About My Family

Our family is large (small, not very large). We are the family of seven (two, three, four, five, six): my mother, my father, my grandmother, my grandfather, my sister, my brother and I.

My mother’s name is … She is … years old. She is a teacher (a doctor, a worker, an engineer). She is a very nice, kind and clever woman.

My father's name is ... He is ... years old. He is a worker (a teacher, an engineer, a doctor, a businessman). He is rather tall and strong. He is a man of strong character – and all of us love him very much.

My grandmother's name is ... She is ... years old. She does not work now, she is a pensioner, but she has a lot of work to do about the house. All of us try to help her.

My grandfather' s name is... He is... years old. He is a pensioner too.

My brother and sister are students (pupils). Their names are ... They are older (younger) than me.

We are a very good and united family. We love each other very much. In the evenings, when all the members of our family get together after work and study, we like to watch TV, to read books and newspapers, to talk about different things and to discuss all our problems together. When the weather is good we sometimes go for a walk. We have a small house in the country with a garden and a kitchen-garden. There is much work there and on week-ends we go there and work and have rest all together.

Study and learn the following vocabulary on the topic:

1 family [ ] – семья

2 mother [ ] – мать

3 father [ ] – отец

4 sister [ ] – сестра

5 brother [ ] – брат

6 grandfather [ ] – дедушка

7 grandmother [ ] – бабушка

8 daughter [ ] – дочь

9 son [ ] – сын

10 niece [ ] – племянница

11 nephew [ ], [ ] – племянник

12 nice – красивый

13 kind [ ] – добрый

14 clever [ ] – умный

15 pensioner [ ] – пенсионер

16 united [ ] – дружный

17 to discuss [ ] – обсуждать

18 garden [ ] – сад

19 kitchen-garden [ ] – огород

Answer the following questions to get your topic:

1 What is your name?

2 How old are you?

3 Are you Belorussian?

4 Where do you live? What is your home address?

5 Are you tall?

6 What is your face, your nose, your forehead, your chin?

7 What colour are your eyes?

8 What colour is your hair?

9 Speak about your traits of character.

10 When did you finish school?

11 How well did you do at school?

12 What was your favourite subject?

13 Do you work?

14 Where do you study?

15 What is your future profession?

16 Do you live with your family?

17 What is your hobby?

18 How do you enjoy spending your spare time?

19 Is your family big or small?

20 How many people are there in your family?

21 How old are they? What do they do?

UNIT 2

Work of a Businessman

Those people who do business are called businessmen. Some of them deal with selling and buying goods, other businessmen are engaged in production and still others are involved in services.

These people are very busy as they have much work to do every day. Their office hours begin very early and they finish their work sometimes late in the evening. When businessmen come to the office in the morning they start with the information they receive. They usually receive much mail: letters, cables, telexes and faxes, newspapers, magazines and journals. They look through the mail and study the latest catalogues very closely. They are interested in the latest economic and political events because their success and progress depend on the situation in the country and in the world.

One of the activity of businessmen is to sell the goods. So they have to think how to make customers to buy them. So businessmen advertise their goods in newspapers or on radio or TV, send offers to their potential and regular customers, participate in fairs and exhibitions. Businessmen also deal with enquiries and offers, work with customers. During the day they spend much time speaking on the phone and having talks. They make appointments with customers, visit plants and go on business trips.

During the talks and visits they discuss a lot of business matters: prices for the goods, terms of payment, shipment and delivery. When businessmen have discussed all the terms they sign the contract.

All businessmen have assistants who help them. They are private and company secretaries, receptionists and other executives. These people make appointments, make travel arrangements, help with business correspondence, visits and meetings, answer telephone calls and carry out many other jobs to help their executives.

Study and learn the following vocabulary on the topic:

1 to do business [ ] – вести торговлю

2 to be engaged [ ], [ ] in – заниматься чем-либо

3 to be involved [ ] in – быть вовлеченным во что-либо

4 to deal in (with) – иметь с чем-то дело, торговать чем-либо

5 service [ ] – услуга, сервис

6 to be busy [ ] – быть занятым

7 office hours [ ] – рабочий день

8 to receive [ ] – принимать, получать

9 mail [ ] – почта

10 to look through [ ] – просматривать

11 to study catalogues closely [ ] – изучать каталоги внимательно

12 to be interested in – интересоваться чем-либо

13 event [ ] – событие

14 success [ ] – успех

15 progress [ ] – прогресс, успех

16 to depend [ ] on – зависеть

17 activity [ ] – деятельность

18 to sell – продавать

19 to buy [ ] – покупать

20 goods [ ] – товар, товары

21 to advertise [ ] – рекламировать

22 to send – посылать

23 offer [ ] – деловое предложение

24 enquiry [ ], [ ] – запрос

25 potential customer [ ] – потенциальный клиент

26 regular [ ] customer – постоянный клиент

27 to participate [ ] = to take part – принимать участие

28 fair [ ]–ярмарка

29 exhibition [ ] – выставка

30 to have talks – вести переговоры

31 to make an appointment [ ] with smb for some day – назначать встречу с кем-то на какой-то день

32 to go on business trip – ехать в командировку

33 business matter [ ] – деловой вопрос

34 price – цена

35 terms of payment [ ] – условия оплаты

36 terms of shipment [ ] – условия отгрузки

37 terms of delivery [ ] – условия поставки

38 contract – контракт

39 to make a contract –заключать контракт

40 to sign [ ] – подписывать

41 private [ ] secretary [ ] – личный секретарь

42 company secretary – секретарь компании

43 to make travel arrangements [ ] – организовывать командировку

44 business correspondence [ ] – деловая переписка

45 to carry [ ] out – выполнять

46 executive [ ], [ ] – исполнитель, руководитель

Answer the following questions on the text:

1 What are businessmen?

2 What do they do?

3 Are they very busy people? Why?

4 What do they do in the morning when they come to the office?

5 Why are they interested in the economic news and political events?

6 What is one of the activities of businessmen?

7 What do they do to sell the goods?

8 How do they work with customers?

9 What business matters do they discuss at the talks?

10 When do businessmen sign the contract?

11 Who helps businessmen in their work?

12 What do their assistants do?

UNIT 3