Now, read and translate the sentences with some of the words from Ex.3
1. Ethical conduct is a particular concern among more vulnerable service users.
2. We are conducting a survey of consumer attitudes towards organic food.
3. Employees can buy books at a discount.
4. Games were discounted to as little as $5.
5. My object was to explain the decision simply.
6. Robson strongly objected to the terms of the contract.
7. Dogs are not permitted inside the shop.
8. Hikers need a camping permit for overnight stays in the park.
9. The factory produces an incredible 100 cars per hour.
10. We sell tinned goods and fresh produce in our shop.
11. These two plates are factory rejects because they’re slightly cracked in the middle.
12. The agency sent five possible candidates for the job and we rejected two.
13. Genetic engineering is very much a subject for debate.
14. He didn’t want to subject his child to the long journey.
15. The pipeline was constructed to transport oil across Alaska to parts on the coast.
B. Word-formation
Ex.4. Using the endings -er, -or, -ian, -ee, -ant and -ist, change each of the following words into a noun referring to people.
Model: law +-er → lawyer; audit + -or → auditor.
Technical, employ, consult, scientific, drive, program, propriety, music, train, act, art, bake, bike, carry, correspond, dental, football, govern, humour, instruct, jog.
Ex.5. Complete each sentence with a noun that refers to the type of person described.
1. He works at the reception desk so he is a __________ .
2. To do this work an employer had to hire a new __________ .
3. She wants to work for the legal department so she is a __________ .
4. As an __________ he audits the company’s accounts.
5. She plays the violin perfectly so she is a __________ .
6. He studied electricity and became an __________ .
7. She works for a very popular newspaper so she is a __________ .
8. He reports on sport events for the ICTV so he is a __________ .
9. Over 100 people applied for the job; we didn’t expect so many __________ .
10. I’ve got bad toothache; I need to go to the __________ .
Ex.6. Make up nouns from the verbs and adjectives given.
Verb → Noun: accept, promote, enter, initiate, occur, protect, store, waste, refer, recruit.
Adjective → Noun: effective, free, reliable, social, real, aware, liable, important, competitive, industrial.
TEXT A: FACTORS OF PRODUCTION
Active Vocabulary
| Key terms: factors of production, (permanent/recyclable) land, labour, (human) capital, workforce, information, goods and services, natural resources, satisfaction, value, human capital, labour supply, human resource, human efforts, revenue, wage, salary, demand (for), activities, facilities, utility, enterprise, productive output, contribution. Other words and expressions: available to, reusable, fixed, irreproducible, expansible, compressible, substitutional, transportable, to consume smth, diffusive, shareable, to derive from, contribution of smth, to depend on, decision-makers, to be extended into, endangered species, to protect from, to depreciate from time and use, to be in perpetuity, to be applied to smth. Linking words and phrases: that is, in fact, such as, as well as, in contrast, whenever, however, either … or, thus, ultimately, in turn, not only … but also. |
Choices concerning what goods and services to produce are choices about an economy’s use of its factors of production, the resources available to it for the production of goods and services. The value, or satisfaction, that people derive from the goods and services they consume and the activities they pursue are called utility. Ultimately, then, economy’s factors of production create utility; they serve the interests of people.
The factors of production in an economy are its labour, capital, enterprise and natural resources. Labour is the human effort that can be applied to the production of goods and services. People who are employed or would like to be are considered part of the labour available to the economy. Capital is a factor of production that has been produced for use in the production of other goods and services. Office buildings, machinery, and tools are examples of capital. Enterprise means the activities of profit-seeking decision makers who determine which economic activities to undertake and how they should be implemented. Natural resources are the resources of nature that can be used for the production of goods and services.
The fifth factor -information– is sometimes included as a factor of production in modern economics.
Natural resources – land and mineral deposits
The factor of production land comprises not only the actual land on which the firm has its factory or offices but also all the natural resources, such as the minerals, raw materials, vegetation and wildlife that can be extracted from it.
Land is not produced, it was created. It is the world, the planet from which man evolved, with the sun that energizes it and the orbit that tempers it. Mankind did not create the Earth with its space and resources, nor can we add to them. We can only acquire them, often by fighting, or rent-seeking, or in other counterproductive ways. Man at best improves and develops capacities inherent in the free gift.
"Land" in economics means all natural resources and agents, with their sites (locations and extensions in space).
