1.  LONDON

 

      London is the capital of England. In London you can find some 
of the best theatres, cinemas and museums. There are many beautiful 
old churches in London too. There are about 10 thousand streets in 
London. Most of the streets are not very wide. You can see many shops 
in London. Oxford Street is London's main shopping center. You can 
buy ciothes, shoes and toys in it. Peopie from all over the worid shop in 
Oxford Street. You can find many old and new beautiful narks in the 
city. The largest park in London is Hyde Park. It is one of the most 
popular places of Londoners on hot summer days. There are many other 
pleasant parks and green squares there too.

      Tourists in London always want to visit Westminster and see Big 
Ben. They want to see the clock in its tower and to hear the bells. Big 
Ben is really a bell. You hear it every hour. It is a big bell and you can 
hear on the radio: "This is the BBC. The time is six o'clock".

      The most interesting historical place is the Tower of London. 
The Tower of London was a fortress, a palace, a prison and the King's 
Zoo. Now it is the museum. You can see a lot of interesting things in the 
halls of the White Tower. Its square walls are white and very tall.

      William the Conqueror built it in the eleventh century. There are 
always black ravens in the Tower of London. People keep them in the 
Tower of London and look after them very well as they believe that 
London will be rich while ravens live there.

      One of the greatest English churches, St. Paul's Cathedral, is not 
far from the Tower of London. The famous English architect Sir 
Christopher Wrem built it in the 17th century after the Great Fire. It 
took Sir Christopher Wren 35 years. It is a beautiful building with many 
columns and towers. In one of its towers there is one of the largest bells 
in the world.

      The centre of London is Trafalgar Square. Some people say it is 
the most beautiful place in London. In the middle of the square stands a 
tall column. It is a monument to Admiral Nelson. Four bronze lions look 
at the square from the monument. There are two beautiful fountains in 
the square. They are in front of the National Gallery which is one of the 
best picture galleries of the world. Every day many tourists visit this fine building with tall columns.

2. TRADITIONS AND CUSTOMS

      Every nation and every country has its own customs and 
traditions. In Britain traditions play a more important part in the life 
of the people than in other countries.

      Englishmen are proud of their traditions and carefully keep 
them up. Foreigners coming to England are struck at once by quite a 
number of customs and peculiarities in English life. Some ceremonies are 
rather formal, such as the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace, 
Trooping the Colour, the State opening of Parliament.

      To this day an English family prefers a house with a fireplace and a 
garden to a flat in a modern house with central heating. Most English love 
gardens. Sometimes the garden in front of the house is a little square covered 
with cement painted green in imitation of grass and a box of flowers. They love flowers very much.

      English holidays are also part of their traditions. Christmas for 
instance is a church festival which is kept on December, 25. It is a day of 
special gifts and greetings. The usual salutation is "A Merry Christmas 
to you" and the reply - "The same to you". There is a custom amongst 
English children of hanging up stockings at the foot of their bed on 
Christmas Eve. They expect them to be fiiied with toys and sweets in the 
morning. Christmas trees are not always seen in English families, but an 
enormous fir-tree stands every winter in Trafalgar Square, in front of the 
National Gallery. It is brightly decorated. At home rooms are decorated 
with holly, ivy and misletoe. The Christmas festivities and tea-parties go 
on until January, 6, known as Twelfth Night.

      Another traditional holiday is February, 14 known as St. 
Valentine's Day. It is customary on the day to send a Valentine, a card to 
someone you love, or to your best friend. You don't sign your name and 
for a person whom you send this card it is interesting to guess who has 
sent the card. Of course young people look forward to Valentine's Day, 
because they hope to receive many cards.

3. NABEREZHNYE CHELNY

      Naberezhnye Chelny is second in size only to Kazan. Its 
population is half a million. People of more than sixty nationalities live 
here. The city has two parts: the old and the new. The history of 
Naberezhnye Chelny is interesting and romantic. In the sixteenth centuries 
these territories belonged to the khan. In 1552, Kazan was conquered 
by the army of Russian tsar Ivan the Terrible. As time passed the bank of 
the River Kama became covered with settlements of Russian migrants. 
Many of those settlements were called Chelny, which means "canoes" - 
"Canoes on the Bank". Now we see a modern whitestoned city.

      Naberezhnye Chelny is a large industrial, cultural and educational 
center. As an industrial centre it has a lot of factories, they produce 
many things: food, clothing, building constructions motor-cars and so 
on. About half of its population is engaged in industry.

      The cultural life of the town is rich. Some museums, clubs, 
cinemas, the Russian and Tatar Drama Theatres, Puppet's theatre open 
their doors to all those who want to visit them. Many famous singers, 
actors come to our town with their shows.

      In Naberezhnye Chelny there are many colleges, institutes where 
you can receive professional training.

      The town is very nice, especially in summer, when there are many 
green trees, a great deal of flowers. In the town there are some parks. 
Here you can see some monuments. There is the Cenotaph and Eternal 
Flame in memory of those who were killed in Great Patriotic and Civil 
Wars, the memorial to Musa Jalil, the famous Tatar writer, Phoenix, a symbol of eternity and revival, which personifies the Mother land.

      People living in the town are friendly and hospitable. The average 
age of the inhabitants is 38.

4. MY FUTURE PROFESSION

    There are many interesting and useful professions. It is really not an easy task to make the right choice. I began to think about my future profession at the age of 15. I suppose, since childhood people should try to choose their way in life. If you want to be perfect in your trade, you need to pay more attention to special subjects, which will be useful to you in future. As for me, my favourite subjects at school were Mathematics and English. To become a good specialist in management and business one must know many sciences connected with business such as economics, marketing, management of personnel, advertising, promotion of goods, strategy of sales, statistics, history of economic theory and many others.

