Audition: Internet Technologies.
Ex. I. Listen to the text after you've scanned the word list and answer the questions below.
Word list:
enhance
multimedia
curriculum
implement
access
listserve
netiquette
guidelines
dissemination
sophisticated
infancy
Questions:
1. Why should the Internet play a major role in the foreign language classroom?
2. What does the Internet have to have?
3. What is the most commonly used Internet application?
4. What is the LISTSERV?
5. Why are electronic journals popular?
Unit IX
Part I
Ex. I. Pre-text activities. Answer the following questions:
1. How different are corporate policies from privately-owned business policies?
2. What issues do you think should corporate finance include?
Ex. II. Read the text and answer the questions following it.
Corporate Finance
Among the most important questions of corporate finance are:
1. What long-term investment strategy should a company take on?
2. How can cash be raised for the required investment?
3. How much short-term cash flow does a company need to pay its bills?
One way that companies raise cash to finance their investment activities is by selling or "issuing" securities. The securities, sometimes called financial instruments or claims, may be roughly classified as equity or debt, loosely called stocks and bonds. The difference between equity and debt is a basic distinction in the modern theory of finance.
A company raises cash by using securities to the financial markets. Roughly speaking, there are two basic types of financial markets: the money markets and the capital markets.
So, what is corporate finance? Suppose you decide to start a firm to make tennis balls. To do this, you hire managers to buy raw materials, and you assemble a work force that will produce and sell finished tennis balls. In the language of finance, you make an investment in assets such as inventory, machinery, land and labor. The amount of cash you invest in assets must be matched by an equal amount of cash raised by financing. When you begin to sell tennis balls, your firm will generate cash. This is cash that you will be able to take out of the firm. You hope that the amount of cash you take out of the firm is greater than the amount you put into it. This is the basis of value creation. The purpose of the firm is to create value for you, the owner. The value is reflected in the framework of the simple balance sheet model of the firm (See Fig. 8).
Fig. 8. The balance sheet model of a firm.
The assets of the firm are on the left-hand side of the balance sheet, These assets can be thought of as current and fixed. Fixed assets are those that will last a long time, such as a building. Some fixed assets are tangible, such as machinery and equipment. The other category of assets, current assets, comprise those that have short lives, such as inventory. The tennis balls that your firm has made but has not yet sold are part of its inventory.
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Before a company can make an investment in assets it must obtain financing, which means that it must raise the money to pay for the investment. The forms of financing or liabilities are represented on the right-hand side of the balance sheet. A firm will issue (sell) pieces of paper called debt (loan agreement) or equity shares (stock certificates). Just as assets were classified as long lived or short lived, so too are the liabilities. A short-term debt is called current liability. Short-term debt represents loan and other obligations that must be repaid within 1 year. Long-term debt is debt that does not have to be repaid within 1 year. Shareholders' equity represents the difference between the value of the assets and the debt of the firm.
We use the terms capital budgeting and capital expenditure to describe the process of making and managing expenditures of long-lived assets.
How can the firm raise cash for required capital expenditures? This question concerns a right-hand side of the balance sheet. The answer of this involves the firm capital structure. This reflects the extent to which a firm relies on current and long-term debt and equity.
Financing arrangements determine how the value of the firm is sliced up. The persons or institutions that buy debt from the firm are called creditors. The holders of equity shares are called shareholders.
Questions:
1. What are securities and how are they classified?
2. What does making an investment in assets involve?
3. Describe the left and right-side parts of a balance sheet.
4. What is the difference between fixed and current assets?
5. What is "debt" in the language of finance?
6. What does current liability represent?
7. What in your opinion do capital budgeting and capital expenditure involve?
Active words and phrases
| corporate finance | patent | ||
| assets | , | trademark | |
| current assets | liabilities | ||
| fixed assets | stock certificates | ||
| securities | obligations | ||
| stocks | 1) 2) 3) | capital budgeting | |
| bonds | raise cash | ||
| tangibles | inventory | - | |
| intangibles | equity |
Ex. III. Complete the sentences using the text above:
1. One way that companies raise cash to finance their investment activities is by
2. The securities are sometimes called
3. A company raises cash by
4. There are two basic types of finance markets
5. You make an investment in assets such as
6. The amount of cash you invest in assets must be matched by
7. You hope that the amount of cash you take out of the firm is greater than the amount you
8. The purpose of the firm is to
9. Fixed assets are those that
10. Other fixed assets are intangibles, such as
11. A firm will issue pieces of paper called
12. A short-term debt is called a
13. A long-term debt is a debt that
14. We use the forms capital budgeting and capital expenditure to describe
15. Financing arrangements determine how
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Ex. IV. Give the examples of the following:
Tangible and intangible assets
Securities
Trademark
Debt
Capital expenditure
Ex. V. Translate the following sentences into English:
1. , .
2. , , , .
3. .
4. , .
5. , , , .
Part II
Ex. I. Pre-text questions:
- How often do you use Internet?
- What are the most common ways to advertise a product?
- Have you ever heard of the Web marketing?
Ex. II. Read the text and answer the questions:
