Say whether these statements are true (T) or false (F), and if they are false say why.

a) () Money is both a means of exchange and a means of measuring labour.

b) () A mother’s work in caring for her children is not labour because it is seldom very hard work.

c) () Services which are measurable in terms of money concern the economist very much.

d) () The money standard as used by economists is scientific and strictly objective.

e) () Economists say that the activities of farm workers and nurses are the same.

f) () Labour in the economic sense is also concerned with the payment of higher wages to the national labour force.

g) () If an employer engages an assistant, his own work can be classified as labour.

3. Answer the questions:

a) What does the term ‘labour’ refer to?

b) What does the economist measure?

c) How do economists define the term ‘money’?

d) What term is used to describe a person engaged in his own private business?

e) What is the reward of private enterprise called?

4. Look through the text again and give Ukrainian/Russian equivalents to the following English words and word combinations:

National labour force, a means of measuring, to undertake work, in the strict economic sense, to be aware, in terms of money, a regular nature, value of things, distinctions of social class, to be engaged in private business, in return, the whole business.

5. Give English equivalents to the following words and word combinations from the text:

Засіб обміну, вартість людської праці, фіксована платня, отримувати, надавати послуги, важка праця, фінансова винагорода, вимірний, грошові виплати, судити, працездатне населення, працювати на себе, помічник, прибуток.

6. Cross out an odd word:

a) reward / value / payment / prize

b) work / labour / employment / job

c) aware / render / receive / undertake

d) provide / render /supply / make

e) care / be concerned / notice / think about

f) wages / activities / salary / payment

g) force / profit / income/ benefit

7. Complete the following sentences with words or word combinations from the text:

a) The total … population of Poland in 2002 was about 11 million: some 66% of the total population.

b) The proportion of women in the … labour … was much lower last year.

c) The great majority of the working population worked for a private … or … but 7% were employers or self-employed.

d) About 90% of the men were … in productive work while the remaining 10% were students and private individuals without the need to work.

e) The money standard is not religious and …, but … and objective.

f) … is a means of exchange as well as means of … the value of men’s labour.

8. Match an adjective from column A with nouns from column B. Then make a sentence for each word partnership:

A B

fixed	reward
financial	nature
working	labour force
regular	payment
scientific	surplus
national	population
large	standard

9. Make the words negative by using the prefix dis-:

EXAMPLE: satisfaction → dis + satisfaction = dissatisfaction

ability	connect	approve
engaged	comfort	obey
pleasure	agree	qualify

10. Combine these sentences by using not only … but also. This combination creates a contrast.

EXAMPLE: Money is a means of exchange. Money is a means of measuring men’s labour.® Money is not only a means of exchange, but also a means of measuring men’s labour.

a) The economic activity is the sum-total of our individual economic activities. The economic system is the general situation that influences our individual activities.

b) This scheme is acceptable to both the management and the trade unions.

This scheme has the government approval.

c) The factory is producing less every year.

The factory is losing valuable workers.

d) The government has set up a new economic commission.

The government has begun to consider a change in the law very seriously.

e) The situation interests economists considerably.

The situation has certain features that make it highly unusual.

11. Complete the dialogue, translating Russian sentences into English:

- Чем интересуются экономисты как ученые, рассматривая труд в строго экономическом смысле этого слова?

- As a scientist, the economist is interested essentially in the services that are measurable in terms of money.

- Что получает предприниматель, если дела в его фирме идут хорошо?

- He receives the surplus from the whole business.

- Какое определение дают экономисты термину «деньги»?

- Money is a means of exchange and also a means of measuring the value of men’s labour.

- Какие услуги люди оказывают друг другу, не получая никакого финансового вознаграждения?

- The wife cooks and the husband fixes the tap that is broken. But both of them do not receive payment for their hard work.

12. Finish the following sentences from memory:

a) Money is not only a means of exchange but also …

b) In the strict economic sense labour is …

c) The economist is interested in measuring …

d) Money is the standard which …

e) Labour is concerned with …

f) Any person engaged in private business is …

g) An employee receives his wages while his employer …

13. Find ten more words in the square for words you know about economics. You can read across and down:

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TEXT B

PRE-READING

1. Complete these definitions with the word combinations below:

A. costs incurred in doing business	1. assets
B. acquire an increasing number or quantity of; collect	2. expenses
C. property and possessions	3. accumulate

2. Read the following text:

Labour is any work that employees perform for an employer at a negotiated rate while profit is the surplus, which accumulates as a result of productive work. The employer obtains this surplus after he pays the necessary expense of his business and the wages of his employees. Sometimes he has to share the surplus with others who have provided the capital with which he started his business.

Most businesses need capital in order to start productive work, and the capital pays for the accommodation, machinery and other items, which the business needs.

There is always an element of risk in providing capital and starting a business. The business may not be successful. The employees of the business do not bear this risk, but the employers and the providers of capital do bear it. If the business is successful, the risk has been justified and the invested capital earns part of the profits as a return on the investment.

The capital, which people provide to help new businesses, is an accumulation of previous surpluses on previous business activities. In this way the past finances the future. Such capital is accumulated by a deliberate policy of saving surpluses. This policy may be personal or individual, or it may be public and collective. As such, it is common to both the capitalist and socialist systems. In both systems, a certain part of the profits “ploughs back” into the system in order to create capital.

In general terms, economists define capital as (1) a factor of production (for example, machinery or cash); (2) the assets possessed by a person, a company or a nation. Land, houses and shares in a business are capital. In terms of the state, all railways, docks, roads, airports and state funds of money are part of the nation’s capital.

PRACTICE

1. In the text find single words in italics for which these words and word combinations can be substituted:

a) returns	b) danger	c) done	d) gets
e) given	f) made worthwhile	g) building-up	h) carry

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14