1. II.III. London and finance

1. Working in a group prepare the list of the main functions of:

a) a stock Exchange

b) a bank

2. Read the text. Compare your lists and add more functions. You are going to work in the same group and read only the part of the text according to your topic.

LONDON AND FINANCE

London, the capital of the United Kingdom, is a political, cultural, commercial, industrial and financial centre of the country. At the same time London is one of the world's financial capitals. The business centre of London is the City, where numerous banks, various exchanges, insurance offices, shipping and other companies have their head offices.

At the heart of the City is the London Stock Exchange where millions of shares and securities are traded daily. There are also exchanges in several other cities of the United Kingdom but the London Stock Exchange is the most important. Here through the Exchange members the investor can buy or sell shares in any of the thousands of companies that are quoted on the Exchange and many more companies that are quoted on recognized exchange overseas. The London Stock Exchange offers the largest range and number of securities quoted in any Stock Exchange in the world. In volume of business it ranks third to New York and Tokyo.

London is also the headquarters of many prominent international banking and insurance concerns that deal in foreign shares, insurance and bonds and handle English investments in other countries.

The central feature of the government finance is the Bank of England, founded under a royal charter as a private company in 1694 to provide loans to the Government and nationalized in 1946 by Act of Parliament. The Bank of England is the country's national bank, it carries out government monetary policies and acts as the "banker's bank" for privately owned banks and other Commonwealth nations.

Most domestic banking operations of the United Kingdom are carried on by the commercial clearing banks. The main commercial banks are Lloyd Bank, Barclays Bank, Midland Bank and National Westminster Bank, often referred to as "the Big Four". Paper currency in circulation is issued by the Bank of England. The monetary unit is the pound sterling equal to 100 pence.

VOCABULARY

1. numerous- многочисленный

2. various- различный

3. stock- акция

4. share- акция

5. securities- ценные бумаги

6. to trade- торговать

7. several- несколько

8. investor- вкладчик

9. to invest … in …- помещать капитал в …

10. investment- вложения

11. to quote- давать расценку, котироваться

12. to recognize- признавать

13. volume- объем

14. to rank- занимать какое-либо место

15. prominent- выдающийся

16. to deal in smth.- торговать

17. bonds- облигации

18. to handle- управлять

19. private- частный

20. loan- заем

21. to nationalize- национализировать

22. to carry out- проводить, осуществлять

23. to act- действовать

24. to own- владеть

25. to carry on- вести (дела)

26. clearing- клиринг

27. to issue- выпускать

28. to offer- предлагать

29. finance- финансы

30. financial- финансовый

31. commercial- коммерческий

EXERCISES ON THE VOCABULARY

1. Match the word and its synonym

numerous to print

various stock

to trade a lot of

share abroad

overseas different

to handle to realize

to issue to rule, to control

to carry out to deal in

prominent non-public

to offer to have

to own to do

private famous

to act to suggest

2. Fill in the gaps

1. There are … banks, exchanges and firms in the City because it is a … centre of London.

2. Banks … … to … companies and the government.

3. They found a … company but later it was … .

4. Every country … its currency and has its own … unit.

5. Our company … third among prominent … .

6. Millions of … are traded daily on the … … .

7. The … of a well-known company Microsoft … … in the USA and … .

8. He decided to … money into … .

9. The City … … … financial and … centre.

10. The Bank of England … … government … policies.

4. Match the words to make collocations

carry out issue currency clearing monetary company commercial handle provide invest exchange

private investments loans policy money stocks, securities bank research centre, bank paper currency unit

EXERCISES ON THE TEXT

1. a) Working in pairs (one person from the first group and another from the second) exchange the information and make notes.

b) Match the financial organization and its function.

Stock Exchange	Bank of England

trades shares and securities

issues currency

deals with foreign investors

handles English investments in other countries

co-operates with dealers

provides loans to people

issues shares and securities

the main institution for private banks

invests money into country’s development

carries out government monetary policies

2. Retell the text according to the plan:

1. The City is the financial centre

2. activities of London Stock Exchange

3. the Bank of England is the banker’s bank

4. “the Big Four”

3. Prepare the topic “London as historical and financial centre”.

3. TYPES OF PROPRIETORSHIP

1. What types of business do you know? Give your ideas about their main characteristics.

2. Read the text and find out the main types of proprietorship.

Types of proprietorship

A business may be owned in three different forms. These forms are the sole proprietorship, the partnership and the corporation. The sole proprietorship is the most common in many western countries. For example, more than 80 per cent of all businesses in the United States are sole proprietorships.

But it is evident that sole proprietorships do not do the greatest volume of business. They account for only 16 per cent of all business receipts, for example, in America. What kind of business is likely to be a sole proprietorship? First of all, service industries such as beauty shops, different repair shops and restaurants.

ACTIVE VOCABULARY

to own sole proprietorship

owner partnership

to be privately owned corporation

ownership to account for

proprietorship service industry

property receipts

repair shop

EXERCISES ON VOCABULARY

1. Match the words to their definitions.

money received by a business a business owned by two or more partners something which is owned or ownership with its rights and duties according to the law a place where something broken can be mended a group of people who are permitted by law to act as a single unit for purpose of business to posses or have a lawful right a particular money-earning activity or place, such as a shop or factory

proprietorship own corporation business receipts partnership repair shop

EXERCISES ON THE TEXT

1. Answer the questions to the text.

1. What types of proprietorship are there?

2. What forms of business are typical for European countries and America?

3. What business can be a sole proprietorship?

4. What business can’t be a sole proprietorship?