Activity Book ﻡ٢٠١٤¥٢٠١٣ Contents Unit Title Page Economic Concepts Buying and Selling Incomes and Salaries Test 12 Meetings 14 Economic Issues 17 Work in the Future 20 Test 23 The Internet 25 Communication 28 Supply and Demand 31 Test 34 10 Business Online 36 11 Financial Markets and Banknotes 39 12 Aspects of Stock 42 Test 45 Correspondence Glossary 47 62 Economic Concepts Exercise Speaking Read the following situation and discuss the questions Situation The company you work for is planning to open a new clothes factory with the following specifications: • Goods should be manufactured at low costs • 2000 workers are needed • Raw material will be imported from several countries It is considering three countries in the Middle East as a location for the factory You are members of the planning committee which must choose a location for the new factory Work in small groups Discuss the three countries and rank them in order of suitability as a location Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each location Decide which is the most suitable location for the new clothes factory Country A Economy Country B Economy Country C Economy • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Growth rate 2% per year Inflation rate 5% Interest rates 10-15% Unemployment rate 25-30% The country has a lot of debt and is trying to modernise its economy Growth rate 1.5% per year Inflation rate 0.5% Interest rates 8-10% Unemployment rate 3% It is a modern industrial country with many manufacturing industries Growth rate 8% per year Inflation rate 10% Interest rates 4-6% Unemployment rate 12% The currency exchange rate is unstable Transport Transport • Good rail network but poor roads • Seaport in poor condition • Fully integrated road and rail • Road network needs investment network • No seaport • Good transport around the main seaport Transport Labour Labour Labour • Unskilled workers: a lot of training is needed • Wage rates: very low • Not a lot of skilled labour available • Wage rates: high • Skilled labour unavailable • Wage rates: low but rising fast Exercise Reading Read the following text about taxation and answer the questions Governments finance most of their expenditure by taxation If they spend more than they levy or charge in taxes, they have to borrow money People may pay their taxes either directly or indirectly The government collects the taxes from the income of individuals and businesses Taxes imposed on salaries and wages, sales profits, inherited money as well as on a company’s profits are all examples of direct taxes On the other hand, the government levies indirect taxes on the production or sale of goods and services These are included in the final price paid by the purchaser VAT and taxes that are imposed on the retail price of goods, commodities and imported goods are a few examples of indirect taxation To reduce the amount of tax that individuals and businesses have to pay, some use legal methods to minimise their tax burden This is called tax avoidance This often involves using loopholes - ways of getting around the law because of an error or a technicality in the law itself On the other hand, others use illegal methods such as not declaring their income or reporting it inaccurately This is called tax evasion and can lead to big penalties Questions Are the following examples of direct or indirect taxes? a company profits b goods bought in stores c money received from relatives after their death d salaries and wages e goods made in other countries f money made by selling stocks at a profit Try to guess the meaning of the following words from context a capital gains tax b corporation tax c excise tax d income tax e inheritance tax f sales tax g tariff What the words in bold refer to? Unit Exercise Vocabulary Match the economic terms (1-10) with their definitions (a-j) interest rate a total value of goods and services produced in a country exchange rate b general increase in prices inflation rate c cost of borrowing money labour force d price at which one currency can buy another tax incentives e percentage of people without jobs government bureaucracy f people working GDP (gross domestic product) g low taxes to encourage business activity unemployment rate h money from overseas foreign investment i difference in value between a country’s imports and exports 10 balance of trade j official rules / regulations / paperwork Exercise Grammar Read the text on page again Change the underlined sentences to questions using /does Exercise Writing Write five sentences about the economic profile of your country Buying andSelling Exercise Vocabulary A Cross the odd word out a trader b retailer a vendor b commercial a customer b pay for a buy b value a shop b store a outlet b price c client c advertisement c consumer c purchase c promotion c cost B Choose one of the words (a-c) to complete each of the sentences The should not trade any products that are poor quality a buyer b seller c warehouse You should buy your new laptop in the They’re selling last year’s models very cheaply a sell b sold c sale My customers know what they want, and they don’t like to be pressured - so I don’t need to use any sell a strong b hard c heavy Yes it’s very popular - in fact it’s our best design a selling b sold c sale We don’t have an aggressive sales style We prefer to use sell to encourage consumers to buy our products a kind b nice c soft I’m afraid we out of that style last week Would you like me to order one for you? a lost b sold c bought Unit Exercise Situations What would you say in the following situations? You work in a shop You see a customer who is looking for something Can I help you? The customer likes a jacket He thinks it’s the right size, but he is not sure You work at a take-away restaurant Ask the caller for his name and address A customer says “Thank you” What does the assistant say? You are a customer in a shop The assistant asks, “Can I help you?” You want to stay in the shop, but you don’t want help You want to buy large brown envelopes Ask about their price Exercise Grammar Put the adjectives in the right order to describe the nouns in bold market banking is reasonably secure The receipt was unbelievably high The department is announcing the results My property has a large value The numbers indicate unpaid debts His account allows him free access A bond offers secure investment Most people trust a(n) cheque This is a rewarding / money / small private / Syrian expense / white old / finance / first lovely / personal red / three Swiss / big British / treasury certified / official Exercise Composition Write a paragraph about ways of paying for goods and