Make up S questions to the text and answer them
ADDITIONAL TEXTS
TEXT 1
THE ECONOMY OF GREAT BRITAIN
The United Kingdom has a developed mixed private- and public-enterprise economy and ranks among the hop industrial countries in growth rates, productivity and competitiveness. The gross national product (GNP) is growing faster than the population. The GNP per capita is among that of most other European countries.
The state sector was reduced during the 1980s and 1990s owing to policies of privatization, or denationalization, of publicly owned corporations. There was also an improvement in the standard of living. Unemployment and inflation rates were gradually reduced but remained high.
Nowadays, government policies include the close monitoring and frequent adjustment of interest rates; a gradual reduction in the level of direct personal taxation; a reduction in the levels of power and influence of national trade unions in national labour negotiations; the encouragement of wider home ownership and of individuals' share holdings in companies. Considerable emphasis is placed on increased exposure of the economy to market forces. The government controls the production of coal, steel and ships, it also runs certain utilities, the railways, and most civil aviation.
Manufacturing industries account for one-fifth of the GNP. Small companies predominate, though companies with 500 or more employees employ a larger percentage of the work force. Major manufactures include motor vehicles, aerospace equipment, electronic data-processing and telecommunication equipment, metal goods, precision instruments, petrochemicals, and other chemicals. High-technology industries are being developed.
Agriculture accounts for less than 2 percent of the GNP and employs some 2 percent of the work force. Farming is highly mechanized, though farms are not large, and is dominated by the raising of sheep and cattle. The United Kingdom is not agriculturally self-sufficient. Chief crops include barley, wheat, sugar beets and potatoes.
The mineral industry accounts for approximately 6 percent of the GNP but employs less than 1 percent of the work force. Production from oil fields in the North Sea has allowed the United Kingdom to become virtually self-sufficient in petroleum. The United Kingdom's coal industry, despite its steady decline since the early 1950s, remains one of the largest and most technologically advanced in Europe.
Public revenues ordinarily fall short of expenditures and are chiefly derived from income taxes, which are highly progressive, and excises. A single graduated income tax was introduced in 1973. Deficits are offset by public borrowing. The country (as well as its capital) is a major world financial and banking centre.
|
|
|
Chief imports of Great Britain are: metallic ores, except iron ore, food. Chief exports are: china, automobiles and other vehicles, wooden goods, steel, electrical and mechanical machinery, tractors, scientific instruments, chemicals, petroleum.
Just under half of the total population is in the labour force. The highest proportion of employees (more than two-thirds) are in the service sectors, financial services and distribution. Manufacturing, although it has declined, employs more than one-fifth of all workers. Smaller numbers are in construction, energy, agriculture, forestry and fishing.
TEXT 2
WHAT IS A MANAGER?
A number of different terms are often used instead of the term « manager», including«director», «administrator» and «president». The term «manager» is used more frequently in profit-making organizations, while the others are used more widely in government and non-profit organizations such as universities, hospitals and social work agencies.
So, who do we call a «manager»?
In its broad meaning the term «managers» applies to the people who are responsible for making and carrying out decisions within a certain system. A personnel manager directly supervises people in an organization. Financial manager is a person who is responsible for finance. Sales manager is responsible for selling of goods.
Almost everything a manager does involves decision-making. When a problem exists a manager has to make a decision to solve it. In decision-making there is always some uncertainty and risk.
Management is a variety of specific activities. Management is a function of planning, organizing, coordinating, directing and controlling. Any managerial system, at any managerial level, is characterized in terms of these general functions.
Managing is a responsible and hard job. There is a lot to be done and relatively little time to do it. In all types of organizations managerial efficiency depends on manager's direct personal relationships, hard work on a variety of activities and preference for active tasks. The characteristics of management often vary according to national culture, which can determine how managers are trained, how they lead people and how they approach their jobs.
|
|
|
The amount of responsibility of any individual in a company depends on the position that he or she occupies in its hierarchy. Managers, for example, are responsible for leading the people directly under them, who are called subordinates. To do this successfully, they must use their authority, which is the right to take decisions and give orders. Managers often delegate authority. This means that employees at lower levels in the company hierarchy can use their initiative, that is make decisions without asking their manager.
TEXT 3
THE MERCANTILISTS
Between the 16th and 18th centuries, the major countries of Europe believed in the economic theory of mercantilism. Mercantilists argued that nations should behave as if they were merchants competing with one another for profit. Accordingly, governments should support industry by enacting laws designed to keep labor and other production costs low, and exports (sales to foreign countries) high. In this way the nation could achieve what was called a favorable balance of trade.
«Favorable balance of trade» described a situation in which exports exceeded imports. The excess, which was like profits to a merchant, would result in an increase in the nation's supply of gold or silver. And, as most people agreed in those days, the true measure of a nation's wealth was its hoard of gold or silver.
To achieve favorable trade balances, the major European powers sought to acquire colonies. Colonies, it was thought, could provide the «mother country» with cheap labor, raw materials and a market for its manufactured goods. In an effort to attain these goals in their American colonies, the British, for example, enacted the Navigation Acts.
|
|
|
The Navigation Acts protected British industry by prohibiting the colonies from producing certain goods like hats, woolen products and wrought iron. The laws also listed certain «enumerated articles» (mostly raw materials) which could not be sold to buyers in countries other than England. Resentment towards the Navigation Acts was so great that they are regarded as one of the principal causes of the Revolutionary War.
Today there are people who still argue that our country should promote a «favorable balance of trade» that the federal government should do what it can to restrict imports and promote exports. For that reason, they are often described as neo-mercaniilists or « new » mercantilists.
TEXT 4
THE PHYSIOCRATS
For one group of 18th-century French philosophers and economists, the suggestion that nations should go out of their way to protect business and industry made no sense at all. These were the physiocrats. The physiocrats argued that the products of agriculture and other natural resources were the true source of wealth. Since these were God-given, it made little sense for government to go out of its way to help business and industry increase profits. For similar reasons, they opposed government efforts to promote a «favorable balance of trade». In other words, since real wealth came from the land, it followed that the wisest thing government could do would be to keep its hands off business and let nature take its course. This idea was expressed in the slogan «laissez faire» (let people do as they choose).
Interestingly, the 200-year-old argument between those favoring regulation of the economy and those supporting laissez faire is still with us. Whether the problem involves individuals (like those living in poverty and unemployment) or institutions (such as a rising tide of business or bank failures), there are those who find the solution in government intervention, and others who favor «laissez faire» letting natural economic forces take their course.
TEXT 5
Дата добавления: 2018-04-04; просмотров: 543; Мы поможем в написании вашей работы! |
Мы поможем в написании ваших работ!