Тексты для чтения и лексический минимум по дисциплине "Английский язык"

Is that you? I didn't recognize you at once.

• It's urgent. Could you please tell him he's wanted on the phone?
• Who shall I say is calling?
• Mr. N... is calling/ Mr. N... is on the line.
• There's a call for you / You are wanted on the phone.

2. THE PERSON YOU ARE CALLING IS NOT IN. 
LEAVING A MESSAGE

• Excuse me, could I speak to Mr. N...?
• I'm sorry, he is not available / he is in a meeting / he is out 
  at the moment / he is at lunch / he is not at work today / he 
  is with a customer / he is not in now.
• Не is on another line.
• Could you call again later?
• Sorry, he hasn't returned yet.
• Can I take a message? / Would you like to leave a mes 
  sage?
• I'd like to leave a message for him / Could you take a 
  message for him?
• Can you tell Mr. N (name) from (company) called.

Please ask him to call me. My phone number is .... Thank you.

• Mr. N... called and said he'd be calling again tonight.
• Mr. N... wants you to call him back.
• Was there any call for me?
• Somebody called but didn't leave his name.

3. BOOKING A CALL

• I want to book a call to .. .(city) for 8 p.m.
• What number are you calling from?
• Do you want to make it personal?
• I just want a station-to-station call.
• Will it be on credit? / Is it a credit card call?
• Hold the line. I'm putting you through .... Go ahead.

15. ARRANGING AN APPOINTMENT

Назначение деловой встречи

APPOINTMENTS AND INVITATIONS

1.

• Good morning.
• Good morning. Is this Mr. Howard's office? I was wondering whether Mr. Howard could see me. My name is Bool.
• Mr. Bool, I am very sorry, but I'm afraid Mr Howard has several engagements today. He's in the meeting now and he has some other appointments this afternoon.
• Then would you kindly make an appointment for me?
• Yes, certainly. I'll just look in my diary. Now, would Friday at three-fifteen suit you?
• No, I'm afraid I won't be in town on Friday.
• Then would you be able to come on Monday at eleven?
• Yes, that would be quite all right.
• Good. I'll make it for eleven o'clock on Monday, then.
• Thank you very much.

2.

• Good morning. My name's Chris Day. I'd like to arrange a lunch appointment with Mr Norman. He told me to arrange it with you. Is he doing anything on Thursday 12th?
• Let me see now... I'm afraid he's going away for the whole day. How about Friday?
• No, I'm flying to Scotland on Friday. I'm not doing any thing on Wednesday afternoon though. Perhaps we could have a late lunch?
• Well, Mr Norman's going to a meeting at two, so he can't have a late lunch. He's free on Tuesday though.
• Tuesday.,. hmmm... Well, I'm meeting a client in the morning but I'm not doing anything at lunchtime. Yes. Let's make it Tuesday. I'll come to the office at one o'clock.
• That's fine, Mr Day. One o'clock on Tuesday then. I'll tell Mr Norman to expect you. Goodbye.
• Thank you. Goodbye.

3.

• How about a game of golf next week?
• That's a good idea. What are you doing on Monday morning?
• Sorry. Monday morning's no good. I'm seeing the doctor. Are you free in the afternoon though?
• I'm afraid not. I'm going to a board meeting,
• I'm free all day Tuesday. Is that any good?
• No. That's no good either. I'm going to a conference.
• Well, I'm traveling to Oxford on Friday morning so we must meet on Wednesday or Thursday.
• How about Thursday? I'm not doing anything in the afternoon. Are you free?
• At last! I'm not doing anything either. I'll come round to your place about 1.30.
• See you on Thursday.

4.

• Do you have any engagements for Saturday evening? 
  - No. Why?
• Would you come and have dinner with me and my wife?
• That's very kind of you. I'd love to. What time shall I come?
• About seven o'clock. Is it all right with you?
• Yes, it's all right with me. I'll be there about seven.