services Use the following questions to guide you How you pay for things in shops? How does your family pay for electricity? How most organisations pay their employees? How can a company send money to another company? Where people use credit cards? Exercise Reading Read the text and answer the following questions Anne is shopping because she wants to buy a new dress She is in a shop in London and she is looking at a long dress, a medium dress and a short one She has got £60 in cash, and she hasn’t got a cheque book or a credit card with her She also needs a blouse, which costs £12 The price of the short dress is £48 The long dress is more expensive than the other two, but Anne does not like it She likes the medium dress best It costs £60, but it is in the sale, so there is a discount of 20% Questions Anne is a a customer b a sales assistant c the shop’s manager d a manufacturer The long dress is a the cheapest b the nicest c the most expensive d cheap enough for Anne to buy Which item is in the sale? a The blouse b The short dress c The medium dress d The long dress The price of the medium dress is a £60 b £48 c £40 d £38 The short dress is the medium dress a more expensive than b less expensive than c the same price as d nicer than What will Anne probably buy? a The long dress b The medium dress and the blouse c The short dress and the blouse d The long dress and the blouse B Negotiations a Put the sentences of the following negotiation into a suitable sequence Right, let’s get started, shall we? If we buy 100 ‘Hit’ and 200 ‘Tournament’ tennis rackets, what discount can you offer us? All right, we’ll agree to that Now, if we place an order this week, will you be able to deliver the goods within two weeks? Fine That’s it, then I think we’ve covered everything Mmm, let me think about that If we agree to let you pay by letter of credit, then you’ll have to pay within 30 days, and you’ll have to cover insurance as well On an order of that size, and since it’s your first order with us, we can offer 5% discount But then we can offer 10% off all quoted prices for further orders above 6000 euros Well, we’d prefer to pay by letter of credit Certainly And as regards payment, we would expect you to pay by bank transfer as soon as the goods have been dispatched b In negotiations, it is often desirable to use diplomatic language Rewrite the following sentences so that they are more diplomatic There’s no way we can invest in your project in its present form We must talk about start-up costs first We definitely won’t lower our interest rate You must try to bring another backer Your interest rate is far too high c Which of the following you think are good ways of dealing with conflict in a negotiation? Discuss Avoid eye contact Say ‘I see what you mean.’ Smile a lot Find out why the other side is unhappy Sit back and appear relaxed Focus on the issues, not on personalities Stop the discussion and come back to it later Say something humorous Say nothing for a long time 10 Speak calmly and slowly d Match the following negotiation techniques to their definitions Open questions Closed questions Softening phrases Signalling phrases Summarising phrases 60 a say what you are going to before you it b modify language so that it does not appear too aggressive c gather information and explore the opposite person’s views d check understanding and ask for precise information e go over the points covered to highlight when agreement is reached e Read the following expressions and match each one to the correct technique listed in task d Coul d I ask you what other people are providing finance for you? H ave you approached any other bank, if I may ask? I’d like to make a suggestion Why don’t you revise your business plan? Good Coul d I ask what sort of repayment terms you have in mind? L et me rephrase what you’ve just said The 250 thousand would be for working capital We seem to be getting somewhere now L et me sum up what we’ve agreed on so far f Which of these negotiating tips you agree with? Explain why In the early stages, you need to ask the other side a lot of q uestions Always interrupt if you don’t understand something Never make a concession for free Always get something in return Use simple, direct language and be open about your aims Signal what you are going to do, for example, say, “I’d just like to clarify that.” Summarise often so that everyone is clear when you reach agreement Adapt your language so that you don’t appear aggressive Talk about your emotions and how you are feeling g Decide whether the following sentences are examples of calming people down or creating solutions Put each sentence under the correct heading L ook Tracy, I understand what you’re saying, but it just isn’t possible anymore We’ve got to something about it Ok, how about this? What if we keep five spaces for staff, and it’s first come, first served There is another possibility H ow about if the staff park their cars in the car park near the station Ok, Tracy What if we could help towards the cost? We will be able to pay, say, 30% Calming down Creating solutions 61 Glossary A abolition noun when a law or a system is officially ended: The abolition of the death penalty is the right thing to above par expression a stock or bond whose market price is higher than its face value: A fixed-income security is likely to sell above par if market rates of interest have declined advertisement noun a notice or announcement in a public medium promoting a product, service or event or publicising a job vacancy: We received only two replies to our advertisement advertiser noun the person or company that uses advertisement to promote a product, service or event: The advertiser paid 10,000 SYP to promote this new brand advocate verb publicly recommend or support: They advocated strict adherence to their principles agenda noun a list of items of business to be considered and discussed at a meeting: The question of home violence had been removed from the agenda annual account noun it accounts for the property and debts of the business per year: Many annual accounts can be accessed online appeal verb make a serious or urgent req uest, typically to the public: Police are appealing for information about the incident 62 array noun an impressive display or range of a particular type of thing: There is a vast array of literature on the topic of computer assisted learning articulate adjective having or showing the ability to speak fluently and coherently: His father is a highly articulate speaker at a premium expression above the usual or nominal price: Books with pristine dustjackets are less common and sell at a premium at best