книги / Английский язык для горных инженеров

26. ж) Просмотрите текст Б. Расположите пункты приведенного плана в соответствии с содержанием текста.

1.A characteristic feature of a market and especially of a mineral market.

2.The function of structural analysis of markets.

3.The problem ofsiting mineral resources in fiee-market economy.

4.World trade in minerals (fuels, nonfuels, seabed minerals).

5.Competition in free-market economy.

6) Суммируйте содержание текста Б о рынке минералов, используй план

иактивную лексику.

27.ж) Познакомьтесь с приведенной ниже схемой и назовите три основ­ ных типа экономических систем по-английски и по-русски и кратко расскажи­ те, в чем суть каждой из них.

WHAT ARE THE PRINCIPAL TY PE S O F ECONOM IC SY ST E M S?

б) Определите, к каким экономическим системам относатси следующие утверждении:

1. Prices function to allocate resources when buyers and sellers interact.

2.Basic economic decisions depend on authority direction and tradition.

3.Production is controlled by the government.

4.A system in which resources are allocated by supply and demand. Buyers and sellers interact.

5.A system where production through the economy is coordinated by the authority.

6.A system in which the basic questions of what, how and for whom to produce are decided by market forces and government.

28.Подготовьте краткое сообщевие на тему «Что такое рыночная эконо-

29.а) Прочитайте текст без словаря. Кратко суммируйте его содержание

по-русски.

б) Сделайте письменный перевод части текста, описывающей экономиче­ скую теорию Адама Смита.

Слова для понимания текста

Today, most people have a hard time understanding what economists are talking about, but everyone knows what an economist is — a specialist in a recognized branch of academic knowledge. At the beginning of the nineteenth century the term was nothing like as specific. In England it was applied to anyone who approached problems by putting every argument and doctrine on whatever subject to the test of facts.

It was no coincidence that England gave birth to the first industrial revolution and what has since become known as the classical school of economics at the same time. The three most important gospels of this school are Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations (published in 1776), David Ricardo’s Principles of Political Economy and Taxation (1817), and James Mill’s Political Economy

(1821).

Of these books, the most important is that by Adam Smith. It is the first great classic of economic theory and one of the first known attempts to describe economic life as a whole.

The genesis of The Wealth of Nations exactly mirrors the industrial revolution. Adam Smith was born in 1723, and was a

student at Glasgow University in Scotland from 1737 to 1740. Between 1764 and 1766 Smith toured Europe. While in France Smith met Voltaire and was greatly influenced by a group of philosophers. On his return from France, Adam Smith sat down to write his great book.

The first key question the book addresses is what is wealth? Real wealth is measured by the availability of consumable goods, and the labour, which produces them. An increase in wealth equals an increase in goods, and plenty means cheap goods. Anything that restricts the availability of goods reduces a nation’s wealth. National wealth can only increase as trade does between and within nations. For trade to grow you need a market and how the market works is the core of Smith’s book.

What makes markets such important creators of wealth is that they encourage the division of labour and specialisation.

An effective market economy — and the civilised society that it supports — depends on a network of co-operation that is neither planned nor directed by a political power. The operation of market forces, like the division of labour, brings great benefits to society and raises the standard of living, but this benefit cannot be planned. Buyers and sellers in a market are motivated almost solely by self-interest, but serve the public interest without having intended it. If the seller is the sole producer of a popular product, he will push its price up as high as the market will bear. But a high price will attract rival producers. Once their goods are available in the market, the price will naturally fall. Thus the market is a self­ regulating mechanism guided not by a government, but by what Smith called “the invisible hand”.

One of the bedrocks of Smith’s philosophy is that no government or group of men is wise enough to do a better job at managing trade than a market which reflects the guesses and knowledge of millions. Smith didn’t believe that governments would ever allow trade to be completely free and he wrote that the interests of national defence are always “more important than opulence”. Under the final heading Smith was thinking of infrastructure projects like roads, bridges, canals and harbours which are expensive and often unprofitable to build but lead to an increase in trade and hence of national wealth.

Smith’s achievement was immense: the science Smith discovered was called the modem economy.

30. Дополните вопросы и попросите вашего сокурсника ответить на них.

31. Рассжажите о жизни и деятельности Адама Смита.

ТЕКСТ В

US Coal Industry Today

New competition from international sources and more strict environmental regulations are the reasons the coal industry is facing a major restructuring. This competition means that cost increases

cannot be passed through automatically. It means pressure on utilities to reduce power costs. It means unionised companies must become more capital-intensive to reduce labour costs that are out of control. It means pushing cost reductions through the entire supply chain: from power generation, to coal transportation, to coal production. This pressure of competition started in the early 1980s and has affected all aspects of the supply chain.