SOME MORE PHRASES to be used for arrangements:

• Can we arrange a meeting / an appointment for tomorrow?
• Would 3 o'clock suit you?
• I have an appointment with Mr. N... for 3 tomorrow. I’m  calling to confirm / cancel / it. -1 am calling to postpone my appointment till a later date,
• Let's fix the date.
• Will the same time after tomorrow be convenient for you?
• It's all right with me. Thank you.

16. PETTY CASH & CHANGING MONEY

Мелкая  наличность офиса

DEALING WITH PETTY CASH

  In the office they usually have the amount of money available for petty cash. This money spent on travel (bus, fares, etc.), snacks (coffee, sugar, biscuits, etc,), possibly, on some stationery (envelopes, pens, etc.) is recorded into the petty cash book, with the receipts (as written proofs of payment) being attached to this financial report.

  This system of recording petty cash transactions is known. as the imprest system. The amount of money available for petty cash is called the float. 

TALKING ABOUT PETTY CASH

• Where's all the petty cash gone?
• Well, last Monday I bought some coffee and milk and the next day I paid $12 for stamps.
• What else?
• And I bought a petty cash book and the flowers cost $15. 
  '- What flowers?
• For Betty. She is in hospital.
• What about the rest?
• The rest went for sundries.

17. MONEY & BANKING

Деньги  и банковское дело

BANKING ACCOUNTS

  If you want to invest money at short term, you've got several possibilities: first, a current account. This gives you the possibility of having all your money at your immediate disposal. It also entitles you to a cheque-book. Second, you've got a deposit account. It is a better investment as it gives a higher interest. However, though you are entitled to a chequebook, you can only withdraw up to a certain sum each month. For larger amounts, you must give the bank a few months' notice. Finally, you have certificates of deposit. These pay the highest interest. However, they block your capital for a fixed period of 3, 4 or 5 years. Your choice of short-term investment, therefore, will depend largely on how quickly you'd like to have access to your money. 

OPENING AN ACCOUNT

• We wish to open a current account with you for the use of the manager of our office. The manager's name is Mr Robert Bush, and he will be authorized to sign cheques on our behalf
• OK. We'll arrange for an appointment for this gentleman to visit the bank and complete the necessary formalities and provide a specimen of his signature. Also, we require some references.
• We can refer you to the British Clydeside Bank, Glasgow, where you will get all information you need on our company's financial status.
• Thank you. What cash deposit will your make?
• We intend to open the account with a cash deposit of $ 50,000.
• Now, let's fix the time for the appointment.

GETTING A LOAN

Initially, the lender will ask you three questions:

• How will you use the loan?
• How much do you need to borrow?
• How will you repay the loan?

     When you apply for the loan, you must provide projected financial statements and a clear business plan which supplies the name of the firm, location, production facilities, legal structure and business goals.

  Two main accounting documents - two basic financial statements - should be prepared: (1) the balance sheet, which is a record of assets, liabilities and capital; and (2) the income (profit-and-loss) statement, a summary of earnings and expenses over a given period of time.

  A clear description of your experience and management capabilities, as well as the expertise of other key personnel, will also be needed. In the USA, if your loan applications are declined by at least two banks, you may ask the banker to make the loan under Small Businesses Administration's Loan Guarantee Plan. 

SOME BANKING AND FINANCIAL TERMS:

• open an account (with a deposit of,..) открыть счет (сделав вклад в размере...)
• maintain a minimum balance of... сохранять (на счету) минимальный вклад
• service charge плата за банковские услуги
• you will be charged с вас будут удерживать
• make cash deposits вносить денежные вклады
• make cash withdrawals снимать деньги
• joint account совместный счет
• interest rate процентная ставка
• fluctuating / adjustable / fixed rate колеблющаяся / пере менная/ постоянная процентная ставка
• loan заем, ссуда
• shares (Br) I (common) stocks (Am) акции
• share price цена акции
• real estate недвижимость
• mortgage залог под недвижимость
• income tax подоходный налог
• value added tax (VAT) налог на добавленную стоимость (НДС)
• credit terms условия кредитования

18. SPECIAL FINANCING INSTITUTIONS

    Various special financial institutions provide finance to both the personal and corporate borrowed sector. In general they offer alternative, flexible funding to that offered by banks and building societies. Some of these organizations were set up with official support but with financial backing from traditional sources.

