G Speaking
Discuss these questions with your partner.
Do people only work for money? What other motivation is there to work?
Task
Give a two-minute talk on how supply and demand work in the labour market.
First, read the texts again and make notes below on the following.
How is the labour market just like any other market?
0 H Writing
You have seen this job advertised in a newspaper. Write a letter of application for the job.
Required: Summer Camp Team Leader
Wo are looking lor suitably qualified and experienced team loaders for cui summer camps for young children (aged seven to twelve). Children come from all over Europe to oui camps and take part in a variety of outdoor activities (camping, canoeing, climbing, trekking, etc).
Suitable candidates should have proven experience of working with th:s age group and have the necessary skiEs and qualifications.
Semi letters of application to:
Ms Gibson Summer Fun Camps Wayfield Norfolk I in gland
Letter of application
Use these notes to help you.
PARAGRAPH 1
Say why you're writing and where you saw the advertisement.
Useful words and phrases:
Dear Sir Madam. I am writing in response to your advertisement in... I would like to apply foT the post of...
PARAGRAPH 2
Summarise the suitable qualification you have for the job.
Useful words and phrases:
As you can see from my СV ... I am a qualified ... instructor.
hi addition, I hold certificates m... I am a fluent / good speaker of .
PARAGRAPH 3
Summarise the relevant experience you have.
Useful words and phrases:
Furthermore. 1 have the relevant experience you are looking for. For the last five years 1 have ...
Two years ago I was ...
PARAGRAPH 4
Say why you would like the job.
Useful words and phrases:
There are a number of reasons why I would like to ...
firstly, secondly, thirdly, furthermore, what is more, I hope to gain, I enjoy working with ... This will be an opportunity to . .
Say thank you and sign off:
I look forward to hearing from you soon. Yours faithfully, (your full name)
• 39
Mi. " )>■ ... :9t •-t
Pronunciation guide Obey лIxm
Productivity pnxhktiv.ni Utility jtia loti Leisure 'levari Substitution \\b4itiu;|n Encourage ink\inK Canoeing клшипр Furthermore f4xV>m.xii>
Unit
Before you read
Discuss the following with your partner.
-* Look at the photos. Each photo shows
40 м,. , .,.j• , ( it tt
f A Vocabulary
Choose the correct word.
All machines need
so that they keep working well.
Scientists' laboratories are usually full of . for experiments.
When a machine gets very old you need to buy a
maintenance / replacement.
It's to take an umbrella out on a
sunny day.
Plastic and cardboard are used a lot for the around products.
Some people enjoy doing
activities like crosswords and board games.
Wood that hasn't been made into anything yet is called iimbci / crop*.
A is a large building for
storing things.
The things that farmers grow in their fields are called t imii'-r / crops.
An industry that needs many workers is known as л ■intensive industry.
If you don't need furniture or equipment for some time, you can put it into lor.ige / wan hou < .
The price of a product is a i which
influences our decision to buy it
IS Reading 1
Factors of production
The factors of production arc the starting point for all economies. No economy can exist without them. The most basic of the factors is land. When economists talk about land, however, they don't just mean space to build on or fields to grow crops. Land means everything that nature provides and we can use for production. The land factor includes raw materials like coal, metals, oil and timber. It also includes things like water, lish and salt. So. although it seems illogical, land also means the sea!
The second factor is lalxmr. Raw materials will just stay in (lie ground unless people dig them out and do something with them. Similarly, factory machines will sit doing nothing without people to operate them. Labour can mean the physical effort such as lifting, digging and building. This is called manual work. Lalxmr also includes mental work like thinking, writing, communicating and designing. Industries that need many workers working long hours arc called labour intensive industries.However, the quality of labour is as important as the quantity. An educated, skilled and tit workforce is more productive than an uneducated, unskilled and unhealthy one. This characteristic of the labour factor is calledhuman capital.Some countries have large labour forces, but arc poor in human capital because the economy lacks education and health care.
The third factor is capital. Capital includes buildings such as factories for production and warehouses for storage. It also includes the tools and equipment that workers use in the manufacturing process. In heavy industries such as shipbuilding or steel making, capital usually involves big machinery and mechanical equipment. In high-tech industries, on the other hand, capital generally means computers and complex lalx>ratory apparatus. These days, industry tends to be more capital intensive than labour intensive.
When companies make investments, they buy new capital. There arc two types ol investment that companies need to make. The first is to buy new equipment so that they can expand their production. This is called net investment.Net investment is essential for economic grow th. However, equipment gets old and needs repairing or replacing. The money spent on this kind of maintenance is called rejilacement investment.
Land, labour and capital are the three factors of production identified by Adam Smith and the classical economists. However, more recent economists have identified one more factor: enrreprcncurship.This means people like you, with great business ideas that set the economy in motion
0 E Comprehension
Now readthe text again and decide whether these statements are true or false.
