III. Grammar Exercises

Formation of the Passive Tense Forms

7. State the tense and voice form of the verbs:

can be divided; are owned; will be used; was provided; has been expanded; is made; might have been obtained; shall be asked; is being done; have been translated; should be called; were being built; was followed; had been closed; will have been helped; would have been called.

8. Translate the sentences into Russian:

1. Don't put on that funny hat. You will be laughed at. 2. I hope my work will be approved of. 3. Our professor is always attentively listened to. 4. In producing these things the new synthetic material has been made use of. 5. His words were not taken notice of. 6. Will the results of our work be referred to by? 7. The proposal was objected to by. 8. She has always been well spoken of. 9. All the new data have been looked through with great attention. 10. Where have you been? You have been looked for everywhere.

9. Give the corresponding passive construction:

1. They will insist on your arrival. 2. They told us very interesting news. 3. They do not allow people to own this plot of land. 4. They asked me to take part in this conference, but I refused. 5. This boy told a lie once, therefore nobody believes him now. 6. They speak much of every new achievement in computer programmes. 7. I don't think you pay much attention to the obligations of your company. 8. Nobody wondered at the excellent results of this business enterprise. 9. Have you sent for the managing director? 10. They gave us all necessary information. 11. I looked for the warranty card everywhere, but I could not find it anywhere. 12. This executive officer took great care of the advertising of their products.

10. Translate the following into Russian:

Since the beginning of that extraordinary era of economic progress ushered in by the Industrial Revolution, old ways of conducting business have been modified, and new forms of business organization have been introduced.

Unless an activity is specifically prohibited by law, no line of business is closed to an owner.

Unless a limited partnership has been established, all parties equally share the burden of loss and debts.

Some products are marketed most effectively by direct sale from manufacturer to consumer.

Simple transactions are completed by clerks.

Displays must be supplied and set up, and cooperative advertising programs may be worked out.

Store clerks should be trained in a knowledge of the manufacturer's products.

The production plan must be made to meet fluctuating market demands.

Workers must be hired, trained, and assigned in synchronization with the changing production processes and schedules.

Commodity analysis studies the ways in which a product or product group is brought to market.

Forms of the Infinitive

11. Define the form of the Infinitive:

to manage; to be informed; to have been over; to be improving; to have been entering; to be investigated; must be raining; shall discuss; to have been taken.

12. a) Form verbs using the suffix -en:

wide, deep, broad, strength, length, sharp, moist.

b) Form verbs from the following nouns using the suffix -ize:

victim, sympathy, patron, character, organ.

c) Form nouns from the following nouns and adjectives using the suffix -ism:

race, communist, capital, social, feudal, nominal.

13. Read the text and retell it in Russian:

Paul Samuelson (1915-) And Milton Friedman (1912-)

Two Views of the Proper Role of Government in the Economy

Paul Samuelson and Milton Friedman are two of America's most distinguished economists. In recognition of their achievements, Samuelson was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1970 and Friedman in 1976. Both spent most of their professional lives on the faculty of major universities (Samuelson at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Friedman at the University of Chicago). Given their similarities, one would think that the two would also hold similar views on economic issues. Nothing could be further from the truth. And, some of their sharpest differences center on the question of what ought to be the proper role of government in the economy.

Classical economists in the tradition of Adam Smith had long recognized the need for government to provide goods and services that would not or could not be provided by the private sector (like national defense). But they urged that this participation be kept to a minimum.

But Samuelson argued that too many of the problems the classical economists wanted to leave to the marketplace were not subject to its influence. These externalities, affecting things like public health, education, and environmental pollution, were not subject to the laws of supply and demand. Consequently, it was up to government to establish goals for the economy and use its powers to achieve them.

Milton Friedman sees things differently. Like the classical economists of old, he regards supply and demand as the most powerful and potentially beneficial economic forces. The best that government can do to help the economy, in Friedman's view, is to keep its hands off business and allow the market to "do its thing." The minimum wage laws are a case in point. Whereas Samuelson endorses minimum wage laws as a means of helping workers at the bottom of the income ladder, Friedman would argue that by adding to unemployment, they harm the very people they were designed to help. That is, he explains, by increasing labor costs, minimum wage laws make it too expensive for many firms to hire low-wage workers. As a result, those who might otherwise be employed are laid off.

On the one hand, Samuelson endorses the concept of government-sponsored programs such as public housing and food stamps as a means of reducing poverty. Friedman, on the other hand, would prefer to give the poor additional income and allow them to use the funds to solve their problems without government interference. To apply this concept, Friedman suggested the "negative income tax." The graduated income tax takes an increasing amount in taxes as one's income rises. The negative income tax would apply a sliding scale of payments to those whose income from work fell below a stated minimum.

Unit 10