Other Inventions

Other inventions created during the agricultural revolution included: clover hullers, bean and pea threshers, ensilage cutters, manure spreaders, and dozens of others. On the dairy farm the cream separator increased the quantity and improved the quality of the butter. New power also drove the churns. Cows were milked and sheep were sheared by newly invented machines and eggs were hatched without hens.

(http://inventors.about.com/od/rstartinventions/a/reaper 3.htm)

2. Prepare a short presentation on one of the problems given below (see Appendix 4 on p. 43)

1. Haying machines.

2. Threshers.

3. Pick up balers.

4. Grain harvesters.

5. Potato harvesters.

6. Vegetable harvesters.

7. Soft fruit harvesters.

8. The combine of the future.

IV. Final Activity

Visit the link www.izhgsha.ru to find out more about the Faculty of Mechanical and Agricultural Engineering of the Izhevsk State Agricultural Academy.

Consider the following points:

- the history of the faculty;

- the faculty staff;

- the departments of the faculty;

- the total number of students;

- students’ life.

Present your report in writing (1 page).

You can use other additional resources.

UNIT 8. ECONOMICS

I. Reading and Speaking Practice Section

1. Guess the meaning of the following words:

economy, economics, macroeconomics, microeconomics, inflation, positive, sphere, political, finance, social, basic, theory, factor.

2. Match the English terms with their Russian equivalents:

stimulus подход

distribution общество

goods безработица

consumption толчок, стимул

unemployment товары

society прикладной(-ая)

applied распределение

approach потребление

3. Discuss in small groups the following questions (see Appendix 1 on p.39):

- what economics is;

- what issues it studies;

- why it is important for the society;

- outstanding economists you know;

- where economic analysis can be applied.

Text A

Economics

Read the text to find out what economics deals with; complete the diagram.

Economics is a social sciencethat analyzes theproduction,distribution

and consumptionofgoodsandservices. The termeconomics comes from the Ancient Greek(“management of a household, administration"). Current economic models emerged from the broader field of the political economyin the late 19th century. A primarystimulus for the development of modern economics was the desire to use an empirical approach more akin to the physical sciences.

Economics aims to explain how economieswork and howeconomic agents interact. Economic analysis is applied throughout the society, in business,financeandgovernment, but also ineducation, thefamily,law,politics,religion, etc.

There are three main economic systems: planned (or “command economy”), market and mixed economies. A planned economy is the one with a large amount of central planning, when the government takes all the decisions concerning production and consumption. A market economy is the system based on private enterprise with private ownership of the means of production and private supplies of capital. A mixed economy contains elements of both market and planned economies.

Common distinctions are drawn between various dimensions of economics. The primary distinction is between microeconomicsandmacroeconomics. The former focuses on individual economic units. It studies the economic behavior of either individual consumers or firms or industries. The distribution of products and income among all these units is also analyzed by microeconomics. The latter studies issues affecting an entire economy, including unemployment, inflation, economic growth, monetary and fiscal policy. Microeconomics, like macroeconomics, is a fundamental method for analyzing the economy as a system. It considers households and firms interacting through individual markets as essential elements of the economy. Other distinctions include: between positive economicsandnormative economics, between economic theory andapplied economics. Positive economics deals with the objective of the working of the economy. While it tries to explain how society makes decisions about consumption, production and exchange of goods, normative economics offers prescriptions or recommendations based on personal value judgements.

There are also several specialized areas of study. Among them are money economics, international, labour, industrial, agricultural, mathematical, growth economics, etc.

Economic analysis includes the theory of supply and demand. The interaction

of supply and demand will result in the establishment of an equilibrium or market price. The market price is the one at which goods or services will actually be exchanged for money. The price at which supply equals demand is known as the market price, or the point of equilibrium. Economic analysis also examines market structures, such as perfect competition and monopoly for implications as to behavior and economic efficiency.

(http://en.wikipedia.org)

Practice 1. Re-read the text to find out which of the paragraph describes:

- common distinctions between different spheres of economics;

- the main economic systems;

- an equilibrium price;

- different branches of economics;

- where the economic analysis can be used.

Practice 2. Re-read the text to find out which of the following statements are true or false.

1. The term “economics” comes from Latin.

2. Economy as a system is studied both by microeconomics and macroeconomics.

3. Economics tries to explain how economies of different countries work.

4. In a market economy the government takes all major decisions about production and consumption.

5. Economic analysis can be used in many different spheres of our life.

6. According to microeconomics, individual markets aren’t considered as really important elements of economy.

7. Microeconomics focuses on issues influencing an economy in general.

8. When supply equals demand we can speak of the point of equilibrium.

Practice 3. The answers to the following questions can serve as the summary of the text. Answer them and give the summary of the text.

1. What does economics deal with?

2. Where does the term economics come from?

3. What does economics try to explain?

4. Where can economic analysis be applied?

5. What are the three main economic systems? How are they different?

6. What main distinctions between different spheres of economics are mentioned in the text?

7. What special branches of economics can you name?

8. What price is normally called the market price?

Practice 4. Does this text give you sufficient information about economics as a science? What other things about economics could you add to the content of the text?