Economic land excludes many things, too. It excludes land-fill, for example, by which many cities are extended into shallow waters. The site and seabed are properly land; the land-fill is an improvement. There is no "made land" in the economic sense: it is reallocated from other uses. Expanding cities take farmland from producing food and fibre, much of it for the expanding city itself. Filled land in shallow water near cities is taken away from anglers and sailors and viewers and ecologists, who now organize to save it from being "made" away with. Drained and filled wetlands are taken away from endangered species, as well as from their primal role as filters protecting coastal waters from river trash and pollutants.
Land as site is permanent and recyclable. Land as "site" (location plus extension) does not normally wear out, depreciate, spoil, obsolesce, nor gets used up by human activities incident to occupancy and production. In contrast, capital depreciates from time and use. After being formed, it must be conserved from entropy by continual maintenance, repair, remodelling, safeguarding against theft and fire, and so on. Land normally does not depreciate as a function of time. Most attributes of land also withstand use and abuse. Population, capital, and demands all grow while land remains fixed.
Land is reusable. All the land we have is second-hand, most of it previously-owned. Our descendants, in turn, will have nothing but our hand-me-downs. As there is never any new supply, the old is recycled periodically, and will be in perpetuity, without changing form or location.
Land supply is fixed. Being both irreproducible and permanent, land remains fixed. Both the overall quantity and the special qualities of specific lands remain fixed.
Human resources – labour
In order to produce the things we desire, a human resource must be used. That human resource consists of the productive contributions of labour made by individuals who work. The contribution of labour to the production process can be increased. Whenever potential workers obtain schooling and training and whenever actual workers obtain new skills, labour’s contribution to productive output will increase.
The terms “labour” and “human resources” have essentially the same meaning in this context and are often used synonymously. These terms refer to the productive abilities of people. Labour, or human resources, is also limited. There are only so many people at any given time. However the skills, knowledge and talents of people can be improved or made more productive through education and training.
Labour is human effort that can be applied to production. People who work to repair tires, pilot airplanes, teach children, or enforce laws are all part of the economy’s labour. People who would like to work but have not found employment (unemployed) are also considered part of the labour available to the economy.
In some contexts, it is useful to distinguish two forms of labour. The first is the human equivalent of a natural resource. It is the natural ability an untrained, uneducated person brings to a particular production process. But most workers bring far more. The skills a worker has as a result of education, training, or experience that can be used in production are called human capital. Students who are attending a college or university are acquiring human capital. Workers who are gaining skills through experience or through training are acquiring human capital. Children who are learning to read are acquiring human capital.
The amount of labour available to an economy can be increased in two ways. One is to increase the total quantity of labour, either by increasing the number of people available to work or by increasing the average number of hours of work per week. The other is to increase the amount of human capital possessed by workers.
Labour is a meaningful activity with the aim to create goods and services. Labour does not exist itself; the bearer of labour is the man. Revenue for labour is wage.
Demand for labour depends on wages, other resources of production, amount of capital, used technology. Demand for labour also depends on marginal product of labour and marginal revenue product of labour. Marginal revenue product of labour is wage. If the labour force increases, wages decrease.
Labour supplydepends on: wage in comparison to social benefits; population; a part of population which forms labour force (both the employees and unemployed); average number of working hours a year (number of working days/daily working hours); quality and quantity of work.
Labour is the workforce of an economy and it is important to analyse labour in two ways:
1. The quantityof labour – obviously the numbers of workers (16-60/65 –population of working age) is finite. A low activity rate could indicate a high level of unemployment and/or high number of students / housewives / early retired.
Many developed countries, including the UK, are suffering from falling birth rates and therefore there are fewer people joining the workforce. There are options open to the government for solving this problem such as a raising the retirement age or raising immigration.
2. The qualityof labour – note that some workers are more productive than others. If workers receive more or better training they will be capable of producing more goods and services and this will raise an economy’s labour productivity (output per worker). The value of a worker is called human capital.
Also, it is worth noting that labour can be geographically and occupationally immobile. Geographically people can be unwilling to move area (e.g. family /friends' ties, schools for children, house prices and cost of living) and people are often unwilling to change jobs due to the retraining involved.
From a certain point wages are so high that some people value more free time than higher wage.
Unemployment is measured by unemployment rate and is given in %.
Forms of wages:
Hourly rate is a reward for certain time of hour.
Piece rate is derived from the performance standards - how many pieces on average are made per hour.
Nominal wage is the amount of money we get as a wage.
Real wage is the amount of goods and services which we can buy for the nominal wage. It depends on: the level of nominal wage; the level of prices of goods and services; taxation.