Специальности «Государственное управление и экономика»

ПЛАН РАБОТЫ

По английскому языку

для студентов ОЗО юридического факультета

Специальности «Государственное управление и экономика»

 

 

НУС 8 часов

 

	Лексико-тематическое содержание	Грамматический материал
	Introduction. Getting acquainted. People and character [1]	Word order. Types of questions. Adjectives. Degrees of comparison [2]
	Character and personality. Leadership [4]	The noun. The category of case and number. The use of articles [2]
	I am a student now. My studies at the University	The verb. Regular and irregular verbs [3]
	Our University [5]	The active voice tense forms [3]

 

 

Литература:

 

1. Нестерчук, Г.В. Английский язык для cтудентов-заочников / Г.В. Нестерчук, Л.М. Калилец. – Минск: 2002.

2. Практическая грамматика английского языка для среднего и продвинутого уровней. Под ред. Л.М. Лещёвой. Часть І. – Минск: Акад. упр. при Президенте Респ. Беларусь, 2004.

3. Практическая грамматика английского языка для среднего и продвинутого уровней. Под ред. Л.М. Лещёвой. Часть ІІ. – Минск: Акад. упр. при Президенте Респ. Беларусь, 2004.

4. Лещева, Л.М. “English for Public Administration Students” / Л.М. Лещева, С.М. Володько, Т.В. Бондарик. – Минск: Акад. упр. при Президенте Респ. Беларусь, 2006.

5. Нестерчук, Г.В. Английский язык для cтудентов-заочников / Г.В. Нестерчук, Л.М. Калилец. – Минск: 2002.

ЗАДАНИЕ НА ЗИМНЮЮ СЕССИЮ

(1 Семестр)

Устные темы: “Our University”

“The Leader I Admire”

“Public Administration”

“My Future Profession”

 

Самостоятельное чтение: прочитайте тексты

“Leadership”

“Management Styles”

“Historical Overview of Public Administration”,

выпишите и выучите ключевые слова, ответьте на вопросы после текстов, письменно переведите выделенные абзацы.

 

Составьте аннотацию текста.

 

Выполните грамматическое задание по темам “Существительное”, “Артикль”, “Прилагательное”, “Наречие”, “Глагол в действительном залоге” и “Глагол в пассивном залоге”.

Oral Topic

OUR UNIVERSITY

Brest State University was founded in 1945. It was called the Teachers’ Training Institute then. In 1995 it became a university. Its full name is Brest State University named after Alexander Pushkin.

The University occupies several academic buildings: an old building at the crossing of Savetskaya and Mickevich Streets, the Sports Complex with gymnasiums, a swimming pool, several lecture halls and tutorial rooms, and a seven-storeyed building in Kasmanautau Boulevard with a canteen, a library, reading halls, laboratories, lecture halls and subject rooms. At the disposal of students there are four hostels, a winter garden, a garden of successive blossoming, an agricultural and biological station. The University has three museums: of biology, of geology, and of physical culture and sport.

The University educates about … students at the day-time department and about … students acquire higher education at the correspondence department. There are 12 faculties at the University: Language and Literature, Foreign Languages, Psychology and Pedagogics, Social Pedagogics, Geography, Biology, Mathematics, Physics, Physical Education and Sports, History, Law, and Pre-University Preparation. Students are educated in … specialities.

Teaching is maintained at a high level. About 500 professors, associate professors and tutors teach students at the University.

The course of study lasts four-five years. Each year consists of two terms (autumn and spring) with examination periods at the end of each term. The term is divided between theoretical and practical work: students have a few weeks of lectures followed by seminars. When students have seminars they spend a lot of time in the reading room revising the material, fortunately the Internet helps now a lot.

The main form of work for external students is independent work. External students come to the University twice a year for short periods, which usually last for about 1-2 weeks. During these periods external students attend lectures, have practicals, get credits and take exams.

Students do not only study, they are also engaged in various forms of research work. They write course papers and diploma theses, participate in scientific conferences and publish their articles. This work helps them to better understand the subjects they study and the current requirements of the national economy, to see the results of their work put into practice.

Oral Topic

WINSTON CHURCHILL – THE LEADER I ADMIRE

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the great wartime leaders. He served as Prime Minister twice (1940–45 and 1951–55). A noted statesman and orator, Churchill was also an officer in the British Army, a historian, a writer, and an artist. To date, he is the only British prime minister to have received the Nobel Prize in Literature, and he was the first person to be made an honorary citizen of the United States.

Churchill was born into the aristocratic family of the Dukes of Marlborough. His father, Lord Randolph Churchill, was a charismatic politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer; his mother, Jenny Jerome, an American socialite. As a young army officer, he saw action in British India, the Sudan and the Second Boer War. He gained fame as a war correspondent and through books he wrote about his campaigns.

At the forefront of politics for fifty years, he held many political and cabinet positions. Before World War I, he served as President of the Board of Trade, Home Secretary and First Lord of the Admiralty as part of the Asquith Liberal government. During the war, he continued as First Lord of the Admiralty until the disastrous Gallipoli Campaign, which he had sponsored, caused his departure from government. He then served briefly on the Western Front, commanding the 6th Battalion of the Royal Scots Fusiliers. He returned to government as Minister of Munitions, Secretary of State for War, and Secretary of State for Air. After the War, Churchill served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Conservative (Baldwin) government of 1924–29.

