Английский разговорный язык. Практическое пособие по развитию устной речи

Take out the material that comes with the thermometer and read it. You will notice that in small print there is a statement: «Every rectal thermometer made by Best Thermo is personally tested.» Now close your eyes and repeat out loud five times: «I am so glad I do not work for quality control at the Best Thermo Company.»

We guarantee you will feel much more happy with your present occupation.

Labour Force and Unemployment. The Results of a Government Study

For the past three years, the government has worked hard and spent many tax dollars to find the approval ratings for unemployment.

They have concluded that a 7 % unemployment level is acceptable to 93 % of the working population.

Слова и выражения:

acceptable – приемлемый

brand – марка, торговое имя

chip

– раскалывать, разбивать

conclude – заключать

disconnect – разъединять, отсоединять

disturb – беспокоить

drapes – занавески, шторы

material – здесь : инструкция по применению

occupation – занятие, место работы

pharmacy – аптека

guarantee

– гарантия; гарантировать

statement – заявление, утверждение

sweat suit – свитер

therapy – терапия

thermometer – термометр

" I hate my job" day – день, когда вы ненавидите свою работу

rectal thermometer – ректальный термометр

small print – маленькие буквы

personally tested – прошедший индивидуальное тестирование

quality control

– служба контроля за качеством

" Best Thermo" Company – Компания «Лучшие термометры»

approval ratings – показатели, необходимые для одобрения политики

Exercise 8

Answer the questions:

1. Have you ever had a day «I hate my job»?

2. Where can we by a thermometer?

3. What brand of a thermometer do we have to buy to feel eventually how happy we are?

4. What do we have to do on coming home with a thermometer in our hands?

5. What statement should we carefully read, and what does this statement mean in plain words?

6. Would you want to work for quality control of the «Best Thermo» Company?

7. How long did it take the government to work out the approval ratings for unemployment?

8. What unemployment level is acceptable to the working segment of the working population?

Unemployment

Unemployment statistics are of major concern for most economists. But, actually, not all people out of work may be classed as unemployed. If someone reports that he is both out of work and seeking employment, he is counted as an unemployed member of the labour force.

The jobless who have chosen not to continue looking for work are considered out of the labour force and therefore are not counted as unemployed. Thus, the unemployment rate in many countries includes only people within the labour force who are out of work.

Not all unemployment is the same. Unemployment can be long– or short-term. It can be frictional, meaning someone is between jobs. Or it may be structural, as when someone\'s skills are no longer demanded because of a change in technology or an industry downturn.

There are two causes of recorded long-term unemployment in the developed countries. Those are welfare payments and unemployment insurance. These government assistance programs contribute to long-term unemployment in two ways.

First, government assistance increases the measure of unemployment by prompting people who are not working to claim that they are looking for work even when they are not. The work-registration requirement for welfare recipients, for example, compels people who otherwise would not be considered part of the labour force to register as if they were a part of it. This requirement effectively increases the measure of unemployed in the labour force even though these people are better described as unemployed – that is, not actively looking for work.

Similarly, unemployment insurance increases the measure of unemployment by inducing people to say that they are job hunting in order to collect benefits. Thus government assistance programs contribute to long-term unemployment by providing an incentive, and the means, not to work. Each unemployed person has a «reservation wage» – the minimum wage he or she insists on getting before accepting a job. Unemployment insurance and other social assistance programs increase that reservation wage, causing an unemployed person to remain unemployed longer.