expression a customer order to buy a security at the best rate possible: At best you can buy his share for $7000 auction noun a public sale in which goods or property are sold to the highest bidder: The books are expected to fetch a six-figure sum at tomorrow’s auction B backer noun a person, institution or country that supports something, esp financially: 3.3 million SYP were provided by the project’s backers balance of payment noun the difference in total value between payments into and out of a country: A country will have a negative balance of payments if the net of the current account and the capital account is a deficit balance of trade noun the difference in value between a country’s imports and exports: A positive balance of trade is known as a trade surplus bank counter noun a long flat-topped fixture in a bank across which business is conducted with customers: Sir, you can wait at the bank counter number bank credit noun the borrowing capacity provided to an individual by the banking system in the form of credit: This bank credit report provides an accurate representation of our brand that lenders understand bank merger noun the combination of two or more banks: The bank merger is going to affect his business positively bank run noun a series of unexpected cash withdrawals: Modern economies use several methods to prevent bank runs across the whole economy bank transfer noun a method of transferring money from one person to another: At the end of the order process, select the bank transfer option bargain verb negotiate the terms and conditions of a transaction: He bargained with the city council to rent the stadium bargain noun a thing bought or offered for sale more cheaply than is usual or expected: The secondhand table was a real bargain bid noun an offer to work or supply goods at a stated price: We’ve made a bid of nearly £400 million for the company bombard verb assail (someone) persistently, as with q uestions, criticisms or information: They will be bombarded with complaints bond noun an insurance policy held by a company, which protects against losses resulting from bankruptcy or misconduct by employees: My father put all his money into stock market bonds bondholder noun an individual or institution that owns bonds in a corporation: If a company goes bankrupt, its bondholders will often receive some money back book verb reserve a place in advance: He had booked a table at the restaurant borrower noun someone who has borrowed money and has not yet paid it all back: Most borrowers pay 7% interest brokerage noun the business or service of acting as a broker: He works for a brokerage firm business cycle noun a cycle or series of cycles of economic expansion and contraction: In recent years, economic theory has moved towards the study of economic fluctuation rather than a ‘business cycle’ C capital gains tax noun a tax levied on profit from the sale of property or of an investment: In May 2006, the government eliminated the capital gains tax on publicly-traded stocks and bonds donated to charity capital payments noun a lump sum asset payment which may be received periodically: Examples of capital payments could include the receipt of a house, a property, a gift, a lottery win, an inheritance or proceeds from the sale of a house certificate noun an official document that states that a fact or facts are true His birth certificate indicates that he was born before the war an official paper stating that you have completed a course of study or passed an examination: He held several valuable certificates chair verb act as chairperson of an organisation, meeting or public event: The inquiry was chaired by a judge chairman noun a person, esp a man, designated to preside over a meeting: Mr Smith was appointed chairman of the education committee company profits noun gains that a company makes: This company’s profits have increased by 15% this year compensation noun the money received by an employee from an employer as a salary: She received compensation from the government for the damage caused to her property competitiveness noun the ability of a company, country or product to compete with others: New machinery has enhanced the company’s productivity and competitiveness charge verb demand (an amount) as a price from someone for a service rendered or goods supplied: The restaurant charged $15 for dinner competitor noun an organisation or country that is engaged in commercial or economic competition with others: Last year they sold twice as many computers as their competitors city tax noun tax approved by the city council: You should subscribe for future email alerts regarding city tax comprehensive adjective complete: We offer our customers a comprehensive range of financial products cognitive science noun the study of mind or thought: There are several approaches to the study of cognitive science concession noun a thing that is granted, esp in response to demands: The strikers returned to work having won some concessions collateral noun something pledged as security for repayment of a loan, to be forfeited in the event of a default: We put up our home as collateral in order to raise the money to invest in the scheme combat verb take action to reduce or prevent something undesirable: To combat inflation, the government raised interest rates commission noun an amount of money, typically a set percentage of the value involved, paid to an agent in a commercial transaction: Foreign banks may charge a commission commodity noun a raw material or primary agricultural product that can be bought and sold, such as copper or coffee: Commodity prices fell sharply conduct verb organise and carry out: Our class is conducting a survey about the percentage of students who live far from school consensus noun general agreement: The Ministers of Finance failed to reach a consensus on the pace of integration consultant noun a person who provides expert advice: Every company needs consultants consumption noun the using up of a resource: Industrialised countries should reduce their energy consumption convenient adjective fitting in well with a person’s needs, activities and plans: I phoned your office to confirm that this date is convenient 63 converge verb meet in a certain point: Groups from America and the UK traversed thousands of miles to converge in the Atlantic continents noun any of the world’s main continuous expanses of land: Of all the continents I prefer Europe core adjective the part of something that is central to its existence or character: Managers can concentrate on their core activities corporate sector noun a section of society consisting of