Out of office and politically "in the wilderness" during the 1930s, Churchill took the lead in warning about the danger from Hitler and in campaigning for rearmament. On the outbreak of World War II, he was again appointed First Lord of the Admiralty. Following the resignation of Neville Chamberlain on 10 May 1940, Churchill became Prime Minister. His steadfast refusal to consider defeat, surrender or a compromise peace helped inspire British resistance, especially during the difficult early days of the War when Britain stood alone in its active opposition to Hitler. Churchill was particularly noted for his speeches and radio broadcasts, which helped inspire the British people. He led Britain as Prime Minister until victory had been secured over Nazi Germany.

After the Conservative Party lost the 1945 election, he became Leader of the Opposition. In 1951, he again became Prime Minister, before retiring in 1955. Upon his death, The Queen granted him the honour of a state funeral, which saw one of the largest assemblies of world statesmen ever.

 

Oral Topic

 

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

When people think about government, they think of elected officials. The attentive public knows these officials who live in the spotlight but not the public administrators who make governing possible; it generally gives them little thought unless it is to criticize “government bureaucrats”.

Yet we are in contact with public administration almost from the moment of birth, when registration requirements are met, and our earthly remains cannot be disposed of without final administrative certification. Our experiences with public administrators have become so extensive that our society may be labeled the “administered society”.

Various institutions are involved in public administration.

Much of the policy-making activities of public administration is done by large, specialized governmental agencies (micro-administration). Some of them are mostly involved with policy formulation, for example, the Parliament or Congress.

But to implement their decisions public administration also requires numerous profit and nonprofit agencies, banks and hospitals, district and city governments (macro-administration).

Thus, public administration may be defined as a complex political process involving the authoritative implementation of legitimated policy choices.

Public administration is not as showy as other kinds of politics. Much of its work is quiet, small scale, and specialized. Part of the administrative process is even kept secret. The anonymity of much public administration raises fears that government policies are made by people who are not accountable to citizens. Many fear that these so-called faceless bureaucrats subvert the intensions of elected officials. Others see administrators as mere cogs in the machinery of government.

But whether in the negative or positive sense, public administration is policy making. And whether close to the centers of power or at the street level in local agencies, public administrators are policy makers. They are the translators and tailors of government. If the elected officials are visible to the public, public administrators are the anonymous specialists. But without their knowledge, diligence, and creativity, government would be ineffective and inefficient.

Public administration is difficult to define, though we all have a sense of what it is.

One can find a wide variety of helpful definitions of public administration. They usually state that public administration involves activity, is concerned with politics and policy-making, tends to be concentrated in the executive branch of government, and is concerned with implementing the law.

One more specific definition of it is that public administration is the use of managerial, political, and legal theories and processes to fulfill legislative, executive, and judicial governmental mandates for the provision of regulatory and service functions for the society as a whole or for some segments of it.

Oral Topic

MY FUTURE PROFESSION

I am a first year student of law faculty of Brest State University named after A. Pushkin. I specialize in Public Administration and Economics.

Public Administration prepares individuals to serve as managers in the executive branches of local and state government as well as in private and non-profit organizations such as museums, foundations and charities which serve public interests. The field of Public Administration is based on the social sciences and draws on economics, political science, and sociology, that is why we are instructed in these spheres too, special attention is paid to economics.

Economics is the study of the production, conservation, and allocation of resources in conditions of scarcity. We study Economic Theories, Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, National Economy, Logistics, etc.

After the graduation we are supposed to be able to evaluate alternative methods of achieving society’s goals and objectives and to formulate strategies and policies that will help to achieve these objectives, to analyze, manage and deliver public programmes and services, to have skills in public decision making and policy formation, in analysis of policy issues, resource allocation and decision modeling, cost/benefit analysis, and statistical methods.

After the graduation I would like to work in the executive branch of local government, of course with good prospects for promotion.

In my opinion, to be a public servant an individual should be extremely responsible and devoted to his/her work. Principle should come first. Work in public administration is work with people, with their problems, and it can be very stressful sometimes. But if you treat people you work with in an honest way, if you take into account their unique problems and circumstances, you will be respected. It is important to be hardworking and responsible, because you work for the benefit of the society, your country. I think my personal qualities such as energy, initiative and decisiveness will help me to achieve my goals.

Home reading

In a system based on personal preferment, a change of emperor disrupted the entire arrangements of government. Those who had been in favor might now be out of favor. Weak rulers followed strong rulers, foolish monarchs succeeded wise monarchs - but all were dependent on the army, which supplied the continuity that enabled the empire to endure so long. In the absence of institutional, bureaucratic procedures, government moved from stability to near anarchy and back again.

Modern administrative system is based on objective norms (such as laws, rules and regulations) rather than on favoritism It is a system of offices rather than officers. Loyalty is owed first of all to the state and the administrative organization. Members of the bureaucracy, or large, formal, complex organizations that appeared in the recent times, are chosen for their qualification rather than for their personal connections with powerful persons. When vacancies occur by death, resignation, or for other reasons, new qualified persons are selected according to clearly defined rules. Bureaucracy does not die when its members die.

(from Практическая грамматика английского языка для среднего и продвинутого уровней. Под ред. Л.М. Лещёвой. Ч. ІІ.)

 

Answer the questions:

1. What maintained political rule over wide areas and large populations in ancient empires?

2. What changes could a change of emperor lead to in a system based on personal preferment?

3. What are modern administrative systems based on?

4. Why is bureaucracy thought to be immortal?

5. What is the difference between the administrative system based on objective norms and the one based on favouritism?

Home reading

LEADERSHIP

Leadership is the direction and guiding of other participants in the organization.

