Английский язык для экономистов - Малюга Е.Н.
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¦ E. g.: It's pleasant to lie in the sun (To lie in the sun is pleasant).
¦ Ws pleasant lying in the sun (Lying in the sun is pleasant). Unit 2. Production and Costs
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¦ It's a shame that he isn't here (That he isn't here is a shame).
¦ It doesn't matter when we arrive (When we anive doesn't matter).
§ 3. General statements with 'one' and 'you'. 'One' used as an indefinite pronoun meaning 'everyone/anyone' is sometimes applied (formally) in general statements: World trade is improving, but one cannot expect miracles.
In everyday speech, the informal 'you' is preferred: Can you buy refrigerators in Lapland? (= Can anyone ...?).
'One' may be used to replace T, but this tends to sound pompous: One likes to have one's breakfast in bed now and again.
'One' can be linked with 'one's', just as you can be linked with your. However, constructions with 'one', 'one's' and 'oneself are often awkward because of the repetition of 'one'.
E. g.: One should do one's best at all times. (Better: You should do your best at all times).
One shouldn't be too hard on oneself. (Better: You shouldn't be too hard on yourself).
In AmE 'one's/oneself' can be replaced by 'his/her', 'himself/herself:
One should give himself/herself a holiday from time to time. (For the use of the passive in place of one).
F.l. Identify all dumpy 'it' or 'one' in the text "Cost and Production" and translate the sentences into Russian.
F.2. Rewrite these sentences beginning 'It ...' if it is appropriate in written English. The first has been done for you.
1. To drive a car without a licence is illegal. E. g.: It is illegal to drive a car without a licence.
2. That she wasn't hurt in the fall was a miracle.
3. Their decision was a serious setback.
4. The announcement is to be made this evening.
5. Where the light was coming from was far from clear.
6. That you already know my secret is obvious.
7. If the two countries don't reach an agreement soon will be surprising.
8. The parcel I was expecting has arrived.
F.3. Match up the sentences and write ones beginning with 'It ...', 'that...', as in the example: It appears likely that the President will be reelected. A number of alternative answers are possible: 38
Английский язык для экономистов
1) the President will be re-elected;
2) Beckman had a wrist injury for most of the match;
3) this was to be the band's last world tour;
4) Jacobs possessed three handguns;
5) people are happy with the quality of supermarket food.
G. Speak up
G.l. Answer the following questions.
1. Hovv can overhead costs change the way people do business?
2. How does costs affect total revenue?
G.2. Discussion topics.
1. Comment on the statement: Profit is maximized when the marginal costs of production equal the marginal revenue from sales.
2. Explain the use of marginal analysis for break-even and profit-maximizing decisions.
3. Many oil-processing plants shift workers to maintain operations. How do you think a plant's fixed and variable costs affect its decision to operate around the clock?
H, Reading the English newspaper
H.l. Read the article and do the exercises.
The Benefits of Being Small: Balancing Economies of Scale Against the Advantages of Intimacy Is a Delicate Task
John W. Hunt, "Financial Times"
In the 1970s the British economist E. F. Schumacher coined the phrase "small is beautiful." The expression focused on a design question. As companies become larger and more complex, can they restructure to retain the human benefits of smaller companies?
Schumacher believed that they could not. They would have to reduce in size and change their command structure. His argument was simple. As a company adds more people in more locations the sheer task of holding this lot together becomes an end in itself. The economic advantages of scale will be eroded by the disadvantages of a loss of intimacy.
a) this transpired during the trial;
b) this follows the results of the survey;
c) this appears likely;
d) this seemed to be the case;
e) this emerged after the concert. Unit 2. Production and Costs
39
Schumacher was largely ignored outside Europe. At the time a prevailing view was that large companies could be very profitable if structures were crystal clear and rational. Through these means human error or deviance could be minimized.
One company was always quoted as the supreme example of the triumph of structure over deviance: International Business Machines, arguably the greatest exponent of machine-like precision through command and control structures.
However, in 1993 IBM lost $5bn (? 5.6bn). Forthose on the inside, the collapse of the world's most successful computing company was stunning. At the time I taught on IBM's senior management programme at La Hulpe in Belgium and I could track the growing unease. Yet the IBM staff still believed that creative, structural solutions would save the day. Managers largely ignored the evidence of paralysis at the top. They were part of the paralysis.
