Benefits better, claims welfare

 

Ø 1) Study the heading and the words and guess what this article is about.

child benefit payment – детское пособиe to claim – утверждать employment – занятость gross basis – общая сумма дохода to improve – улучшать income threshold – порог дохода increase – увеличение

levy – сбор налогов net basis – чистая сумма дохода payment rate – размер выплаты to rise (rose, risen) - подниматься supplement – добавка welfare - благосостояние

 

Ø 2) Read the article and answer the questions:

a) How much will income threshold increase?

b) What kind of children will get increase in benefit payments from the Department of Social Welfare (DSW)?

c) Who else, except children, will get benefits from the DSW?

 

The Department of Social Welfare (DSW) claims several initiatives since 2005 have significantly improved the welfare of children in the lowest socio-economic groups. The department says:

· the number of families with a parent in employment will have grown by the end of 2015, by 80,000;

· there have been substantial increases in child benefit payments which will have risen from £15.80 per child per month in 2005 to £30 per month by the end of 2015;

· payment rates for unemployed persons with adult dependants will increase by 18% as compared with 2005;

· income thresholds for Family Income Supplement will have increased by 30% per week as compared with 2005. Income thresholds will be calculated not on a gross basis but on the net basis.

 

 

Ø 3) Which sentences correspond to the content of the article?

a) The President announced several initiatives that will improve the welfare of children.

b) The number of families getting the benefits is growing.

c) Children benefits will rise from £15.80 to £30 per child per month.

d) Income thresholds will be calculated on a gross basis.

 

 

THERE ARE PENSIONS and THERE ARE EAGLE STAR PENSIONS

 

Ø 1) Read the text and study the table.

 

The better your pension fund performs, the more comfortable your retirement will be. And, out of all the individually managed pension funds available, the three best performers for the last 8 years are all Eagle Star funds.

In fact, they have performed twice as well as the average of the other individually managed funds. So, when it comes to choosing a pension, just remember – there are pensions … and there are Eagle Star pensions. Talk to your broker or call Eagle Star at 01 283 1301.

 

Pension Funds	Increase in performance	Pension Funds	Increase in performance
Eagle Star Dynamic	417%	Irish Progressive	153%
Eagle Star Balanced	339%	New Ireland	144%
Scottish Provident	183%	Friends Provident	139%
Canada Life	170%	Hibernian Life	139%
Lifetime	162%	Irish Life	131%

 

Ø 2) Compare your translation of this text with the translation of the same text given in task 4 for text 6.28. Which of them renders the content of the original more accurately?

 

 

Price discrimination

Ø 1) Read the heading and the word combinations from the text and say what the article is about: to discourage customers from, to keep different price groups separate, to make comparisons difficult, to restrict pricing information, a form/method of price discrimination.

Ø 2) Look through the text and say in what spheres of life discrimination is common.

 

Price discrimination exists when sales of identical goods or services are transacted at different prices from a single vendor. Theoretically, price discrimination is a feature only of monopoly markets, but in practice it occurs with oligopolies such as the airlines. In addition to a monopoly market, price discrimination requires some means to discourage discount customers from becoming resellers and, by extension, competitors. This usually entails either keeping the different price groups separate, making price comparisons difficult, or restricting pricing information. The boundary set up by the marketer to keep segments separate are referred to as a rate fence.

Examples of price discrimination.

Travel classes in aircraft and trains are often said to be methods of price discrimination. This is not technically true since first class and economy class are different services. However, to the extent that both classes transport passengers from one point to another, subjecting them to the same time delays and so on, travel classes can be considered as price discrimination.

With U.S. airlines following deregulation in the 1980s, airfares are notoriously irregular and only loosely correlate to the costs of the service provided. To avoid getting a raw deal, strategic consumption is necessary on the part of an individual purchasing airline tickets. An individual, purchasing tickets for dates far in advance, or alternatively too close, will suffer inflated fares. Additionally, airfares are higher during the holidays and high travel seasons than during the rest of the year, though the costs of providing the services (responsive primarily to prices of jet fuel) do not change.

Some have claimed that U.S. airlines charge high fares because they are no longer subject to control since the Reagan administration deregulated the industry in the 1980s.

Others claim that free market policies have forced airlines to become more competitive and to lower prices. Unstable prices are certainly attributable in part to the recession that began in the late 1990s and increased terrorist threats since September 11, 2001.

Many U.S. nightclubs feature “ ladies’ nights” at which women are offered discount or free drinks, or they are absolved from payment of cover charges. This differs from conventional price discrimination in that the primary motive is not, usually, to increase revenue at the expense of consumer surplus. Rather, establishments benefit by maintaining an equitable gender balance; if the clientele of an establishment is primarily male it will lose popularity with both men and women, and therefore it is better for the establishment to lower its prices for women if they show less demand.

Financial aid as offered by U.S. colleges and universities is a form of price discrimination that is widely accepted, and completely legal.

These institutions often price discriminate by setting their prices well outside the reach of most families, sometimes as high as $170,000 for four years of education. Middle- and lower-income students are often afforded discounts and loans to lower these costs to the institution’s estimation of the family’s willingness to pay.

Since financial aid is awarded according to parental income, students whose parents are wealthy but refuse to pay for college are often unable to afford a college education at all. Little objection is given to this version of price discrimination because, allegedly, the per annum costs of educating one student exceed even the tuition rate one pays without financial aid.

 

Ø 3) Give your own examples of price discrimination.

Ø 4) (Перевод текста “THERE ARE PENSIONS, AND THERE ARE EAGLE STAR PENSIONS”)

Есть просто пенсии, а есть пенсии от фондов «Звезда Орла»

Чем лучше работает ваш пенсионный фонд, тем более комфортными будут ваши годы на пенсии. А из всех отдельных индивидуально управляемых фондов лучшими по своей деятельности за последние 8 лет являются все фонды «Звезда Орла». Фактически они сработали в два раза лучше, чем любой другой из фондов, управляемый индивидуально. Таким образом, когда речь идет о выборе пенсии, помните, что есть пенсии, а есть пенсии от фондов «Звезда Орла». Обратитесь к вашему брокеру или позвоните в «Звезду Орла» по телефону 01 283 1301.

 

 

ACT INVESTS in LONDON COURT

Ø 1) Study the heading and the given words and guess what this article is about.

to expand – расширять to increase – увеличивать investment – инвестиция profit - прибыль

to raise - поднимать subsidiary – дочерняя компания turnover – оборот (капитала) venture capital – капитал, вложенный с риском

 

Ø 2) Translate the article into Russian.

 

Venture capital company Leeds Capital Textile (LCT) has invested £6.2 m in the textile rentals company London Court. This follows on from a 2002 investment by Allied Irish Bank (AIB) Capital Markets, through its old venture capital subsidiary.

Those investments are now managed by LCT. The London Court Group increased turnover to £23 m last year and raised profits to £611.000. They have plans to expand their operation through a £5 m investment, which will add 80 new jobs.