Task I. Make up sentences matching the left and the right halves. Write them down.

A central bank

acts administers affects buys clears controls determines finances influences issues sets transfers makes operates performs provides sells

a regulatory function as a “banker’s bank” banking facilities banknotes and coins checks the national debt foreign money exchange funds between banks independently of its government interest rates loans monetary policy and reserves of gold the value of its country’s currency on the international market reserves of gold and foreign currencies reserves of gold and foreign currencies rules for how banks can operate the money supply

 

Task II. Prepare an outline of the history of English clearing banks. Write down an extended plan, reflecting the major stages of the British banking system development.

Task III. Fill in the table giving characteristics of the main types of bankingthroughout history.

	Features	Services provided
Ancient banking
Goldsmith’s banking
Country banking
Joint-stock banking
Branch banking
Present day banking

Task IV. Write a summary and a GIST of each Text.

 

 

Speaking

Task I. Act as an interpreter for parts A and B.

1. Наша дискуссия сегодня посвящена истории банковского дела Великобритании. Мы пригласили ведущего специалиста в этой области, известного экономиста и историка, профессора Лондонского Университета, доктора Дэвида Арнольда. Профессор Арнольд – автор множества книг и научных статей по истории банковского дела и, без сомнения, сможет рассказать нам много интересного. Итак, профессор, первый вопрос: каковы истоки банковского дела? Существовало ли оно в примитивных сообществах? 2. Все мы знаем, что современное слово «банк» происходит от итальянского “banko”, то есть скамья. Итальянские купцы и торговцы оказали большое влияние на развитие банковских услуг, не так ли? 3. А что обусловило необходимость банковских услуг в Великобритании? Ведь финансовые услуги нужны тогда, когда экономические отношения достигают определенного уровня и у людей появляются излишки денежных средств. 4. Мы знаем, что первые банковские услуги оказывались ювелирами, так как, во-первых, их ремесло было тесно связанно с деньгами и ценностями, а во-вторых, они имели подходящие помещения для их хранения. А какие финансовые документы использовались в то время? Похожи ли они на современные платежные документы? 5. Спасибо большое за интересную беседу, профессор. Мы надеемся продолжить дискуссию в ближайшем будущем, ведь история Британского банковского дела очень поучительна и интересна.

Well, first of all I’d like to express … Answering this question I can’t but mention …     Yes, you are right to some extent…     Well, you are quiet right in saying that… In this respect I’d like to…     As for the goldsmiths, they were really the first to …. Speaking about documents I must say that…     Oh, I’d be pleased to…

Task II. Continue the above discussion touching upon the major stages of the British banking development. Compose questions of your own and use the material of Texts A and B to answer them.

Task III. Render the Texts in the form of a presentation. Use the appropriate structure and visual aids.

Task IV. Do research of your own on the origins of banking in the USA. Compare them with those in Gr. Br. Make a presentation.

Part 2

Read the passage below and match each paragraph with the appropriate heading.

A. Specialties

b. Who employs economists?

c. Practice or theory?

D. Associated careers

E. Duties

F. Required skills

G. Required degrees

Career: Economist

1)____

The field of economics rewards creative and curious thinkers. Economists study data and statistics in order to spot trends in economic activity, economic confidence levels, and consumer attitudes. They assess this information using advanced methods in statistical analysis, mathematics, computer programming; finally they make recommendations about ways to improve the efficiency of a system or take advantage of trends as they begin.

2)_____

While economists were previously relegated to the academic and government communities, they are now finding employment in significant numbers throughout the private sector. The number of privately owned economic consulting firms has grown by about 150 percent over the last six years, to reach about 5,000 as of this writing. These firms offer advice to and predict economic scenarios for individuals and large corporations, and occasionally act as consultants to branches of the government. However, universities and research groups remain the largest employers of economists, followed by the government. “I love being an economist. I get a glimpse of the future, or what we think it’s going to be,” raved one economist we surveyed. High levels of satisfaction are found throughout this field, which encourages discussion, detailed examination, and lively disagreement.

3)_____

Economists work closely with each other and share ideas fairly easily, which leads to a strong sense of community within the profession. Perhaps the most challenging aspect of the profession is its highly theoretical nature. One ex-partner of a private advertising and economics firm wrote, “It’s all numbers which assume perfect market behavior. People don’t work that way. The don’t buy according to their optimal strategy; they buy because they feel like it.”

4)_____

The lack of a clear-cut relationship between theoretical modeling and reality eats away at some economists’ belief in what they do. The daily routine of each economist is determined by the specialty chosen. Financial economists meet with members of Wall Street firms and government officials to predict the movement and pace of global financial markets. International economists may spend as much as 30 percent of their time traveling and 40 percent of the time on the phone researching current trends in foreign economic systems (for this subgroup, language skills are important). Other fields include agricultural economics, labor economics, and law and economics.

5)_____

Graduates with bachelor’s degrees in economics find entry-level positions in which their primary responsibilities are the collection, assimilation and preparation of data. For positions with greater responsibility, such as those in teaching or government, a master’s degree or Ph.D. is required. The more quantitative course requirements of the economics major include statistics, regression analysis, and econometrics. These form the core of business life, but at the same time, those who are comfortable with the written or spoken word have a significantly higher rate of advancement and overall job satisfaction than those who are not.

6)_____

Applicants should be comfortable with computers, numbers, and long academic papers. Many women who start in academia find they are more successful in the private sector. The ability to distinguish yourself from other economists is key, but can be difficult, especially within a particular company’s or industry’s accepted economic assumptions. Creative thinkers and those who have taken cross-discipline course loads, such as philosophy or marketing, seem to find it easier to break from the pack and propose new, interesting additions to the economic canon. Technological breakthroughs bring countless new possibilities to economic analysis for economists to explore and present.

7)_____

Economists who leave the profession find a wide range of careers open to them. Their statistical and mathematical skills make them well-suited for careers as statisticians, bankers, stockbrokers, options traders, equity research analysts, and any other profession that requires systems modeling. Their research and writing skills allow them to become financial journalists, research analysts, academics in other fields, and administrative managers.

(http://www.princetonreview.com/careers.aspx?cid=56)