6. Ответьте на вопросы по тексту:

1. What is the basic idea of international trade?

2. What is main difference between domestic and international trade?

3. How can you consider trade barriers?

4. What is the difference between trade and investment?

5. What were the sequences of the Great Depression of the 1930s?

6. How many operators are sitting in the room of the credit-card processing center?

7) What are they supposed to answer in the situation when the computer is flashing the "stolen card" message?

8 Составьте аннотацию к тексту (2 - 3 предложения).

9 Составьте реферат текста (10 - 15 предложений).

10 Составьте план текста и перескажите текст.

Вариант № 7

1. Прочитайте и переведите тексты

Consumer Rights

In their role as consumers, ordinary EU citizens are key players in the Union's new frontier-free single market. The Union has in fact incorporated as the basis of its consumer policy, the protection of the five fundamental rights which lie at the heart of national policies. These are:

1. The protection of consumers' health and safety

Only products which will not endanger health or safety may be put on the market. This means setting safety requirements, providing full information about potential risks, protecting consumers against physi­cal injury.

2. The protection of consumers' economic interests

There is for example a general ban on misleading advertising and unfair terms in contracts with consumers.

3. Consumer rights to information and education

Consumers need to be put in a position where they can make an informed choice among goods and services offered. This includes objective information on the features and price of the items available. Consumers also require proper information about their efficient and safe use.

4. The right to redress

Consumers have the right to receive advice and help when seeking redress for faulty products or for injury or damage resulting from the use of goods and services. There need to be simple, affordable and rapid procedures for settling complaints and claims.

5. Consumer representation and participation

Representatives of consumers need to be present in decision-taking procedures on issues of concern to them at local, national or EU level. At Union level, this covers not only specific consumer issues but also other relevant policy areas like food laws, transport, competition poli­cy, financial services, environment and the like.

When the Community (the former name of European Union) adopt­ed its first consumer programme in 1975, it focused on the practical application of the five principles. As a first result, a number of direc­tives were adopted over the next 10 years covering among other things the safety of cosmetic products, the labelling of foodstuff, misleading advertising, consumer rights in door-step selling, product liability and the provision of consumer credit.

In addition to its programme of legislation on consumer protection, the Union took steps to make sure the interests of consumers are taken into account at local and EU level. It has supported the development of national consumer organizations and of five major EU-wide organiza­tions with consumer interests.

These are:

— The European Consumer's Organization (BEUC),

— The Confederation of Family Organizations in the European

Union (Coface),

— The European Community of Consumer Cooperatives

(Eurocoop),

— The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), and

— The European Interregional Institute for Consumer Affairs

(EIICA)

Internally, the European Commission created an independent

Consumer Policy Service in 1989 in order to give more authority and a higher profile to the implementation of consumer policy.

According to the data of 1991, nearly 64 % of Community GDP is devoted to private consump­tion, the highest proportion being 70.3 % in Greece and the lowest 52.5 % in Denmark (63.4 % in UK). The remainder of the GDP is devoted mainly to financing investments and the collective consump­tion of general government.

On average, Europeans devote 20 % of their 'consumption' budget to food (ranging from 37.8 % in Greece to 16.6 % in Germany, 21.5 % in UK) whereas 17.2 % covers housing expenditure (27.8 % in Denmark as against 10.3 % in Portugal, 18.5 % in UK). There are also marked disperities in spending on leisure and education (4.3 % in Luxembourg compared with 10.5 % in Ireland, with a UK average of 9.7 %).

There is plenty to be done, even after the legislative programme set out in the Maastricht Treaty on European Union is completed. The sin­gle market, like any other, needs to balance the interests of buyers and sellers if it is to operate efficiently. This means not only fixing addi­tional rules for consumer protection but also ensuring that existing ones are applied correctly (which is not always the case).

Small Business in the USA: An S-Corporation

Is not Always Best. It is generally believed that small companies should incorporate as S-corporations. While an S-corporation enjoys many corporate attrib­utes (the main is that the owners of a corporation do not expose their personal assets to corporate liability), it is treated like a partnership for purposes of determining its Federal income tax liability. At the end of each fiscal year, its total earnings (or losses) are prorated to each share­holder, and these earnings (or losses) are incorporated into their indi­vidual income tax returns.

