Английский. Учебник МЭО 1 курс. Учебное пособие по английскому языку. Мировая экономика. Часть 1 Москва 2012 удк 81(075. 8)111 ббк 81 Англ. 7365. 5
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Part 2 Text A The system of higher education in the United States The system of higher education in the United States differs from its counterparts in Europe in certain ways. In the United States, there is a nationwide assumption that students who have completed secondary school should have at least two years of university education. Hence, a great number of “junior colleges” and “community colleges” have sprung up to provide two years of undergraduate study, in contrast to the traditional universities and colleges, where a majority of students complete four years of study for a degree and where substantial numbers go on for one to three years of postgraduate study in a “graduate school”. Universities that provide four-year study courses are either privately funded foundations or are state or city foundations that depend heavily on the government for financial support. Private universities and colleges depend largely on tuition charges levied on students. The individual state governments fund the nation’s highly developed system of state universities, which ensure the provision of higher education for the vast majority of those willing and academically qualified to receive such education. In the American system, the four-year, or “bachelor’s” degree is ordinary obtained not by passing a “finals” examination but rather by the accumulation of course “credits”, or hours of classroom study. The quality of work done in these courses is assessed by means of a continuous record of marks and grades in a course transcript. The completion of a certain number (and variety) of courses with passing grades leads to the “bachelor’s” degree. The first two years of a student’s studies are generally taken up with prescribed courses in a broad range of subject areas, along with some “elective” courses selected by the student. In the third and fourth years of study, the student specializes in one or perhaps two subject fields. Postgraduate students can pursue either advanced studies or research in one of the many graduate schools, which are usually specialized institutions. At these schools students work toward either a “master’s” degree (which involves one to two years of postgraduate study) or a doctoral degree (which involves two to four years of study and other requirements). Text B Education in the United States The United States does not have a national school system. Nor, with the exception of the military academies, are there schools run by the federal government. But the government provides guidance and funding for federal educational programs in which both public and private schools take part, and the U.S. Department of Education oversees these programs. In the United States, a college is an institution of higher learning that offers courses in related subjects. A liberal arts college, for example, offers courses in literature, languages, history, philosophy, and the sciences, while a business college offers courses in accounting, investment, and 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 (for example, a law school or a medical school), and one or more research facilities. (Americans often use the word "college" as shorthand for either a college or a university.) Every state has its own university, and some states operate large networks of colleges and universities. Some cities also have their own public universities. In many areas, junior or community colleges provide a bridge between secondary school and four-year colleges for some students. In junior colleges, students can generally complete their first two years of college courses at low cost and remain close to home. Unlike public elementary and secondary schools, public colleges and universities usually charge tuition. Community Colleges Community colleges provide the first two years of a university education. Students are able to transfer to a university for an additional two years to complete the Bachelor’s Degree. This system is called “2+2”. These institutions are an important sector of the US higher education system. There are nearly 1200 accredited community colleges with an enrollment of 11 million students. Increasing numbers of international students are choosing to begin their higher education in the US at community colleges. During the past decade, the growth of international students attending US community colleges increased by 57 percent. The Ivy League The Ivy League is an association of eight Northeastern American universities. The term, “Ivy League” has connotations of academic excellence as well as a certain amount of elitism. These schools are also sometimes affectionately referred to as the Ancient Eight. All of the Ivy League universities share some general characteristics: they are among the most prestigious and selective universities in the US; they rank within the top one percent of the world’s universities in terms of financial endowment; and they attract top-tier students and faculty. The Ivies are also among the oldest universities in the United States – all but Cornell University were founded during America’s colonial era. All but one of the Ivy League universities are privately owned and controlled, although many of them receive funding from federal or state governments to pursue research. One of the eight, Cornell, has four state supported academic units, termed statutory colleges, that are an integral part of the university. The eight Ivy League universities: Brown University Columbia University Cornell University Dartmouth University Harvard University University of Pennsylvania Princeton University Yale University Ex 1. Answer the questions.
Ex 2. The US school system is very different from that of Russia. Try to match the components of the US school system with their definitions.