    Today, our country tries to keep rapid pace of life in developing market economy. That’s why, our economics needs specialists in such new spheres of our economics as management and marketing. Management is a modern philosophy of business today. I think, it is very interesting to be engaged in management and marketing. Specialists of marketing or management are in great demand today in our society.

    I've decided to get education in management, which will help me to get a well-paid and interesting job. I'll try to study to the best of my abilities, to accumulate knowledge, to develop management skills. It is very important for a specialist in business matters to be a skillful user of computers and to speak at least one foreign language. A foreign language opens the door to any foreign country, gives the possibility to communicate, to understand people and to be understood. The most popular language in the world, I think, is English. A real professional can not do without knowing a language, which can help in solving business matters, holding negotiations, making contracts.

    In my opinion, my studies at the Institute will help me in getting deep knowledge and developing managerial skills all the time. I agree with the English proverb: it is never too late to learn. 
 
 

5. PRESENT DAY BRITISH ECONOMY

 

     Almost every society depends on what it grows and what it makes. It may make products to meet its own needs, or to create wealth by selling them to other societies. As societies develop, most become more dependent on making and selling products, that is, on manufacture and trade. At the same time, the means of production - their industries - become more complex. Such societies are said to be industrialized. Britain is an example of a highly industrialized society.

     Britain has a mixed economy. Some industries operate on a free enterprise basis, that is, free from influence or ownership by the state; others are under direct government control. In recent years, many of the industries which were under government control (nationalized), such as British Gas, have been 'sold off (privatized) and are now owned and controlled by shareholders.

     All industries require energy in one form or another and the supply of energy is a major industry in itself.

     Businesses may vary in size from one or a few employees to large national or multinational companies, employing tens of thousands of people, such as ICI or the petrochemical industries. Most are limited companies with shares either available to the general public (Public limited company or Plc) or owned by the directors or managers of the business itself (Limited or Ltd).

     In 1955, manufacturing accounted for 42 per cent of the workforce. In 1994, this figure had dropped to 20.3 per cent. In contrast, the service industries now account for 73.3 per cent of those employed. Likewise, manufacturing industries now account for only 22.6 per cent of Britain's Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

     Some economists see this lack of balance as a problem; others see it as a sign of an advanced economy. 
 
 
 

6. ACCOUNTING

 

     Accounting is frequently called the «language of business» because of its ability to communicate financial information about an organization. Various interested parties such as managers, potential investors, creditors, and the government depend on a company's accounting system to help them make informed financial decisions. - An effective accounting system, therefore, must include accurate collecting, recording, classifying, summarizing, interpreting, and reporting of information on the financial status of an organization.

     In order to achieve a standardized system, the accounting process follows accounting principles and rules. Regardless of the type of business or the amount of money involved, common procedures for handling and presenting financial information are used. Incoming money (revenues) and outgoing money (expenditures) are carefully monitored, and transactions are summarized in financial statements, which reflect the major financial activities of an organization.

     Two common financial statements are the balance sheet and the income statement. The balance sheet shows the financial position of a company at one point in time, while the income statement shows the financial performance of a company over a period of time. 
 
 
 
 

7. CORPORATIONS

     A business corporation is an institution for the purpose of making profit. It is operated by individuals. Their shares of ownership are represented by stock certificates. A person who owns a stock certificate is called a stockholder.

     There are several advantages of the corporate form of ownership. The first is the ability to attract financial resources. The next advantage is that if the corporation attracts a large amount of capital it can invest it in plants, equipment and research. And the third advantage is that a corporation can offer higher salaries and attract talented managers and specialists.

     The privately owned business corporation is one type of corporation. There are some other types too. Educational, religious, charitable institutions can also incorporate. Usually such corporation does not issue stock and is nonprofit. If there is a profit, it is reinvested in the institution rather than distributed to private stockholders.

     In some western countries cities, states, federal government and special agencies can establish governmental corporations. A few examples of these governmental corporations are state universities, state hospitals and city owned utilities. Governmental corporations are nonprofit as a rule and usually they do not issue stock certificates. 
 
 
 
 

8. PARTNERSHIPS

      A partnership is an association of two or more persons to carry on a business for profit. When the owners of the partnership have unlimited liability they are called general partners. If partners have limited liability they are limited partners. There may be a silent partner as well –  a person who is known to the public as a member of the firm but without authority in management. The reverse of the silent partner is the secret partner – a person who takes part in management but who is not known to the public.

      Any business may have the form of the partnership, for example, in such professional fields as medicine, law, accounting, insurance and stockbrokerage. Limited partnerships are a common form of ownership in real estate, oil prospecting, quarrying industries, etc.

      Partnerships have more advantages than sole proprietorships if one needs a big capital or diversified management. Like sole proprietorship they are easy to form and often get tax benefits from the government.

      Partnerships have certain disadvantages too. One is unlimited liability. It means that each partner is responsible for all debts and is legally responsible for the whole business. Another disadvantage is that partners may disagree with each other. 

9. A SOLE PROPRIETORSHIP

      A business may be privately owned in three different forms. These forms are the sole proprietorship, the partnership and the corporation. The sole proprietorship is the most common in many western countries. For example, more than 80 per cent of all businesses in the United States are sole proprietorships.

      But it is evident that sole proprietorships do not do the greatest volume of business. They account for only 16 per cent of all business receipts, for example, in America. What kind of business is likely to be a sole proprietorship? First of all, service industries such as laundromats, beauty shops, different repair shops, restaurants. 
 

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