agriculture  ban efficiently free enterprise

manufacturers        monopoly   private sector

profit motivation    public transport

state sector telecommunications         trade

1. … is when businesses are able to trade without control from the government.

2. … industries belong to and are run by the government.

3. … industries belong to and are run by independent businesses.

4. Buses, trains and planes are examples of … .

5. … is another word for farming.

6. …. produce new good from raw materials.

7. When a business works … it runs successfully without wasting resources.

8. Telephone and Internet systems are part of the … industry.

9. …. is what drives businesses in the market economy.

10. When the government puts a … on a commodity, people are not allowed to buy or own it.

11. If only one company controls part of the economy, they have a … .

12. When companies … they do business with each other.

Now read the text again and answer the questions.

1. What do most economists believe about economies in the world today?

A There are a number of free markets.

B Some countries have a completely planned economy.

C A mixed economy exists m some way in all countries.

2. Why do governments choose to run some industries?

A So they can collect taxes.

В Because they need to be protected from the risks of the free market.

C To encourage a divided economy.

3. Why do governments deregulate some industries?

A To make the industries more efficient.

B To protect them.

C Because there is too much competition.

4. According to the text, what is not very popular with the public?

A Deregulation of public transport.

B Deregulation of hospitals and schools.

C Deregulation of telecommunications and banking.

5. What type of state control is not mentioned in paragraph 5?

A Controlling the way companies do business.

B Controlling what companies sell.

C Controlling the prices companies set.

ВАРИАНТ 3

Consumer choices

It's a hot summer day. You've been out walking all morning and you're getting thirsty. It's also about lunchtime, and you're feeling pretty hungry, too. What luck! Here's a kiosk selling snacks. You've got six euros to spend. You can buy bars of chocolate or bottles of water ... or a combination of both. Now you've got another problem: consumer choice.

If you're a neoclassical economist, however, there's nothing to worry about. Neoclassical economists believe that consumers make rational choices. Before a consumer buys something, they think about the cost and the amount of satisfaction the purchase will give them. They then compare the price and satisfaction of possible alternative purchases. In the end, they buy what gives them maximum satisfaction at the lowest cost.

So, what will you buy from the kiosk? An important deciding factor is the amount you have to spend. Economists call this your budget constraint. Your total budget is six euros. Bottles of water are two euros each, chocolate bars are one euro each. You could buy three bottles of water, or you could buy six chocolate bars. Or, you could buy any combination that adds up to your total budget. We can put all of this information on a budget line, like the one in figure 1. The budget line shows what combinations of goods are possible. Economists call these combinations of goods bundles. But which is the best bundle? This depends on something called utility. Utility is the economists' word for the satisfaction we get from a purchase. Each good has its own utility value for the consumer. The utility of a bundle depends on two things: the utility of the goods in the bundle, and how much of each good is in the bundle. Figure 2 shows the bundles of chocolate and water that give the same level of utility. This kind of chart is called an indifference curve. Any point on the curve has the same utility value as any other point. For example, two bottles of water and two chocolate bars has the same utility as one bottle of water and four chocolate bars.

In figure 2, we assume that chocolate and water have the same utility value for the consumer. But if water had a higher utility value than chocolate, the curve would be a different shape. Many things can affect the utility of a good. These include the cost of the good, the consumer's income and something called marginal utility.

To understand marginal utility, just think about chocolate bars. Every time you consume a bar of chocolate, the satisfaction you get from the next bar will be less. In other words, you get less utility every time you eat another bar. This decrease in utility is called the marginal utility. The marginal utility is the one of an additional item. For example:

Bars of                                      Marginal                Total

chocolate                      Utility               Utility

0                                        -                        0

1                                        10                      10

2                                        9                        19

3                                        8                        27

4                                        7                        34

Put very simply, budget, price and level of utility will all affect your choice at the kiosk. The neoclassical theory of consumer choice says that it is possible to calculate demand for products if we know this kind of information. However, not all economists agree!

Переведите на английский язык:

1. Если у вас много денег, и вы хотите что-нибудь купить, вы всегда сталкиваетесь с ограничением имеющихся средств.

2. Полезность товаров в наборе определятся полезностью каждого товара и их количеством.

3. Предельная полезность — это полезность от потребления дополнительной единицы блага.

4. Издержки — это деньги, которые тратятся, чтобы произвести товары или предоставить услуги. Например, это арендная плата, проценты по кредитам, стоимость электричества и сырья.

5. Постоянные издержки не меняются ни в краткосрочном периоде, ни при росте объёмов производства.

6. Переменные издержки меняются в зависимости от размеров производства. Примером таких издержек может быть сырьё, необходимое для производства товаров.

7. Экономия, обусловленная ростом масштабов производства, — это ситуация, при которой переменные издержки растут гораздо медленнее, чем растёт объём производства.

Consumer choices