B. HUNDREDS, THOUSANDS, AND MILLIONS
Date: 2015-10-07; view: 954.
Find out about any bank, firm or educational institution. Answer questions about percentages, like those below.
A. PER CENT
Saying or writing out numbers
Language focus
| What percentage of workforce are | manual workers? office workers? people under 30? men and women? people in their fifties? |
Mind that the stress is on the cent of per cent: 10% – ten per CENT
% is “the percentage sign”.
We say ten per cent for 10%or 10pc.
10% p/ais read ten per cent per annum.
We say three and a half per centfor 3½%.
3.5%is read three point five per cent.
Notice the following when talking about interest rates:
ö 0,5% a half of one per cent
ö 0,25% a quarter of a percentage point
e.g. The Bank of England raised interest rates this morning by a quarter of a percentage point (ïðîöåíòíûé ïóíêò).
Say the following:
1. John's overspending reached the peak of 1,5% .
2. Did you mention an increase of 0,5 per cent over last year?
3. They have put the rate up by another 0,5%.
4. 0, 75% won't make a lot of difference.
5. We spent 35% of total expenses on entertainment and only 29% on food.
6. The expenses on my college supplies increased by 2% and amounted to 10% of total expenditures.
7. What's 3pc of 1360?
8. We'll be able to give you a 2% discount off the value of the contract.
The wordshundred, thousand, million, dozen, score, when used of a definite number, are never made plural: ten thousand dollars, two dozen eggs, three score businessmen.
If however, these words are used loosely, merely to convey the idea of a large number, they must be made plural: hundreds of people, dozens of times. In this case the preposition of is placed after hundreds, thousands, etc.
A score of men lost their lives in the battle.
He sent scores of enthusiastic letters to friends
Of is not used with definite numbers except before the/them/these/thoseor possessives: ten of these files, four of the manager's assistants, two of the new ones.
| In British English you hear | a hundred and twenty three |
| In American English you usually hear | a hundred twenty three |
| The number 1,999 is said | one thousand nine hundred and ninety nine |
| The year 1999 is said | nineteen ninety nine |
| The year 2000 is said | the year two thousand |
| The year 2001 is said | two thousand and one |
| The year 2015 is said | two thousand and fifteen or twenty fifteen |
Remember that 1066 is always referred to as ten sixty six – not one thousand and sixty six.
| 1,000,000 is | a million or ten to the power six (106) |
| 1,000,000,000 is | a billion or ten to the power nine (109). |
This is now common usage. British English used to be that a billion was ten to the power twelve (1012), but now everyone has accepted the current American usage.
Say the following:
1. When we say 20 hundredweight[23] it means one ton.
2. I know that you say 231 in Britain. In the States we say 231.
3. He gave 1001 explanations of the delay.
4. Output will have doubled by the year 2015.
5. Your advice is priceless. You're one in 1,000,000!
6. Say it again! It's 10,000,000,000 not 10,000,000!
7. He was born in 1900 and died in 1969.
8. For numbers between 1,000 and 1,900 it is common to say eleven hundred instead of one thousand one hundred.
2.5.2. This table shows how words are formed from the stem var-. List the words, look up the dictionary for their meaning and transcription, and then use them to complete the sentences.
| y | verb | ||
| able | |||
| ed | adjective | ||
| var | i | ous | |
| ety | noun | ||
| ation |
a. Conditions on that market are stable and do not ... very much from year to year.
b. That seller handles a very ... selection of products, including apples, toys and cars.
c. It is often difficult to classify the ... types of economic systems in the world, because they tend to be mixed so often.
d. The managers of that company hope to increase the ... of products which they offer for sale to the public.
e. There has been little ... in price levels over the last five years.
f. Because prices on that market fluctuate considerably from week to week, we say that they are ... .
2.5.3. Practise these words and word combinations. Fill in the blanks with possibility, opportunity, chance[24].
1. We do not often have ... of making the right choice.
2. I had ... to work as a baby-sitter or waiter, the problem was to evaluate tradeoffs.
3. The Dean announced that Professor Forester didn't feel well and there was a ... that the lecture would be cancelled.
4. Believe it or not, but David's English is so poor that he has no ... of passing the exam.
5. Have you ever considered ... of changing the title?
6. Everybody knows that ... may cost you something.
7. If a person has more than two choices, then more than one ... cost also exists.
8. The ... of writing a thesis and becoming a PhD never came to his mind.
9. We are pleased to give you the … of tasting Fine Asian Cuisine at our Rickshaw Restaurant.
10. Equality of … is a political ideal that is opposed to caste hierarchy.
11. That was a golden … for Harper & Grant Ltd., and of course the Managing Director couldn't pass it up.
12. I met the careers adviser by … .
13. I advise you to accept the offer. It is the … of a lifetime.
14. The best graduates had an … to go to one of the Ivy League[25] Universities and study full-time.
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