Raw materials are the most important factor of production.
The land factor includes all the raw materials that come from the land and the sea.
The most important tiling about the labour factor is the size of the labour force.
In modern economies, more labour is used than capital.
Net investment allows companies to increase their production.
Entrepreneurs are part of the labour factor.
Before you listen
Discuss the following with your partner.
Entrepreneurship is the fourth factor of production. Which tilingsin the hsf below do you think entrepreneurs bring to the economy?
В
С Listening
Before you read 13
What does economics study? 17
What are 18
microeconomics and macroeconomics ? 18
Before you listen 20
Before you read 22
History of economic thought 23
Before you listen 26
Before you read 27
Econometrics 28
Before you listen 29
Before you read 33
The law of demand 34
Before you listen 35
Unit 40
Before you read 40
The traditional economy 40
Before you listen 41
Before you read 43
The market economy 43
Before you listen 44
The planned economy 46
Before you listen 51
Before you read 56
Before you listen 59
Revision Vocabulary Units 1 to 4 61
Before you read 63
Consumer choices 65
Before you listen 75
Before you read 77
Costs and supply 77
Before you listen 78
Unit 80
Before you read 80
Market structure and competition 80
Before you listen 81
Before you read 82
Monopolies 82
Unit 87
Before you read 87
The labour market 87
Before you listen 88
Before you read 89
Supply of labour 89
Before you listen 91
44Unit 93
45Before you read 93
70Factors of production 93
85Before you listen 95
Before you read 99
Division of labour 100
Before you listen 101
Revision Vocabulary Units 5 to 8 104
Before you read 104
Surplus 105
Before you listen 106
Before you read 108
Price discrimination 108
Before you listen 109
Welfare economics 111
Before you listen 112
Before you read 113
Government revenue and spending 113
Before you listen 114
Before you read 116
Wealth, income and inequality 117
Before you listen 119
Before you read 120
Poverty 121
Before you listen 125
Macroeconomics 128
Before you listen 129
Before you read 130
ф D Vocabulary 130
Aggregate demand and aggregate supply 130
BP E Comprehension 132
Before you listen 132
0 F Listening *))) 132
ff G Speaking 133
Task 133
Revision Vocabulary Units 9 to 12 135
Unit 136
Before you read 136
Money 136
^ В Comprehension 137
Before you listen 137
В с Listening Ц))) 137
Before you read 137
0 D Vocabulary 138
Banks 145
В E Comprehension 146
Before you listen 146
F Listening Ц))) 146
G Speaking 147
Unit 148
Before you read 148
ff A Vocabulary 148
Fiscal policy 148
P В Comprehension 149
Before you listen 149
С Listening 4))) 149
Before you read 150
0 D Vocabulary 150
Monetary policy 150
Before you listen 153
rehension 153
Before you read 156
A Vocabulary 156
Interest rates and the money market 156
В Comprehension 157
С Listening H))) 158
Before you read 159
fiJ D Vocabulary 159
Economic shocks 159
Before you listen 162
G Speaking 163
Before you read 164
fif A Vocabulary 164
Inflation 164
Before you listen 166
Before you read 168
ff D Vocabulary 168
Unemployment 168
Before you listen 169
F Listening H))) 169
E Comprehension 169
G Speaking 169
9 H Writing 170
Revision Vocabulary Units 13 to 16 171
Unit 172
Before you read 172
Economic growth 173
9 В Comprehension 175
Before you listen 175
ff С Listening Ц))) 176
Before you read 176
ff D Vocabulary 176
The business cycle 177
fi? E Comprehension 178
Before you listen 178
F Listening И))) 179
H Writing 179
Before you read 180
f A Vocabulary 180
The open economy 180
? В Comprehension 181
Before you listen 182
С Listening 4))) 183
Before you read 183
BP D Vocabulary 183
Exchange rates 184
0 E Comprehension 186
Before you listen 186
F Listening H))) 187
G Speaking 188
Task 188
Before you read 189
A Vocabulary 189
Exchange rate mechanisms 189
й В Comprehension 190
Before you listen 190
0 С Listening 4))) 190
Before you read 191
9 D Vocabulary 191
International trade 191
Before you listen 192
В F Listening 4))) 192
G Speaking 193
Task 193
Unit 194
Before you read 194
В A Vocabulary 194
Less developed countries 195
в В Comprehension 196
Before you listen 196
0 С Listening *))) 196
Before you read 196
В D Vocabulary 196
The Russian economy in the 19th century 197
fij E Comprehension 198
Before you listen 198
F Listening 4))) 198
Task 200
H Writing 200
A Vocabulary 200
в? В Comprehension 202
Before you listen 202
0 С Listening 4))) 202
Before you read 202
ff D Vocabulary 202
Russia's foreign trade 203
9 E Comprehension 204
Before you listen 204
Revision Vocabulary Units 17 to 21 206
Now listen and tick the things which are mentioned.
