Market Economy: English English Equivalents Romanian Russian
Market Economy: English English Equivalents Romanian Russian
Market Economy: English English Equivalents Romanian Russian
MARKET ECONOMY
Learning objectives:
1. Distinguish the main economic systems
2. Understand the definition of business, its risks and rewards
3. Evaluate the chances of starting and operating a business
in the Republic of Moldova
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income (n) venit доход
outright (adv) immediately
proprietate, drept de собственность, право
ownership (n)
proprietate собственности
a închiria, a da cu арендoвать, давать в
to rent
chirie, a arenda аренду
1.1. Business
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Business is the organized effort of individuals to produce and sell, for a profit,
the goods and services that satisfy society's needs. The general term business
refers to all such efforts within a society (as in "American business") or within an
industry (as in "the steel business"). However, a business is a particular
organization, such as American Airlines, Inc., or Sunnyside Country Store & Gas
Pumps, Inc.
No person or group of persons actually organized American business as we
know it today. Rather, over the years individuals have organized their own
particular businesses for their own particular reasons. All these individual
businesses, and all the interactions between these businesses and their customers,
have given rise to what we call American business.
A person who risks his or her time, effort, and money to start and operate a
business is called an entrepreneur. To organize a business, an entrepreneur must
combine four kinds of resources: material, human, financial, and informational.
Material resources include the raw materials used in manufacturing processes, as
well as buildings and machinery. Human resources are the people who furnish their
labour to the business in return for wages. The financial resource is the money
required to pay employees, purchase materials, and generally keep the business
operating. And information is the resource that tells the managers of the business
how effectively the other resources are being combined and utilized.
Businesses are generally of three types. Manufacturing businesses (or
manufacturers) are organized to process various materials into tangible goods,
such as delivery trucks or towels. Service businesses produce services, such as
haircuts or legal advice. And some firms—called middlemen—are organized to buy
the goods produced by manufacturers and then resell them. For example, the
General Electric Company is a manufacturer that produces clock radios. These
products may be sold to a retailing middleman, which then resells them to
consumers in its retail stores. Consumers are individuals who purchase goods or
services for their own personal use rather than to resell them.
All three types of businesses may sell either to other firms or to consumers. In
both cases, the ultimate objective of every firm must be to satisfy the needs of its
customers. People generally don't buy goods and services simply to own them;
they buy products to satisfy particular needs. People rarely buy an automobile
solely to store it in a garage; they do, however, buy automobiles to satisfy their
need for transportation. Some of us may feel that this need is best satisfied by an
air-conditioned BMW with stereo cassette player, automatic transmission, power
seats and windows, and remote-control side mirrors. Others may believe that a
Ford Taurus with a stick shift and an AM radio will do just fine. Both products are
available to those who want them, along with a wide variety of other products that
satisfy the need for transportation.
When firms lose sight of their customers' needs, they are likely to find the
going rough. But when the businesses that produce and sell goods and services
understand their customers' needs and work to satisfy those needs, they are
usually successful.
In the course of normal operations, a business receives money (sales revenue)
from its customers in exchange for goods or services. It must also pay out money
to cover the various expenses involved in doing business. If the firm's sales
revenue is greater than its expenses, it has earned a profit. So profit is what
remains after all business expenses have been deducted from sales revenue. A
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negative profit, which results when a firm's expenses are greater than its sales
revenue, is called a loss.
The profit earned by a business becomes the property of its owners. So in one
sense profit is the return, or reward, that business owners receive for producing
goods and services that consumers want.
Profit is also the payment that business owners receive for assuming the
considerable risks of ownership. One of these is the risk of not being paid. Everyone
else—employees, suppliers, and lenders—must be paid before the owners. And if
there is nothing left over (if there is no profit), there can be no payments to owners.
A second risk that owners run is the risk of losing whatever they have put into the
business. A business that cannot earn a profit is very likely to fail, in which case the
owners lose whatever money, effort, and time they have invested. For business
owners, the challenge of business is to earn a profit in spite of these risks.
Verb collocations:
To run a business = to be in charge of a business (e.g. to run a hotel, to run a
store)
To run a newspaper = to be the chief editor of a newspaper
To run a test = to do a test
To run a risk = to risk
To run a temperature = to have a temperature that is higher than normal.
WORD STUDY
The word BUSINESS has several meanings. Depending on the meaning this
word can be countable or uncountable.
I. VOCABULARY PRACTICE
A) Find the words in the text that are the synonyms of:
1. to buy = 6. intermediary=
2. to persuade= 7. fundamental goal=
3. to employ= 8. businessman=
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4. to go bankrupt= 9. to provide sb with sth=
5. to produce= 10. merchandise=
B) Find in the text the English equivalents for the following words and
phrases:
1. Economie de piaţă/ рыночная экономика
2. Economie mixtă/ смешаная экономика
3. Economie planificată/ плановая экономика
4. A vinde la un preţ/ продавать по цене
5. Furnizor/ поставщик
6. Creditor/ кредитор
7. A nu avea success, a merge prost (despre afaceri)/ не иметь успеха,
идти плохо (о делах)
8. A satisface necesităţile clienţilor săi/ удовлетворять нужды своих
клиентов
9. A-şi asuma un risc/ взять на себя риск
10. A fi disponibil pentru cineva/ быть в наличии для кого-либо
11. A fi interesat în cumpărare/ быть заинтересованным в покупке
12. Venit din vânzări/ доход от продаж.
II. COMPREHENSION
Give answers to the following questions:
1. What economic system is characteristic of the Republic of Moldova?
2. What is the most important characteristic of American business?
3. What is the important by-product of free enterprise?
4. What is business and who organized the modern American business?
5. What resources must be combined in order to start a business? What do
you think, what kind of resources is of greatest importance nowadays?
Give your reasons.
6. What types of businesses do you know? To your mind, what type is
widespread in our Republic and why?
7. What is the ultimate objective of every firm? Do you agree with it?
8. What is profit and what is a loss? In your opinion, if the firm’s expenses
are equal to its sales revenue, can such firm still function or not?
9. What risks are assumed by businessmen?
10. Do you agree or disagree with the statement: “Life in general is a risky
business”?
IV. DISCUSSION
1. Is it easy or difficult to start and operate a business in our Republic?
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2. What does one need in order to start his/her own business and to be a
successful entrepreneur?
Choose out of these 3 most important things and give your reasons:
- business knowledge
- courage
- leadership
- financial support
- tremendous drive (= a very strong desire to do sth)
- impertinence
- true entrepreneurial spirit
- brilliant ideas
- communication skills
- patience
3. If you had a chance to start a business, in what sphere would you like to
work?