companies/industries/business houses: The corporate sector represents the producer side of economy and we represent the consumer side of economy corporation tax noun a levy placed on the profit of a firm: Corporation tax is the next area scheduled to be tackled by the Tax Law Rewrite project cost of living noun the average cost of the basic necessities of life, such as food, shelter and clothing: Cost of living varies from place to place, and from time to time counterfeit adjective made in the exact imitation of something valuable or important with the intention to deceive: The spread of counterfeit goods has become global in recent years creditor noun a person or company to whom money is owed: People who loan money to friends or family are personal creditors crisis noun a time of intense difficulty, trouble or danger: True friends are always close to you in times of crisis currency exchange rate noun it is a price of currency of one country expressed in units of another currency: You need a specialised calculator to determine specific currency exchange rates 64 D declaration noun a statement asserting or protecting a legal right: They issued a declaration at the close of the talks demand curve noun a graph showing how the demand for a commodity or service varies with changes in its price: On the demand curve, a movement denotes a change in both price and quantity deregulate verb remove regulations or restrictions from: The government has issued a law that would deregulate cable TV prices direct debit noun a payment system whereby creditors are authorised to debit a customer’s bank account directly at regular intervals: Direct debit is the simplest way to pay your household bills direct tax noun a tax, such as income tax, that is levied on the income or profits of the person who pays it, rather than on goods or services: E-payment facilitates payment of direct taxes online by taxpayers diversified adjective having variety: The next century will feature a rise of the diversified corporation E earner noun a person who obtains money in return for labour or services: The government has increased the rates of income tax for high earners economic recession noun a general slowdown in economic activity over a long period of time: An economic recession can cause great suffering among the people economic recovery noun the phase of the business cycle when the economy moves from a trough to a peak: The world is heading for economic recovery eloquent adjective fluent or persuasive in speaking or writing: The audience were magnetised by his eloquent speech enclose verb place something in an envelope together with a letter: I enclose a copy of the job description energy cost noun monetary and non-monetary costs associated with the production, transmission and consumption of energy: There is concern that energy costs are going to slow down the economic recovery in the US equilibrium price noun open market price at which the quantity of a product supplied matches the quantity demanded: Assuming that the supply schedule remains unchanged, the new equilibrium price is SYP per t-shirt equity noun the value of the shares issued by a company: He owns 62% of the group’s equity equity investment noun buying shares with the intention of making a profit: Your company is one of the oldest investors in the private equity investment category exchange market noun a physical or virtual facility where the exchange of goods, services, information and payment is conducted: FOREX is the foreign exchange market in which currencies are traded exchange rate noun the value of one currency for the purpose of conversion to another: The exchange rate of one U.S dollar for one euro is about 0.84 excise tax noun a tax levied on certain goods and commodities produced or sold within a country and on licenses granted for certain activities: The taxes imposed during the Civil War included an excise tax on all manufactured goods expansive adjective tending towards economic or political expansion: At the age of 35, he has already created an expansive business empire fine noun a sum of money exacted as a penalty: Councils will get sweeping powers to impose fines on drivers who park illegally expenditure noun the total amount of money that a government, organisation or person spends during a particular period of time: The company’s expenditure for this year has been excessive fixed income investment noun an income from a pension or investment which regularly generates a fixed amount of interest income: F ixed income investments are subject to various risks expertise noun expert skill or knowledge in a particular field: What he’s bringing to the company is financial expertise fl uctuation noun a change in a price: Prices are subject to fl uctuation export verb sell or transfer abroad: We export less than we import extensive adjective large in amount or scale: Fire has caused extensive damage to the island’s forests extrovert adjective an outgoing, overtly expressive person: Her sister was always more of an extrovert F financial analyst noun a person who studies the financial performance of corporations: F inancial analysts use spreadsheet and statistical software packages to analyse financial data financial planner noun a person or company responsible for making investments on behalf of, and/ or providing advice to, investors: People enlist the help of a financial planner because of the complexity of knowing how to determine their financial goals financial reserve noun money that is kept back for future use: To pay for routine expenses, many firms work hard to develop and protect adequate financial reserves G goods noun merchandise or possessions: In a supermarket you can find a lot of goods go out of business expression stop carrying on commercial transactions: He has decided to go out of business when he turns sixty-five go public expression become a public company: G oing public gives you access to liquidity forecast noun a prediction or estimate of future events, esp of coming weather or a financial trend: The secretary has put the company’s annual sales forecast on the manager’s desk grant verb give something formally or legally: Funds are granted to qualified researchers foreign investment noun investment by citiz ens and government of one country in industries of another: F oreign investment plays an extraordinary role in global business gross domestic production noun the total value of goods produced and services provided in a country during one year: G ross domestic product is customarily reported on an annual basis forw ard market noun a market for exchange of currencies in the future: Participants in a forw ard