Task 1. READING. Personal budget

 Say whether according to the text the statements (1-5) are true (T) or false (F).

I understand that I can’t spend money that way. Many things are needed and money is scarce. How to make our expenses match our income? I know next to nothing about how to adjust our personal budget. You asked me where all the money goes. It’s difficult to say exactly, because we don’t keep track of all our purchases, we spend a lot of money on food, groceries, fruit and vegetables. I enjoy cooking, especially on holidays, and we have a large family with three children, we don’t economize, our food bill is quite big. We also like eating out, we sometimes go out to a restaurant about once a month often with our friends. Unfortunately, there are no theatres around here, so we don’t go to the theatre as much as we’d like. But we spend plenty of money on our hobbies. My kids like cycling in their spare time, I’m very keen on skiing, these are expensive hobbies. I’m also very interested in antiques- especially clocks and watches. What about holidays? In fact, we spend very little on holidays, we have a small house in the country and we usually go there. Last year we went to Canada, but that was exceptional. It’s necessary to reduce our expenses.

 

1. The author is good at managing their family budget. FALSE

2. They don’t economize on food, groceries, fruit and vegetables. TRUE

3. They don’t like eating out because it’s very expensive for the family with three children. FALSE

4. Every year the family goes abroad for their holidays. FALSE

5. They have never thought about reducing their expenses. FALSE

LEXIS & GRAMMAR

Task II

Put in the appropriate word or word combination to complete the statement.

6. Students working after school or during their summer holidays to earn money are learning about the role of a ……. .

A) client

B) consumer

C) producer

D) customer

7. Industries which provide services, such as transport or finance, form the ……. sector of the economy.

A) tertiary

B) primary

C) internal

D) secondary

8. ……. are a typical example of perishable goods.

A) manufactured goods

B) consumer goods

C) fruit and vegetables

D) college supplies

9. Young people working at Research & Development departments often received ……. from the government for their investigations.

A) allowance

B) grants

C) bonuses

D) perks

10. An amount of money that you receive for a particular purpose is …….. .

A) commission

B) pension

C) stipend

D) allowance

11. A feature that makes your product competitive in the market is known as a ……. .

A) B2B

B) C2G

C) USP

D) USB

12. The money that is available to an organization or person or a plan how to spend it is the …….. .

A) funds

B) budget

C) investment

D) grant

 

Task III

In each set of four, match the numbers (1-4) with the letters (a-d) to make word combinations.

 

 

13 1.part-time C a) chores 2. miscellaneous D b) supplies 3. college A c) job 4. household B d) items	14 1.personal B a) activity 2,perishable C b) care 3. tertiary D c) goods 4. economic A d) sector	15 1.keep D a) standards 2. living A b) records 3. employment B c) income 4. real C d) opportunities
16 1.capital D a) preferences 2. safety C b) goods 3. excess B c) cushion 4.consumer A d) funds	17 1.economic C a)capital 2.humanA b)circumstances 3. natural D c) models 4.different B d) resources	18 1.consumer C a) materials 2. valuable A b) goods 3. finished D c) preferences 4. raw B d) possessions

 

Task IV.

Match each of the words or word combination on the left with an appropriate explanation on the right.

19. B2C B	a) is a factor that differentiates a product from its competitors, such as the lowest cost, the highest quality or the first-ever product of its kind
20. secondary sector A	b) is a sales model in which products and services are sold directly between a company and a client
21. resources E	c) industries which produce a finished product or are involved in construction
22. USP C	d) are basic materials that are used to produce goods, finished products or energy
23. raw materials D	e) are a useful or valuable possession or quality that a business has, e.g. money, time or skills.
24. demand G	f) money spent on purchases
25. expenses F	g) people’s wants to buy particular goods or services

 

Communication Skills

 

Task V.

Cross out one incorrect option in each situation.

26. Sorry to be late.

  A) Will you, please.

  B) That’s OK.

  C) No problem.

27. Let me introduce my colleague Peter.

  A) John, this is Peter.

  B) John, meet Peter.

  C) It’s OK.

28. Hello, Mike ! Is everything all right?

  A) Yes, that’s OK.

  B) No problem.

  C) What can I do for you?

29. Pleased to meet you, Pete!

  A) Me too.

  B) How do you do?

  C) The pleasure is mine!

30. Hi! My name is Michael.

  A) Nice to meet you, Michael!

  B) Hi! My name is Nick.

  C) See you, Michael.

 

 

Grammar

Task VI.

Choose the best word or word combination to complete the sentences.

31.One of the two sources of income for me is my scholarship, …….. is baby-sitting.

A) other

B) the others

C) another

D) the other

32. …….. makes changes in their budgets to reduce expenses.

A) A number of consumers

B) Different consumers

C) The number of consumers

D) A lot of consumers

33. Thanks to the attractive discounts, …….. goods were bought last month.

A) The number of

B) A number of

C) Large amounts of

D) Much

34. Such criteria …….. important to evaluate the company’s performance.

A) is

B) has
C) are

D) was

35. Because of the fire, ……… confidential documents were destroyed.

A) a great amount of

B) the large number of

C) a large number of

D) plenty

36. If you fail to prepare your abstract in time, …….. .

A) I will provide you with another information.

B) I’ll do my best to offer you some additional data.

C) call me for the others.

D) I’ll help you to meet the deadlines.

37. We know next to …….. how the economy works.

A) anything

B) something

C) nothing

D) everything

38. The pattern of consumer expenditure is also …….. by tastes and family circumstances.

A) influence

B) influenced

C) influences

D) influencing

39. The increase …….. consumer spending creates new employments opportunities and better living standards.

A) of

B) on

C) for

D) in

40. The main purpose of the economy is to ……. goods and services for consumers’ needs.

A) producing

B) produce

C) produced

D) produces

 

Task VII.

There is ONE mistake in each sentence. Find and correct it.

41. The police still haven’t found out who set the department on fire which destroyed

  A B C

a number of important papers.

D

42. Students working after school or during the summer earn money to buy

  A B

the things they want such as computers, gadgets and so on.

  C D

43. Scarcity is the situation that exists when demand for a good, service or resource is

  A B C

 greater than supply.

  B

44. The answers to the main economic questions depend on a country’s human, natural

  A B C

and capital resources and also on its customs and values.

  D

45. To make a useful budget, remember that some expenses are set in advance and must

  A B

be paid regularly, others change with circumstances.

  C D

 

Writing

 You had to give a presentation on the economic activity in Russia, but you didn’t prepare it in time. Write a letter to your Professor in which you:

(46) start the letter introducing yourself and state the reason for writing it;

(47) apologize for not preparing your presentation in time;

(48) mention that you have prepared the presentation and are ready to show it at the next seminar;

(49) write a few words about some difficulties you faced when preparing your presentation;

(50) ask your Professor for help to make a good conclusion about the topic.

 

Prof. Mittal Bristol University Talbot Campus Green Street, JK17UK Dear Professor,     My name is Peter Wiles and I am a Bachelor student. I had to give a presentation on the economic activity in Russia, but I didn’t prepare it in time. I apologize for not preparing the presentation in time, because I was seriously ill. I have prepared the presentation during this week and I am ready to show it at the next seminar. I faced some difficulties when preparing my presentation. I couldn’t find the information about it in our university library. I ask you for help to make a good conclusion about the topic.       Truly yours Peter Wiles Bachelor student