1. Does the government play any role in the management of the economy?
2. What is the free market system based on?
3. Who owns the means of production?
4. Is there any government control over land, capital and labour?
5. Why does business produce goods?
6. According to what are the workers paid wages?
7. What is the basic reason for so many different styles, fabrics and brands of clothing for
consumers?
8. What is the market economy directed by?
9. Who decides what is to be produced in market economy?
10. Are consumes free to choose what they want to buy?
11. Why are the workers encouraged to work hard?
12. What keeps prices low?
13. Does government provide health and education available for everybody?
14. What happens in the economy if government doesn’t control it?
15. What might business be encouraged to create in order to increase prices?
16. Is there a country in the world with completely free market economy?
17. What system the mixture of market forces and government participation has led to?
18. What is public sector in mixed economy made up of?
19. Where does the money for state health and education services come from?
20. What sectors does the mixed economy consist of?
21. What is a private sector of missed economy made up of?
22. What is the aim of mixed economy?
23. What important industries and organizations does the government control in many
countries?
UNIT 7 TYPES OF BUSINESS ACTIVITY
Text 1
WHY IS BUSINESS ACTIVITY NEEDED?
VOCABULARY
physical item – материальные предметы
shareholder – акционер
business activity – деловая активность, коммерческая деятельность
self-sufficient – самодостаточный
basic existence – примитивное существование
traded those goods for others – обменивали одни товары на другие
businesses – зд. предприятия
At the previous lessons we have discussed the following issues:
- People have unlimited wants.
- The four factors of production – the resources needed to make goods – are in limited supply.
- Scarcityresults from limited resources and unlimited wants.
- Choice is necessary when resources are scarce. This leads to opportunity cost.
- Specialization improves the efficiency with which resources are used.
So far, we have hardly mentioned businesses. Where does business activity fit into the ideas we have already looked at?
The aim of all business is to combine the factors of production to make products which will satisfy people’s wants. These products can either be goods– physical items such as cars and shoes which we can touch and see – or they can be services, such as insurance, tourism or banking.
Businesses can be small – just one person, for example – or large. Some businesses employ thousands of people with operations in many different countries. Businesses can be privately-owned or owned by the state. They can be owned by one person or by thousands of shareholders. Whatever their size and whoever owns them, all businesses have one thing in common – they combine factors of production to make products which satisfy people’s wants.
What would life be without business activity? In simple, undeveloped societies, businesses do not exist. Everybody attempts to do everything for themselves – they are self-sufficient. With their own plot of land and by their own efforts, such as hunting, they attempt to survive and produce enough for their own needs. This is a very basic existence. By a gradual process of specialization, people began to concentrate on what they were best at. They then traded those goods for others made by people who had skilled in other areas. In this way, businesses began to be formed, and trade and exchange of goods expanded. In today’s world, most people work in one job for a weekly wage. With this money, they are able to purchase a wide range of goods and services produced by many different businesses.
Business activity therefore:
- combines scarce factors of production in order to produce goods and services
- produces those goods and services which are needed to satisfy the needs and wants of the population
- employs people as workers and pays them wages to allow them to consume products made by other people.
WORD STUDY
Ex. 1. Study the different meaning of the word business and use it to translate the
Sentences.
business n 1) дело, занятие; работа
2) бизнес, предпринимательская деятельность
3) предприятие; фирма, компания
4) торговля
business adj 1) деловой; коммерческий
Study different collocations with the word business.
| be in business be out of business business partner domestic business foreign business get down to business go into business go out of business go on business international business monkey business profitable business put out of business run a business set up a business wind up a business | - заниматься делами, быть в деле – обанкротиться, выйти из дела - партнер по бизнесу, компаньон - отечественный бизнес, отечественное предпринимательство - иностранный бизнес, иностранное предпринимательство – заняться делом, приступить к делу - заниматься торговлей - прекратить свою деятельность; обанкротиться – ездить по делам (в командировку) - международная торговля - дурачества,"фокусы", "штучки", жульничество, афера - доходное дело, выгодное дело – разорить - вести дело, управлять предприятием - учредить предприятие - ликвидировать (свернуть) предприятие, дело |
Informal English
| I'm tired (sick)of the whole business. You've no business doing that. Mind your own business. What's your business here? It's a nasty business. I'll shoot you if you try any monkey business. He can argue like nobody's business. A pretty business! | - Мне все это порядком надоело. - Ты что тут вытворяешь? - Занимайся своим делом / Не лезь не в свое дело. - Ты какого черта сюда притащился? - Это скверная история - Если будешь дурака валять, то я тебя пристрелю - Он может спорить до потери сознания. - Хорошенькое дело! |
