Анг. язык для 1 курса

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personal and even hostile.

Meanwhile, the organization of work was changing. In 1913 Henry Ford introduced the «moving assembly line». By improving efficiency, it made possible a major saving in labor costs. Lower costs made possible both higher wages for workers and lower prices for consumers. During the 1st half of the 20th century mass production of consumer goods such as cars, refrigerators, kitchen ranges helped to revolutionize the ways in which Americans lived.

The century's two world wars spared the USA the devastation suffered by Europe and Asia, and American industries proved capable of great production increases to meet war needs. In 1945 the USA had the greatest productive capacity in the world.

The 20th century has seen the rise and decline of industries in the USA. The auto industry, long the centerpiece of the American economy, has had to struggle to meet the challenge of foreign competition. At present, vehicles produced at such companies as Ford and the General Motors are known worldwide. Over the years many new industries have appeared. These new industries are know as high-technology or high-tech ones.

Service industries now dominate the US economy. It is sometimes said that the United States has moved into “a post-industrial era”.

Higher Education in the United States

Higher education is given in colleges and universities. There are over 2, 100 various higher educational institutions, including colleges, technological institutes and universities. The oldest American universities are Harvard, Yale, Pennsylvania, Princeton, Columbia. They were founded in the 17th and 18th centuries. Later on the network of higher educational institutions spread from the Atlantic coast to the Pacific.

A college is a four-year institution of higher learning that offers courses in related subjects. A business college, for example, offers courses in accounting, investment, marketing. Many colleges are independent and award Bachelor's degrees to those completing a program of instruction that typically takes four years. But colleges can also be components of universities. A large university typically comprises several colleges, graduate programs in various fields, one or more professional schools, and one or more research facilities.

A college student takes courses in his or her «major» field, the area of study in which he or she chooses to specialize, along with «electives», courses that are not required but chosen by the student. After four years of studies the students get a traditional Bachelor's degree. Then the students may go on to a graduate school and with a year or two of further study gets a Master's degree. After another year or two of study and research, they may get a still higher degree as Doctor of Philosophy (Ph. D.). The student's progress is evaluated by means of tests, term works and final examinations in each course. Colleges and universities, both private and public, charge tuition.

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America as seen by Britons

Bob and Sheila spent two years living in New York because of Bob's work as a banker. Neither of them had lived in a big city before. They now live back in England in a small village outside London. I = Interviewer S = Sheila B = Bob (Headway Intermediate, 17 a):

I How long did you live in the States?

B We were there for two and half years, in New York. I And did you enjoy it?

S Oh, tremendously. We had a wonderful time.

B Yes, what I liked best was that I could work and still lead a normal life. I mean, the shops are open till 10 o'clock.

I All shops?

S Yes, everything, food shops, chemists . . .

B There's a huge department store called Gimbles on 86th Street that was open till 9.00.

S And some supermarkets are open twenty-four hours a day. Most shops don't open as early as in England, well they don't open until about uhm . . . 10 or 11 in the morning.

B Yes, that's right.

S Because they all work much later. And everything's open on Sundays.

B And the holidays, the public holidays are much shorter than here, and in the States only the banks are shut. Everything else stays open, so it makes life much easier. You could do what you liked when you liked.

S And it was easier with the children, because I could wait till you got back and we did the shopping together, didn't we?

B Yes.

I I see, um ... do you think New York is as cosmopolitan as London?

S Oh yes, but it's not as mixed. Nationalities stay in their own areas; like there's the Ukrainian section, the Russian section . . .

B ... the German section. We were in German Town, York Town, which is called German Town. And there was a row of German shops, all German-speaking.

S Yes.

B But you didn't find that anywhere else. And the Ukrainians were down on 14th and 2nd, and the Spanish kept to Spanish Harlem.

S I think the major difference was the height of the place. Everything was up. We lived on the twenty-ninth floor.

B And I worked on the sixty-third floor.

S But I like heights. And of course everything is faster. And the people are much ruder.

B Which means of course that we're much ruder ourselves now we're back in Britain. I Oh, in what ways?