Glossary
Ex 3. Match the expressions with the institutions. Professor, Principal, Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Undergraduate Studies, Freshman, Senior, Tuition, Private, Curriculum, Graduation, Home Schooling College:_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________High School:______________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ Ex 4. Speak about the higher education system in Russia. What is it based on? What leading educational institutions do you know? Ex 5. Work in pairs. Discuss differing and similar features of the American and Russian systems of education. Ex 6. Hold a discussion on pros and cons of higher education systems in different countries. Unit III Part 1 Market. Types of Economies economic resources, economic system, supply, demand, production costs, opportunity costs, planned economy, labor-intensive production, mixed economy Text A Market Economic resources may be classified as material resources (raw materials and capital) and labour resources (labour force and entrepreneurship). Scarcity of resources makes it necessary to save them. As a result, any economic system is trying to find the most effective and efficient ways of utilizing resources for the production of goods and services. The rational solution to the problem brings about the maximum economic growth, full employment, stable prices, equitable distribution of revenues, and social security of the needy. There are different economic systems in the world today. Many economists argue that free enterprise, or the market economy, is the most effective system, because the businesses are free to choose whom to buy from and sell to and on what terms, and free to choose who to compete with. How can a market economy solve what, how and for whom to produce? It is done through a market, which is a set of arrangements through which buyers and sellers make contact and business, in which choices concerning the allocations of production, incomes, goods and services are left to countless independent decisions of individual consumers and producers acting on their own behalf. One of the main laws of the market is the law of supply and demand. For a given market of a commodity, demand shows the quantity that all prospective buyers will be prepared to purchase at each unit price of the good. The law of demand states that the higher the price of a product, the less of it people would be willing to buy. Supply is the relation between the price of a good and the quantity available for sale from suppliers (such as producers) at this price. The higher the price at which the good can be sold, the more of it producers will supply. The higher price makes it profitable to increase production. Thus, the law of supply and demand says that if demand exceeds supply, the price tends to rise and when supply exceeds demand the price tends to fall. Given the scarcity of resources, the market functions as a rationing device with the price mechanism as its principal mechanism. In free markets, prices direct allocations of inputs of firms that make the most profitable use of them. The price mechanism also guides the decisions of producers concerning the compositions of their output. Finally, the price mechanism also governs the distribution process. Thus, the market mechanism brings about an allocation of resources that reflects two basic factors: consumer preferences and production costs. The prices which play the coordinating role of the market mechanism are determined through the interaction of demand and supply. Opportunity Costs Opportunity costs are caused by the situation when you want to buy something and another thing but you can’t have one of them so that becomes your opportunity cost. In economics, opportunity cost, or economic cost, is the cost of something in terms of an opportunity forgone (and the benefits which could be received from that opportunity), or the most valuable forgone alternative (or highest-valued option forgone), i.e. the second best alternative. For example, if a city decides to build a hospital on vacant land it owns, the opportunity cost is the value of the benefits forgone of some other thing which might have been done with the land and construction funds instead. In building the hospital, the city has forgone the opportunity to build a sporting center on that land, or a parking lot, or the ability to sell the land to reduce the city’s debt, since those uses tend to be mutually exclusive. Also included in the opportunity cost would be what investments or purchases the private sector would have made if it were not taxed to build the hospital. The total opportunity costs of such an action can never be known with certainly (and are sometimes called “hidden costs” or “hidden losses”, what has been prevented from being produced cannot be seen or known). Opportunity cost need not be assessed in monetary terms, but rather can be assessed in terms of anything which is of value to the person or persons doing the assessing (or those affected by the outcome). For example, a person who chooses to watch, or to record, a television program cannot watch (or record) any other at the same time. Note that opportunity cost is not the sum of the available alternatives, but rather of benefit of the best alternative of them. The opportunity cost of the city’s decision to build the hospital on its vacant land is the loss of the land for a sporting center, or the inability to use the land for a parking lot, or the money which could have been made from selling the land, or not all of these altogether because the land cannot be used for more than one of these purposes. However, most opportunities are difficult to compare. Opportunity cost has been seen as the foundation for a number of economic theories. Vocabulary list
syn. deal
n. assessment
Notes
Ex 1. Suggest the Russian equivalents: scarcity of resources; the rational solution to the problem; equitable distribution of revenues; a set of arrangements; at each unit price of the good; the compositions of output; the most valuable forgone alternative; mutually excluded; to be known with certainty assessed in monetary terms. Ex 2. Fill in the gaps with the words and expressions from the text.