market enter into a contract to exchange currencies gross profit noun a company’s total sales revenue minus its cost of goods sold: Use this business calculator to compute the gross profit margin needed to run your business foster verb promote the development of something good: It is important to foster creativity in your children group dynamics noun the processes involved when people in a group interact with each other: Politicians and sales personnel may use their knowledge of the principles of group dynamics to aid their cause freelance adjective working for different companies at different times rather than being permanently employed by one company: Her brother is a freelance journalist funding noun money provided by an organisation or government, for a particular purpose: College directors have called for more government funding grow th rate noun year-overyear change, expressed as a percentage: G row th rates decreased gradually in the past few years H hardw are noun tools or implements made of metal: The concept of inventing hardw are to assist in commercial productivity is not new harness verb control and make use of natural resources, esp to produce energy: We can harness the power of the wind to generate electricity 65 hyperlink noun a link from a hypertext file or document to another location or file, typically activated by clicking on a highlighted word or image on the screen: We should encourage hyperlinks to each other’s webpages I in line w ith expression in alignment or accordance with: The action taken was in line w ith her decision income noun money received, esp on a regular basis, for work or through investments: He has a nice home and an adequate income income tax rate noun it is a progressive tax on the taxable income: Here is a list of current income tax rates incorporate verb include: He has incorporated in his proposal a large number of measures infl ation rate noun the percentage increase in the price of goods and services, usually annually: The chart of infl ation rates displays annual rates from 2000 to 2010 information overload noun when someone gets too much information at one time, for example on the Internet, and becomes tired and unable to think very carefully about any of it: Email remains a major source of information overload, as people struggle to keep up with the rate of incoming messages integrated adjective formed or united into a whole: This city has an integrated public transportation system interest rate noun a percentage per annum charged on money borrowed or lent: Borrowing $1,000 at a 6% interest rate means that you would pay $60 in interest for this job interpersonal adjective of or relating to relationships or communication between people: You will need good interpersonal skills for this job investment noun a thing that is worth buying because it may be profitable or useful in the future: A used car is rarely a good investment investment strategy noun a plan on how to invest your money: We need good investment strategies investor noun someone who gives money to a company, business or bank in order to get a profit: A major investor threatened to stop funding the project issuing bank noun a financial institution that issues credit cards to consumers on behalf of the card associations: The issuing bank assumes primary liability for the consumer’s capacity to pay off debts J inheritance tax noun a tax on the estate of the deceased person : In the United Kingdom, inheritance tax was first introduced in 1796 j unk bond noun a high-yield, high-risk security, typically issued by a company seeking to raise capital q uickly: From a technical point of view, a j unk bond is exactly the same as a regular bond instalment noun a payment of part of a debt usually paid at regular intervals: The purchase price is paid in instalments 66 K keen adjective eager: He is keen to revive this company L labour camp noun a prison camp in which a regime of hard labour is enforced: Conditions at labour camps vary widely labour force noun all the members of a particular organisation or population who are able to work: In 2005, the worldwide labour force was over billion people labour productivity noun the amount of goods and services that a labourer produces in a given amount of time: Economic performance as measured by labour productivity must be interpreted carefully layoffs noun the temporary suspension or permanent termination of employment of an employee or a group of employees for business reasons: L ayoffs this year affected the social life in this city lease verb rent a property: She leased the site to a local company legislation noun a set of laws: The government has promised to bring in new legislation to combat this problem legislator noun someone who has the power to make laws or belongs to an institution that makes laws: L egislators are usually politicians and are often elected by the people lender noun an organisation or person that lends money: Several lenders are offering very attractive rates of interest at the moment lending noun allowing (a person or organisation) the use of a sum of money under an agreement to pay it back later, typically with interest: Balance sheets were weakened by unwise lending letter of credit noun a letter issued by a bank to another bank to serve as a guarantee for payments made to a specified person under specified conditions: After a contract is concluded between buyer and seller, buyer’s bank supplies a letter of credit to seller letterhead noun a printed heading on stationery stating a person’s or organisation’s name and address: There are various legal constraints on the items included in a letterhead leverage noun the ratio of a company’s loan capital (debt) to the value of its common stock (eq uity): The leverages are quite a risk for companies levy verb impose a tax, fee or fine: A new tax could be levied on industry to pay for cleaning up contaminated land lining noun an additional layer of different material attached to the inside of a garment or curtain to make it warmer or hang better: She bought leather gloves with fur linings living standard noun the level of comfort and the amount of money that people have: Living standards have improved over the last century loan noun a thing that is borrowed, esp a sum of money that is expected to be paid back with interest: Borrowers can take out a loan for 84,000 SYP loyalty noun a strong feeling of support or allegiance: Fights with in-laws are distressing because they cause divided loyalties M macroeconomics noun the part of economics concerned with large-scale or general economic factors, such as interest rates and national productivity: Along