B Well, pushing in the street. S Oh. I don't!

B Fights about getting on the bus. No good old British queues. I But, are all Americans like that?

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S Oh yes. Well, all New Yorkers anyway. Not so much in other places. When we went to California it was very different. There weren't the same pressures at all, were there?

B I think we were aware that New York is quite a dangerous place. We never had any problems at all, but when there was a crime, it was horrendous.

S Oh yes, the subways are unusable. They're dirty, uncomfortable. I Did you make many friends?

S Well, that's what's interesting really. We made more friends there than we have after two years of living here. I think Americans are more open, they, you know, they speak their minds, so if they don't like something, they actually tell you directly. Not like the British, who might think one thing and say another. So I suppose you could say that the English are ruder than the Americans.

B Or that they're less honest. S Mmm. Yes.

England as seen by Americans

Terry Tomsha talks about her experience of living and working in England, where she has been for the past eleven years. I = Interviewer T = Terry (Headway Intermediate, 17 b):

I Interviewer – So, Terry. You've been in this country for quite a long time

now.

T Mmm.

I What differences do you notice between the two countries?

T Obviously the biggest difference is the people. The average Englishman is ...

mm cold and not very open. I Oh.

T In the States it's very different. We start conversations with people in the street, in the subway; we're a lot more enthusiastic and spontaneous than people here. You know, when I first came, I couldn't understand why I was getting so little reaction from people, but now I see that they thought I was overpowering and that I was trying to be too friendly too soon.

I But, tell me; does the Englishman improve as you get to know him? T Oh yes.

I Oh good.

T Once you have made a friend, it's a friend for life, but it takes a very long time. I'll tell you something that I think is very important. An Englishman in America is respected. Everyone wants to talk to him. We're inquisitive, we love his accent and his country. An American though in England is thought to be a little inferior because of his behavior and his language. One thing I've learned - it's funny now, but it wasn't at the time -1 couldn't understand why when I was talking to someone he would move away, you know, move backwards, and I thought 'Do I smell? Am I boring him?' The reason was, you see, Americans stand closer when they're talking. Again, English people like a certain distance.

I That's true. What about your impressions of living here? How does that compare with the States?

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T Well, mmm ... I think life's a lot easier in the States. It's easier to make money and it's easier to spend it. Shops are open all the time over there. Here you've got to race to reach the supermarket by 5.30. Generally, though I find life more inefficient here. If you need an electrician, it takes days to get one, he doesn't do the job very well, the system is so old that he can't get the parts to repair it, and he doesn't care. This leads to another very important point. Americans work a lot harder than you do. To the English their private lives are important, their holidays are important, their gardens are important, their animals are important, but an American wouldn't admit that. For us, our work is the most important thing in our lives. You know, holidays seem to be longer here, people make the most ridiculous excuses not to go to work - 'My dog's got a cold', I heard the other day.

I Oh, come on.

T You have tea breaks that get longer and longer. In that respect we're quite like the Japanese. Our jobs come first, but there are all sorts of services to make life easier around our jobs.

I Well. I take it you have a pretty negative opinion of England.

T You would think so from this interview, wouldn't you? No, in fact I really love it here. I go home once a year and really look forward to coming back here. This is my home now.

The English Language in the World

It is only in the course of the last hundred years that English has become a world language. In Shakespeare's time it was a "provincial" language of secondary importance with only 6 million native speakers. Nowadays English has become the world's most important language in politics, science, trade and cultural relations. It is the official language of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, of the United States of America, of Australia and New Zealand. English is used as one of the official languages in Canada, the Republic of South Africa and the Irish Republic. It is also spoken as a second language by many people in India, Pakistan, numerous countries in Africa. Around 375 mln people speak English as their first language and another 375 mln speak it as a second language.

Even more widely English is studied and used as a foreign language - around 750 mln people. In this respect it acquired an international status. It is used for communication across frontiers, listening to broadcasts, reading books and newspapers, in commerce and travel. Half of the world's scientific literature is in English. English is associated with technological and economic development of the great manufacturing countries. It is the language of automation and computer technology, international aviation, shipping and sport. It is the major language of diplomacy.

