Economy

1. Are these statements about China true or false? Give your opinion.

Mind some new words:

free-market economy – свободная рыночная экономика

population – население

industrial production – промышленное производство

competitive – конкурентоспособный

attracted – заинтересованный

labor force – рабочая сила

consumer goods – потребительские товары

average income – средний доход

to afford – позволять

sales – продажи

joint venture – совместное предприятие

manufacture –производитель

pollution – загрязнение окружающей среды

impact – воздействие

2. Reading. Read the article below. Write T (true) or F (false) under “What the article says” in the previous exercise.

In China, the state controls less than a quarter of industrial production and the country has a free-market economy. Economy in China is growing faster and now it is the sixth largest economy in the world.

More and more foreign countries invest in China attracted by its market of 1.3 billion people and its very competitive low-cost labor force. China’s major cities are changing dramatically. Nowadays there are many new huge office blocks, hotels, shopping malls. Most Chinese like modernization and are very happy with their 21^st century cities of glass and steel. Consumer goods are everywhere and millions of Chinese can afford them because average income doubled. In cities, many people now have not only a TV-set, washing machine, video and mobile phone, but also a car and an apartment. Moreover, car sales are rising rapidly and as a result, there are joint ventures of the world’s top ten global carmakers with Chinese car manufacturers.

However, as in every industrialized country, in China there are many problems concerning industrial development, especially pollution. As industrialization countries and huge numbers of people enjoy western standards of living for the first time, the worry is that the impact on the environment may also be huge.

3. Read the article again. Find in the text the words and phrases that mean:

1. To put money into

2. To have enough money to buy

3. Business activity where two organizations work together

4. Effect

5. The natural world

4. What do these numbers and phrases from the article refer to?

Sixth largest, 1.3 billion, top ten, less than a quarter, 21^st.

5. Match words from A and B to make collocations (words which we often use together). For some of the words, there is more than one possible combination.

Examples: consumer society, mass production

6. Speaking. Would you like to visit China for a holiday? Would you like to live and work in China for a year or more? Give reasons.