Exercise 5. Insert the correct preposition where needed

Exercise 4. Match each word with a word from the line as they are used in the text.

Exercise 3. Insert the word from the line.

Exercise 2. Answer the questions.

Exercise 1. Define the main idea of each paragraph.

1. What is a system?

2. What are three main concepts of a system? What do they imply?

3. What is an economic system?

4. Who takes decisions in a private enterprise? In controlled economies?

5. What functions does economic order perform?

6. Why the economy could not exist without a system of distribution?

7. What are the economic goals for a nation?

8. What does price stability contribute to?

9. What does full employment mean?

10. What does high standard of living mean? An equitable distribution?

11. Why is it important for an individual decision maker to be aware of the macro-economic environment?

Economic reform, Economic goals, economic growth, Institute of Economic Affairs, Economic order, economic policy, prime minister, economic climate (=conditions), EMU Economic and Monetary Union, economic system

1. Among the functions of the …… the most important one is to provide some means of resource allocation.

2. Not many people approve of the current government's ……

3. …… is needed to improve the economic situation in the country..

4. Most members of the …… began using the new currency in 2002.

5. This year the specialists are expecting a fundamental reform of the country's ……

6. …… for a nation include price stability, full employment, economic growth, and equitable distribution of income.

7. …… is slow.

8. In the current …… we must keep costs down.

9....... is a British organization formed in 1957 to promote free market economics. Its ideas were popular with Margaret Thatcher, the Conservative ……from 1979 to 90.

1. controlled A. utilities

2. private B. trend

3. governmental C. person

4. valuable D. econo­mies

5. market E. enterprise

6. regulated F. commissions

7. public service G. price

8. efficiency H. functions

9. business I. influence

10. full J. distribution

11. system of K. income

12. equitable distribution of L. reasons

13. price M. employment

14. efficient allocation of N. resources

15. long-term O. stability

16. high standards of P. the economy

17. increased output per Q. planning

18. the fruits of R. maker

19. macro-economic S. environment

20. long-run T. living

21. decision U. community

1. Mr Braley was aware … the need for absolute secrecy.

2. Animals communicate … various ways.

3. He had to retire because … ill health

4. … this case, several solutions could be tried.

5. The course is open to anyone, irrespective … age.

6. You can pay … cheque, assuming … course you have a valid cheque card.

7. The law requires equal treatment for all, regardless … race, religion, or sex.

8. This is an extremely unpleasant disease which is, … however, easy to treat.

9. … parts of Canada, French is the first language.

10. After the storm we were … without electricity for five days

TEXT 3. MONEY

Money is used for buying or selling goods, for measuring value and for storing wealth. Almost every society now has a money econo­my based on coins and paper notes of one kind or another. However, this has not always been true. In primitive societies a system of barter was used. Barter was a system of direct exchange of goods. Somebody could exchange a sheep, for example, for anything in the market place that they considered to be of equal value. Barter, however, was a very unsatisfactory system because people's precise needs seldom coincid­ed. People needed a more practical system of exchange, and various money systems developed based on goods which the members of a society recognized as having value. Cattle, grain, teeth, shells, feath­er, salt, tobacco have been used. Precious metals gradually took over because, when made into coins, they were portable, durable, recog­nizable and divisible into larger and smaller units of value.

A coin is a piece of metal, usually disc-shaped, which bears lettering, designs or numbers showing its value. Until the eighteenth and nine­teenth centuries coins were given monetary worth based on the exact amount of metal contained in them, but most modern coins are based on face value, the value that governments choose to give them, irrespective of the actual metal content. Coins have been made of gold (Au), silver (Ag), copper (Cu), aluminium (Al), nickel (Ni), plastic and in China even from pressed leaves. Gold proves to be the most popular. Since civiliza­tion began gold has been regarded as a symbol of power and wealth. In many societies gold was seen as a magic substance which could protect people against illness or evil spirits. Mankind never seems to have enough gold and the search for it has driven men mad. The need to search for gold has been compared to a disease, and is called 'gold fever'.

Most governments now issue paper money in the form of notes, which are really 'promises to pay'. Paper money is obviously easier to handle and much more convenient in the modern world. Cheques, bank­ers' cards, and credit cards are being used increasingly and it is possible to imagine a world where 'money' in the form of coins and paper currency will no longer be used.

Дата добавления: 2014-10-22