Leadership differs in degree. Transactional leaders exchange rewards for services. They guide subordinates in recognizing and clarifying roles and tasks. They give their subordinates the direction, support, and confidence to fulfill their role expectations. They also help subordinates understand and satisfy their own needs and desires. They encourage better than average performance from their subordinates. They are good managers.

Transformational leadership is more dramatic. Transformational leaders change the relationship of the subordinate and the organization. They encourage subordinates to go well beyond their original commitments and expectations. If transactional leaders expect diligence, transformational leaders foster devotion. These leaders have the ability to reach the souls of others to raise human consciousness. They raise the level of awareness and encourage people to look beyond their self-interest.

Both forms of leadership are important. When people in positions of authority encourage subordinates to believe that their work is important - not merely a fair exchange of pay for work - motivation, commitment, and performance surpass routine expectations.

Leadership is required for major changes and new directions, and without leadership government easily stagnates. When things go well or poorly we credit or blame the leader. We look for leadership in candidates for high office. But can we determine which job candidates are "natural born" leaders? Can we train employees so that they develop the required personality characteristics to become effective leaders?

Over many years, investigators have hoped to identify leadership traits. It is extremely difficult to know precisely what traits such diverse political leaders as Napoleon Bonaparte, Luther King, Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, Indira Ghandi, and Adolf Hitler shared in common. Yet many researches have attempted to identify universal characteristics of leadership and the following classification of the leadership traits is suggested:

1) capacity (intelligence, verbal facility, originality, judgment);

2) achievement (scholarship, knowledge, athletic accomplishments);

3) responsibility (dependability, initiative, persistence, aggressiveness, self-confidence, desire to excel);

4) participation (activity, sociability, cooperation, adaptability, humor);

Yet this list is not very helpful. Particular traits are neither necessary nor sufficient to become a leader. There are brilliant thinkers and talkers who are not leaders, and there are people who are not very intelligent and not blessed with verbal facility who are obvious leaders. The holding of a degree does not say enough of the holder and whether he would fit into a particular situation. In some situations the manager's superior education may be even resented by less well educated organization members.

It is obvious that some managers are better leaders than others, and if psychological traits do not explain the variations, what is the explanation?

Some investigators emphasize the situational character of leadership. The ingredients of this parameter of leadership are the following:

• status, or position power - the degree to which the leader is enabled to get the group members to comply with and accept his or her leadership (but leadership should not be confused with high position - holding high office does not guarantee impact; despite the leader's formal power, he or she did not always get from subordinates the performance that was desired);

• leader-member relations - acceptance of the leader by members and their loyalty to him or her;

• task-structure - the degree to which the jobs of the followers are well defined;

• ability to recognize the most critical needs for organization members at the moment (physiological needs for food, sleep, etc. or safety needs for freedom from fear, for security and stability; needs for love, friends and contact; esteem needs for self-respect and the respect of others or needs for self-actualization, for achieving one's potential).

Defining leadership is a very difficult task but rejecting the study of leadership would impoverish our understanding of governing.

(from Практическая грамматика английского языка для среднего и продвинутого уровней. Под ред. Л.М. Лещёвой. Ч. ІІ.)

 

Answer the questions:

1. What is leadership?

2. What are the two forms of leadership?

3. What characteristics does a “natural born” leader possess?

4. What classification of the leadership traits is suggested?

5. What is necessary to become a leader?

 

Home reading

GRAMMAR TEST

GRAMMAR TEST

VOCABULARY AND GRAMMAR TEST

ПЛАН РАБОТЫ

По английскому языку

для студентов ОЗО юридического факультета

На зимнюю сессию/1 семестр

(8 часов)

 

	Лексико-тематическое содержание	Грамматический материал
	State System of the Republic of Belarus	Passive Voice [1]
	Economy of the Republic of Belarus [3]	Passive Voice – Active Voice [1]
	State System of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland	Modal Verbs [2]
	Economy of the United Kingdom [3]	Modals and their equivalents [2]

 

 

Литература

 

1. Практическая грамматика английского языка для среднего и продвинутого уровней. Под ред. Л.М. Лещёвой. Часть ІІ. – Минск: Акад. упр. при Президенте Респ. Беларусь, 2004.

2. Практическая грамматика английского языка для среднего и продвинутого уровней. Под ред. Л.М. Лещёвой. Часть ІІІ. – Минск: Акад. упр. при Президенте Респ. Беларусь, 2006.

3. Кусков, М.И. English: Fundamentals of Economics / М.И. Кусков. – Минск, 2005.

 

ЗАДАНИЕ НА ЛЕТНЮЮ СЕССИЮ

(2 Семестр)

Устные темы: “The Economy of Belarus”

“The Economy of the United Kingdom”

“The State System of Belarus”

“The State System of the United Kingdom”

“Economics as a Science”

“Kinds of Economies”.

 

Самостоятельное чтение: прочитайте тексты

“The American Economy”

“Advertising”

“What Makes Nike's Advertising Tick?”

выпишите и выучите ключевые слова, ответьте на вопросы после текстов, письменно переведите выделенные абзацы.

 

Составьте аннотацию текста.

 

Выполните грамматическое задание по темам “Неличные формы глагола”, “Модальные глаголы”, “Условные предложения”.

 

Oral Topic

THE ECONOMY OF BELARUS

 

Belarus has a well-developed economy. Last year gross domestic product (GDP) of Belarus was about $112 billion. Trade and other services accounted for 41 percent of GDP; industry, including mining and manufacturing, 46 percent; and agriculture and forestry, 13 percent.

Approximately 5.3 million people contribute to the economy of Belarus. Of this total, 42 percent are employed in industry; 21 percent in agriculture and forestry; 17 percent in culture, education, and health services; 7 percent in trade; 7 percent in transportation, and 6 percent in miscellaneous pursuits. Unemployment is officially estimated at 2.1 percent.

Belarus is relatively poor in terms of natural resources. It does not have vast amounts of most of the minerals used in modern industrial production. The country has small reserves of petroleum and natural gas.

In the south-west there are small reserves of hard coal, brown coal, and petroleum, but they are not easily accessible and remain undeveloped. The country has large forest reserves. About one-third of the republic is covered in forest.

Belarus does possess, however, one of the world's largest reserves of potassium salts.

The country also is a world leader in the production of peat, which is especially abundant in the Pripyat Marshes. Peat is used as a mulching material in agriculture. In briquette form it is used as fuel.

Among the other minerals recovered are salt, building materials, chiefly limestone and quartz sands for glassmaking, and small deposits of gold and diamonds.

Belarus is heavily reliant on oil and gas supplies from Russia.

Belarus generates only about 12 percent of its own energy needs. Nearly all electricity is generated at thermal power stations using piped oil and natural gas; however, there is some local use of peat, and there are a number of low-capacity hydroelectric power plants.

Belarus is a highly developed industrial country. The main industries include machine building, instrument making, chemicals, timber processing, textile and clothing manufacture, and food processing.

Manufacturing contributes most of the country's industrial output. The country is known for its heavy-duty trucks, transport vehicles, and tractors. Belarus also manufactures computers, engineering equipment, metal-cutting tools, and such consumer goods as clocks and watches, motorcycles, bicycles, refrigerators, radios, television sets and others. Forests yield many wood products, including furniture, matches, plywood and paper goods.

Heavy industry is the most highly developed sector of the economy. Machine-building industry is mostly concentrated in Minsk. It makes various types of tractors, heavy-duty trucks, other heavy machinery and electrical equipment. Minsk's satellite town, Zhodzino, produces large-capacity dump trucks. Dump trucks are also made in Moghilyov.

Chemical industry produces chemical fibers, mineral fertilizers, petrochemicals, plastics, soda ash, and synthetic resins. The chief chemical product is potassium fertilizer.

Agriculture accounts for about a seventh of Belarus' economic output. Belarus has a large amount of farmland. Most of the country has mixed crop and livestock farming, with a strong emphasis on flax growing. The country's principal crops are potatoes, grains (especially wheat, barley, oats and rye), flax, fruits, sunflowers, vegetables, and sugar beets. Nearly 60 percent of the country's total land area is cultivated. Arable land accounts for about 30 percent of the country's land use, and meadows and pastures account for 15 percent. The 1986 explosion at the Chernobyl' nuclear power station in Ukraine contaminated much of the soil in southern Belarus, reducing the country's total area of arable land by more than 10 percent. Livestock breeding is another main component of agriculture. Cattle, hogs, and sheep are the most important livestock raised in the country.

Service industries are industries that produce services, not goods. Today, private economic activity in the service sector is increasing. Many individuals and families are starting small businesses such as restaurants, barbershops, dry cleaners, and taxi services.

Independent Belarus restructured its banking system into a system consisting of the National Bank of Belarus and a number of commercial banks, most of which are either joint-stock or limited-liability companies. The republic introduced its own currency, the Belarusian ruble, in 1994. It has been the official national currency since January 1995, when circulation of Russian rubles ceased.

Belarus proper consumes only 13% of the goods produced. A great amount of goods produced by Belarusian industries and agriculture is oriented towards the CIS countries' markets. Russia, Poland, and Ukraine remain the republic's main trading partners, with trade increasing with Germany and Italy. Belarus also conducts trade with Austria, China, Great Britain, Lithuania, Switzerland, the United States and other countries.

Belarus exports transport equipment (mainly tractors and trucks), machinery, refrigerators, television sets, chemicals, potassium fertilizers, energy products, wood and paper products, and meat and dairy products. About 60 percent of Belarus' exports go to former Soviet republics. The major exports include tractors to Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United States and many other countries.

The nation's major imports include petroleum, natural gas, industrial raw materials, textiles, rolled metal, rubber, paint, sugar, and some consumer goods. Fuel is Belarus' largest import expenditure from Russia, which is our most important trading partner.

(adapted from English: National Economies)

Oral Topic

STATE SYSTEM OF BELARUS

Belarus is a presidential republic. State power in the Republic of Belarus is formed and realized through three main branches – legislative, executive and judicial.

According to the Constitution of 1994 and its modifications in 1996, a two-chamber parliament is the supreme standing and exclusive legislative body of state power in the Republic of Belarus. The President of the Republic of Belarus is the chief of the state.

The executive branch is represented by the Council of Ministers headed by the prime minister. The local management and self-management is carried out through the local councils of deputies, executive and directive organs, bodies of self-management, referenda, assemblies, etc.

Courts perform the judicial power in the republic. The Constitutional Court fulfills the control over the constitutional compliance of normative acts in the country. The supervision of the exact and uniform execution of laws by all the bodies of state management, local councils and other legal and also physical persons is carried out by the General Public Prosecutor of the Republic of Belarus.

The control over the fulfillment of the republican budget, the State Control Committee carries out the utilization of state property, the execution of parliamentary acts regulating the relations with state property, economic, financial and tax relations.

Now the National Meeting of the Republic of Belarus numbers 174 deputies and is divided into two Chambers: the Chamber of Representatives and the Soviet of the Republic. The Chamber of Representatives numbers 110 deputies elected by direct poll in the electoral districts. The Soviet of the Republic is the body of territorial representation. It has 64 members according to the administrative division of the Republic of Belarus.

