E Comprehension

-Germany USA 1997

Now read the text again and choose the best answer or answers for each question.

Which kind of unemployment happens regularly every year?

Unemployment in Germany and the USA 1995-2005

cyclical unemployment structural unemployment frietional unemployment seasonal unemployment Which kind of unemployment happens because of advances in technology? cyclical unemployment structural unemployment frietional unemployment seasonal unemployment

M г. m r i ti (in (■» to ttonont' ь U»> • t 85

G Speaking

Discuss these questions with your partner.

Is inflation a problem in youi country? Why- Why not?

How does unemployment affect people psychologically?

What kmd(«) of unemployment do you think affect the area where you live?

Can you talk About the lustory of unemployment in your country since the 70s like the diagram in exercise Г Intoning on page 85?

Work in groups of three or four. Imagine you and your friends are running the country.Things are not going well! Here are some of your problems.

unemployment is high (12%)

the rate of inflation is also high

workers are going on strike for higher wages

your large steel industry is losing money because of foreign competition

Talk to each other and decide which of those problems is the most important. Then decide what you can do to make things better. In your discussion think about:

retraining / relocation of workers

cost-push inflation

the nvoney supply

Use the space below to make your notes.

Notes:

H Writing

Imagine you are a shipyard worker who has just become unemployed because the government has decided to close down the shipyards.Write a letter to a friend explaining what's happened and how you feel about it.

Informal letter

Use this plan to help you.

Greeting

PARAGRAPH 1

Thank your friend for his/her last letter. Respond to a piece of news he she had in his/ her lettor.Teil your friend your bad news

PARAGRAPH 2

Explain how you lost your job. Explain what the government's reasons were for closing the yard (inflation made expoits uncompetitive

PARAGRAPH 3

Explain how you feel about losing your job. How is it affecting you and your family?

PARAGRAPH 4

Explain what you're planning to do i retrain relocate?).

Sign off

Write 100-140 words

*

L

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Pronunciation guide

Culprit kslprn Velocity v;»li»oti Deflation if-: tie i n, Equation ikw^ryi Freelance tri:k::;i-. Revolutionise ic\.->lu:|.->nai/ Shipyard |ipi<-:il Inflation ml!ei[n

V_____________________________________________ J

Revision Vocabulary Units 13 to 16

Circle the word in each group which does not fit.

kinds of money

things you can do in a bank

kinds of inflation

DOWN

1 This is the cost of borrowing money.

2 A kind of income tax system.

4 The whole income of a country is called the gross national

5 When money is paid back.

6 The oil crisis of the 1970s caused an economic

kinds of unemployment

economic problem

other words for money

Now write six example sentences using as many words as possible from this exercise.

ACROSS

3 People buy these from the government as a way to invest their money.

2 The money that a bank keeps ir. its account at the central bank.

8 A bank loan giver, to house buyers.

9 Governments try to get the economy working so it uses all its resources.

10 This is another word for fake money.

С Read this letter and fill in the gaps with the words and phrases from the box.

■ allowance ■ cash till И knock-on effect

■ lend ■ make ends meet ■ obliged

■ plus ■ purse ■ relocated ■ transport

Dear Gill.

How are you getting on at university? As you know, rather than studying, 1 decided to get a job but you will bo surprised to hear my news

I didn't take the job I was offered in the

11.................. department because 1 was also

offered another job in a bank! You may well be wondering why and the answer is simple - money!

It would have been hard to (21.................. or

the salary the first job paid. As a single jx;rson my

personal (3).................... isn't very much so I

have to pay a lot of tax. Being paid well is always a

14 >................ in any job! Added to that. I'm not

! 5).................. to work in the city centre which

is something I'd prefer to avoid and neither do I

run the risk of being (6)..................... I'd hate to

have to move.

Anyway, the position I have is working at a

(71................... As you can imagine. I see a lot of

things in a day it's never boring Take yesterday. Well, an old lady came to my counter, opened her

bag and took out her (St................ Then she

began to count a huge pile of coins and notes in front of me. This went on for a while, then the man behind her started to complain. Of course that

had a(n) (9).................... and soon the whole

bank was going crazy, all the customers arguing. Throughout all of this the old woman continued her counting! Well, she deposited her life savings and the customers calmed down. 1 must say. perhaps there's a bit too much excitement sometimes. I may move to the loans department in the future. It might be easier to (10) people money.

Anyway, let me know how you're getting on.

Love.

Mjrn, ■ г t, <Sv ID tionnr, [J R «■ V n V С ' 11, I'r О ' n I) u- (• 8/

Helen xxx

Unit

Before you read

Discuss this question with your partner.

