Ex.3. Complete these sentences using the correct form (Past Simple or Present Perfect Simple) of the verbs in brackets.

1. People (begin) to watch TV about 50 years ago.

2. I am looking for Tom. You (see) him?

3. I (see) him last week, but not today.

4. When I was a child, I never (eat) cheese.

5. He (organize) his sole proprietorship this year.

6. This morning I (take) a little walk.

7. We (be) to our main office since 7.30.

8. I (know) the owner of this company all my life.

9. The company (change) a lot lately.

10. It (not rain) here for weeks.

11. She (be) a regular investor in my business.

12. How long you (be) in your current job?

13. He (have) several jobs since he left our company.

 

Ex.4. True or false? Correct where necessary.

1. Your fax has arrived three days ago.

2. I haven’t been to the office since Sunday.

3. Has anyone seen my car keys?

4. I have passed my driving test.

5. I already had four cups of coffee today, and it’s only lunchtime!

6. I have been to most countries of Africa but I never visited Congo.

7. He has passed his exams last May.

8. He was busy all this week.

9. There is a lot of work to do recently.

10. Computers have become very important lately.

11. Don't worry about the order from Sony. I already dealt with it.

12. Over the last year or so, shareholders of this company made a 50% profit.

 

Ex.5. Translate into English:

1. Вона завжди давала мені багато корисних порад в бізнесі.

2. Ми не бачили його вже 2 роки.

3. Я щойно заплатив йому за цю роботу.

4. Я тільки що прочитав звіт наших партнерів.

5. Ви не одержали від нього жодного листа, чи не так?

6. Він надіслав нам ці документи позавчора.

7. Невже він повідомив вам цю новину?

8. У мене був вільний час і я продивився ваш контракт.

9. Твої друзі принесли тобі багато квітів і подарунків.

10. Його стаття була надрукована в нашому журналі.

11. Ми обговорили план співробітництва з цією фірмою дві години тому.

12. Вони інвестували в мій бізнес велику кількість грошей.

Speech and Discussion

 

Ex.1. Talk to your groupmate:

s Which is the most interesting to work in:

sole proprietorship, partnership, a private limited company, a public limited company.

s Choose one form of business ownership and speak about the advantages and the disadvantages of working in this type of business.

 

Ex.2. Interview an owner of a sole proprietorship, ask the following questions:

1. Why are you in business?

2. Why did you choose this particular type of business?

3. What advantages and what disadvantages do you feel the sole proprietorship has over other forms of business ownership?

4. How difficult is it to borrow money? And how do you arrange for additional funds?

5. What advice do you have for someone who is thinking about going into business?

 

Ex.3. You want to open a business. What ownership form would you use? Why?

 

Ex.4. What do you think are the advantages of a small family-run business?

s for the consumers/clients?

s for the owner?

s for the employees?

 

Ex.5. Familiarize yourself with the following idioms. Consult your dictionary and translate the sentences into Ukrainian. Think of situations where you could use them.

1. Despite the efforts of the government, the black economy continues to grow.

2. I didn’t know how to break the ice with him. We were both shy and had nothing in common.

3. We must bring these partners to book; they deserve severe punishment.

4. We had to work on a shoe-string, with hardly any staff.

5. I could tell from the expression on the men’s faces that something was cooking.

 

Ex.6. Comment on the following:

“Genius without education is like silver in the mine”.

(Franklin)

 

 

Lesson 4

Text: Business Relationship

Grammar: Present Perfect Continuous

 

Terms to remember:

 

relationship відносини
subsidiary дочірня компанія, підконтрольна компанія, філія
parent company компанія-засновник; компанія, що володіє контрольним пакетом акцій іншої компанії, батьківська компанія
holding company холдингова компанія
hold (v) володіти
stake частина (чогось), частка (капіталу), акція
sister company сестринська компанія
conglomerate конгломерат
joint venture спільне підприємство
remain (v) залишатись
separate окремий
legal entity юридична особа
consortium консорціум
undertake (a project) (v) розпочинати, здійснювати (проект)
carry out (v) виконувати, здійснювати

 

Business Relationship

 

As businesses expand they may buy shares in other companies, or join with other companies for a particular purpose. There are different relationships these companies can have with one another. A group is a number of subsidiary companies operating under one leading company known as the parent company. A subsidiary is a company that is half or wholly owned by another company (the parent company).

A holding company is one that holds all, or more than half of, the stakes in one or more subsidiaries. It is the leading company in a group.

A holding company’s relationship to its subsidiaries is that of parent company, and the subsidiaries’ relationship to each other is that of sister companies. The parent company controls its subsidiaries through its capital interests.

A conglomerate is a group consisting of a lot of different companies in different businesses run as one large company.

When two or more companies decide to work together, they form a joint venture. In such cases, the two companies involved remain separate legal entities.

A consortium is a group of companies which come together to undertake a project which any one of the members cannot carry out alone.

 

Exercises in Word Study

 

Ex.1. Form adjectives from the following verbs:

hold, subside, separate, join, relate, lead, differ, expand, operate, know, decide.

 

Ex.2. Give the English for:

ділові відносини, розширювати бізнес, купувати акції, об’єднуватися з іншими компаніями, провідна компанія, компанія-засновник, філія, холдингова компанія, акція, сестринська компанія, спільне підприємство, юридична особа, здійснювати проекти.

 

Ex.3. Match words from list A with words from list B that have a similar meaning:

A B
consist stock separate carry out operate holding company hold decide remain stay parent company different from smth. else make up one’s mind share fulfil function be composed of own

 

Ex.4. Find suitable opposites to the following words and phrases:

to shorten, to sell, similar, subsidiary, joint, legal, to leave.