Ex 3. Find in the text the English equivalents for the following: сырье; трудовые ресурсы; использование ресурсов; справедливое распределение доходов; свободное предпринимательство; бесчисленный; действующий от чьего-либо имени; по цене за единицу продукции; предложение превышает спрос; управлять процессом распределения; выгоды, которые могли быть получены; скрытые издержки; оцененный в денежном эквиваленте; иметь ценность для кого-либо. Ex 4. Match each term with the appropriate explanation. market, labour resources, supply, demand, cost
Ex 5. Answer the questions and do the assignments.
Ex 6. Find in the text the words and phrases that refer to the following notions and comment on them:
Ex 7. Comment on the statements.
Text B There are a number of ways in which a government can organize its economy and the type of system chosen is critical in shaping environment in which businesses operate. An economic system is quite simply the way in which a country uses its available resources (land, workers, natural resources, machinery etc.) to satisfy the demands of its inhabitants for goods and services. The more goods and services that can be produced from these limited resources, the higher the standard of living enjoyed by the country’s citizens. Planned Economies Planned economies are sometimes called “command economies” because the state commands the use of resources (such as labour and factories) that are used to produce goods and services as it owns factories, land and natural resources. Planned economies are economies with a large amount of central planning and direction, when the government takes all the decisions, and decides on production and consumption. Planning of this kind is obviously very difficult, very complicated to do, and the result is that there is no society, which is completely a command economy. The actual system employed varies from state to state, but command or planned economies have a number of common features. Firstly, the state decides precisely what the nation is to produce. It usually plans five years ahead. It is the intention of the planners that there should be enough goods and services for all. Secondly, industries are asked to comply with these plans and each industry and factory is set a production target to meet. If each factory or farm meets its target, then the state will meet its targets as set out in the five-year plans. You could think of the factory and farm targets to be objectives which, if met, allow the nation’s overall aim to be reached. A planned economy is simple to understand but not simple to operate. It does, however, have a number of advantages:
Several disadvantages also exist. It is these disadvantages that have led to many nations abandoning planned economies over recent years:
A major problem faced by command economies is that of deciding what to produce. Command economies tend to be slow when responding to changes in people’s tastes and fashions. Planners are likely to underproduce some items as they cannot predict changes in demand. Equally, some products, which consumers regard as obsolete and unattractive, may be overproduced. Planners are afraid to produce goods and services unless they are sure substantial amounts will be purchased. This leads to delays and queues for some products. Market Economies The best examples of this type of economy are to be found in small South-East Asian states like Hong Kong and Singapore, though even they are not pure examples of market economies. Even they contain some businesses owned and run by the state. In a true market economy the government plays no role in the management of the economy, the government does not intervene in it. The system is based on private enterprise with private ownership of the means of production and private supplies of capital, which can be defined as surplus income available for investment in new business activities. Workers are paid wages by employers according to how skilled they are and how many firms wish to employ them. They spend their wages on the products and services they need. Consumers are willing to spend more on products and services which are favored. Firms producing these goods will make more profits and this will persuade more firms to produce these particular goods rather than less favored ones. Thus, we can see that in a market economy it is consumers who decide what is to be produced. Consumers will be willing to pay high prices for products they particularly desire. Firms, which are privately owned, see the opportunity of profits and produce the new fashionable and favorable products. Advantages:
Problems:
A cornerstone of the market system is that production alters swiftly to meet changing demands. These swift changes can, however, have serious consequences. Imagine a firm, which switches from labour-intensive production to one where new technology is employed in the factory. The resulting unemployment could lead to social as well as economic problems. In a market economy there might be minimal control on working conditions and safety standards concerning products and services. It is necessary to have large-scale government intervention to pass laws to protect consumers and workers. Some firms produce goods and then advertise heavily to gain sufficient sales. Besides wasting resources on advertising, firms may also duplicate one another’s services. Rival firms, providing rail services, for example, could mean that two or more systems of rail are laid. Finally, firms have to have confidence in future sales if they are to produce new goods and services. At certain times they tend to lack confidence and cut back on production and the development of new ideas. This decision, when taken by many firms, can lead to a recession. A recession means less spending, fewer jobs and a decline in the prosperity of the nation. Vocabulary list
Notes
Ex 1. Suggest the Russian equivalents: each factory is set a production target to meet; to divert resources to wherever it wants; new ideas rarely come forward; tend to be slow when responding to changes; new advanced products; products which are favored; they try to make the largest profits possible; provide free or subsidized supplies; produce goods and then advertise heavily; a firm which switches from labour-intensive production to a new one; a decline in the prosperity of the nation. Ex 2. Fill in the gaps with the words and expressions from the text.
