My work at the foreign trade company

Hello, my name is Maxim Sviridov. I work as a manager at the company. It is Russian company which works on the business travel market. Two weeks ago I was sent by the administration of our company to London where I studied the English travel companies, their traditions, their marketing and management. Now my business trip is coming to the end and I want to share with you my impressions of English business world. First of all English businessmen are well known all over the world for their honesty and decency. If an Englishman gives you his word he will keep it in any case. Besides that, nothing can prevent him from refusing the once taken decision. Of course, there are some exclusions, but they are so rare that nobody should put attention on them. During the last two weeks my working day was approximately the same. Early in the morning I took a taxi to my hosts' headquarters, which is situated in the City - the business heart of London. First of all I usually asked Ms. Lapital - my secretary if there were any letters or cables for me. Then she gave me my correspondence and fresh newspapers and I followed to my office-room. There I studied all documents that had come for my name and wrote a short report about previous business day and then faxed it to my native company in Vladivostok.

After that I went to Mr. Forsberg's office-room to get tasks for the new day and ask some questions about their company, its history, traditions, clients, and so on. After that I usually did what Mr. Forsberg asked. My usual job was meeting with potential clients, discussing their rest plans and offering the services of Mr. Forsberg's company. I usually met with 10 or 12 people a day. They were representatives of different social groups and communicating with them increased my knowledge of England and Englishmen, their psychology greatly. This business trip was a great chance for me and I hope I used this chance fully.

Now I know a lot about Western business world, about travel business and this knowledge will, of course, help my in my future career.

 

The working day of an engineer

One of my friend, DmityShevelev, lives in Vladivostok now though he was born in Nakhodka. Some years ago he graduated from the one of our institutions and became an engineer. Now he lives near his office. He usually walks there.

He works on weekdays. I can't say that he work hard, but all his mates like him because he is a good mixer or, as you may say, he is very communicable person. He doesn't work on Saturday or Sunday. His working day usually lasts for eight hours. His duties are to answer all incoming letters and calls, to meet with different specialists, to help young engineers. He often tells me that he likes his job. I usually meet him after the work and we speak about life. He is very glad that he found such work where he can show all his talents. Though there is a difference between our ages, we have much in common. He is among my best friends. By the way, my friend knows English rather well (he finished school #13). It helps him a lot as every year various foreign delegations come to their office. These delegations change different technologies with our specialists and discuss many problems. All foreigners thought Shevelev to be the best translator in their institute.

 

ABSTRACT ART

Have you ever seen a painting that puzzled you? Perhaps you could not see anything "real" or "natural" in it. Perhaps it seemed a jumble of lines and colours. You were probably looking at an example of abstract art. Before the 20Ш century, most artists showed things more or less as they might look to an observer. Their scenes were recognisable. Even when they painted imaginary scenes, the elements of the picture could usually be identified. Of course, artists have always put their own personalities into their paintings. A painting by Van Gogh, for example, can easily be recognised — it has his personal stamp. It shows the way Van Gogh looked at real things. Because of his particularstyle, his paintings look strange to many people. But in his art, people are still recognisable as people. No tree ever looked quite like a Van Gogh tree (he painted trees as great swirling figures), but his trees are still clearly trees. Individual painters have always experimented with unusual ways of showing real objects. But in the 21^st century artists in large numbers began to break away from realistic ways of paining. Many artists seemed to be saying, "If you want an accurate picture of a scene, buy a photograph or a picture postcard." They began to paint life in different ways. They concentrated on form, colour and shape, and avoided any attempt to tell a story or show a scene naturally.

The kind of art just described is often called abstract art. Once upon a time it was a revolutionary movement. Now it has won acceptance. Most museums have examples of abstract art. Some modern museums contain only abstract art. Great numbers of people still prefer a more realistic art. But even the tastes of these people have been shaped, in part, by the abstract artists. Modem design has been influenced by abstract art. Even the floor covering in your kitchen may have been copied from the design of an abstract artist.

 

THEATRE AND CINEMA IN BRITAIN

The theatre has always been very strong in Britain. Its center is, of course, London, where successful plays can sometimes run without a break for many years. But every large town in the country has its theatres. Even small towns often have "repertory" theatres, where different plays are performed for short periods by the same group of professional actors (a repertory company). It seems that the theatrical play gives the undemonstrative British people a safe opportunity to look behind the mask of accepted social behaviour. The country's most successful and respected playwrights are usually those who explore the darker side of the personality and of personal relationships. British theatre has such a fine acting tradition that Hollywood is forever raiding its talent for people to star in films. British television does the same thing. Moreover, Broadway, when looking for its next blockbuster musical, pays close attention to London productions. In short, British theatre is much admired. As a consequence, it is something that British actors are proud of. Many of the most well-known television actors, though they might make most of their money in this latter medium, continue to see themselves as first and foremost theatre actors. In contrast, the cinema in Britain is often regarded as not quite part of "the arts" at all — it is simply entertainment. Partly for this reason, Britain is unique among the large European countries in giving almost no financial help to its film industry.