Esperanto, a World Language

P = Presenter N = Professor Nesbit (Headway Upper-Intermediate, 2)

P Hello, and welcome to today's Worldly Wise, the programme that examines world issues and the way they affect each and every one of us. Today we turn our attention to languages, or more specifically, to language. What would the world be like if everyone spoke the same language? Would we understand each other better and be

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more sympathetic to each other's causes? I'm not talking about everyone sharing the same first language, but sharing the same second language, and I'm not talking about English, but Esperanto.

What are the facts about this artificial language? Well, it was invented in 1887 by a Polish doctor, Ludwig Lazarus Zamenhof. The vocabulary comes mainly from Western European languages, and the grammar is similar to Slavic languages. It sounds like Italian.

From the learner's point of view, it has the advantage that there are no exceptions to rules. It is spoken all over the world by approximately eight million people, and there are many who would like Esperanto to be the official second language of the world.

I spoke to Professor Desmond Nesbit of the University of Edinburgh for more information and asked him, hasn't the world got enough natural languages, so why make an artificial one?

N I prefer the term planned to artificial. Esperanto means 'hopeful', and it was Zamenhof's hope that a common language would promote a friendship and an understanding amongst all people of the world. His inspiration is summed up by the Esperanto term interna ideo which means central idea, and it’s an idea of human peace and justice.

P But isn’t it making the situation more difficult? I mean, there are already so many people who speak English in the world, why should they have to learn another language? Why not English as the world language?

N English is by no means an easy language to learn. There is the problem of spelling, of the large number of exceptions to any rule, it is very idiomatic and the prepositions are terrible! And Esperanto is a very easy language to learn. I think it will become the world language soon.

P Professor Nesbit, thank you very much. N Thank you.

Macroeconomics and Microeconomics

The word macroeconomics means economics in the large. The macroecono-mists’ concerns are with such global questions as total production, total employment, the rate of change of overall prices, the rate of economic growth, and so on.

Macroeconomists measure overall economic activity; analyze the determinants of such activity by the use of macroeconomic theory; forecast future economic activity; and attempt to formulate policy responses designed to reconcile forecasts with target values of production, employment, and prices.

An important task of macroeconomics is to develop ways of aggregating the values of the economic activities of individuals and firms into meaningful totals. To this end such concepts as gross domestic product (GDP), national income, personal income, and personal disposable income have been developed. Macroeconomics is concerned with such major policy issues as the attainment and maintenance of full employment and price stability.

The word «micro» means small, and microeconomics means economics in the small. The optimizing behaviour of individual units such as households and firms provides the foundation for microeconomics.

Microeconomists may investigate individual markets or even the economy as a whole, but their analyses are derived from the aggregation of the behaviour of individual

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Money

All values in the economic system are measured in terms of money. Our goods and services are sold for money, and that money is in turn exchanged for other goods and services. Coins are adequate for small transactions, while paper notes are used for general business. There is additionally a wider sense of the word «money», covering anything which is used as a means of exchange, whatever form it may take. In general, money has four functions. It serves as a standard of value, as a medium of exchange, as a store of value, and as a standard of deferred payment. Originally, a valuable metal (gold, silver, copper) served as a constant store of value, and even today the American dollar is technically «backed» by the store of gold which the US government maintains. Because gold has been universally regarded as a very valuable metal, national currencies were for many years judged in terms of the so-called «gold standard». Nowadays, however, valuable metal has generally been replaced by paper notes. National currencies are considered to be as strong as the national economies which support them.

Paper notes are issued by governments and authorized banks, and are known as «legal tender». Other arrangements such as cheques and money orders are not legal tender. They perform the function of substitute money and are known as «instruments of credit». Credit is offered only when creditors believe that they have a good chance of obtaining legal tender when they present such instruments at a bank or other authorized institution.

The value of money is basically its value as a medium of exchange, or, as economists put it, its «purchasing power». This purchasing power is dependent on supply and demand.

Exercise 1. These pairs of words often cause problems. Choose the correct alternative for each sentence.

