue the story?

TEXT 3

Read the text. Define the main idea of each paragraph.

THE ECONOMIC SYSTEM

There are many forms of economic order, ranging from the mixed private enterprise system to partially or completely controlled economies. Regardless of their form, however, economic system is the system that a society uses for allocation and distribution of scarce resources. Private enterprise means that decisions about what and how much to produce are left to the discretion of owners and managers. In controlled economies such decisions are the responsibility of some governmental agency. There is, of course, no economy today that is completely free of governmental influence, nor is this condition necessarily undesirable. There are many beneficial services and protections available from government. The question then is a matter of degree. Irrespective of the form of economic order, it performs certain valuable functions in the life of organizations of all types.

Among the functions of the economic order the most important one is to provide some means of resource allocation. In a private enterprise this function is basically performed by the price mechanism. This simply means that demand for and supply of goods and services interact to set their market price. In the case of regulated utilities, there are governmental agencies such as public service commissions that determine the rates that may be charged by utility companies. These rates are set at the level that will allow a fair return on investments made by the companies. This form of regulated monopoly is considered, on balance, preferable to unchecked competition. This is true because of efficiency reasons. In taking actions in the area of employment, government is attempting to control the economy in such a fashion as to help the business community operate at the level of production that will yield full employment.

Without a system of distribution economy simply could not exist. A major part of this distribution system is credit. Economy flourishes on credit or extended methods of payment. Such a system literally affects every link in the distribution chain from the supplier of raw materials to the ultimate consumer. Without this vital financing function being performed, the economy would doubtless be forced to a lower order of production.

Economic goals for a nation include price stability, full employment, economic growth, and equitable distribution of income. Price stability contributes to the efficient allocation of resources and facilitates long-term planning. Full employment means that jobs are available for those seeking work. Higher standards of living require increased output per person (economic growth per capita). An equitable distribution of income means that the fruits of the economy are divided in a way that seems fair to the majority of the people. With the long-run trend toward a more sophisticated, highly integrated economic system, it is becoming increasingly important for an individual decision maker to be aware of the macroeconomic environment.

1. What is a system?

2. What are three main concepts of a system? What do they imply?

3. What is an economic system?

4. What functions does economic order perform?

5. What do economic goals for a nation usually include?

TEXT 4

Read the text. Make up the plan and retell the text using your plan.

PROLOGUE TO ECONOMICS

There is almost universal agreement that economies are becoming more complex every year and that an understanding of how an economy works is more important than ever before. For someone who is just beginning to study economics, the task indeed appears to be a difficult one. Economics is the study of the way in which mankind organizes itself to solve the basic problem of scarcity. All societies have more wants than resources, so that a system must be devised to allocate these resources between competing ends. In a very real sense, the complexity of the economy makes it difficult to decide exactly where to start. Simultaneously, production is taking place, goods and services are being allocated, and a great number of market participants are being motivated by a diverse set of goals. In addition, there is the complex financial system in which individuals, firms, and governments borrow and lend funds.

Economics is divided into two major branches: macroeconomics and microeconomics. Macroeconomics is the study of behavior of the economy as a whole with emphasis on the factors that determine growth and fluctuations in output, employment, and the level of prices. Macroeconomics studies broad economic events that are largely beyond the control of individual decision makers and yet affect nearly all firms, households, and other institutions in the economy. Specialists in macroeconomics are particularly interested in understanding those factors that determine inflation, unemployment, and growth in the production of goods and services. Such an understanding is necessary in order to develop policies that encourage production and employment while controlling inflation.