Therefore, although cinema-going is a regular habit for a much larger number of people than is theatre-going, British film directors often have to go to Hollywood because the resources they need are not available in Britain. As a result, comparatively few films of quality are made in the country. This is not because expertise in film making does not exist. It does. American productions often use studios and technical facilities in Britain. Moreover, some of the films which Britain does manage to make become highly respected around the world. But even these films often make a financial loss.

 

TV OR NOT TV?

Whether we realise it or not, TV plays a very important part in our lives.

It's the main source of information and a cheap form of entertainment for millions of people.

It's the window on the world which gives us an opportunity to "travel" all over the world, to "meet" different people and learn about their customs and traditions.

It has the power to educate and broaden our minds.

It helps us to relax after a hard day's work and escape from reality.

There's always a great variety of programmes on TV: news and sports programmes, talk shows and TV games, documentaries and feature films, concerts and theatre performances...

Of course, not all programmes are good. But many are made in good taste and with great professional skill.

Some people argue that television is a terrible waste of time. It makes us lazier. We stay at home instead of going out. We read less. We think less. We even talk less.

It's true that some TV addicts spend hours in front of the "box" watching whatever's on — from second-rate Mexican soap operas to silly commercials.

The trick is to learn to control television and use it intelligently. The ideal is to turn on the TV-set only when there's a really interesting programme.

Violence on TV is another problem that worries people. As George Mikes once said, TV teaches us "how to kill, to rob, to shoot and to poison." But the same can be said about computer games and many films and books. And if you don't like a certain programme, why watch it?

Names

George Mikes f'mikej] Джордж Микеш (английский писатель-юморист венгерского происхождения)

Vocabulary

source [so:s] источник

entertainment [,enta'teinment] развлечение

opportunity [,opa'tju:niti] возможность

power [paua] сила, способность

to educate ['edjukeit] обучать, развивать

broaden ['brordn] one's mind расширять кругозор

to relax [ri'laeks] расслабляться

hard day's work тяжелый трудовой день

to escape [i'skeip] from reality уходить от реальности

variety [va'raiati] разнообразие

documentary [dokju'mentari] документальный фильм feature film ['fi:ta.film] художественный фильм

in good taste со вкусом

professional [pra'fejnl] skill профессиональное

мастерство

to argue ['a:gju:] спорить, возражать

waste of time бесполезная трата времени

addict ['aedikt] наркоман, зд. человек, которого не оторвешь от телевизора

box разг. "ящик", телевизор

whatever's on что бы ни показывали (по теле­визору)

second-rate [.sekand'reit] низкосортный, посредст­венный

Mexican ['meksikan] мексиканский

soap opera ['saup ppara] "мыльная опера"

commercial [ka'rraijl] телереклама

the trick is зд. секрет в том (что)

intelligently [in'telid33ntli] с умом

ideal [ai'dial] идеал

violence ['vaialans] насилие

to rob грабить

to shoot [fu:t] (shot) стрелять

to poison ['poizn] отравлять, отрави

 

Questions

How often do you watch TV?

What are your favourite programmes?

Which is your favourite channel?

The average Russian teenager spends about 20 hours a week in front of the TV-set. What about you?

Why is TV often called "the window on the world"?

Do you agree that television has the power to educate?

What do you think of commercials? Do they annoy you?

Do you enjoy watching "soaps"?

Do you think that there's too much violence on TV?

Do you believe that violence on TV may turn people into criminals?

Some people say that television kills conversation. Do you agree?

Do you use TV intelligently?

 

NEWSPAPERS

In the past people learnt about news from newspapers. Nowadays people usually learn what is happening in the country and in the world from TV or radio news programmes or from the Internet.

Still we cannot imagine our life without newspapers. There are dozens of them on every news-stand. There are newspapers for professionals, for businessmen, for children and teenagers, for men and women, for sports fans, for those who are interested in gardening and for those who keep pets.

Some newspapers publish serious articles on politics, economy and finance, some aim to entertain their readers. Many newspapers express certain political opinion and people choose them according to their own political beliefs. In short, you can always find a paper which suits your interests.

Besides, there are many free local newspapers which are put into your post-box whether you ask for it or not. Probably they are not interesting, because they consist mainly of advertisements, but you can find a lot of useful telephone numbers and addresses there.