1.a) Prices are rising and the number of jobs is falling. It's not just a business problem, it's a general … problem. b) This car uses less petrol than the other one so this one is the more … (economic/ economical).

2.a) Zangief is doing too much business … and wants to cut the number of visits to foreign clients next year. b) However, he still has to make one important … to the agent in Singapore (travel/ trip).

3.a) We will increase pay if the employees raise their … . b) If we don't get another order soon, we'll have to cut … and maybe close a factory (production/productivity).

4.a) We pay a monthly … by cheque to our white-collar staff. b) We pay a weekly … in cash to our part-time blue-collar staff (salary/wage).

5.a) We have to reduce our general … : we must cut costs wherever we can. b) The sales manager has to cut his travel, accommodation and entertainment …: he'll have to stay in cheaper hotels and take his clients to cheaper restaurants (expenses/ expenditure).

6.a) Smith has a … problem: his wife wants to leave him. b) Smith's company has a … problem: their employees want a 20 % pay increase (personal/personnel).

7.a) The person who usually asks most of the questions at an interview is the …. b) The person who usually answers most of the questions at an interview is the … (interviewee/interviewer)

8.a) Our company has been bought by a German multinational. More and

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more … are coming from abroad to work in our office. b) There were two … at the corner table in the restaurant where we usually go for lunch: no one had ever seen them before (strangers/foreigners).

9.a) … workers work in the factory. b) … workers work in the office (white- collar/blue-collar).

10.a) Our… budget is 10 % less than last year. b) Did you see the big … for a new Managing Director for Acme in this morning's newspapers? (advertising/ advertisement)

11.a) A … manager works directly on the production of goods or the provision of services. b) A … manager gives support to the managers who produce the goods or provide the services (line/staff).

12.a) Prices are … at a rate of about 4 % per year. b) The company is … its prices by 5 % this year (raising/rising).

Exercise 2. Look at the spoken numbers. Decide which sentence each number

a) Pay day for our salaried employees is on the … of every month. b) We do a major strategic review every two or three years. The last one was at the beginning of … . c) Jimmy has saved a lot of money. He plans to retire when he's … . d) He also has a good pension scheme. It should give him about … of his salary after he retires. e) We've reduced the percentage of damaged goods to … per cent of production. f) We hope to achieve a level of … defects soon. g) The timetable says that Charlotte's plane should arrive at … hours. h) This is … . Can I help you? i) The meeting will start at … in the morning precisely. j) … ?! That's a bit early, isn't it? k) Interest rates have gone up again – from 7ј to 7Ѕ % – that is to say, by … of one per cent. l) Sales increased by … per cent last year: this is a rather disappointing result.

Note: If you don't know the exact number, you can say: It's about 700. It's around 700. It's roughly 700. It's approximately 700.

Exercise 3. Match each quote with the correct description.

a) We haven't put enough profit back into the company. b) We don't have enough money coming into the company for us to pay our own bills. c) We made more money this year than last year. d) Last year, we spent more money than we earned. e) We have to spend less on things like electricity, rent and postage. f) At the moment we are spending more than we said we would at the beginning of the year. g) We have decided to bill customers before delivery of the goods. h) We think the figures for next year are going to be very positive. i) We don't make enough money on the sale of each unit. j) We can't do it on our own so we should ask the government for financial help.

1) The company is thinking about asking for a subsidy. 2) The forecasts are

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good. 3) Profits are up. 4) The invoicing procedure has been changed. 5) Spending is over budget. 6) Cash flow is poor. 7) There was a loss. 8) Investment is too low. 9) Overheads are too high. 10) Margins are too low.

Banking

Banks are closely concerned with the flow of money into and out of the economy. They often co-operate with governments in efforts to stabilize economies and to prevent inflation. They are specialists in the business of providing capital, and in allocating funds on credit. Banks originated as places to which people took their valuables for safekeeping, but today the great banks of the world have many functions in addition to acting as guardians of valuable private possessions.

Banks normally receive money from their customers in two distinct forms: on current account, and on deposit account. With a current account, a customer can issue personal cheques. No interest is paid by the bank on this type of account. With a deposit account, however, the customer undertakes to leave his money in the bank for a minimum specified period of time. Interest is paid on this money.