Ex 3. Find in the text the English equivalents for the following:
Ex 4. Match each term with the appropriate explanation. a market economy, rival firms, consumers, an economic system, planned economies
Ex 5. Answer the questions and do the assignments.
Ex 6. Read the following text and do the assignments after it. Mixed Economy Most economists would say that there are no examples in the world today of a completely free market or a completely controlled economy. Instead, every country operates a mixture of the two systems. Even in the freest economies, like the USA, there is some government control; even in the strictest planned economy there is some free enterprise. Economies mix government control and free market values in different ways. One way is to let privately owned businesses exist alongside state run industries. The economy becomes divided between the state sector and the private sector The state sector often includes industries that the government thinks are important and need protection from the risks of the free market These could include public transport, hospitals, schools and the postal service. The state sector can also include large industries that are important for a country's economic health, such as oil, steel or agriculture. These are sometimes called primary industries because they provide basic materials to manufacturers. These state sector industries use money that the government collects in taxes. Often they do not need to compete with other companies because no other company is allowed to provide the same product or service. However, many countries have recently started a process called deregulation. Deregulation means reorganization of the economic structure within which private businesses are allowed to compete with state-run industries. The state sector should then run more efficiently in order to compete in the free market and because it now has less government protection Deregulation of services like telecommunications, transport and banking has happened in many countries in recent years. People have generally accepted these changes. However, generally the public is less happy when governments start talking about deregulation in education and health services. Many people feel that profit motivation will harm these services rather than improve them. Another way in which economies today are mixed is that governments put limits on free enterprise. For example, governments may decide to ban trade in certain goods if they are dangerous. They may also create laws to make sure companies trade honestly or to prevent monopolies. If a company has a monopoly, normal market forces do not affect it. This is bad for consumers and the economy in general. Governments may also regulate methods of production. They do this to guarantee that products are safe for consumers and to protect the environment Many economists would argue that the mixed economy is the best system for consumers. This is because consumers have two ways to control the economy: by choosing to buy a company's goods or services and by choosing to give political parties their votes.
agriculture, ban, efficiently, free enterprise, manufacturers, monopoly, private sector, profit motivation, public transport, state sector, telecommunications, trade
Ex 7.Comment on the following statements:
Ex 8. Increase your vocabulary.
Other adjectives: brisk, boom (advancing), flat, foreign, competitive, cash, internal, international, money (monetary), saturated, profitable, sensitive, strong, volatile. Verbs: to affect, to corner, to create, to develop, to flood, to rule, to gain (get) access to, to study.
Writing Task I. Fill in the table comparing different types of economies.
Task II. Write a summary and a Gist of Texts A,B and Market Economy. Task III. Write an essay comparing the planned economy with the mixed economy. Consider the advantages and disadvantages of each economic system. Decide which is best in your opinion. Use these words and phrases to organize your ideas: despite this, nevertheless, consequently, in contrast, similarly, in addition to, therefore, thus. Speaking Task I. Comment on the table Task I (Writing). Task II. Make a presentation on the economic system of the chosen country. Use visual aids to make it more interesting. Task III. Act as an interpreter for parts A and B.
Task IV. Hold a Round-Table Talk discussing advantages and disadvantages of different economic systems. |