Post-listening

1. Consider the following points. Share your ideas with a partner or a small group. Be prepared to explain your answers to the class.

1. What is the usual term of payment for creditors in Harper and Grant Ltd.?

2. Can the payment be deferred?

3. How often does the firm send out the accounts?

4. Are there any ways to collect bad debts?

5. Why to bring in a third party, or to use legal pressure is a sure way to lose a customer?

6. In what way will the salary scheme be changed for sales reps.?

7. In what way was the bad debt of Bush & Green chased up?

2. Give a brief outline of the situation as if you were

1. William Buckhurst;

2. Christopher Thorn;

3. Mr. Shuttleworth;

4. Representative of Bush & Green.

3. Act out the dialogues between

1. Christopher Thorn and William Buckhhurst about the necessity of chasing up the outstanding debts;

2. W. Buckhurst and Mr. Shuttleworth about the new salary scheme;

3. Hector Grant and William Buckhurst about debtors and the activities of sales representatives.

Unit 23

Insurance

Listen to the tape and practise the pronunciation of the following words and word combinations, quote the sentences in which they are used in the unit. Consult a dictionary and translate them into Russian.

to be hi-jacked

to insure oneself against loss or damage to one’s property

insurance broker

a syndicate of underwriters

to arrange a blanket insurance

a comprehensive policy

to make a statement at the end of an accounting period

to pay the premium as a percentage of the total value of all goods handled

to employ a firm of adjusters

to assess or value the loss or damage

the full insured value of the goods or property

to take into account the depreciated value

to be a write-off

Act of God = insurance on a contingency basis

the injured party

to take out a policy

to put in a claim

to meet the claim

to be tipped off

to be covered by a blanket insurance policy

to salvage the lot

to be liable

to violate the regulations

Notes:

insurer	- страховщик, страховое общество
insurant	- страхователь, лицо, выплачивающее страховые взносы
life insurance	- страхование жизни
insurance against all risks	- страхование от всех рисков

PRE-LISTENING

Task I

Consider the introduction to the unit. Answer the following questions and be ready to give a story line. Use the word combinations in brackets.

1. How can a firm insure itself against loss or damage to its property?

(to take out an insurance policy; to insure the goods or property against something; to arrange insurance with a syndicate of underwriters; to cover everything; a comprehensive policy; blanket insurance)

2. What is the mechanism of insuring the goods?

(to make a statement at the end of an accounting period; to do something once a month or once a quarter; the total value of all goods handled; to pay the premium; to pay something as a percentage of the total value of goods)

3. What is mentioned about Harper & Grant’s insurers?

(a syndicate of Lloyds underwriters; to be a huge insurance organisation; insurers; to work independently; to be grouped in syndicates)

4. What are adjusters? In what way does their work differ from that of underwriters?

(to employ a firm of adjusters; to assess or value the loss or damage; the full insured value of the goods or property; to take into account; the depreciated value)

5. Is the hi-jacked load of Harper & Grant Ltd. covered by any insurance policy?

(to be a write-off; to be a total wreck; to be impossible to repair; to concern somebody; to hire vehicles; to replace the load; to be wanted urgently)

6. Is it possible to insure the goods or property against anything that could happen?

(to be an all-risks policy; to insure the goods or property against almost anything that could happen; to put in some exceptions; outbreak of war; Act of God; to be considered a normal risk)

7. What are the steps of taking out an insurance policy?

(to take place; the injured party; to put in a claim to the insurance company; to agree to pay; to meet the claim; to take out a policy; to put in a claim; to agree to meet the claim)

Task 2

Give the English equivalents for the following word combinations:

застраховать себя на случай полной утраты или нанесения ущерба чьему-либо имуществу	нанять фирму – регулировщика/выверщика для расследования страхового случая
составить отчет на конец периода отчетности	полная стоимость застрахованного товара или имущества
платить взносы в процентах от общего объема продукции	тот, кто принимает на себя страховой риск
принять во внимание остаточную стоимость имущества (балансовую стоимость за вычетом износа)	«Акт провидения» («Божья воля»), - форс-мажор, природный катаклизм, страхование на случай чрезвычайных обстоятельств
подлежать полному списанию	полис общего страхования
предъявить претензию, подать кассационную жалобу	застраховаться, приобрести страховой полис
оплатить сумму, указанную в претензии (требовании, жалобе) / удовлетворить	заключить договор об общем страховании (несколько предметов собственности)
пострадавшая сторона	оценить размеры утраты или ущерба

LISTENING

Exercise 1

You are going to hear a talk between W. Buckhurst and Peter Wiles. Before you listen to the conversation look at these statements, which you will mark T (True) or F (False) after you have listened to the tape.

1.	The gang had been tipped off that a lorry belonging to Andersons would be coming through the way with a valuable load of office furniture.
2.	A hi-jacker must have thought Andersons' driver was lying for some reason that he had a load of office desks and filing cabinets.
3.	The driver was taken to a farm a long way from the main road and held there for seven weeks before the gang released him. Then he had to walk six miles before he found a policeman.
4.	Nobody knows what the robbers did with the lorry and how it became a total wreck.
5.	The insurance of the load is very simple and there was no need to inform the insurance brokers when the theft was reported because all goods delivered for Harper & Grant Ltd. within the United Kingdom are covered by a blanket insurance policy.
6.	Lloyds underwrote the policy, i.e. Harper & Grant Ltd. are insured with a syndicate of Lloyds underwriters.
7.	Someone from a syndicate of Lloyds underwriters will go up to inspect the damaged goods to give an opinion about their value.
8.	The main problem in this situation is that Harper & Grant’s insurers seem to think the desks and chairs may not be too badly damaged.
9.	William Buckhurst thinks someone from the firm ought to go up and give the managers an opinion of the damage.
10.	Peter would like to go up there himself and have a look in spite of the fact that it's miles from a main road, right up in the Moorland Valley. Also there isn’t much to do at the office at the moment and he can go.