According to the Constitution the head of the state and the chief executive is the President of the Republic of Belarus. To organize the executive powers in the fields of economy, foreign policy, defense, national security and other spheres of the state the President of the Republic of Belarus creates the Council of Ministers. The members of the Council are appointed and dismissed by the President. The Prime Minister, his deputies, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Finance, Minister of Defense, Internal Affairs Minister, KGB Chairman are appointed and dismissed by the President with approval of the Parliament. The Prime Minister governs the activities of the Council of Ministers.

(adapted from Colours of My Native Country)

 

Oral Topic

ECONOMICS AS A SCIENCE

The word ‘economics’ derives from the Greek word ‘oikonomika’ that means household management. Economics came of age as a separate area of study with the publication of Adam Smith's “The Wealth of Nations”. Adam Smith is often considered to be the founder of modern day economics because he was the first writer to outline and appraise the workings of a free market economy. Major economic thinkers include David Ricardo, Thomas Malthus, John Mill, Karl Marx and others.

Most economists define economics as a social science concerned with the production, distribution, exchange, and consumption of goods and services. Economics is the study of how goods and services get produced and how they are distributed. By goods and services, economists mean everything that can be bought and sold. By produced, they mean the processing and making of goods and services. By distributed, they mean the way goods and services are divided among people. Economists focus on the way in which individuals, groups, business enterprises, and governments seek to achieve efficiently economic objectives.

Given most goods are scarce, every society must somehow determine what goods to produce. Scarcity is the condition that exists if more of a good or service is demanded than can be produced. As human needs are virtually unlimited and resources are finite, most goods and services are, in the economic sense, scarce. In a free economy, allocation of scarce resources is controlled by the price mechanism. Through the market mechanism the production and consumption decisions of individuals directly affect the allocation of resources. When the market mechanism fails to provide goods and services efficiently and equitably – a situation called “market failure” – the public sector must provide assistance. Market imperfections must be overcome by government activity. In a controlled economy, central government has to decide how resources are to be allocated.

The major divisions of economics include microeconomics, which deals with the behaviour of individual consumers, companies, traders, and farmers; and macroeconomics, which focuses on aggregates such as the level of income in an economy, the volume of total employment, and the flow of investment. Both fields place a heavy emphasis on the individual or household as the basic unit of analysis, rather than the classes.

Microeconomics and macroeconomics frequently overlap. They include the sub-discipline of econometrics, which analyses economic relationships using mathematical and statistical techniques. Increasingly sophisticated econometric methods are today being used for such topics as economic forecasting.

Economics has always been controversial because it is used by individuals, businesses, and governments to make decisions. Economic agents often look around for an economic theory which confirms their prejudices rather than accepting that our understanding of how a system works is often imperfect. The ever changing nature of economics and the potential for entering a debate about causes, effects, and policy implications make economics so fascinating.

Oral Topic

KINDS OF ECONOMIES

Different kinds of economies have developed as nations have tried different approaches to solving their basic economic problems. Every country has an economic system to determine how to use its resources. The three main economic models today are 1) capitalism, 2) central planning, and 3) mixed economies. The economies of all nations mix elements from these main economic models. All real economies combine elements of capitalism with those of central planning. However, nations differ from one another in the extent to which they rely on the two approaches.

Capitalism is an economic and political system in which private individuals and business firms carry on the production and exchange of goods and services through a complex network of prices and markets. Capitalism is based on free enterprise - that is, most of the resources needed for production are privately owned. Individuals and private firms determine what to produce and sell, and how to use their income. Capitalism calls for the ownership and control of all major businesses by private individuals.

The term 'capitalism' was first introduced in the mid-19th century by Karl Marx, the founder of communism. 'Free enterprise' and 'market system' are terms also frequently employed to describe modern capitalist economies.

The Scottish economist Adam Smith first stated the principles of capitalism in the 1700's. Smith believed that governments should not interfere in most business affairs. He said the desire of business people to earn a profit, when regulated by competition, would work almost like an 'invisible hand' to produce what consumers want. Smith's philosophy is known as 'laissez faire' (noninterference).

Throughout its history capitalism has had certain key characteristics. First, basic production facilities – land and capital – are privately owned. Capital in this sense means the buildings, machines, and other equipment used to produce goods and services that are ultimately consumed. Second, economic activity is organized and coordinated through the interaction of buyers and sellers (or producers) in markets. Third, owners of land and capital as well as the workers they employ are free to pursue their own self-interests in seeking maximum gain from the use of their resources and labour in production. Consumers are free to spend their incomes in ways that they believe will yield the greatest satisfaction. This principle, called consumer sovereignty, reflects the idea that under capitalism producers will be forced by competition to use their resources in ways that will best satisfy the wants of consumers. Self-interest and the pursuit of gain lead them to do this. Fourth, under this system a minimum of government supervision is required; if competition is present, economic activity will be self-regulating. Government will be necessary only to protect society from foreign attack, uphold the rights of private property, and guarantee contracts. The gravest problems of capitalism are unemployment, inflation, and economic injustice.

Many economies are based on the principles of capitalism. These economies are called free enterprise or free market economies because they allow people to carry out most economic activities free from government control. Even in these economies, however, the government owns some land and capital and exercises some control over the economy. The United States and Canada have economic systems that use relatively little government control. For this reason, their economies are often described as capitalist. Capitalism is also practiced in Australia, New Zealand, and many countries of Western Europe.

