UNIT 2

DIFFICULT CHOICE

LISTENING AND READING

Listen to the text

Read and translate the text

Difficult choice

Robert and Liz Noland live in the south-east of England, an hour from London. Robert is a bank manager, and Liz works in a college library. Their son Eric is a second-year student at Thames Valley University. Eric has got an idea to launch an e-business so he asked his parents to lend him £5,000. He said he needs the money to get his business idea off the ground, but his father has refused to help.

“I would like to help my son, but my wife and I agree that it is not a good idea to lend him £5,000 now. There are two main reasons for our decision. My son has an interesting idea, but he does not have a business plan. Will his idea work? At the moment it’s impossible to say. Are there any other websites that offer a similar service? How successul are these other sites? How many customers will he need before he starts to make money? If the site is successful, will he need to employ other people? How many? How much will he pay his staff and who will look after the finances? And finally – is it legal to help students with their homework? When he has a business plan and when he has the answers to these questions, I will think again.

I also think that it is important for our son to finish his university studies before he starts his website. If he leaves now, it will be too risky. What will happen to him if his idea does not work? He will find himself with no job and no qualification, and if he doesn’t have a qualification, he will find it difficult to get a good job. There are some things in life that we must wait for and Eric is still very young. After he finishes his studies, we will talk about his idea again.”

II. Vocabulary

1. to launch [lɔːntʃ]	начинать, запускать
to launch a business [lɔːntʃ ə ˈbɪznəs]	начинать бизнес
to launch an e-business [lɔːntʃ ən ˈiːˈbɪznəs]	начать электронный бизнес, начать торговлю через Интернет
2. to lend [lend] smb. smth.	одолжить, дать взаймы
to lend money	одолжить, дать взаймы денег
3. business plan [ˈbɪznəs plæn]	бизнес- план
Eric has an interesting idea, but he does not have a business plan.	У Эрика есть интересная идея, но нет бизнес-плана.
4. impossible [ɪmˈpɒsəbəl]	невозможный
At the moment it’s impossible to say.	Сейчас невозможно сказать.
5. to offer a service [ˈɒfə ə ˈsɜːvɪs]	предлагать услугу
How many companies offer a similar [ˈsɪmɪlə] service?	Сколько компаний предлагает подобную услугу?
6. customer [ˈkʌstəmə]	клиент
If he wants a successful site, he will need to attract customers.	Если он хочет, чтобы его сайт был успешным, ему будет нудно привлекать клиентов.
7. to employ [ɪmˈplɔɪ]	нанимать, брать на работу
How many people will he need to employ?	Сколько человек ему нужно будет принять на работу?
8. staff [stɑːf]	штат, сотрудники
to employ new staff	принимать на работу новых сотрудников
9. studies [ˈstʌdɪz]	учеба
I will finish my university studies before I start my business.	Я закончу учебу в университете до того, как начну свой бизнес.
10. qualification [ˌkwɒlɪfɪˈkeɪʃn]	квалификация
If he doesn’t have a qualification, he will find it difficult to get a good job.	Если у него не будет квалификации, ему будет трудно найти хорошую работу.