In June 2002, the eu adopted its sixth rtd framework programme, covering the period 2002-

2006. With a budget of 17.5 billion, this programme finances a whole series of projects that bring

together thousands of researchers from all over the EU.

It is also designed to stimulate RTD in the individual member states and to increase the amount

they spend on it from 1.9% to 3% of their G DR Its priorities include the life sciences (genetics and

biotechnologies), the treatment of serious illnesses, nanotechnologies, aeronautics and space research,

sustainable energy systems, global environmental change and the ecosystem.

Commentary and Notes to Text 13.7.1.3

1. gather pace — набирать темп

2. complement national research — дополнять национальные исследования

3. controlled thermonuclear fusion — управляемая термоядерная реакция синтеза

4. inexhaustible source of energy — неисчерпаемый источник энергии

5. face stiff competition — сталкиваться с жесткой конкуренцией

6. nanotechnologies — нанотехнологии

13.7.1.4. Read, translate the text “Brand in the Strategy of Success” and discuss it with your

partner.

Brand in the Strategy o f Success

Many markets are dominated by brands. A branded good is one which is produced by a particular

firm and which appears to possess unique characteristics. These may be real characteristics,

such as a unique formulation or a unique design. A Mars Bar or a Rolls Royce car, for instance, are

unique products. But often more important than the real characteristics are the imagined characteristics

of the product in the mind of the buyer. This image is likely to have been created by advertising

and promotion. So it is possible for the same baked beans or the same breakfast cereal to be

packaged differently and sold on the same supermarket shelves at different prices. Often the higher

priced branded product will sell far better than the lower priced unbranded product despite the fact

that the product itself is the same.

Even before the great soap war erupted between Unilever and Procter & Gamble, the two companies

were together expected to spend more than ￡75 million in 1994 advertising and promoting

their Persil and Ariel brands in the UK.

That is more than total annual sales of Britain’s 28th biggest grocery brand, Felix catfood. On

Its own, Persil’s 1993 marketing and advertising expenditure of around ￡38 million was equivalent

to the total supermarket and high street grocery sales of Cadbury’s Dairy Milk chocolate, and

Ariel’s ￡35 million to the total grocery sales of Schweppes mixers.

Such can be the cost of maintaining and refreshing a top grocery brand — a cost which is making

it prohibitive even for many household names to sustain their special place in consumers’ hearts

by using traditional marketing strategies.

Vocabulary Notes to Text 13.7.1.4

1. to erupt — разразиться

2. to sustain — подтверждать, поддерживать

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13.7.1.5. Read the text "Technological Revolution" and make an abstract of it in written form.

Technological Revolution

The technological revolution, led by advances in information and communications technology,

is changing the global economy by increasing the importance of intellectual capital in business.

A cluster of innovations in telecommunications and informatics is feeding a revolution in information

technology. Faster transmission speeds of optical fibers and new lightweight materials make

construction faster and cheaper. Undersea telephone links now connect 51 countries with cellular

telephone circuits, and 7.4 million miles of fiber optic cables were installed last year alone.

Information already is flowing faster, more generously, and less expensively throughout the

planet, but this information technology revolution is still young, with full digitalization and intensive

exploitation of bandwidth still years away.

Materials technology is moving toward control that is almost atom-by-atom. Health care

now enjoys dynamic images and intelligent prosthetics. Transport benefits from lighter materials

for fuel efficiency and the use of computer and communications systems. The energy sector is

receiving many applications. Combined — cycle combustion turbines using natural gas are now

available in transportable modular units. And renewable energy sources-photovoltaics, wind,

biomass-are becoming more technically feasible and less expensive. Recent advances in the use

of the electromagnetic spectrum have applications in magnetic resonance imagery, microwaves,

and lasers.

The field of biotechnology is currently dominated by advances in health applications (therapeutics

and diagnostics), which are quickly spreading to other areas. An increasing number of

health products are entering the market, including recombinant human insulin, growth hormones,