Иностранный язык – страница 65
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THE AMERICAN ECONOMY AT THE END OF THE 20TH CENTURY
1. The United States entered the 21st century with an economy that was bigger, and by many measures more successful, than ever. Not only had it endured two world wars and a global depression in the first half of the 20th century, but it had surmounted challenges ranging from a 40-year Cold War with the Soviet Union to extended bouts of sharp inflation, high unemployment, and enormous government budget deficits in the second half of the century. The nation finally enjoyed a period of economic calm in the 1990s: prices were stable, unemployment dropped to its lowest level in almost 30 years, the government posted a budget surplus, and the stock market experienced an unprecedented boom. In 1998, America’s gross domestic product exceeded $8.5 trillion.
2. Though the United States held less than 5 percent of the world’s population, it accounted for more than 25 percent of the world’s economic output. Japan, the world’s second largest economy, produced about half as much. And while Japan and many of the world’s other economies grappled with slow growth and other problems in the 1990s, the American economy recorded the longest uninterrupted period of expansion in its history.
3. As in earlier periods, however, the United States had been undergoing profound economic change at the beginning of the 21st century. A wave of technological innovations in computing, telecommunications, and the biological sciences were profoundly affecting how Americans work and play.
4. The United States remains a “market economy.” Americans continue to believe that an economy generally operates best when decisions about what to produce and what prices to charge for goods are made through the give-and-take of millions of independent buyers and sellers, not by government or by powerful private interests. In a free market system, Americans believe, prices are most likely to reflect the true value of things, and thus can best guide the economy to produce what is most needed.
‘Continuity and Change’ http://usinfo.state.gov
Определите основную идею текста
THE AMERICAN ECONOMY AT THE END OF THE 20TH CENTURY
1. The United States entered the 21st century with an economy that was bigger, and by many measures more successful, than ever. Not only had it endured two world wars and a global depression in the first half of the 20th century, but it had surmounted challenges ranging from a 40-year Cold War with the Soviet Union to extended bouts of sharp inflation, high unemployment, and enormous government budget deficits in the second half of the century. The nation finally enjoyed a period of economic calm in the 1990s: prices were stable, unemployment dropped to its lowest level in almost 30 years, the government posted a budget surplus, and the stock market experienced an unprecedented boom. In 1998, America’s gross domestic product exceeded $8.5 trillion.
2. Though the United States held less than 5 percent of the world’s population, it accounted for more than 25 percent of the world’s economic output. Japan, the world’s second largest economy, produced about half as much. And while Japan and many of the world’s other economies grappled with slow growth and other problems in the 1990s, the American economy recorded the longest uninterrupted period of expansion in its history.
3. As in earlier periods, however, the United States had been undergoing profound economic change at the beginning of the 21st century. A wave of technological innovations in computing, telecommunications, and the biological sciences were profoundly affecting how Americans work and play.
4. The United States remains a “market economy.” Americans continue to believe that an economy generally operates best when decisions about what to produce and what prices to charge for goods are made through the give-and-take of millions of independent buyers and sellers, not by government or by powerful private interests. In a free market system, Americans believe, prices are most likely to reflect the true value of things, and thus can best guide the economy to produce what is most needed.
‘Continuity and Change’ http://usinfo.state.gov
Определите основную идею текста
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_______ is the amount as of money or goods, asked for or given in exchange for something else.
_______ is the amount as of money or goods, asked for or given in exchange for something else.
3 Заполните пропуск
_______ Americans are keen to win the race to send human beings to Mars.
_______ Americans are keen to win the race to send human beings to Mars.
4 Заполните пропуск
_______ I were you, I would stop smoking.
_______ I were you, I would stop smoking.
5 Заполните пропуск
The plane _______ in thirty-five minutes.
The plane _______ in thirty-five minutes.
6 Заполните пропуск
The train is reported _______ on time.
The train is reported _______ on time.
7 Заполните пропуск
I can’t hear you. Please _______!
I can’t hear you. Please _______!
8 Заполните пропуск
I was lost and _______ ask the policeman the way.
I was lost and _______ ask the policeman the way.
9 Выберите реплику, наиболее соответствующую ситуации общения
Professor: “Has anyone got any questions?”
Student: “_____________________”
Professor: “Has anyone got any questions?”
Student: “_____________________”
10 Выберите реплику, наиболее соответствующую ситуации общения
Receptionist: “Hello, how can I help you?”
Guest: “_________________”
Receptionist: “Hello, how can I help you?”
Guest: “_________________”
11 Заполните пропуск
The capital of Canada is _______.
The capital of Canada is _______.
12 Заполните пропуск
The first woman Prime Minister in Britain was _______.
The first woman Prime Minister in Britain was _______.
13 Заполните пропуск
_______ covers the largest part of the Earth’s surface?
_______ covers the largest part of the Earth’s surface?
14 Заполните пропуск
He had to take off as _______ as possible.
He had to take off as _______ as possible.
15 Выберите реплику, наиболее соответствующую ситуации общения
Receptionist: “________________”
Guest: “I’d like to reserve a room”.
Receptionist: “________________”
Guest: “I’d like to reserve a room”.