Section 1. Key vocabulary. Exercise 1. Match the words with their corresponding definitions.

Exercise 1.Match the words with their corresponding definitions.

owner innovation big business

owners’ equity performance small business

consumer manufacturer Small Business Administration

growth rate entrepreneur gross national product

a. very large companies considered as a powerful group with a lot of influence;

b. a business with not many employees, or there business considered as a whole;

c. a US government organization that helps small businesses, for example by lending them money at low interest rates;

d. someone who starts a company, arranges business deals, and takes risks in order to make a profit;

e. the degree to which a company, investment, financial market etc. is profitable;

f. a new idea, method, or invention;

g. a person, firm etc. that manufactures things;

h. a person or organization that owns something;

i. a person who buys goods, products, and services for their own use, not for business use or to resell;

j. the difference between the value of a company’s assets and its liabilities other than those to shareholders;

k. the total value of goods and services produced in a company’s economy, including income from abroad

l. the speed at which something grows.

Exercise 2. Read and translate the text.

SMALL BUSINESS AND THE U.S. ECONOMY

What is a small business? There are actually many different definitions, but the most widely quoted ones arc those of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). Created in 1953 by the U.S. Congress, the SBA has a two fold purpose - to improve the managerial skills of entrepre­neurs and to help them borrow money. For entrepreneurs seeking its help, the SBA has drafted definitions to fit virtually every industry.

Small business plays a major role in the U.S. economy. More than 99 percent or the nation's 16 million businesses are small. Their effects are felt in a number of areas, including financial performance, innovation, job creation, new-business formation, and contributions to big busi­ness.

Financial Performance. In sheer numbers alone, small business far outstrips big business. There is also evidence that suggests that small business outperforms big business financially. On average, for example, small manufacturers earn a higher return on owners' equity than do large manufacturers, for two main reasons. First, in many manufactur­ing industries, small business can respond more rapidly and at less cost than can big business to the quickening rate of change in products and services, processes and markets. Second, small business has become more attractive to talented, individualistic men and women. In any event, small business has a positive impact on the nation's economic performance in terms of gross national product, growth rates, and other indicators.

Innovation. Entrepreneurs and small business play a major role in innovation. Small businesses or individuals working alone invented the personal computer, the transistor radio, the photocopying machine, the jet engine, and the instant photograph. Their ingenuity also gave us the pocket calculator, power steering, the automatic transmission, air conditioning, and even the nineteen-cent ballpoint pen. Clearly, we are all better off for the presence in our economy of millions of small businesses. Their resourcefulness and ingenuity have spawned new in­dustries and contributed a great many innovative ideas and technolog­ical breakthroughs.

Job Creation. Small businesses create more new jobs than do larger businesses. One study suggested that small businesses may create as many as 66 percent of all new jobs in the United States each year. In another study, the U.S. Department of Commerce found that small, young, high-technology businesses created new jobs at a much faster rate than did larger, older businesses. Such small businesses (especially those in chemistry and electronics) require employees with a high de­gree of scientific or engineering knowledge and thus generate additional demand for them. Clean Harbors, Inc., has created around 500 jobs in the New England area, and Reebok has created over 2,000 jobs in the last five years.

New-Business Formation. Another indicator of the importance of small business is the record number of businesses formed each year since 1960. New incorporations hit the 600,000 mark for the first time in 1983. This figure is more than four times the total in 1960. Of course, some of the new corporations are mature businesses that were born as sole proprietorships or partnerships and have only recently incorporated. Nevertheless, many more small businesses are created each year than larger ones.

Contributions to Big Business. A final reason small businesses have such enormous impact is contributions to big business. General Motors, for example, buys from 25,000 suppliers, most of them small businesses. Such businesses can create and deliver specialized products more efficiently than can larger businesses. Indeed, big businesses buy more of their inputs from small businesses than from other big businesses. Small businesses also play a key role in distributing and selling the products of larger businesses to consumers.

Exercise 3. Give the definitions to the words in italics.

1. Reformers are trying to cut the links between government and big business.

2. Wholesaling is a very popular area of small business in the United States..

3. The Small Business Administration will help each business to develop a sound business plan.

4. State governments had sought to promote economic development through close links with local entrepreneurs.

5. The company is showing strong performance and doing considerably better than the retail industry as a whole.

6. Entrepreneurs and small business play a major role in innovation.

7. Legally, the buyer becomes the owner at the instant the contract is made.

8. Demand for autos is increasing as consumers feel more confident about the economy.

9. Small manufacturers earn a higher return on owners’ equity than do large manufacturers.

10. The Bundesbank expects the German gross national product to grow at a rate of 1.5% to 2.0% this year.

11. The contracts allow retailers to sell equipment at below the manufacturer’s price.

12. The company said its low growth rate stems from the recession’s impact on commercial and industrial customers.

Exercise 4. Complete the passage using the following words and phases:

to perform, the products, to dominate, to coordinate, to manufacture, entrepreneurs, manufacturers, small business, to go into business.

