Слова и выражения:
accumulate – собирать, накапливать
astonishment – удивление
be worth – стоить, равняться в цене
count – считать
curb – кромка тротуара
depth – глубина, нижняя точка
empire – империя
entire – полный, целый
equal – равный, эквивалентный; уравнивать
expound – разъяснять, изъяснять
finger – палец; трогать, перебирать пальцами
flabbergast – поражать, изумлять, смущать
fortune – состояние
guy – парень
impart – делиться (с кем-либо чем-либо)
intrigue – интриговать, заинтересовывать
item – единица продукции
mister – разг. господин
nickel – никель, никелевая монета в 5 центов
polish – полировать
purchase – покупка
reply – ответ; отвечать
shoestring – шнурок для ботинок
trade – торговля; торговать, продавать
triple – утраивать
vest – жилет
wool – шерсть; шерстяной
yell – орать, вопить
the Great Depression – Великая депрессия
down to the last nickel – промотаться до последней монеты
Heavens! – Господи!
on a shoestring – сленг «на медные деньги», задешево, без особых затрат
sales approach – подход к торговле
matter of fact (от as a matter of fact) – фактически, по сути
Exercise 3
Answer the questions:
1. When was the depth of the Great Depression?
2. How could the guy sell a five cent apple for ten cents?
3. How many apples did he have to sell to accumulate $1.37?
4. How much did the boy want for the dog?
5. What basic principle of economics did the businessman explain to the boy?
6. In the businessman's opinion, who might the boy get five dollars from?
7. How did the boy get the dog's worth?
Socialism is defined as a system of centrally planned economy in which the government controls all means of production. It was meant to be a remedy for economic and moral defects of capitalism, but it seems to have surpassed capitalism in economic malfunction and moral cruelty.
Karl Marx is thought to be the architect of socialism, but in reality he wrote only a few pages about this system of economic life. It was Lenin, who was the first to put it in practice by trying to substitute the profit drive and the market mechanism with a pyramid of command as a cornerstone of the economy.
After Soviet production had fallen to 14 percent of its prerevolutionary level, Lenin in 1921 was forced to institute the New Economic Policy (NEP), a partial return to the market incentives of capitalism, which was eventually aborted by Stalin who started the process of forced collectivization that was to mobilize Russian industrial resources.