Central planning calls for government control of all major economic activities and government ownership of nearly all productive resources. The Soviet Union and many nations of Eastern Europe once relied heavily on central planning. Government officials made all key decisions about how goods were produced, priced, and distributed. The economic system used by these countries was referred to as Socialism.

Socialist economies experienced some success. Centralization enabled governments to focus their energies and rapidly industrialize their countries. Literacy and employment rates soared in these countries. In addition, income was distributed fairly equally. Therefore, the difference between the lowest and the highest wages was much smaller in Socialist countries than in capitalist countries.

The centrally planned economy created serious problems, however, because it was inefficient. State-set prices did not reflect the actual cost of production, leading to waste of resources. The planned economy also failed to provide high-quality goods and services and could not respond quickly to changes in consumer demand. In many cases, consumer goods and housing were in short supply, and state-run farms did not produce adequate supplies of food. The shortages occurred partly because worker, productivity and creativity lagged. Workers had little motivation to be productive because their wages remained about the same regardless of how much they produced. Problems in centrally planned economies include underemployment, rationing, bureaucracy, and scarcity of many consumer items.

All modern economic systems combine private ownership with government control. Sometimes called mixed economies, these systems attempt to eliminate inefficiencies inherent in capitalism or socialism alone. Governments, imbued with centralized control and the power to make legislation, set standards and taxes and may direct certain industries such as telecommunications or transportation, while private businesses control the remaining industries and generally thrive or fail according to the dictates of the market. In some cases, a public-private partnership may operate some industries. Under a mixed economy, the government may own such industries as banks, railroads, and steel. However, other industries are privately owned.

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ADVERTISING

To advertise means to tell people publicly about a product or service in order to persuade them to buy it. Advertising – the techniques and practices used to bring products, services or opinions to public notice for the purpose of persuading the public to respond in a certain way toward what is advertised. Most advertising involves promoting a good that is for sale, but similar methods are used to encourage people to drive safely, to support various charities, or to vote for political candidates. In many countries advertising is the most important source of income for the media through which it is conducted. The media are all the organizations, such as television, radio, and the newspapers, that provide information for the public. In the ancient and medieval world such advertising as existed was conducted by word of mouth. The first step toward modern advertising came with the development of printing in the 15th and 16th centuries. In the 17th century weekly newspapers in London began to carry advertisements, and by the 18th century such advertising was flourishing. The great expansion of business in the 19th century was accompanied by the growth of an advertising industry; it was that century, primarily in the United States, that saw the establishment of advertising agencies. Advertising agency is a company that designs and makes advertisements for other companies. By the 1920s advertising agencies could plan and execute complete advertising campaigns.

There are some principal media for advertising. Newspapers can offer advertisers large circulations (circulation – the average number of copies of a newspaper or magazine that are usually sold each day, week, month etc) and the opportunity to alter their advertisements frequently and regularly. Magazines may be of general interest or they may be aimed at specific audiences (such as people interested in computers or literature) and offer the manufacturers of products of particular interest to such people the chance to make contact with their most likely customers. The most pervasive (existing or spreading everywhere) media are television and radio. Advertisers can buy short “spots” of time to promote their products or services. Advertising spots are broadcast between or during regular programs. For advertisers the most important facts about a given television or radio program are the size and composition of its audience. The size of the audience determines the amount of money the broadcaster can charge an advertiser, and the composition of the audience determines the advertiser's choice as to when a certain message, directed at a certain segment of the public, should be run. The other advertising media include direct mail, outdoor billboards, posters, and etc. Advertising is on some occasions too intrusive (affecting someone's private life or interrupting them in an unwanted and annoying way).

There is no serious disagreement over the power of advertising to inform consumers of what products are available (can easily be bought or found). In a free-market economy effective advertising is extremely important and necessary to a company's survival, for unless consumers know about a company's product they are unlikely to buy it. For an advertisement to be effective its production and placement must be based on a knowledge of the public and a skilled use of the media. A career in advertising is a difficult one. Good advertisers are in great demand. Advertising agencies serve to organize complex advertising campaigns. The effectiveness of advertising campaigns is based on research into consumer behaviour and demographic analysis of the market area. [Demography is the study of human populations and the ways in which they change] Advertisers combine creativity in the production of the advertising messages with canny scheduling and placement, so that the messages are seen by, and will have an effect on, the people advertisers most want to address. Given a fixed budget, the advertiser faces a basic choice: he can have his message seen or heard by many people fewer times, or by fewer people many times.

In criticism of advertising it has been argued that the consumer must pay for the cost of advertising in the form of higher prices for goods; against this point it is argued that advertising enables goods to be mass marketed, thereby bringing prices down. It has been argued that the cost of major advertising campaigns is such that few firms can afford (to have enough money to buy or pay for something) them, thus helping these firms to dominate (to have power and control over) the market; on the other hand, whereas smaller firms may not be able to compete (to try to be more successful) with larger ones at a national level, at the local level advertising enables them to hold their own. Finally, it has been argued that advertisers exercise an undue (more than is reasonable, suitable, or necessary) influence over the regular contents of the media they employ – the editorial stance (an opinion that is stated publicly) of a newspaper or the subject (the thing one is talking about or considering in a conversation, discussion, book, film etc.) of a television show. In response it has been pointed out that such influence is counteracted, at least in the case of financially strong media firms, by the advertiser's reliance on the media to convey his messages; any compromise (an agreement between two contracting parties that is achieved by both of them accepting less than they wanted at first) of the integrity of a media firm might result in a smaller audience (the persons reached by a publication, radio, TV, etc.) for his advertising.