а с iv ■ a - Cjd г г friifomtj;. 9 4 i
Before you read
Discuss the following with your partner.
Look at the workers in the picture:
What kind of work are those people doing?
How do you think they feel about it?
What advantages are there for the company m organising workers like this?
ff D Vocabulary
Complete each sentence with a word or phrase from the box.
automatically child rearing dye emotional fundamental means mindless sew sloppy specialisation take pride in
of transport are the methods we use
to get from one place to another.
work is work that is not very
good quality.
To make clothes you have to know how to the material together.
Having a means that you deal with
one particular area of any field.
> You may visit a doctor if you have problems with your health
Competition is to the idea of the
free market.
People who their work do it very
carefully and enjoy the results.
Mothers and fathers both have important roles to play m
Some people regard lactory work as a job but it isn't necessarily boring.
When you do something you do it
without tliinking.
When manufacturers clothes, they
add colour.
^ Reading 2
Division of labour
Without the factors of production, companies cannot get started. To lv successful, however, they need to make good use of those resources. To make best use of labour, you need to organise it. The division ofhtbuuris one way to achieve this.
I L-t's take making shirts as an example. What do you need to do to make a shirt'rYou need to design it. find the right material, cut the material sew the pieces together, dye the shirt and sew on the buttons < )nc person working on their own could probably do all thesi tasks. This is one way to organise labour. Another way is for a number of workers to share tile job. Kach worker is rcsjvuisible for one task in the process This is an example of the division of labour
The division of labour isn't a new idea К veil very earlysocieties had some form of labour specialisation. Tor example, in some societiesmen were hunters and gatherers of food, wliik women w ere responsible for child rearing. However, as societies became industrialised, the division of labour increased, factories became the main
42 M . m n Gi irti ip f ■■ i . I ■ 8
means of production, and each factory worker became responsible for smaller ami smaller stages in tile process.
As each worker getsmore and more experience at doing their particular task, they get better and better at it. I his should improve the quality of their work. With smaller tasksto do. workers can do things automatically, without thinking about them. This will speed up their productivity, ami speed up the whole production process Finally, small tasks are easier to learn. As the division of lalxmr increases, the amount of time needed to train each worker decreases All of this means a more efficient and productive workforce .. at least, in theory.
There is. however, a human factor to consider Workers are not machines. Their physical and emotional health has an impact on their productivity. Repeating the same simple task over and over again is very boring bored workers can't concentrate easily, and their mistakes will reduce the quality of their output. In addition, there is the problem of ownership. Many workers take pride in their work. They don't just work for wages, but also because they get satisfaction from doing a good job or from creating something useful or beautiful. If you only add buttons toa shirt. >011 don't feel that the shirt is your workVoncan't take pride in a job that does not need skill to do. In this situation, workers lveonu- careless and their work becomes sloppy. < >\t rail, this has a negative impact on productivity
Thankfully, robots and machines can now do many of the mindless tasks that factory workers Used to do. Nevertheless, the theory of the division of labour is siillfundamental to all modem economies.
Now read the text again and match each paragraph with the correct heading.
PARAGRAPH .
PARAGRAPH 2
PARAGRAPH
PARAGRAPH 5
PARAGRAPH -j
PARAGRAPH 6
The advantages of the division of labour Technology has replaced a lot of human labour Two ways to organise labour The disadvantages of the division of labour Division of labour in history Making best use of what's available
Before you listen
Discuss the following with your partner.
Read through the questions and tell each other what you think the correct answer mighi be.
When did Ford invent the Model T car?
A 1908 В 1918 С 1928
What was special about Ford's cars?
AThey were the first quick car. В They were affordable. С Most Americans had one.
How did Ford keep costs low?
ABy using cheap materials. В By organising his labour force. С By timing workers.
What did Tord have in 1930?
AThe largest labour force in the world. В Tho fastest production line in the world. С The largest factory in the world.
In his film Modern TimesCharlie Chaplin ...
T
F Listening H)))
Now listen and check your answers.
.»
u» .- » 43
Discuss these questions with your partner.
Do you think some division ol labour is natural?
Art; some; people better suited to some jobs than others?
Do economies really need entrepreneurs?
Work in groups of three.Talk about each of the items listed below. Use the space below to make notes.
What factors of production are necessary?
What would be the best way to organise labour to produce the following items?
a car
a pencil
a portrait painted in oil paints a newspaper a high quality violin
Notes:
К H Writing
You are the production manager for a new manufacturing company. (You decide what the company manufactures).The managing director has asked you to produce a report on the following.
-> the land, capital and labour resources which are required
the best way to organise production
Business report
Use these notes to help you.
