Английский язык. Бабушкин А.П - 3 стр.

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Test 1

1. Read the texts and do the tests.
                                    Money at Work
       Go to a city anywhere in the United States. In it you will find people who own
businesses, people who work in businesses, and people who buy products and ser-
vices from businesses. One thing keeps the products and services flowing from pro-
ducers to buyers: money. Workers use the money they earn to buy things they need
and want. Companies use that money to make more things that people need and want.
       People who start companies also have to convince other people to invest in
them. To get people to invest, companies offer them a chance to make money. They
can do this in a number of ways.
       Some companies sell stock. The people who buy stock own a piece of the
company. If the company makes a profit, so will the stockholders. If the company
does not do well, stockholders may lose their money.
       Businesses can also sell bonds. People who buy bonds lend their money to the
company. To make it worthwhile for lenders, companies pay interest on the money.
       Businesses also get loans from banks. They pay interest to the bank. The bank
uses the money in people’s bank accounts to make loans. It pays them interest in ex-
change for using their money.
Are these statements true or false?
1. People who own businesses aren’t interested in investments.
2. To borrow money from banks is the only way for businesses to expand.
3. Workers use stocks and bonds to buy things they need.
4. People who keep money in banks earn interest on it.
5. Investors give money to a company, business or bank in order to get a profit.
                                  They Read Pictures
       The Chinese began writing their language over 3,000 years ago. Their way of
writing is very different from ours.
       Until a few years ago, the Chinese did not have an alphabet. Their language
was written in characters. These characters were a little like pictures. Each one stood
for a different word.
       Probably the first characters had been pictures. The character for "sun" was a
circle with a dot in the centre. The character for "man" looked like a body with two
legs.
       As time went on, the characters changed. New ones were added. A person
could no longer tell what a character meant just by looking at it.
       In order to read or write, people had to learn thousands of characters. Even to
read a newspaper, they had to know 2,000 different characters. Learning so many
characters was difficult. Many people in China could not read or write. In fact, there
were letter writers in front of Chinese post offices. These people sat at tables and
were paid to write letters for others.