A. Read and translate the text. 1 At first glance, an exchange is simply a very noisy place where brokers sell stock and commodities

1 At first glance, an exchange is simply a very noisy place where brokers sell stock and commodities. Why is the whole world watching the goings-on in that place, and why does the economy of the US and the world depend on it? Let us consider two examples. Supposing a man bought a seat at an exchange. (A broker's seat is $350,000 and you also have to take an examination.) His business is trade in Eurodollars - dollars in circulation in Europe. He buys money when the rate is down and sells it when the rate is up, watching rate fluctuations on an electronic display. The difference makes the broker's profit. That's all. In America this business is a respected, very profitable business which is very much needed by society.

2 Another man buys and sells future prices for pork. Like the Eurodollar broker, he gets information about price fluctuations from an electronic display. It must be noted that pork is not yet produced (the same applies to the trade in prices for future grain crops, etc.). Naturally, he sells high prices and buys low prices, pocketing the difference. How does it benefit society? How does this trade influence the economy? Let us see how the system works.

3 Raising funds for its needs, an enterprise (factory or firm) issues shares. Shares give shareholders the right to a portion of the firm's property and dividends. The total value of the stock equals the total value of the corporate property. If business goes well, the firm's wealth grows and so does the portion of that wealth due for one share. This means that the firm's stock is on the rise, but it can also fall if things go wrong.

4 When it sells shares, a company pledges to buy them back at any time the shareholder wishes to sell. Naturally, if things don't go very well and on top of that the company has to buy its shares back, it may easily go bankrupt. On the other hand, if a company goes under[38], shareholders become holders of worthless sheets of paper.

5 The societal value of stock-exchange operations is self-evident. Stock price fluctuations help businessmen and the public to understand how solid a company is, which branches are more profitable and where investments should be made. Stock exchange also serves as an incentive to effective investments in developing and promising economic branches.

6 In the case with future prices (crops, meat, oil, steel, etc.), when prices are set in advance, the volume of production can easily be determined.

7 This is the way[39] commodity and stock exchange markets influence the economy performing the main function of an economic barometer. When stocks start falling, business quarters become nervous, the number of deals decreases and investments are curtailed. The decline of stocks slows down economic development, brings about recession and greater unemployment.

B. Give Russian equivalents to the following words and phrases:

stock exchange, stock(s), rate fluctuations, when the rate is down/up, to pocket the difference, profitable, respected, to raise funds, to issue shares, to pledge to buy back, worthless sheets of paper, self-evident, incentive, a promising economic branch, in the case with, to set prices in advance, volume, to curtail, to decline, to slow down, to decrease, to bring about recession.

C. Find in the text English equivalents to the following phrases:

предположим, не говоря уже, давайте рассмотрим два примера, на первый взгляд, следить за происходящим, то же самое относится и к, приходящийся на долю (одной акции), курс акций растет, и кроме того (к тому же), с другой стороны, насколько прочно положение компании, вот как рынок влияет на, деловые круги, бизнес, который нужен обществу.