Английский для экономистов (учебник английского языка)

5. This company is one of the largest … of this kind.

Ex. 9.Study the following words and word-combinations. What are their Russian equivalents?

to aim at, to arrange (for), game plan, to go ahead, a means to an end, on purpose, to set up, to tackle, to take action (on), to take steps, to take the initiative.

Translate the following sentences into Russian.

1. Our products are aimed at working mothers.

2. Let’s arrange for a meeting now. How about Friday, nine o’clock, your office?

3. OK, so we have arranged for finance and now we can go ahead with marketing.

4. The game plan for this morning’s meeting is to finish ordinary business in the first half hour, then take time out for coffee, so that, in the second half, we can zero in on the all-important question of new product development.

5. We use special offers in order to attract bigger orders – in other words, as a means to an end.

6. We have to reduce our overhead expenses. This will lead to job losses in some departments – an unpleasant fact, I’m afraid, but the end justifies the means.

7. Although everyone has to be at the meeting on time, the chairman will be a few minutes late, as usual, He does this on purpose, just to let everyone know who’s who in charge.

8. The company was set up ten years ago.

9. The government is doing all it can do to tackle the problems of housing and unemployment.

10. We need to take firm action, now, on the reduction in our market share – before matters get worse.

11. In the course of the next day or so, we shall be taking steps to put our plans into action.

12. For this job, we’re looking for someone with a go-ahead attitude, a self-starter, someone who’s prepared to take and maintain the initiative.

13.

Ex. 10. Look at the following Latin words. They may be helpful in your work with the texts on Economics and Business.

e.g. exempli gratia for example

i.e. id est that is

etc. et cetera and so on

viz. vide licet namely

c circa about, around (time)

v vide see

et al et ali and others

per se in itself

qua as

vice versa the reverse

ad hoc for this particular purpose

vs versus opposed

via 1.through

2.with the help of

per capita per head

ceteris paribus other things equal

ad valorem according to value

Ex. 11. What do the following words have in common and what do they differ in?

Matter, problem, dilemma, trouble, alternative, predicament, difficulty.

Ex. 12.Translate into Russian in written form.

In 1776, the Scottish professor of philosophy, Adam Smith, published The Wealth of Nations. In this book, the first systematic study of capitalism, Smith described his principle of the “invisible hand”. This principle states that each person, pursuing his or her self-interest without interference by government, will be led, as if by an invisible hand, to achievethe best good for society.

Self-interest drives people to action, but alone it is not enough. People must understand the effects of their decision and their economic well-being. They must think rationally if they are to make the right decisions.

Because of this, economists long ago introduced the concept of economic man. This notion holds that each person is motivated by economic forces. In other words, each person will always attempt to obtain the greatest amount of satisfaction for the least amount of sacrifice or cost. This satisfaction may take the form of greater profits for a businessperson, higher wages or more leisure time for a worker, and greater pleasure from goods purchased for a consumer.

Of course, these assumptions are not entirely realistic. People may be motivated by forces other than self-interest. Nevertheless, the idea of economic man does deserve as a reasonable approximation of the prevailing pattern of economic behaviour in a capitalistic society. And in economics, as in other social sciences, reasonable approximations are often the best that can be made.

LET’S READ AND TALK

1. What is meant by the word «system»? How do you understand it?

2. What systems do you know? Give your examples.

3. To what systems do you belong?

TEXT 1

WHAT IS SYSTEM?

Everybody is familiar with the word system and uses it in everyday language. We speak of heating systems, communication systems, economic systems, and transportation systems. We talk of cultural and social systems. The word system is used because it conveys the idea that these things are made up of parts and that the parts somehow interact with each other for some purpose or reason.  A system is an organized or complex whole – an assemblage or combination of thingsor parts performing asa complex or unitary whole.

This definition implies several ideas. First is the concept ofinterdependency. If a change occurs in one part or set of parts, it affects all other parts of the system. This affect on each part may be direct or indirect.