with microeconomics, macroeconomics is one of the two most general fields in economics marketable adjective able or fit to be sold or marketed: The fish are perfectly marketable marketplace noun the space in which a market operates: Some retailers worry that new regulations will hurt their ability to compete in the marketplace market share noun the portion of a market controlled by a particular company or product: A leading motorcycle manufacturer is trying to increase its market share microeconomics noun the part of economics concerned with single factors and the effects of individual decisions: Opportunity Cost is vital in understanding microeconomics and decisions that are made minutes noun a summarised record of the proceedings at a meeting: Has everyone seen the minutes of last month’s meeting? modem noun a piece of electronic eq uipment that allows information from one computer to be sent along telephone wires to another computer: My modem is not working! I can’t connect to the Internet monetary policy noun the set of decisions a government makes, usually through its central bank, regarding the amount of money in circulation in the economy: Monetary policy rests on the relationship between the rates of interest in an economy and the total supply of money monitor verb observe the progress or q uality of something over a period of time: Equipment was installed to monitor air quality monopoly noun a company or group having exclusive control over a commodity or service: For years his father’s company had a monopoly on telephone services in the US mortgage noun a loan obtained through the conveyance of property as security: I put down a hundred thousand in cash and took out a mortgage for the rest N nanotechnology noun the branch of technology that deals with dimensions and tolerances of less than 100 nanometres, esp the manipulation of individual atoms and molecules: Nanotechnology has the potential to create many new materials and devices with a vast range of applications net price noun price after all discounts have been allowed: The net price of this computer is $800 nought noun the digit 0: A billion is with noughts after it O on demand expression as soon as or whenever req uired: He promised us endless coffee on demand operator noun a person or company that engages in or runs a business: Julian travelled to the Caribbean with one of the UK‘s leading Caribbean tour operators 67 outlet noun a shop, company or organisation through which products are sold: He has retail outlets in every major European city a shop that sells things for less than the usual price: I got this shirt from the outlet in the city centre overpayment noun a payment larger than needed or expected: We need to correct this overpayment P paradigm shift noun a fundamental change in approach or underlying assumptions: She noticed a paradigm shift in the company’s management pay cheque noun a cheq ue for salary or wages made out to an employee: My pay cheque was delayed this month payment booklet noun it is used to write all the payments made by clients: We have a payment booklet for our regular monthly clients who pay a set amount each month payment in advance expression trading method in which the buyer pays for the goods before they are sent out: P ayment in advance is a must at this institution payment on account expression payment of a part of an invoice: He paid a $500 as a payment on account pay rate noun amount of money received per unit of time: I chose the second job because of the higher pay rate peak adjective the most extreme possible amount or value: Gasoline prices are 14% below the peak level they hit in November penalty noun a payment req uired for not fulfilling a contract: The charge carries a maximum penalty of ten years 68 pension noun a regular payment to a person who is no longer earning a regular income from employment: Many people find it hard to live on a basic state pension pensioner noun a person who receives a pension: My grandfather has been a pensioner since his retirement pension fund noun a fund reserved to pay workers’ pensions when they retire: P ension funds are important shareholders of listed and private companies pension plan noun a plan for setting aside money to be spent after retirement: P ension plans became popular in the United States during World War II policy noun a course or principle of action adopted or proposed by a government, party, business or individual: It is not company policy to dispense with our older workers pool verb to combine your money, ideas, skills etc with those of other people so that you can all use them: Investors agreed to pool their resources to develop the property portfolio noun range of investments held by a person or organisation: They were disappointed by the poor returns on their stock portfolio premium noun an amount to be paid for an insurance policy: The premium for this month is $350 price ceiling noun a government-imposed limit on how high a price can be charged on a product: P rice ceilings are often intended to protect consumers from certain conditions that could make necessities unattainable price fl uctuation noun change in prices: The price fl uctuation has affected the sales price list noun a list of current prices of items on sale: Reproductions and duplicates of the price list are not permitted price range noun the difference between the highest and lowest prices over a period of time: In annual reports, a corporation will show the price range for its fiscal year principal noun the original amount of money that is lent to someone not including any of the interest: In some loans, the amount actually loaned to the debtor is less than the principal sum to be repaid priority noun a thing that is regarded as more important than another: The children are our first priority private pension plan noun a plan, fund or programme that provides retirement income: You have to think about a private pension plan before you retire private retirement provision noun pension for retirement that individuals make for themselves: A life insurance can be a good idea for private retirement provision private sector noun the part of the national economy that is not under direct government control: The private sector is rapidly flourishing nowadays privatise verb transfer a business from public to private ownership and control: The oil industry was privatised productive resource noun anything that any business uses to add value: Diversity is an example of productive resources profit noun a financial gain, esp the difference between the amount earned and the amount spent in buying, operating or producing something: Our daily