Step 2. Render the text in English using vocabulary notes.

Step 3. Role play the following situations. Use the information from the text.

Situation 1

The student. You study at the faculty of International Economic Relations. You are interested in finance and especially in the securities market. You have a chance to meet Professor Thompson from California University and ask him some interesting questions concerning shares and dividends.

Professor Thompson. You speak about the main rights of shareholders, describe the situation when they have no opportunity to visit the annual meetings of the shareholders and describe in detail how the dividends are paid.

Situation 2

General Manager of a stock company. You have a task to provide the annual report about the results of the company’s activity for the board of stockholders. You try to persuade the shareholders not to demand the repayment of dividends this year. Your plan is to invest the whole profit into the future development of the company. Find the best arguments and reasons to keep the dividends unpaid and at the same time to satisfy the interests of the shareholders.

The chairman of the board of shareholders. On a point of order only the senior member of the board is expected to say the last word. You’ll have to take the final decision and provide either agreement or disagreement with the idea of General Manager. You should take into consideration not only the financial interests of the shareholders but the future of your business as well.

Brainstorming activity

Problem 1

There is a strong demand for additional investments for «Children toys» company. The easiest way to get them is to issue some extra shares but the company will have some problems with their state registration. The reason for this is the lack of normal profit during the previous year. The company can’t survive without these investments because it should enlarge its market share and recover its profitability. What should it do?

Problem 2

The Manager of company A gets the information about an unexpected jump of demand for their shares (usually it precedes the actions of rivals when they buy the shares of a company in order to take control over it in the future). What should he do?

Final discussion

Preparing for final discussion, try to search for extra information in special editions, magazines and financial text-books. Consult your teachers of special subjects and use the Internet resources. It is recommended to subdivide the group into 3-4 subgroups for better organization of the discussion.

Questions for discussion:

1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of stocks and bonds as a form of investment for banks (other non-financial organizations, individuals)?

2. What organizational forms of entrepreneurship besides corporations do you know? Comment on them.

3. What opportunities do common stocks give their holders? Who can become holders of common stocks in this country?

4. Write inflation next to the options that are appropriate for curbing inflation, and write recession next to those options that are appropriate for stopping recession. Explain and prove your choice.

1. _________ increasing reserve requirements.

2. _________ decreasing reserve requirements.

3. ________ buying government securities.

4. ________ selling government securities.

5. ________ lowering the discount rate.

6. ________ raising the discount rate.

7. ________raising taxes.

8. ________ lowering taxes.

9. ________ increasing government spending.

10. _______ reducing government spending.

Supplement: Helpful phrases

To begin the conversation:

I'd like to begin by saying ...

Perhaps I could begin by saying that I absolutely agree...

I think I ought to say right from the start ...

First, I'd like to talk about ...

At the beginning it can be confidently said that ...

I’m phoning to …..

I think it would help if I gave you a little background information on the matter.

To continue the conversation:

So much for ..., let's look at ...

There are two details that are worth focusing on ...

I've got the impression that ...

Going back to the question ...

I am going to be speaking about something that is vitally important.

It's important to make a distinction between ...

By way of an example ...

То put that in another way ...

How does this work in practice? For example ...

Don't hesitate to interrupt if you have a question.

I’d like to underline the fact that …...

No, I’m sorry. I disagree entirely …..

To finish the conversation:

Summing up I would like to say …

At the end of our negotiations it worth mentioning that …

Finally there arose such question as whether…

I hope I've managed to give you a clear picture of...

I am sorry if my English was a little difficult to understand.

In closing I would like to ...

And last but not least ...

Sorry to interrupt you but we have time limit…..

You must bear in mind the fact that …

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 1083