  Among the public sector agencies are the British Technology Group; the Scottish and Welsh Development Agencies; the Industrial Development Board in Northern Ireland; the Co-operative Development Agency; and the Export Credits Guarantee Department, Britain's official export credit insurer. The main private sector institutions are as follows.

FINANCE HOUSES AND LEASING COMPANIES

     Finance Houses and Leasing Companies provide consumer credit, business finance, leasing, and motor finance. For consumers they provide personal loans, hire purchase, store cards, store instalment credit, and first and second mortgages. For the business sector, they offer leasing and hire purchase as well as a variety of business loans.

  A wide range of companies offer these facilities: banks, merchant banks, building societies, finance houses, leasing companies and the finance arms of several large manufacturing and retail companies.

  The representative body for this highly specialized sector of Britain's financial industry, is the Finance & Leasing Association. Its members achieved $26.8 billion of new business and $56.2 billion outstandings in 1993. This covers 80 per cent of consumer credit, apart from that provided by the clearing banks and first mortgage lenders, and approximately 30 per cent of all Britain's fixed investment in plant and equipment. 

FACTORING COMPANIES

       The main service of a factoring or invoice discounting company is to improve the cashflow of healthy, growing companies by providing finance secured against the outstanding invoices of a business. The injection of cash is a flexible form of finance to increase a company's liquidity, rciluu' ik kink or other borrowing requirements and release capital for growth. Since Пи-early 1960s, factoring and invoice discounting have become major Гмкикм! services covering international activities as well as domestic trade. A nuinU-i of banks and other financial ogranizations have established factoring anil invoice discounting subsidiaries as part of their group activities. In July I9¹M, 11,021 companies were making use of the services of the members of the Association of British Factors and Discounters (ABFD). 

VENTURE CAPITAL COMPANIES

Venture capital is long-term equity financing for new and developing businesses. The 115 full members of the British Venture Capital Association (BVCA) represent every significant source of venture capital in Britain. About half the capital comes from venture/development organizations which are subsidiaries or divisions of larger financial institutions such as banks, merchant banks, pension funds or insurance companies. The rest comes from the independent venture capital firms which will have raised their capital from more than one financial institution.

  Venture capital investment has grown dramatically since its emergence in the late 70s. in 1993, $1.2 billion was invested by BVCA members in the UK, Britain's largest venture capital organization invested $318 million in British companies in the financial year ending March 1994. Since 1984, the venture capital industry has invested over $10 billion and currently commands an investment pool of about $2 billion. 
 

ПОЯСНЕНИЯ К ТЕКСТУ

instalment — очередной взнос, частичный платеж

by instalment — в рассрочку

mortgage — ипотека, залог, закладная

outstandings — неоплаченные счета, задолженность

clearing — безналичные расчеты между банками

factoring — факторинг, факторинговые (компании)

discounting — операция по дисконту

discounter — магазин, торгующим по сниженным ценам

invoice — счет-фактура, выписать счет-фактуру

liquidity — ликвидность 

19. THE FINANCIAL MARKETS

  Every day, the London Stock Exchange and the money and bond, foreign exchange, bullion and commodities markets attract amounts of money unequalled in any other centre in the world. Some $4 billion worth of equities and bonds are traded in a typical day. 

THE LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE

The London Stock Exchange is positioned in the heart of a city unrivalled anywhere in the world for its spread of financial markets and its number of foreign-owned banking, financial and securities businesses.The Exchange has a dominant position in international equities trading. At the centre of this market are over 50 securities houses offering buying and selling prices for more than 8,000 domestic and overseas securities with prices displayed on thousands of information screens around the world.

  The Exchange's position in cross-border equities is equally impressive, ground 60 per cent of the world's equity trading outside home markets passes through London, and this figure rises to more than 90 per cent within Europe. In the year to the end of March \1994, foreign equity turnover reached an impressive $671 billion, while total domestic equity market turnover was $612 billion.

