- •Section 1. Individual and society Key vocabulary
- •1. Read the following words
- •2. Read and translate the groups of words given
- •3. Remember the words given
- •1. Make up sentences using the following words
- •2. Fill in the blanks with prepositions
- •3. Fill in the gaps with the verbs given in brackets
- •4. Response on the following
- •5. Make up questions to the following sentences.
- •Speaking
- •1. Work in pairs. Discuss the underlying problem of Economics.
- •2. In groups, define why a high standard of living is impossible without a cooperation of large numbers of people. Section 2. Scarcity and choice Key vocabulary
- •1. Learn the following words and word combinations by heart
- •Read and translate the groups of words give
- •1. Listen, read and translate the text
- •1. Define the main idea of each passage in the text
- •2. Scan the text again and define the three basic choices to be made.
- •3. Match the words from the text with corresponding definitions
- •4. Fill in the gaps
- •5. Join the sentence halves below
- •Chapter 2. Economic system Section 1. The Role of the Market Key vocabulary
- •1. Read the following words
- •The role of the market
- •5. Fill in the blanks with the correct forms of the verbs given in brackets
- •Section 2. The Command Economy, the Free Market Economy and the mixed economy
- •Translate and remember the following word combinations
- •Find the English equivalents to the following word expressions
- •1. Listen, read and translate the text the command economy, the free market economy, the mixed economy
- •Read sentences and decide if they are right or wrong according to the text
- •2. Answer the questions
- •Find the Russian equivalents to the following English word combinations
- •1. Listen, read and translate the text
- •Speaking
- •Section 2.What is microeconomics? Key vocabulary
- •2. Find the equivalents to the following word combinations
- •3. Give the English for the following
- •Listen, read and translate the text
- •1. Join the sentence halves below
- •Match the terms and their definitions
- •3. Answer the following questions for general understanding
- •4. Translate into Russian
- •Chapter 4. Demand and supply, and the Market Section 1. The Market Key vocabulary
- •The market
- •1. Answer the following questions for general understanding
- •2. Match the word and the definition
- •3. Translate into Russian
- •5. Look through the text once again and write a summary using the clichés above.
- •1.Read and remember the following words
- •2. Read and translate the groups of words given
- •3. Translate the word combinations given from Russian into English
- •4. Translate the word expressions given and in simple words explain their meanings
- •1. Listen, read and translate the text
- •1. Fill in the blanks with the correct forms of the verbs given in brackets
- •2. Make up questions to the following sentences
- •3. Answer the following questions for general understanding
- •4. Read each statement given and decide which of the following is not true
- •5.Writing a summary is an useful activity to prepare for any oral task such as retelling or discussion. Here are some clichés to compose a summary:
- •6. Look through the text once again and write a summary using the clichés above Speaking
- •2. Work in small groups. Think about examples of storable commodities, decide whether it is necessary in some economies to stock them and present your ideas to the class.
- •3. Make a brief report on the subject: “Demand and supply, and the Market” Chapter 5. Competition Section 1. The Limiting Cases of Market Structure
- •1.Read and remember the following words
- •Match each expression with its meaning
- •3. Read and translate the groups of words given
- •Listen, read and translate the text
- •1. Fill in the blanks with prepositions
- •2. Read each statement given and decide which of the following is not true
- •3. Make up questions to the following sentences
- •4. Answer the following questions
- •Key vocabulary
- •2. Translate the word combinations given from English into Russian
- •3. Make nouns of these verbs
- •1. Listen, read and translate the text
- •1. Match the terms and their definitions
- •Join the halves of the sentences below
- •Make up questions to the following sentences
- •4. Answer the following questions
- •1. Talk to your partner and give one or two examples of a perfectly competitive market where neither buyers nor sellers believe that their own actions affect the market price.
- •2. So you are aware now that each firm in a competitive industry faces a
- •Section 3. Competition in World Markets Key vocabulary
- •1. Make up sentences using the following words
- •2. Fill in the gaps with the verbs given in brackets
- •Speaking
- •Section 4. Oligopoly Key vocabulary
- •2. Guess the meaning of the following word combinations from the text
- •1. Listen, read and translate the text Oligopoly
- •Language practice
The role of the market
Markets bring together buyers and sellers of goods and services. In some cases, such as a local fruit stall, buyers and sellers meet physically. In other cases, such as the stock market, business can be transacted over the telephone, almost by remote control. We need not go into these details. Instead, we use a general definition of markets.
A market is a shorthand expression for the process by which households' decisions about consumption of alternative goods, firms' decisions about what and how to produce, and workers' decisions about how much and for whom to work are all reconciled by adjustment of prices.
Prices of goods, and of resources, such as labour, machinery and land, adjust to ensure that scarce resources are used to produce these goods and services that society demands.
Much of economics is devoted to the study of how markets and prices enable society to solve the problems of what, how, and for whom to produce. Suppose you buy a hamburger for your lunch. What does this have to do with markets and prices? You chose the cafe because it was fast, convenient and cheap. Given your desire to eat, and your limited resources, the low hamburger price told you that this was a good way to satisfy your appetite. You probably prefer steak but that is more expensive. The price of steak is high enough to ensure that society answers the 'for whom' question about lunchtime steaks in favour of someone else.
Now think about the seller's viewpoint. The cafe owner is in the business because, given the price of hamburger meat, the rent and the wages that must be paid, it is still possible to sell hamburgers at a profit. If rents were higher, it might be more profitable to sell hamburgers in a cheaper area or to switch to luxury lunches for rich executives on expense accounts. The student behind the counter is working there because it is a suitable part-time job which pays a bit of money. If the wage were much lower it would hardly be worth working at all. Conversely, the job is unskilled and there are plenty of students looking for such work, so owners of cafes do not have to offer very high wages.
Prices are guiding your decision to buy a hamburger, the owner's decision to sell hamburgers, and the student's decision to take the job. Society is allocating resources - meat, buildings, and labour - into hamburger production through the price system. If nobody liked hamburgers, the owner could not sell enough at a price that covered the cost of running the cafe and society would devote no resources to hamburger production. People's desire to eat hamburgers guides resources into hamburger production. However, if cattle contracted a disease, thereby reducing the economy's ability to produce meat products, competition to purchase more scarce supplies of beef would bid up the price of beef, hamburger producers would be forced to raise prices, and consumers would buy more cheese sandwiches for lunch. Adjustments in prices would encourage society to reallocate resources to reflect the increased scarcity of cattle.
Language practice
Match the words with the opposite meaning
cheap, high, sell, question, expensive, purchase, low, response, answer, reply, buy, luxury
2. Form antonyms of the following words using necessary prefixes
profitable, having job, skilled, paid, worth, allocate
3. Translate the following word combinations from Russian into English
перераспределение ресурсов, бутерброды с сыром, мясные продукты, отдавать ресурсы, едва ли стоило бы работать, более дорогой, ограниченные ресурсы
4. Put special questions to the sentences
1. It is still possible to sell hamburgers at a profit.
2. People's desire to eat hamburgers guides resources into hamburger production.
3. The student behind the counter is working there because it is a suitable part-time job which pays a bit of money.
4. You probably prefer steak but that is more expensive.
5. Much of economics is devoted to the study of how markets and prices enable society to solve the problems of what, how, and for whom to produce.
6. The distribution problem is solved in a similar manner.
7. Markets bring together buyers and sellers of goods and services.