 

Answer the questions:

1. What is advertising?

2. What are the principal media if advertising?

3. What are the main factors that determine the effectiveness of advertising?

4. Why is advertising often criticized?

5. Does advertising increase or decrease prices?

 

Home reading

THE AMERICAN ECONOMY

 

The United States ranks first in the world in the total value of its economic production.

The United States economy is based largely on a free enterprise system. In such a system, individuals and companies are free to make their own economic decisions. Individuals and companies own the raw materials, equipment, factories, and other items necessary for production, and they decide how best to use them in order to earn a profit.

Even though the U.S. economy is based on free enterprise, the government has placed regulations on economic practices through the years. It has passed antitrust laws, which are designed to keep one company or a few firms from controlling entire industries. Such control, called a monopoly, does away with competition and enables controlling companies to charge high prices and reduce the quality of goods. Government regulations help protect consumers from unsafe merchandise. They also help protect workers from unsafe working conditions and unreasonably low wages. The government has also enacted regulations designed to reduce environmental pollution.

Still, the United States economy has faced problems from time to time. The problems include recessions (mild business slumps), depressions (severe business slumps), and inflation (rising prices).

The US economy consists of three main sectors - the primary, secondary, and tertiary.

Primary economic activities are those directly extracting goods from the natural environment, including agriculture, forestry, fishing, and mining. The primary sector usually contributes about 3 percent of annual GDP (gross domestic product).

Agriculture accounts for 2 percent of the US GDP and employs 3 percent of the nation's workers. Yet, the United States is a world leader in agriculture production. The country's farms turn out as much food as the nation needs, with enough left over to export food to other countries. About a third of the world's food exports come from the US farms.

Beef cattle rank as the most valuable product of American farms. Other leading farm products, in order of value, include milk, soybeans, chickens and eggs, hogs, wheat, and cotton. The US farms also produce large amounts of hay, tobacco, turkeys, oranges, potatoes, tomatoes, and apples.

The United States has large deposits of coal, iron ore, natural gas, and petroleum, which are vital to the country's industrial strength. Its many other important minerals include copper, gold, phosphates, silver, and zinc. The United States ranks among the leading countries in the value of its mineral production. The United States ranks third, after Russia and Saudi Arabia, in the production of petroleum. It is second to Russia in natural gas production and to China in coal production. To meet its needs, however, the United States must import additional amounts of iron ore, petroleum, and other minerals.

The farms, factories, households, and motor vehicles of the United States consume vast amounts of energy annually. Various sources are used to generate the energy. Petroleum provides about 40 percent. It is the source of most of the energy used to power motor vehicles, and it heats millions of houses and factories. Natural gas generates about 25 percent of the energy used. Many industries use gas for heat and power and millions of households burn it for heat and cooking. Coal is the source of about 25 percent of all the energy. Its major uses are in the production of electricity and steel. Hydroelectric and nuclear power plants each generate about 5 percent of America's energy.

Secondary economic activities involve processing or combining materials into new products, and include manufacturing and construction. They account for 22 percent of the GDP and employ 20 percent of the workers. The leading categories of the US products are, in order of value, chemicals, transportation equipment, food products, non-electrical machinery, electrical machinery and equipment, printed materials, scientific and medical instruments, fabricated metal products, paper products, rubber and plastic products, and primary metals.

Construction accounts for 4 percent of the US GDP and provides jobs for 4 percent of the work force. This industry employs such workers as architects, engineers, contractors, bricklayers, carpenters, electricians, plumbers, roofers, ironworkers, and plasterers.

Tertiary economic activities involve the output of services rather than goods. Examples of tertiary activities include wholesale and retail trade, banking, government, and transportation.

Service industries account for 75 percent of the US GDP and employ 76 percent of the country's workers. This industry group includes a wide variety of businesses that provide services rather than producing goods.

Community, social, and personal services rank first among the US service industries in terms of the gross domestic product. This industry includes such establishments as doctors' offices and private hospitals, hotels, law firms, computer programming and data processing companies, restaurants, repair shops, private research laboratories, and engineering companies.

Finance, insurance, and real estate rank next among U.S. service industries. Banks finance much of the economic activity in the United States by making loans to both individuals and businesses. American banks loan billions of dollars annually. Most of the loans to individuals are for the purchase of houses, automobiles, or other major items. Bank loans to businesses provide an important source of money for capital expansion - the construction of new factories and the purchase of new equipment. As a business expands, it hires more workers. These workers, in turn, produce more goods and services. In this way, the nation's level of employment and its economic output both increase.

Other important types of financial institutions include commodity and security exchanges. Commodities are basic goods, such as grains and precious metals. Securities are certificates of investment, such as stocks and bonds. The prices of commodities and securities are determined by the buying and selling that takes place at exchanges. The New York Stock Exchange is the nation's largest security exchange. The Chicago Board of Trade is the world's largest commodity exchange.

The United States has the world's largest private insurance industry. The country has about 2,000 life and health insurance companies and about 3,500 property and liability companies. Real estate is important to the economy because of the large sums of money involved in the buying and selling of property.

Wholesale and retail trade play major roles in the American economy. Wholesale trade, which includes foreign trade, takes place when a buyer purchases goods directly from a producer. The goods may then be sold to other businesses for resale to consumers. Retail trade involves selling products to the final consumer. Grocery stores, department stores, and automobile dealerships are examples of retail trade establishments.

Canada and Japan are the country's chief trading partners. Other major U.S. trading partners include Germany, Mexico, South Korea, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom.

