1. Translate the newspaper item from English into Russian. Use the wordlist and a dictionary.

Toyota Motor, the world's third largest carmaker, yesterday reported that its first-quarter operating profits increased by more than a third, boosted by a weak yen and strong sales of luxury vehicles in the US.

The first quarterly results in the company's 65-year history showed a 35.4 per cent increase in operating profits to Y394.5bn ($3.26bn) during the three months to the end of June.

The decision to move to quarterly reports system reflects Toyota's desire to bring its accounting in line with US corporate practice, commensurate with its status as a fully globalised Japanese industrial company.

The strong first quarter performance was attributed to the combined effects of healthy US sales of luxury models such as its Lexus saloon, the benefits of a soft yen and the company's cost-cutting programme.

Toyota said its market share in Japan for the first quarter was 42.8 per cent, excluding mini-vehicles, a decrease in terms of unit sales of 44,000 units.

The company's declining popularity in the face of stiff competition in Japan is one of the main challenges it faces in the coming months.

Overseas sales increased 27.6 per cent to lm units, most of them in the US. European sales rose by 27,000 units.

Total sales for the period were 1.5m vehicles, an increase of 13.2 per cent compared with estimates for the same period last year.

Wordlist

to boost		поднимать, повышать
operating profit		прибыль от производственной деятельности
vehicle		перевозочное средство (автомобиль, вагон, повозка и т.д.)
commensurate		соответственный, соразмеренный
to exclude		исключать
stiff		сильный, крепкий, устойчивый
challenge		вызов, сложная задача, проблема

Newspaper item 8: In the Industry Biosphere, Only the Strongest Survive

1. Translate the newspaper item from English into Russian. Use the wordlist and a dictionary.

Clusters is a term given to geographical areas in which a large number of companies working in the same industry or sector have concentrated. They are a common feature of active and healthy economies.

Examples include Silicon Valley in California, the high-technology and biotechnology concerns around Cambridge in the UK, and the aerospace and engineering companies around Toulouse in France.

Companies in a cluster are locked together in a kind of interdependence, like organisms in a biosphere. They compete for market share, employees and resources. They also rely on each other. Acting together, they generate skills and knowledge of their particular sector that form a kind of critical mass on which all the members can draw.

Clusters often begin with a single company: Silicon Valley's technology cluster famously began with Hewlett-Packard. These successful companies generate talented managers and entrepreneurs, who in time leave to set up new concerns. As these grow, skilled employees begin to migrate between businesses, seeking the best opportunities.

There are really only two ways to survive in a cluster environment long-term: to grow continuously into the biggest fish in the pond, or to develop self-dependent systems and move out, relocating to a region where competition will be less vigorous. The former strategy was adopted by Larry Ellison at Oracle, who saw early that the only way to win in Silicon Valley was to become big. The latter path was pursued by Bill Gates and Paul Allen at Microsoft; they preferred independence and moved to the Pacific north-west.

Clusters are often favoured by politicians and economic planners, who see opportunities for overall prosperity. But working in a cluster is not for the faint-hearted. They offer little security and few safety nets. As in a biosphere, only the strong survive.

Wordlist

to survive		пережить, выдержать, остаться в живых
cluster		пучок, гроздь, группа
entrepreneur		предприниматель
vigorous		сильный, энергичный
former		первый (из двух вышеупомянутых); бывший
latter		последний (из двух вышеупомянутых)