12. State the tense forms of the predicates in the text ”income and interests”.

13. Read the text ”INCOME AND INTERESTS” and translate it into Russian.

Vocabulary and Comprehension Exercises

14. Give Russian equivalents.

The most controversial question; the unfair result of past inheritance; lack of opportunity; the earnings of workers; paid on a weekly or monthly basis; capital gains; in the broad middle.

15. Give English equivalents.

Происходить; люди получают то, что они заслуживают; социальная защита; уровень жизни; в обмен на; банковский счет; и тому подобное; в этом случае; процент; частично это объясняется.

16. Choose synonyms (antonyms) from the following list.

Salary, richness, to believe, safety, to buy, to receive, above, to fall, to ensure, different, instance, luck, income, security, to rise, to consider, wage, example, revenue, wealth, to sell, to increase, to get, failure, to guarantee, earnings, poverty, below, to decrease, various, expenditure, akin.

17. Insert prepositions.

1. The question … the distribution of income is … the most controversial … all economies.

2. Some economists argue that poverty stems … discrimination and lack … opportunity.

3. Some economists believe that interfering … the market distribution … income would injure an economy’s efficiency.

4. Most of the income comes … work.

5. … return … working people receive a wage or a salary.

6. “Salary” refers … earnings paid … a weekly or monthly basis.

7. Earnings depend … the kind of job, the abilities and the number … other factors.

8. Wealth … the form … money will earn interest.

9. Interest and rent are the two forms … income that can be earned … wealth.

18. Fill in the blanks with the Vocabulary on the text.

1. The question about … of income is among the most … in all economies.

2. High incomes are the unfair results of past … and … .

3. … stems from discrimination and … of opportunity.

4. In return for working people receive a … and a … .

5. The term “wage” … the earnings of workers paid by the hour or unit of production.

6. “Salary” refers to … paid on a weekly or monthly basis.

7. … can be expressed as the value of things you own.

8. … and … are the two forms of income that can be earned by wealth.

19. Answer the questions on the text. Use the following expressions to begin your answer:

• The text tells the readers …

• I suppose …

• I think …

• I am certain that …

• If I got it right …

• It seems to me …

• In my opinion …

1. What is one of the most controversial questions in all economies?

2. What is the origin of high incomes?

3. What must people do before they can consume anything?

4. What are the ways to earn income?

5. What is a wage?

6. What is a salary?

7. What do your earnings depend on?

8. How can wealth be expressed?

9. What are the types of income?

10. Why do different people have different incomes?

20. Agree or disagree. Correct wrong statements.

1. There are different economists’ opinions about the distribution of income.

2. Some economists believe that high incomes are the fair results of past inheritance.

3. Poverty stems from discrimination and lack of opportunity.

4. In order to buy something it is necessary to earn the income.

5. Most of the income comes from work.

6. The term “wage” refers to the earnings paid on a weekly or monthly basis.

7. The amount of your earnings depends only on the abilities.

8. The total amount of your wealth is a sum of the value of all your possessions, bank accounts, savings and the like.

9. Interest and rent are the two forms of income that can be earned by wealth.

10. Dividends and capital gains are the two types of income.

11. People have different incomes as they have different abilities.