  The Exchange has its administrative centre in London with regional offices in Belfast, Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds and Manchester and the Irish Stock Exchange in Dublin. It is one of the largest in the world in terms of the number and variety of securities listed.

  Around 10 million people in Britain now own shares directly and a great many others hold them indirectly through collective investment schemes such as pension funds and insurance investment.

  In July 1994, the Exchange introduced the 10-day rolling settlement which meant that 250 years of an account-based system of settlement came to an end. The new system is designed to smooth workflows and reduce risk. Ten-day rolling settlement is the first phase of a programme of improvements to UK equity settlement, leading to the introduction of the Bank of England's CREST service. A move to 5-day rolling settlement is planned when the industry has adjusted to the new environment. 

BIG BANG

Various pressures for change led to Big Bang. The London Stock Exchange of the late 1970s depended enormously on institution funds but once exchange controls were lifted in 1979 many fund managers were attracted to foreign securities, principally through Tokyo and New York exchanges. Member firms on the London Stock Exchange were undercapitalized to trade in sufficient volumes to compete on international markets. At the same time, the London Stock Exchange came under enormous pressure when it was taken to court by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) under the Restrictive Trade Practices Act. The OFT had three principal complaints: the operation of a scale of minimum commissions paid to brokers; the separation of capacity between jobbers and brokers; and restrictions on membership amounting to "closed shop" practices.

  The pressure was relieved in 1983 when the then Chairman of the Stock Exchange, Sir Nicholas Goodison, reached an out-of-court agreement with the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry. The concessions offered by the Stock Exchange were the catalyst for major changes in the operation of the Stock Market — Big Bang in October 1986.

  In the post Big Bang years, all three areas of OFT complaint have been resolved with the result that the scope and capability of the new Exchange has vastly increased. Banks and merchant banks swiftly bought up or merged with the stockbroking firms and took over many jobbers on the market. During this period, a number of major privatisations (reversing the nationalisation programme started in the 1950s) continued to open the stocks and shares market directly to millions of smaller private investors. <

  Under the Financial Services Act 1986, members of the London Stock Exchange are now covered by a single SRO, the Securities and Futures Authority (SFA) and a single Recognized Investment Exchange (RIE), the London Stock Exchange. The Exchange as an RIE regulates the operation of the marketplace whilst the SFA sets the rules for securities houses' dealings with clients and monitors their conduct accordingly. 

ПОЯСНЕНИЯ К ТЕКСТУ

Belfast — Белфаст Birmingham — Бирмингем Dublin — Дублин

Glasgow — Глазго

Leeds — Лидс

Manchester — Манчестер

Big Bang — «Большой шок», потрясение (резкое изменение в финансовой практике, экономической политике) 

20. TODAY'S EXCHANGE MARKETS

   The post Big Bang market is conducted almost entirely by electronic screen through the Stock Exchange Automated Quotations (SEAQ) system. Market makers are obliged to enter their competitive buying and selling prices during trading between 08.30 and 16.30 every day on SEAQ terminals in their offices. SEAQ puts together composite pages of these prices which are displayed in broker dealers' offices through commercial quote vendor networks. Trading usually takes place by telephone although the Exchange operates an electronic execution facility for small bargains (SAEF). The Exchange operates in three principal markets: Domestic equity market

Ordinary shares issued by UK companies quoted on SEAQ are traded on this market which is based on the competing market maker system. Gilt-edged market

   The Government meets its Public Sector Borrowing Requirement predominantly by issues of gilt-edged stocks, or "gilts". These are issued through the Bank of England and traded in a secondary market through the Exchange with around $6 billion changing hands every day. Prices are displayed by computer on a service independent of SEAQ but still administered by the Exchange.

International equity market

  The SEAQ international system makes it possible for leading securities firms around the world to trade through the Exchange. Today there are over 50 market makers offering firm prices in over 600 overseas stocks. 