profit is usually around $500 pro forma adjective a standard document, esp an invoice sent in advance of or with goods supplied: We need a copy of the pro forma invoice pursue verb continue to investigate, explore or discuss a topic, idea or argument: We shall not pursue the matter any further promote verb advance or raise someone to a higher position or rank: She was promoted to general manager Q proposal noun a plan or suggestion, esp a formal or written one, put forward for consideration or discussion by others: He read a set of proposals for the major new high-speed rail link prospectus noun a printed document that advertises or describes a school, commercial enterprise, forthcoming book, etc in order to attract or inform clients, members, buyers or investors: I sent you the prospectus yesterday! prosperity noun the state of being successful in material terms: Prosperity is sought by all companies public demand noun what the people want: Public demand is a major factor in marketing public policy noun the principles, often unwritten, on which social laws are based: In conflict cases, no court will apply a “foreign” law if the result of its application would be contrary to public policy public purse noun the funds raised by a government by taxation or other means: The public purse should be used wisely purchase invoice noun the invoice one gets when buying something: I lost the purchase invoice purchaser noun the one who buys something: The purchaser of this property is very rich questionable adjective doubtful as regards truth or quality: It is questionable whether any of these exceptions is genuine queue verb take one’s place in a line: In the war they had to queue for food quotation noun a formal statement setting out the estimated cost for a particular job or service: You will be sent a written quotation for the cost of repairing your machine quote verb mention or refer to someone or something to provide evidence or authority for a statement, argument or opinion: Mr Smith quoted the case of an elderly man who had been evicted from his home R rate verb assign a standard or value to something according to a particular scale: The company seems to rate him very highly rate fl uctuation noun changes in rates: Rate fluctuations affect the international stock market reap verb receive a reward or benefit as a consequence of one’s own or other people’s actions: The company is poised to reap the benefits of this investment recruit verb enroll someone as a member or worker in an organisation: There are plans to recruit more staff later this year report verb make a formal statement or complaint about someone or something to the necessary authority: Undisclosed illegalities are reported to the company’s director report noun an account given of a particular matter, esp in the form of an official document, after thorough investigation or consideration by an appointed person or body: He gave a report on his sales trip to Korea resistant adjective unaffected by: Many managers are resistant to change resourcefulness noun ability to act effectively: Resourcefulness is an asset in business retailer noun a person or business that sells goods to customers in a shop: This retailer sells mobile phones at a lower price retail price noun price of items when sold individually or in small quantities: The retail price of this product is $7 retirement assets noun benefits after retirement: Retirement assets can be a plan, an individual account etc retirement funds noun a monthly payment made to someone who is retired from work: The government has to calculate the retirement funds needed every year risk tolerance noun an investor’s ability to handle declines in the value of his/ her portfolio: Knowing your risk tolerance is an important part of your investment strategy run out phrasal verb (of a supply of something) be used up: Our food is about to run out rye noun a type of grain that is used for making bread: Rye grows well in much poorer soils than those necessary for most cereal grains S salary noun a form of periodic payment from an employer to an employee: The average salary is $39,000 a year 69 salary freezes noun a situation in which a company temporarily stops giving raises to employees because of financial difficulties: Salary freezes are not welcome in a company sales promotion noun an initiative undertaken by an organisation to promote an increase in sales: Sales promotion is used to persuade a potential customer to buy the product sales tax noun a tax on sales or on the receipts from sales: Most sales taxes are collected from the buyer by the seller sanctions noun measures taken by a nation to coerce another to conform to an international agreement or norms of conduct, typically in the form of restrictions on trade or on participation in official sporting events: Within the civil law context, sanctions are usually monetary fines screen verb deciding whether to answer a call or not: The manager asked his secretary to screen the calls for the afternoon security noun a thing deposited or pledged as a guarantee of the fulfilment of an undertaking or the repayment of a loan: He used his B rooklyn home as security for the loan service charge noun an extra charge assessed for a service: There’s a service charge for advance tickets severely adverb badly: My son is severely allergic to dairy products shareholder noun any person, company or other institution that owns at least one share in a company: Shareholders have been told to expect an even lower result next year shares noun a unit of account for various financial instruments: How many shares you own in this company? shortage noun a state or situation in which something needed cannot be obtained in sufficient amounts: There is no shortage of funds sound verb convey a specified impression when heard: He sounded worried spreadsheet noun a computer program used chiefly for accounting: Spreadsheets are frequently used for financial information stack up phrasal verb form or cause to form a large q uantity: Cars stack up behind every bus, while passengers stand in line to pay fares stock noun shares in the capital of a business: She owned 000 SYP worth of stock stock exchange noun a market in which securities are bought and sold: There is now a large number of stock exchanges in the world stockholders noun someone who owns stocks in a business: Stockholders are granted special privileges depending on the class of stock stock market noun a place where stocks and shares are bought and sold: Participants in the stock market range from small individual stock investors to large hedge fund traders stock-picking strategy noun how to