It should be noted that there are four fundamental reasons for the restructuring and consolidation of the coal industry. The first is the need to reduce costs. Combining companies can create greater efficiency by removing artificial barries and eliminating duplication. The market-place demands lower costs. Technological advances enable the industry to achieve lower costs.

The second reason for restructuring is the need for higher capitalization to respond to changing consumption patterns.

The third reason for restructuring the coal industry is the uncertainty surrounding the coal and electricity generating industries. These uncertainties encompass global climate change and externalities. But they also include expectations on electricity demand growth and natural gas price trends.

The fourth reason is the recognition that industries must focus on their core competencies to remain competitive.

So the request for lower costs, changed consumption patterns, uncertainty in future regulation and the return to core competencies are the driving factors behind the ongoing industry restructuring. The drive for efficiency is of utmost importance.

The drive to improve efficiency within the coal and electricity­ generating industries has been slowed by government actions and organizations that have other perspectives. For example, inefficient unproductive mines remain in the coal industry if the owners of these mines recognize that they cannot survive in a competitive environment. They try to hide behind government protection, such as subsidized low-cost loans.

Union leaders insist on work rules, established in a previous era, that now hamper productivity iipprovements.

Thus, inefficient producers, labour leaders and government regula­ tors have become the ‘friction’ that can stop forward progress until natural competitive forces overcome the friction and reinstate progress.

•Новые технологии эффективного использования угля.

•Безопасность добычи угля.

•Мировая торговля углем.

Россия экспортирует уголь более чем в 20 стран мира. Основными им­ портерами российского угля являются Япония, Румыния, Италия, Болгария, Словакия. Следует отметить, что общий' кризис производства в России кос­ нулся и экспорта угля.

Для повышения конкурентоспособности российских углей на мировом рынке компанией «Росуголь» разработана и реализуется n p o ip a M M a повыше­ ния качества добываемых и перерабатываемых углей за счет развития и ре­ конструкции обогатительных фабрик.

В 1996 году Всемирный банк предоставил России заем в размере 525 млн. долларов на реструктуризацию угольной отрасли. Эти средства были направ­ лены на выходные пособия работникам нерентабельных предприятий, кото­ рые необходимо было закрыть, на переобучение шахтеров, на развитие со­ циальной сферы шахтерских городов и поселков. В 1996 году были закрыты более 20 особо убыточных шахт и один угольный разрез, а всего предстоит закрыть 90 угледобывающих предприятий. Сегодня речь идет о предоставле­ нии второго займа в размере еще 500 млн. долларов. Условием предоставле­ ния займов Всемирный банк считает демонополизацию отрасли. Учитывая острые социальные последствия реструктуризации, которые могут вызвать социальный взрыв, Всемирный банк предложил обеспечить информацион­ ную поддержку реформы.

36. Используя приведенные выше материалы и активную лексику раздела, расскажите о проблемах угольной отрасли в России. Каким образом, по ваше­ му мнению, должна идти перестройка в этой отрасли?

КРОССВОРД (CROSSWORD)

В этом кроссворде зашифровано (по горизонтали и вертикали) более 30 экономических терминов и обычных слов. Сколько терминов вам удастся найти? Запишите их в тетрадь и назовите их русские соответствия.

т R 1 С Е т R А D Е R s А G О О D S А L Е 1 с О N S и М р Т 1 О N А D В и S 1 N Е S S V

R D 1 S т R 1 В и т Е с' т “ciА ТГ о ’М 1IС А S

D L J U iJ L iy Е Ш Е Ш В т А R G Е т R Р О с М

Y N А D "D Е К О 1 и Е F т тг ~Ё R "с "R N

т Т т т ~Ё Т

ПРИЛОЖЕНИЕ

КРАТКИЙ ФОНЕТИЧЕСКИЙ КУРС

ТРАНСКРИПЦИЯ

В английском алфавите количество звуков (44) превышает ко­ личество букв в алфавите (26). Для того чтобы пользоваться англо­ русским словарем, нужно усвоить знаки международной фонетиче­ ской транскрипции, каждый из которых передает только один звук.

Ниже английские звуки передаются русскими буквами, а также приводятся примеры русских слов, в которых ударные или безударные гласные близки по звучанию соответствую­ щим английским звукам. Знак «двоеточие (:)» после гласной обозначает ее долготу.