Important U.S. exports include machinery and transportation equipment, such as aircraft, computers, electric power equipment, industrial machinery, and motor vehicles and parts; manufactured articles, especially scientific measuring equipment; chemical elements and compounds, including plastic materials; basic manufactures, such as metals and paper; and agricultural products, especially corn and wheat.

The leading U.S. imports are machinery and transport equipment, such as automobiles and parts, engines, office machines, and telecommunications equipment; manufactured articles, such as clothing, shoes, and toys; mineral fuels and lubricants, especially petroleum; basic manufactures, such as iron, steel, and other metals, and paper and newsprint; and chemical products, such as chemical compounds and medicines.

(from English: National Economies)

 

Answer the questions:

1. What are the peculiarities of the US free enterprise system?

2. What sectors does the US economy consist of?

3. What do the US farms produce?

4. What mineral resources is the USA rich in?

5. What are the leading categories of the US manufactured products?

6. What are the most important service industries of the USA?

7. What are the US trading partners?

8. What are the US imports?

9. What are the US exports?

10. Does the US economy face any problems? What are they?

 

Text for annotation

 

Most successful democracies have existed in developed societies. In such societies, literacy rates are high, per capita (per person) incomes are moderate to high, and there are few extremes of wealth and poverty. Some scholars believe democracy works best in countries with a large middle class.

Many democratic governments have collapsed during economic crises. The basic problem involved in the failures of such democracies has been the inability to maintain sufficient agreement among either the people or their political leaders on the purposes of government. Crises have often aggravated and sharpened divisions and suspicions among various classes, groups, parties, and leaders. Excessive divisions have helped block action by freely elected governments, often resulting in widespread public frustration and disorder.

Democratic governments are likely to be unstable whenever people become deeply divided and suspicious of one another. Sometimes racial, ethnic, or religious differences make democracies difficult to operate. In such instances, the people may not see one another as legitimate and trustworthy partners in the enterprise of government.

 

GRAMMAR TEST: MODAL VERBS

l. Supply the modal verbs can, could, to be able to,or managed to.

1) A good 1500-metre runner... run the race in under four minutes.

2) Bill is so unfit he... run at all!

3) Our baby is only nine months and he... stand up.

4) When I was younger, I... speak Italian much better than I... now.

5)... she speak German well? - No, she... speak German at all.

6) He... draw or paint at all when he was a boy, bat now he is a famous artist.

7) After weeks of training, I... swim a length of the baths underwater.

8) It took a long time, but in the end Tony... save enough to buy his car.

9) Did you buy any fresh fish in the market?- No, I... get any.

10) For days the rescuers looked for the lost climbers in the snow. On the forth day they saw them and... reach them without too much trouble.

 

2. Insert the modal verbs may or can into each gap.

11) The engines don't seem to be working properly. There... be some ice in them.

12) Planes flying in cold countries in winter... have problems because of ice on the wings.

13) Both engines have failed. I'll try to find a place to land. We haven't much chance of surviving, but we... be lucky.

14) The engines were not working properly. The pilot said he thought there... be some ice on the wings.

15) He said there wasn't much chance of surviving, but we... be lucky.

16) He told me that planes flying in cold countries in winter... have problems because of ice on the wings.

 

3. Complete these sentences with the modal verbs (must or may).

17) Park notice: All dogs... be kept on leads.

18) If you said that, he... be very offended.

19) Warning: No part of this book... be reproduced without the publisher's permission.

20)... I see your passport, please?

21) Farmers... get up early.

22)... I play the guitar right now?

 

4. Replace didn't need to with needn't +Perfect Infinitive where it is possible.

23) It is sweet of you, but you really didn't need to buy me flowers.

24) It's a good job we didn't need to be here earlier.

25) It was strange that we didn't need to show our passports.

26) You didn't need to come and pick me up; I could have got a taxi.

27) There was a sofa in the other room; you didn't need to sleep on the floor.

28) I didn't need to use cash; I had my credit card with me after all.

5. Fill in the gaps using the modal verbs must, have to, to be to.

29) I... be late for work tomorrow, because I have a lot to do.

30) I... get up early tomorrow because it's a holiday.

31) You... come to the station to meet me. I could have got a taxi.

32) I wondered what... to happen to us.

33) We agreed that the one who came first... to reserve seats.

34) You... take the medicine until your cough is cured.

35) It looks like raining. You... take your raincoat.

6. Insert the modal verbs shall/should or will/would.

36) All the candidates... remain in their seats until the end of the examination.

37) I... let him do that again! (negative)

38) He... smoke when I'm trying to eat.(negative)

39) This car... start and run on leaded petrol! (negative)

40) She... always try to help you.

41)... you open the door for me?

42) He... do as I say!

43) What on earth... we do here?

44) But that it... have been you who saw me drunk!

45) Terry was anxious that I... stay to dinner.

46) Ethel... talk about what doesn't concern her!

47) Was it possible that Dick... turn his thoughts from his work?

 

from Практическая грамматика английского языка для среднего и

продвинутого уровней. Под ред. Л.М. Лещёвой. Часть ІІ.

GRAMMAR TEST: CONDITIONALS

 

Choose the correct answer.

1) If she... not so slowly she would enjoy the party. A) were B) is C) will be

2) If you... my library book I will have to buy a new one. A) will lose B) lost C) loose

3) If she... you were in hospital she would have visited you.

A) had known B) knew C) would have known

4) I wish I... rich. A) would be B) were C) had been

5) I wish I... his opinion before. A) would know B) had known C) knew

GRAMMAR TEST: VERBALS

ПЛАН РАБОТЫ

По английскому языку

для студентов ОЗО юридического факультета

специальности «Государственное управление и экономика»

 

 

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