choose stocks: Efficient stock-picking strategies are important for an investor in order to grow financially superior adjective higher in rank, status or q uality: It is superior to every other car on the road supervise verb observe and direct the work of someone: N urses were supervised by a 70 consulting psychiatrist supply and demand noun the amount of a good or service available and the desire of buyers for it, considered as factors regulating its price: B y the law of supply and demand the cost of health care will drop supply curve noun a graphic representation of the relationship between q uantities supplied at each price for a given time period: When the supplier’s costs change for a given output, the supply curve shifts in the same direction surplus noun an excess of production or supply over demand: Any surplus can be trimmed away survey noun a set of q uestions that you ask a large number of people in order to find out about their opinions or behaviour: The survey showed that B ritain’s trees are in good health sustainable adjective able to be maintained at a certain rate or level: The party is promising low infl ation and sustainable economic growth sympathise verb agree with a sentiment or opinion: The public sympathised with the miners’ strike T tariff noun a tax or duty to be paid on a particular class of imports or exports: The government may impose tariffs on imports taxation noun the levying of tax: The first known system of taxation was in Ancient Egypt tax avoidance noun the arrangement of one’s financial affairs to minimise tax liability within the law: B efore the 0s, judges in the United Kingdom regarded tax avoidance with neutrality; but nowadays they regard it with increasing hostility tax benefits noun a tax deduction that is granted in order to encourage a particular type of commercial activity: T ax benefits are helpful when applied on education costs tax evasion noun the illegal non-payment or underpayment of tax: T ax evasion is a crime trader noun a person who buys and sells goods, currency or stocks: To the surprise of many Wall Street traders, the dollar rose yesterday vendor noun a person or company offering something for sale, esp a trader in the street: His father is an ice cream vendor transfer price noun price charged by individual entities for goods or services supplied to one another in multidepartment, multi-office, or multinational firms: Managers say their transfer pricing is nonmarket based venture noun a commercial undertaking that risks a loss but promises a profit: This venture led to his success trial order noun an order placed before a formal order: He placed a trial order for $ 00 U W underw rite verb guarantee financial support of: They were willing to underw rite the construction of a ship protect by insurance: B efore underw riting his mortgage, he had to prove that he was capable of paying it back w age noun a fixed regular payment typically paid on a daily or weekly basis and made by an employer to an employee: We were struggling to get better w ages tax incentives noun a tax reduction afforded to people for particular purposes, for example, sending their children to college: T ax incentives should be revised by the government tax law s noun the body of laws governing taxation: T ax law s should be revised by the government unemployment rate noun the percentage of the work force that is unemployed at any given date: The unemployment rate is decreasing tax revenue noun the income that is gained by governments because of taxation of the people: The effect of a change in taxation level on total tax revenue depends on the good being investigated unit trust noun an investment programme funded by shareholders that trades in diversified holdings and is professionally managed: The first unit trust was launched in the UK in telepresence noun the use of virtual reality technology for remote control of machinery or for apparent participation in distant events: T elepresence is a higher level of videoconferencing tender noun a formal statement of the price you would charge for doing a job or providing goods or services: Our bid was the lowest tender timely adjective done or occurring at a favourable or useful time: We aim to settle all valid claims in a timely manner title noun a name that describes someone’s position or job: Huda assumed the title of director general video- conferencing noun real-time exchange of audio and video between two or more remote facilities using hardware based technologies: V ideo- conferencing was first demonstrated in 68 w age cuts noun wage decrease: W age cuts may lead to a demonstration w age rate noun rate of pay per unit of production or per period of worktime on the job: In some countries w age rates may be influe nced by several factors such as tradition, social structure and seniority w ithdraw verb take money out of an account: No rmally you can w ithdraw up to $50 in cash update verb modernise or bring up to date: Security measures are continually updated and improved V V A T abbreviation value-added tax: a tax on the amount by which the value of an article has been increased at each stage of its production or distribution: In India, V A T replaced sales tax on April 2005 71 حقوق التوزيع في اجلمهورية العربية السورية محفوظة للمؤسسة العامة للطباعة 322 Old Brompton Road, London SW5 9JH, England Maktabat El Nashr El Tarbawi El Souri (Syrian Educational Publishers) Omar El Mukhtar 2nd Str., Bldg El Mazraa, Damascus-Syria Phone: (011) 44676789 Fax: (011) 44676788 e-mail: info@syrianep.com website: www.syrianep.com Reprinted 2014 © York Press 2010 All rights reserved; no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the Publishers English for Starters, Vocational Stream – Commercial English for Starters, Vocational Stream – Commercial, is an English language course that was specially written for vocational / commercial secondary schools in Syria The course progresses from an intermediate level of English in Grade 10 to an advanced level of English in Grade 12 The book introduces students to concepts in commerce; it assumes no prior knowledge of commercial skills on the part of students and teachers The course aims to review and consolidate the language and skills learnt at previous levels and equip students for their future foreign language needs in the following areas: language skills (reading, listening, speaking and writing), grammar, vocabulary and commercial knowledge It enables students to perform routine tasks at work and to take part in social interaction in a commercial context Components: Students’ Book Activity Book including a glossary Teacher’s Book Audio CD ﻝﺱ٩٠ﺍﻟﺴﻌﺮ