My parents subscribe to Argumenty i Facty. I also like this weekly. I don't read all the articles, but in every issue I find something interesting. I think that most articles are very well written, they give a detailed and well-balanced, analysis of current events and trends in economy. I like to read articles on social issues, interviews, reviews of new books, plays and TV shows. One of my favourite columns is The Quotation of the Day, where they quote our popular politicians and give their comments. Sometimes it's very funny.

Quite often I buy Sovershenno Secretno (Top Secret) and practically in each issue there are some fascinating stories which you read like a detective story. Sometimes they uncover things I have not heard about, sometimes they show well-known events in a completely new light.

From time to time I read Moskovsky Komsomolets. It's one of the most popular daily papers, but I don't consider it serious. However, I never miss an article written by Minkin. I think he is a very good journalist. I also like Merinov's cartoons. Sometimes they publish good reviews of new films, new CDs and so on.

In short, I think that TV, radio and the Internet have their advantages, but nothing can substitute newspapers.

 

Vocabulary

to imagine [i'msed^in] представлять себе

dozens ['d/\znz] масса, множество

news-stand ['nju:zstaend] газетный киоск

fan [faen] поклонник, болельщик

politics ['politiks] политика

economy [i'konami] экономика

finance [fai'nsns] финансы

to aim [eim] ставить целью

to entertain [,enta'tein] развлекать

to express [ik'spres] выражать

opinion [a'pinian] мнение, взгляд

according [a'ko:dirj] to согласно, в соответствии

political beliefs [bi'lhfs] политические убеждения

in short короче говоря

to suit [s(j)u:t] подходить

free бесплатный

local [loukl] местный

post-box ['paustboks] почтовый ящик

advertisement [ad'vaitismant] реклама

to subscribe [sab'skraib] подписываться

weekly ['whkli] еженедельник, еженедельный

issue [IJu:], [Isju:] выпуск, вопрос

detailed ['dhteild] подробный

well-balanced [,wel'baelanst] взвешенный, объективный

analysis [a'naelisis] (мн.ч. analyses) анализ

current events [,kArant rvents] текущие события

trend [trend] тенденция

social issues общественные проблемы

review [ri'vju:] обзор, рецензия

column ['kolam] колонка

quotation [,kwau'teijn] цитата

politician [poli'tijn] политик

comment ['komant] комментарий

fascinating ['fsesineitirj] увлекательный

to uncover [yvn'k/wa] обнаруживать, раскрывать

completely [kam'pli:tli] совершенно

daily f'deili] ежедневный

to consider [kan'sida] считать

advantage [ad'va:ntid3] преимущество

substitute ['sAbstitju:t] заменять

Questions

Do you read newspapers regularly?

How many newspapers does your family subscribe to?

Do you like to read articles on politics and finance?

Do you read reviews of new films and books?

Do you follow sports news in newspapers?

Some newspapers run gossip columns (колонки сплетен). Do you read them?

Many newspapers print readers' letters, in which people write about their problems. Often there are answers written by psychologists, doctors, educators, etc. Do you read these letters and answers?

Have you ever written to a newspaper?

Do you read any newspapers in English? What kind of newspapers do you prefer?

THE BRITISH PRESS

Probably in no other country are there such great differences between the various national daily newspapers — in the type of news they report and the way they report it.

On the one hand, there are the "quality" newspapers: The Times, The Independent, The Guardian, the Financial Times and The Daily Telegraph. These concern themselves, as far as possible, with factual reports of major national and international events, with the world of politics and business and with the arts and sport.

On the other hand, there are the "populars" and "tabloids," so-called because of their smaller size. The tabloids — the most widely read of which are The Daily Mail, The Daily Express, the Daily Mirror, The Sun and The Daily Star — concentrate on more emotive reporting of stories often featuring sex, violence, the Royal Family, film and pop stars, and sport. It's often said that the popular press aims to entertain its readers rather than inform them.

The tabloid press is much more popular than the quality press.

In some countries, newspapers are owned by government or by political parties. This is not the case in Britain. Newspapers here are mostly owned by individuals or by publishing companies, and the editors of the papers are usually allowed considerate freedom of expression. This is not to say that newspapers are without political bias. Papers like The Daily Telegraph, The Daily Express and The Sun, for example, usually reflect Conservative opinions in their comment and reporting, while the Daily Mirror and The Guardian have a more left-wing bias.

In addition to the 12 national daily newspapers there are nine national papers which are published on Sundays. Most of the "Sundays" contain more reading matter than daily papers, and several of them also include "colour supplements" — separate colour magazines which contain photographically-illustrated feature articles. Reading a Sunday paper, like having a big Sunday lunch, is an important tradition in many British households.