What do you think makes an economy grow?

people	generations	family
ownership	having	belonging
boils over	overheats	warms up
bang	boom	balloon
roller-coasters	big wheels	bumper
		cars
growth	increase	progress
discovery	recovery	slump
overheat	recover	struggle
plenty	a shortage	none
hard-working	rich	lucky
challenge	race	boom
economist	prime minister	chancellor
sustainable	sustained	sustaining

Choose the correct answer А, В or С from the list opposite.

In many ways life for previous................... was

much more difficult.

Home................. has increased in many parts

of Europe.

When the economy grows dangerously fast, we say

it....................

A................... is when the economy is growing

quickly.

.................. are fairground rides like trains that

go up and down very fast.

.................. in technology in the last 30 years

has been incredible.

.................. is when you get better after

something bad like an illness - or economic depression.

When you................... you fight or work hard

for something.

Don't buy anymore milk. We've got....................

in the fridge.

A fortunate person is very....................

Mountain climbers are people who enjoy a

The................... is the government minister

responsible for the economy.

................ growth is growth that can continue

88 J ■ "v: Г.4 ^A. t гя (r^'n^'fl,•(17

for a long time.

Economic growth

Many millions ol' people enjoy a quality of life today that previous generations could not have dreamed of. Home ownership, private cars and holidays arc now standard for most families in industrialised countries. And yet at the same time, billions of people in other countries live without even clean drinking water. How can this be? file answer is that the fortunate lew live in countries w ith sustained economic grow th.

An economy is growing when the gross luttionul jmnhict is increasing year after year. When economists calculate economic growth, though, they must take into account the effects of inflation. For example, imagine that the gross national product of a country increased from S500 billion to <S51" billion from one year to another That's an increase of two per cent in output. Very impressive! However, if the rate of inflation was two per cent, then there has been no real growth at all.

The other thing to remember about economic growth is that not all growth is good. < iovcrnments want steady, sustainable growth. Sudden, sharp increases in growth - a boom - can cause the economy to overheat and fall into recession For many economies, the long run growth over many years is steady, but the short run is a roller-coaster ride of boom and depression. For

instance, the long run growth ot the ГК economy since l^c>5<> has Ix'cn a steady 2.5"» per year. However, it' you look closely at any decade you'll see that there is a cycle ot growth, recession and recovery. The truth is. steady growth in the short term is very hard to achieve.

Nevertheless, many countries are still struggling to achieve any kind of grow th at all. Why is this- W hat is necessary for grow th to happen'r Many economists have tried to find the answer to this question, and there are plenty of theories to choose from. However, most economists agree that three things are essential for economic growth to occur capital growth, savings and technological progress.

Capital refers to the factories and machinery that the labour force uses to turn raw materials into products More workers and more raw materials will only lead to a certain amount of grow th. Kventually. the economy needs more capital for the labour to use. Capital growth can also include training and education for the labour force. This makes the workforce more efficient. creative and productive.

Of course, someone has to pay for the new machines and training. In other words, capital growth needs investment. Money for investment needs to 1ч? borrowed from banks. Banks ean only lend if customers make savings. This is why- savings are so important for grow th. However, the economy will not grow if everyone is saving and 110 one is spending. (Jetting the right balance between consumption and saving is another part of the challenge of economic growth.

Hut above all. technology is the real miracle worker of economic growth An advance in technology ean increase productivity from the same amount of capital and resources: just what the chancellor ordered!

GNP and economic growth are the same thing. An increase in GNP always means the economy is growing.

An increase in GNP may not show economic growth.

All growth is good. Fast growth is good. Steady growth is good.

The majority of economists believe three factors positively influence economic growth. Economists are sure about what causes economic growth.

Economists have no idea about what causes economic growth.

The economy needs more raw materials to grow.

The economy needs more machines and

factories in order to grow.

The economy needs more labour to grow.

For economic growth there needs to be more

spending and less saving.

For economic growth there needs to be more

saving and less spending.

Tor economic growth there needs to be the

right amount of saving and spending.

Technology creates more raw materials with less labour.

Technology creates greater output from the same amount of capital, labour and materials. Technology creates more labour with fewer raw materials.

В в Comprehension

Now read the text again and choose the sentence which best summarises each paragraph.

Economic growth does not happen everywhere.

N i < гл 1 г Q 11 rt e i 1.1, e * ¹11 i_i,,, 1? 89

Econortuc growth did not happen in the past. Economic growth happens only in industrialised countries.

Before you listen

Discuss these questions with your partner.

Look at the photo below and answer these questions:

What country is this?

What do you know about its economy?

-> What countries are sometimes called the East Asian Tigers. Do you know why?

Which of the? things listed in С Listening helped the East Asian Tigers to grow?

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