Service organizations are perhaps the most common type of 1...... because they require a fairly small capital investment to get started. A certified accountant, for example, can 2......... just by renting an office and hanging out a sign. Small businesses ranging from video rental shops to hair salons to auto repair shops have flourished in recent years.

Retail businesses are another popular area for small business. Small business is especially effective in the area of specialty retailing - retail establishments that cater to certain customer groups like golfers, college students, and people who do their own automobile repairs. Many large retail chains allow individual stores to be run by 3... who have signed franchise agreements.

Small business also 4... the wholesale industry. Wholesaling involves buying products from large 5... and reselling the 6... to retailers. Small businesses are effective in this area because they have the flexibility and can develop the personal working relationships necessary to 7... large numbers of sellers and large numbers of buyers.

Manufacturing is the one area where small businesses often 8... more poorly than do large businesses. Starting a manufacturing firm almost always requires a large initial investment in plant and equipment. Thus, few small businesses can afford to 9... automobiles, refrigerators, or televisions. Still, in some instances small businesses have succeeded in manufacturing. Ron Canion and Compaq Computer, for example, have done quite well.

Exercise 5. Match the words and phrases with their corresponding definitions.

1. to set up in business

2. to get down to business

3. business people

4. ingenuity

5. individual

6. breakthrough

7. to outperform

8. to create

a. to produce or make something new

b. to do well in a particular job or activity compared to others of similar type

c. a single person especially when compared to the group

d. an important discovery that helps to provide an answer to a problem

e. the men and women who work in business, especially those who have important positions in it

f. an ability to think of clever new ways of doing something

g. to start one’s own company

h. to start talking about matter to be discussed

Exercise 6. Complete the sentences using the phrases (1-8) from Exercise 5. Change the form of the words where necessary.

1. Like many creative... she can be very bed-tempered.

2. Scientists are hoping for a... in the search for a cure for the disease.

3. The Peugeot engine has consistently... its rivals this season.

4. She cleverly... a job for herself when the company was reorganized.

5. Many...... will be concerned by the proposed increase in interest rates.

6. Drug smugglers constantly use their... to find new ways of getting drugs into a country.

7. She............ as a management consultant.

8. If the introductions are over I’d like to.............

Exercise 7. Translate into English.

A. 1. Я хочу помочь ему открыть собственное дело.

2. Они открыли для своего сына контору по продаже недвижимой собственности.

3. Давайте приступим к работе.

4. Давайте перейдем к насущным делам (= к очередному вопросу).

5. Это требует большой изобретательности.

6. У него вид вполне счастливого человека.

8. Создание компьютера стало эпохальным открытием 20 века.

9. Мы превосходим их по всем показателям.

10. Он создал эпическую поэму.

11. Его заявление вызвало чувство удивления.

12. Вам не следует волноваться об этом.

B. 1. Собственник – владелец имущества, физическое или юридическое лицо, обладающее правом собственности, выступающее в роли владельца, распорядителя и пользователя объекта собственности.

2. Уставной капитал – сумма капитала, которую выделяют акционерные общества, и другие предприятия для начала деятельности.

3. Уставной капитал создается за счет выручки от продажи акций, частных вложений капиталов, государственных средств, а также ноу-хау, патентов, лицензий и т.д.

4. Потребитель – лицо или организация, потребляющее, использующее продукт чьего-либо производства, чьей-либо деятельности, включая и свой собственный продукт.

5. Темп роста – отношение величины экономического показателя за определенный период времени к его исходному уровню.

6. Инновация – новая техника, технология, являющиеся результатом достижений научно-технического прогресса. Развитие изобретательства и появление крупных изобретений является существенным фактором инноваций.

7. Производитель – это предприятие или физическое лицо, изготовляющее товар и предоставляющее услугу с целью получения прибыли.

8. Предприниматель – это физическое лицо, прошедшее государственную регистрацию в качестве предпринимателя и которое на свой риск осуществляет активную экономическую деятельность.

9. Бизнес – экономическая деятельность, дающая прибыль; либо вид деятельности, приносящий доход или иные личные выгоды.

10. Малый бизнес – принятое обозначение совокупности мелких и средних частных предприятий, прямо не входящих ни в одно монополистическое объединение.

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