Among the advantages of the S-corporation for small business is no "double taxation" — paying an income tax on corporate net income, and then paying an individual income tax on the dividend income sub­sequently distributed by the corporation.

Thus, an S-corporation "generally will not be liable for federal income tax." If losses are incurred during the start-up period (or any other period), these losses can be deducted each year from the share­holders' tax returns. All income, losses, credits, and deductions are "washed through" the S-corporation at the end of each fiscal year, and carried directly to the individual tax return for each shareholder. Being emptied out at the end of each fiscal year, the S-corporation has no retained earnings account.

For most of small businesses, the S-corporation has long been the preferred corporate structure. The operational accounting is simpler, and accounting, legal, and administrative expenses are minimized. Shareholders receive the immediate benefits of earnings without "dou­ble taxation", and the shelter of tax deductive losses on their individual tax returns. There are sound reasons to state that this is generally the most popular corporate structure.

However, for small businesses that are growing rapidly, the con­ventional C-corporation status may turn out more preferable. The primary motivation for such a change would be the ability to retain and reinvest earnings in the expanding business.

The maximum Federal income tax rate for C-corporation is 34 per­cent for taxable income up to $10.0 million, whereas the maximum tax rate on S-corporation income is now the maximum individual rate of 39.6 percent. At the other end of the range, the Federal tax on corpo­rate income of $100,000 is $22,250 for a C-corporation, whereas the incremental tax on this income added to other income of the share­holder in an S-corporatin could be as high as $39,600 if the sharehold­ers are already in the maximum tax bracket. If the business is striving to retain and reinvest all possible cash during a period of strong growth, it will obviously forgo distributing cash dividends thereby avoiding the problem of "double taxation."

The maximum tax will be effectively reduced by more than 16 percent, and substantial funds will then be retained to meet the capital needs of the expanding enterprise. Discounting the effects of deprecia­tion charges, this shift of corporate structure yields an almost 10 per­cent increase in net cash flow.

2 Переведите на русский язык следующие английские словосочетания:

1) consumer policy; 6) misleading advertising;

2) fundamental rights; 7) сonsumer rights to information and education;

3) benefits of earnings; 8) representation and participation;

4) the protection of consumers; 9) faulty products;

5) individual income taх; 10) expanding business.

3 Найдите в тексте английские эквиваленты следующих словосочетаний:

1) здоровье и безопасность; 6) акционеры;

2) экономические интересы; 7) двойное налогообложение;

3) объективная информация; 8) максимальный налог;

4) товары и услуги; 9) требования безопасности;

5) малый бизнес; 10) национальная политика.

4 Найдите в тексте слова, имеющие общий корень с данными словами. Определите, к какой части речи они относятся, и переведите их на русский язык:

To protect, to require, to lead, present, to participate, to develop, to corporate, to share­, tax, effect.

5 Задайте к, выделенному в тексте, предложению все типы вопросов: общий, альтернативный, разделительный, два специальных: а) к подлежащему, б) к любому члену предложения.

The primary motivation for such a change would be the ability to retain and reinvest earnings in the expanding business.

6 Выполните анализ данных предложений, обратив внимание на следующие грамматические явления: формы и функции инфинитива, инфинитивные конструкции (сложное дополнение, подлежащее), существительное в роли определения, функции слов one (ones), that (those), условные предложения:

1) If the business is striving to retain and reinvest all possible cash during a period of strong growth, it will obviously forgo distributing cash dividends thereby avoiding the problem of "double taxation."

2) The primary motivation for such a change would be the ability to retain and reinvest earnings in the expanding business.

3) There need to be simple, affordable and rapid procedures for settling complaints and claims.

4) There are sound reasons to state that this is generally the most popular corporate structure.

5) The maximum tax will be effectively reduced by more than 16 percent, and substantial funds will then be retained to meet the capital needs of the expanding enterprise.

6) There is plenty to be done, even after the legislative programme set out in the Maastricht Treaty on European Union is completed.

7) The sin­gle market, like any other, needs to balance the interests of buyers and sellers if it is to operate efficiently.