EUROPEAN COMMUNITY DIRECTIVES

The London Stock Exchange altered its rules in 1990 to conform to EC directives on listing particulars, prospectuses and mutual recognition. The major effect of the EC directive on Mutual Recognition of Listing Particulars is that, subject to certain limitations, each member state must recognise the listing particulars accepted in another member state. To bring British companies into line with those of the EU, the minimum trading record requirement was reduced from five to three years. 

THE MONEY MARKETS

London's money markets channel wholesale, short-term funds between lenders and borrowers, an operation conducted by all the major banks and financial institutions described in this publication. The Bank of England regulates the market, authorizing many of its participants and laying down an ethical conduct followed by all participants. There is no physical market place; negotiations are conducted mostly by telephone or via automated dealing systems.

  The main financial instruments are CDs; bills of exchange; Treasury and local authority bills; and short-term government stocks. The bill markets and those in which the discount houses borrow from the rest of the banking system are often referred to as the "traditional" markets. 

THE PARALLEL MARKETS

Since the 1960s, the "parallel" money markets emerged and these include the market in inter-bank lending, CDs and commercial bills. Today's parallel markets involve banks, building societies, local autorities, finance houses and companies.

  The inter-bank market allows banks to deposit surplus cash with each other. Interest rates are governed by the London Inter Bank Offered Rate (LIBOR), which provides the base rate for other markets. The rates quoted range from overnight to one year or more.

  The CDs market involves large companies and institutions depositing large surplus sums with clearing banks, merchant banks or building societies in return for a promise of payment in a specified period at a given rate of interest. If depositors need money they can resell CDs; thus a CD is a negotiable bill similar to a bill of exchange.

  Commercial bills or "paper" developed as a result of the increasing trend towards the "securitisation of debt" during the 1980s, whereby major borrowers preferred to raise funds by issuing securities instead of seeking band loans. They consist of short-term, unsecured promissory notes which can only be issued by companies quoted on the London Stock Exchange and which fulfil a minimum capital requirement. Programmes of commercial bills are usually issued using banks as intermediaries. The buyers are usually big companies or institutions with money available from two weeks to several months.

21. THE EUROCURRENCY MARKET

  This market began with Eurodollars — US dollars lent outside the United States — and has developed into a powerful market in currencies lent outside their domestic marketplace. There are, for example, Euromarks and Euroyen in London, Euroslerling etc in Bonn, Tokyo and New York. London and Tokyo are the main world capitals for eurocurrency dealings. Dealing centres around Euroloans, involving commercial banks, and Eurobonds which involve investing institutions and banks.

  Euroloans consist of large tranches of short-term money (usually repayable in three to six months) lent by syndicates of banks and linked to the LI BO R rate.

  Eurobonds are bearer bonds, requiring no register of holders, issued in currencies other than that of the issuing country and operating over a longer period, usually between 5 and 20 years. Their issue is managed by a bank with the aid of underwriters and is placed with investors. Market participants include multinational corporations, non-bank financial institutions, governments and the international banking community.

  The Euromarket, as it has become known, has a single SRO the International Securities Market Association (ISMA). During 1993, some $23.167 trillion was traded in the eurobond market, an increase of almost 60 per cent over the 1992 total, which was itself a record year. UK members of ISMA accounted for a considerable amount of this total. This huge increase in turnover was marked by continued growth in cross-border trading in domestic instruments. As a global market emerges institutional funds will switch relatively smoothly from "domestic" to "international" and vice versa. This trend can be expected to continue. 

THE FOREIGN EXCHANGE MARKET

      London's Foreign Exchange Market is the largest in the world with currency transactions amounting to about $303,000 million each day. Market dealing is conducted entirely through telephone and data links between the banks, other financial institutions and a number of firms of foreign exchange brokers which act as intermediaries.

  British banks keep close contact with the banking community abroad and quote buying and selling rates on a daily basis for both immediate transactions ("spot") and future transactions ("forward") in many currencies. The forward market enables dealers to buy currency at a fixed exchange rate on a particular date in the future. Dealings in foreign exchange provide those engaged in international trade and investment with foreign currency for their transactions and can be used to maintain controls on the costs of imports.