The bank in turn lends the deposited money to customers who need capital. This activity earns interest for the bank, and this interest is almost at a higher rate than any interest which the bank pays to its depositors. In this way the bank makes its main profits.

We can say that the primary function of a bank today is to act as an intermediary between depositors who wish to make interest on their savings, and borrowers who wish to obtain capital. The bank is a reservoir of loanable money, with streams of money flowing in and out. For this reason, economists and financiers often talk of money being «liquid» or «liquidity» of money. Many small sums which might not otherwise be used as capital are rendered useful simply because the bank acts as a reservoir.

Exercise 1. Complete the dialogue with one of these words «for, since, during, while, ago, before, after, afterwards» (Business Grammar Builder, ex. 45).

Interviewer: Well, perhaps you could begin by telling us a little bit about your career history? And … we'll move on to your current job.

Alessandro: Yes, of course. Well, I graduated from Bocconi University in Milan five years … . I was at Bocconi … about six years, and … that period I worked briefly as an analyst in my uncle's consultancy firm.

Interviewer: Uh, huh. And did you manage to find a job easily … you left university?

Alessandro: Well, eventually I was offered a job in an Italian bank, but … that I had been looking for work … quite a long time. It wasn't easy finding jobs in Italy at that time, you know, but luckily the situation has got much better … then.

Interviewer: Yes, like here. So how long did you work at the bank? Alessandro: Well, I worked there … about two years.

Interviewer: Two years, and why did you leave?

Alessandro: I enjoyed my time there a lot. And … I was there I learnt a lot of techniques for financial analysis, and important skills like teamwork, you know. But I wanted the chance to do something more challenging in an international environment. Interviewer: Uh.

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Alessandro: It had been my dream to work in an international company … leaving school.

Interviewer: Well, you've applied to the right place. So what did you do then? Alessandro: Well, I decided to take a risk and move to London. That was about two years … .

Interviewer: Did you have a job to go to in London?

Alessandro: No. … I left Italy I sent my CV to a lot of different agencies, but I thought that it would be easier to find a job … I was actually living in London. I only realised … how much competition there was!

Interviewer: Well, yes.

Alessandro: Anyway, eventually, … some months, I found a job at a bank in the City. That's where I'm working now.

Exercise 2. Complete the emails with the correct prepositions. The second number in each bracket shows the number of letters in the word.

A)I’ve been looking (1–2) … your website and comparing your on-line banking facilities (2–4) … your competitors. There's a few things I’d like to ask you (3–5) … . a) If want to borrow money (4–4) … you, how much will I pay (5–3) … the loan? I assume that your cheaper operating costs will result (6–2) … a lower interest rate than a normal bank. b) I see that if I open an account this month I qualify (7–3) … a credit card with special payment terms. Do you offer insurance (8–7) … on-line fraud with this card to protect card-holders (9–4) … hackers who might the number? I look forward to hearing (10–4) … you. Thank you.

B)Thank you (11–3) … your recent email and I apologise (12–3) … taking so long to reply. Here is the information you requested.

a) You can rely (13–2) … the fact that our interest rates are very competitive, but I cannot give exact figures as it depends (14–2) … the amount you want to borrow. I invite you (15–2) … check the table on our website for this information. I can assure you that we deal with the process very quickly - after applying (16–3) … the loan you shouldn’t have to wait more than a few days before hearing (17–4) … us.

b) Yes, as soon as you inform us (18–5) … any possible fraud associated with your card we take care (19–2) … everything and refund any money that you have lost. In relation to our own customer accounts, we do everything necessary to prevent hackers (20–4) … entering the system, and have invested heavily (21–2) … this area over recent years.

I hope this answers your questions. Please do not hesitate to contact us again if you think (22–2) … anything else.

The World Bank

The World Bank is the world's foremost intergovernmental organization concerned with the external financing of the economic growth of developing countries. The official title of the institution is the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD).

Before recommending a Bank loan, the staff of the Bank must be reasonably