Vocabulary

to poison – отравить

heart attack – сердечный приступ

nanny – нянька

flu – грипп

to prevent – предотвратить

ridiculous – смехотворный

ANSWER THE QUESTIONS

1. Does “Health and Safety Executive” really protect people from risks?

2. Is the author right calling these examples of care “ridiculous”?

3. What is real care? How do you understand it?

15. Must a politician be kind?

Any politician who wants to win should be a real personality. He should have a will to win and a wish to have power. He should use power not for his own needs but for improving the situation in the country and for achieving definite aims.

A good politician should have an ability to risk and to love risking if he wants to win. He should be able to take non-traditional decisions and to give up some people from his team. If a good politician understands that some people cannot perform their functions he should change these people and forget how hard it was. A politician, who changes some members of the team when it is necessary, will lose. It is very important for a politician to have clever advisors but it is he who is responsible for the decisions. Though people often say that a politician who has clever advisors is not clever!

Political decisions may be ruthless for some people and good for the majority of the people. Therefore, a good politician should be ready to take ruthless decisions.

A politician who follows the same strategic line and does not revise his ideas will not live a long life in politics. Again, people may say that he has no will to finish something!

No image-maker can help a person who is nothing. It is impossible to improve “nothing”. Image-makers and advisors can add only 15-20% to the image of a politician.

The power should be used by a politician not for power itself but for achieving definite aim!

Vocabulary

personality – личность

to give up – зд. жертвовать

a will – воля

pliable – гибкий, уступчивый

ruthless – безжалостный

advisors – советники

ANSWER THE QUESTIONS

1. What kind of people can succeed in politics?

2. What traits of character are they to have?

3. Which of the author’s ideas do these statements confirm?

A politician should be power-loving.

A politician should be gifted.

A politician should be risky.

A politician should be ambitious.

A politician should be pliable.

4. What is your idea of a good politician?

16. Export of goods and insurance

When a company exports goods abroad there are many problems it must consider, e.g. packaging, transportation, insurance and payment. First the goods must be packed to containers to protect them from damage. The containers or crates must be labeled clearly to show where they are going. The label may also show what the crates contain.

Goods can be transported by sea or by air, by a shipping company or by an airline. If the goods are shipped then transportation must be arranged from the factory to the docks. This can either be by road in tracks or by rail. The shipment must be insured against loss or damage in transit, i.e. while it is being transported. Sometimes the exporter takes out insurance and sometimes the importer insures the shipment. It depends on the terms of their agreement. If the goods are damaged in transit the company is covered by the insurance. Of course, someone has to pay for all these things. While goods are in transit they are called freight or cargo, so the company pays freight rates or shipping cost to the shipping company. If the goods are being transported by air, the company pays to the airline.

Exporting brings foreign currency into the country, so governments encourage export trade by giving assistance to the exporters. Often companies borrow money from banks to finance exporting. This money is called export credit. A government department called the E.C.G.D. (Export Credit Guarantee Department) gives a guarantee to the bank. This guarantee means that the government carries the loss, if the foreign buyer does not pay. It is a kind of insurance cover for the bank and the exporting company. Another form of government assistance is tax relief or tax advantages. Every company must pay a proportion of its earnings to the government in the form of tax. Tax relief means that exporters pay less tax on money earned abroad.