The only thing people are interested in today is earning more money

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 478.

Ex.1.9. Reading notes: can you give the Russian for the following expressions?

MONEY TALKS

1. keep up with the Joneses (derog) means to compete with one's neighbours socially, especially by buying the same expensive new things that they buy, e.g. ‘Oh, she only bought those new curtains to keep up with the Joneses.'

2. fringe benefit(often pl) is an added favour or service given with a job, besides wages, such as the use of a car, free or cheap meals, or free insurance, e.g. One of the fringe benefits of this job is free health insurance.

Synonym: perk(also perquisitivefml) (usu pl): With all the perks, such as free meals and a car, she's really earning over $15,000 a year. // ‘Surely you shouldn't take all that stationary home?' ‘Oh, it's one of the perks of the job.'

3. brain drainis the loss to a country when skilled and clever people leave it to go and live and work in other countries.

4. Mammon (usu derog) is wealth regarded as a god or an evil influence, e.g. worship Mammon (i.e. value money highly) // (saying) You cannot serve both God and Mammon.

Once upon a time there lived a beautiful young woman and a handsome young man. They were very poor, but as they were deeply in love, they wanted to get married. The young people's parents shook their heads. `You can't get married yet,' they said. `Wait till you get a good job with good prospects.' So the young people waited until they found good jobs with good prospects and they were able to get married. They were still poor, of course. They didn't have a house to live in or any furniture, but that didn't matter. The young man had a good job with good prospects, so large organisations lent him the money he needed to buy a house, some furniture, all the latest electrical appliances and a car. The couple lived happily ever after paying off debts for the rest of their lives. And so ends another modern romantic fable.

We live in a materialistic society and are trained from our earliest years to be acquisitive. Our possessions, `mine' and `yours' are clearly labelled from early childhood. When we grow old enough to earn a living, it does not surprise us to discover that success is measured in terms of the money you earn. We spend the whole of our lives keeping up with our neighbours, the Joneses. If we buy a new television set, Jones is bound to buy a bigger and better one. If we buy a new car, we can be sure that Jones will go one better and get two new cars: one for his wife and one for himself. The most amusing thing about this game is that the Joneses and all the neighbours who are struggling frantically to keep up with them are spending borrowed money kindly provided, at a suitable rate of interest, of course, by friendly banks, insurance companies, etc.

It is not only in affluent societies that people are obsessed with the idea of making more money. Consumer goods are desirable everywhere and modern industry deliberately sets out to create new markets. Gone are the days when industrial goods were made to last forever. The wheels of industry must be kept turning. `Built-in obsolescence' provides the means: goods are made to be discarded. Cars get tinnier and tinnier. You no sooner acquire this year's model than you are thinking about its replace­ment.

This materialistic outlook has seriously influenced education. Fewer and fewer young people these days acquire knowledge only for its own sake. Every course of studies must lead somewhere: i.e. to a bigger wage packet. The demand for skilled personnel far exceeds the supply and big companies compete with each other to recruit students before they have completed their studies. Tempting salaries and `fringe benefits' are offered to them. Recruiting tactics of this kind have led to the `brain drain', the process by which highly skilled people offer their services to the highest bidder. The wealthier nations deprive their poorer neighbours of their most able citizens. While Mammon is worshipped as never before, the rich get richer and the poor, poorer.

Ex.1.10. Find in the text above words which mean:

a) rich, wealthy; b) an instrument or device for a specific purpose or task; c) keen to acquire new possessions; d) becoming out of date; going out of use; e) (of metal objects) not strong or solid; f) money charged for borrowing money, or paid to sb who invests money; g) to throw sth out or away; to stop using sth that is no longer useful; h) (sb/sth of sth)to take sth away from sb/sth; i) a fixed charge, payment or value; j) (fml) to obtain sth; to buy or be given sth.

Ex.1.11. Match the following nouns with suitable adjectives from the previous exercise and translate the expressions they make into Russian:

collector, company, lifestyle, society, circumstances, technology, equipment, car.

Ex.1.12. Match the verbs with the nouns or noun phrases as they occur together in the text above. Translate the expressions they make into Russian.

Ex.1.13. Read the following extracts from a girl's diary (John Fowles. The Collector). After reading, do the following:

1) Make your own vocabulary list with the words which have a negative meaning: look them up if necessary, be able to explain what they mean, give their translation and examples of their usage. (Vocabulary Extention II may come in useful.)

EXAMPLE: phoney - adj, infml, usu derog (someone or something) pretended, false, unreal, or intended to deceive; fake – ложный, поддельный, фальшивый, дутый, e.g. He's such a phoney // a phoney accent // I gave the police a phoney address.

2) Express your attitude to the girl's ideas.

3) Can you find ideas similar to those expressed in the text above?

Ex.1.14. Get ready for a discussion based on the text and the extracts above. Divide into two groups: one group supporting the idea of the ‘material world' (Pessimists), the other being just the opposite (Optimists). Then change parts. It is essential to use as many ‘new words' in your speech as possible.

The following arguments and counter-arguments will help you.