EUROPEAN MONETARY SYSTEM (EMS)

The purpose of the EMS, in operation since 1979, is to establish a greater measure of monetary stability in the European Community. A key element is the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) under which members keep their currencies within agreed limits against one another. Britain was a party to the 1978 agreement that set up the EMS, and has always participated in its arrangements and institutions.

  At the centre of the EMS is the European Currency Unit (ecu) used fora number of purposes within the system. The ecu is made up of a "basket" of agreed amounts of each of the EC member currencies and its composition is normally adjusted every five years.

  In addition to its use between members of the EMS, there is a growing private sector market in ecus, particularly in ecu-denominated depostis and Eurobonds.

22. FINANCIAL FUTURES AND TRADED OPTIONS

Financial Futures are legally binding contracts for the purchase or sale of financial products, on a specified future date, at a price agreed in the present. Trading in financial futures developed out of the numerous futures markets in commodities that have their origins in London's position as a port and in Britain's need to import food and raw materials.

  Financial futures and options are traded at the London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange (LIFFE) established in 1982. Members of the market include about 200 banks, other financial institutions, brokers and individual traders. The Exchange provides facilities for dealing in contracts including UK, US, Japanese, German, Italian and ECU government bonds; UK, US and European short-tern»interest rates; the FTSE-100 Index plus a range of equity options. The market allows those that could be affected by movements in interest rates or the stock markets, either to reduce their vulnerability (by "hedging") or to speculate on the possibility of making a gain. Fund managers will normally hedge, while individual traders, or "locals", will speculate.

TRADED OPTIONS

Traded or equity options are contracts giving the right to buy and sell Exchange-listed securities at an agreed price within a particular period of time. This again allows fund managers to hedge on the market; they can buy either "call" options (the right to buy stocks and shares at an agreed price on a future date) or "put" options (the right to sell securities at an agreed price on a future date).

  The financial futures and traded options market are based on a system of "open outcry" (a kind of auction) conducted on the floor, rather than by computer terminals, but supported by state of the art technology. 

HE LONDON BULLION MARKET

London is regarded as the world's major gold dealing center and has become the clearing center in the world marketplace. Over 60 financial institutions including banks, securities and trading companies comprise the London gold and silver markets which today trade by telephone and electronic communications links. Although most trading is on account, large quantities of gold pass through London with the result that the standards set in London are adopted worldwide. Five members of the market meet twice a day to establish a London fixing price for gold which is a reference point for worldwide gold dealings. Silver price-fixing occurs once a day and involves three market participants. Each price-fixing punctuates active and continuous dealings throughout the day.

COMMODITIES, SHIPPING AND FREIGHT

London Commodity Exchange (LCE) is Europe's primary market for trading soft commodity futures and options contracts in cocoa, robusta coffee, white and raw sugar, wheat, barley, potatoes, and Biffex (dry cargo freight) which is traded against the Baltic Freight Index. The large-scale economies of cocoa and coffee trading continue to justify the open outcry system of floor trading.

  Gas oil for heating, and petroleum are traded through the International Petroleum Exchange (IPE). Copper, lead, zinc, nickel, aluminium, aluminium alloy and tin are traded through the London Metal Exchange (LME), the world's largest non-ferrous base metals exchange.

  The Baltic Exchange is the world's only truly international shipping exchange where ships and cargoes are matched, bought and sold throughout the world. The Baltic Exchange contributes several hundred million pounds of foreign currency earnings to Britain's balance of payments account. The floor of the Exchange is still a daily meeting place for brokers and the Baltic upholds the high standard of business conduct upon which the London market is based. "Our Word our Bond" remains the firmly upheld priciple for transactions in the Exchange Baltic dealers handle more than half the world's bulk cargo movements of oil, ore, coal and grain. In April 1993, The Baltic relumed to St Mary Axe from Lloyd's of London where it was temporarily relocated after a bomb explosion severely damaged the original building in 1992.

  The commodities markets are located close to sources of finance and the City's shipping and insurance services.