Besides, nearly every area in Britain has one or more local newspapers.

The British are one of the biggest newspaper-reading nations in the world.

Names

The Times [taimz]

The Independent [independent]

The Gardian ['ga:djan]

The Daily Express [,deili iks'pres]

the Daily Mirror [,deili 'rnira]

the Financial Times [faj/isenfl 'taimz]

The Daily Telegraph [.deili 'teligra:f]

The Daily Mail ['deili 'meil]

The Daily Star [,deili 'sta:]

The Sun [sao]

Vocabulary

various [vearias] различный, разнообразный

national ['nae/nl] национальный, государственный

daily ['deili] ежедневный

to report [ri'po:t] сообщать, писать, печатать

on the one hand с одной стороны

"quality" ['kwoliti] newspapers пресса "высокого качества" (для бизнесменов, политиков и т.д), газеты полного формата

to concern [kan'sain] oneself with заниматься, интересоваться

factual ['faektjual] фактический, основанный на фактах

major ['meid3a] главный, основной

international [Jnta'naejnl] международный

politics ['politiks] политика, политические взгляды, убеждения

on the other hand с другой стороны

"popular" ['popjula] газета для широкой публики

"tabloid" ['tabloid] малоформатная газета со сжа­тым текстом и большим количеством иллюстра­ций; бульварная пресса

to concentrate ['konsantreit] on сосредоточиваться на

emotive [i'mautiv] reporting эмоциональная подача материала

to feature ['fi:tja] помещать в газете (на видном месте)

violence f'vaialans] насилие royal ['roial] family королевская семья

it's often said часто говорят

to aim стремиться

to entertain [,enta'tein] rather than inform скорее развлекать, чем информировать

to own [eun] владеть

This is not the case in Britain. He так обстоит дело в Британии.

individual [,indi'vidjual] личность, индивидуум, частное лицо

publishing company ['kAmpani] издательство

editor ['edita] редактор

to allow [alau] разрешать, предоставлять

considerate [kan'sidarit] freedom значительная свобода

bias ['baias] предубежденность, пристрастие, уклон

to reflect [ri'flekt] отражать

conservative [kan'saivativ] консервативный

comment ['koment] комментарий

left-wing левый

in addition to кроме, помимо

"Sundays" газеты, публикуемые по выходным

matter ['maeta] материал

supplement ['sAplimant] приложение

feature article ['frtfer 'a:tikl] большая статья в газете (посвященная какой-либо одной теме), очерк household f'haushauld] семья; люди, живущие в одном доме

local [laukl] местный

Questions

What "quality" newspapers do you know?

What do they concern themselves with?

What does a "tabloid" mean?

What "popular" newspapers do you know?

It's often said that the aim of the popular press is to entertain its readers rather than inform them. What kind of materials do these newspapers concentrate on?

Are "quality" papers more popular than "tabloids"?

In some countries, newspapers are owned by government or by political parties. What about Britain?

What's the difference between daily newspapers and "Sundays"?

What does a "colour supplement" mean?

Are the British one of the biggest newspaper-reading nations in the world?

 

MY MEALS

It goes without saying that I prefer to have meals at home. At the weekend Ilike to get up late and have a good breakfast of scrambled eggs, or pancakes,or something like that. But on weekdays I'm always short of time in themorning. So I just have a cup of strong tea or coffee and a couple ofsandwiches.

As I spend a lot of time at school (usually eight or nine hours) it'snecessary to have a snack at midday just to keep me going. That's why I haveto go to the school canteen to have lunch. Our school canteen leaves much tobe desired. It has become a tradition with our canteen to serve chops andwatery mashed potatoes every day with a glass of cocoa or stewed fruit.

But I enjoy my evening meal at home. My mother is a wonderful cookand her dinners are always delicious and various.To begin with, we usually have some salad - - tomato and cucumbersalad or mixed salad (I like it very much). For the first course we have somesoup — noodle, mushroom or cabbage soup, or maybe some fish soup for achange. For the main course we have meat, chicken or fish dishes, for example,steak or fried fish with spaghetti or potatoes (boiled or fried). We also have alot of vegetables — green peas, carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers. I prefer meat tofish but my mother makes me eat fish from time to time. She says it's good formy brains.

For dessert we have some fruit, fruit juice or just a cup of tea with a sliceof cake.

On Sundays we sometimes go to McDonald's. I like everything there:cheeseburgers, hamburgers and Big Macs, apple pies and fruit cocktails. Butunfortunately we can't afford to go there very often, because it's ratherexpensive for a family and besides, they say it's not very healthy to eat atMcDonald's.