PARAGRAPH 1 Introduction.
What this report is about and who it is for.
PARAGRAPH 2
Raw materials required. Equipment required. Buildings and transport required.
PARAGRAPH 3
Labour force required (numbers).
Human capital issues (qualifications and skills
expected / training required).
PARAGRAPH 4
Division of labour • how should labour be organised for production.
CONCLUSION
Say you hope to be successful if your suggestions (sum up your points in a sentence) are followed.
Write 200-250 words
С\
Pronunciation guide
Maintenance 'теннлплгь
Apparatus ;rp.->ri>it,->s
Quantity 'kv.nnt.Mi/
Entrepreneurshipnn(r,">pnn-5;(r)J ip
Automatically>:t.->ma:iikli
Rear i toi t)
Sew Ч,»/
Efficient itifnt-
Gatherer /даеЛог.Мг).
Ownership лт.мпрр
Quality /kwnl.Xi
V J
M 4 Г1- j (» . J 0 r M £ c Xt » О 'jn I с V U r ' t P
Revision Vocabulary Units 5 to 8
Complete the puzzle with words from units 5 to 8. Can you find the highlighted phrase?
Combination of goods that a consumer spends money on - like chocolate and a bottle of water. The money that companies spend. Work or effort.
Constant to scale.
When a company buys another company to control it. Difficult to solve.
The economist's word for the satisfaction you cjot from something.
A market structure where one company has the largest market share.
This can happen to the demand curve - right or left.
Pure monopoly and perfect competition are
examples of market
Land, labour and capital are three of
production.
Something that stops a company entering the market.
Henry Ford invented the production
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:lui к M |
|
|
|
R |
Tlus person is the fourth factoi of production.
PIB1Find eight pairs of words that make expressions we use in economics.
I budget ■ choice ■ constraint I consumer ■ cost ■ diminishing I increased ■ intensive ■ labour I marginal ■ opportunity ■ output I price ■ returns ■ taker ■ utility
В
B2Now write five example sentences using as many of the pairs of words as you can.
M
* С
плI 1 G U • d «
to f fftftC!*1(i * * » S OnVetiil'. J
г
у•. n . • to 6
45
С The words in blue in the letter opposite are in the wrong places. Correct the letter by putting the words in the correct places.
Before you read
Discuss this question with your partner.
-* When you are shopping, how do you know if something is at a good price, or if something is too expensive?
^ A Vocabulary
Choose the correct answer A, B, or С from the list below.
moan compromise С bargain
' moan compromise jargon
. whole 1 aggregate С complete 10 shortage surplus С quantity
Children often complain and when
they don't get what they want.
I A cheerful person is
Parents are responsible for their children's until they become adults.
If you get a bargain, you get something
The police are offering a for any
information about the robbery.
If you work faster you more money
or more free tune.
You can't always get everything you want Sometimes you have to
Every profession has its own
special words and phrases that are only used in that profession
- The total spending by a government is sometimes called spending.
If you have a of something, you have
more than you need.
bargain compromise moan
A happy В sad С strange
rewards welfare jargon
for nothing .it a high price at a good price
reward salary С compromise
46
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'
•to Eiinoai... U "
< I *
fiJ Reading 1
Surplus
111 :t free market, price is decided by the laws .>f supply and demand. Tile market price is the price that sellers are happy to take and consumers ;tre happy to p;ts. It's :t eoinproniisi. but in the end everyone is happy, right - Well, not quite everyone Some sillers will think the market price is n<'t a ii<«>d enough reward lor their efforts Theywill continue to sell at a higher price, even ii almost no one walks through their shop door Similarly, sonic people will w;ilk away from tin market. moaning about the price and refusing to pa> You can't please everyone!
However, there will he some people who are more than h:ipp\ with the market price. What makes them so cheerful" These are the people who had expected to pay a higher price, but found that the market price was actually lower. These people feel that, by paying the market price, tlu v have got a bargain In the jargon of economics. the> have got consumer surplus.(lonsumer surplus is the difference between the price consumers an prepared to pa> and the price they realK do pay
The idea ol consumer surplus is shown in figure]) I on page 17. M is the market price. You ean see thai the demand line carries on above the market price. This means that there are consumers who are prepared to pay above the market price.
iaeh ot these consumers will gain a different amount of consumer surplus by paying the market price Together, all the surplus they gain is called the <iii^rcii<itcconsumer surplusThis is the grey area shown in figure 1.
Consumers aren't the only ones who enjoy surplus. There is producer surplus,too. Remember that ihe law ol supply says supply rises as price rises. This is because smaller amounts cost less to produce than larger amounts. For this reason, producers would have been happy t<> sellsome of their output below market price. However, once the market price is set. they can sell all their pnnluoe at that price.
Piice