2. Give Russian equivalents to the following words and phrases:

average, except for those who…, the backbone, a unit, a branch (of a company), thirty odd partners, overall strategy, failure, headquarters, labour fluidity, to flourish, separate groups, independently run units, to come up with a plan of action, the first thing that impresses you, you find it hard to understand, they operate everywhere, they run an employment bureau, a wholesale firm, a rival firm, experienced people, construction site, all the pros and cons.

3. Find in the text English equivalents to the following phrases:

успех объясняется хорошей организацией, благодаря хорошей организации, соревноваться /конкурировать друг с другом, повседневная деятельность, обычное дело, обычно приглашают /принято приглашать, решать сложные проблемы, находить заказы, занимаются подготовкой работников по специальности, поскольку, т.к., подводить итоги, расходы компенсируются, посредник, сначала, проверять качество, устанавливать окно, фирма по продаже недвижимости, брать и сдавать в аренду, проектирование, производство, доставка, обслуживать, жилые и офисные помещения.

4. Say whether the following statements are true, false or there is no information on the subject in the text.

1. Small private companies are normally family businesses with 30 odd people.

2. Large enterprises are, as a rule, broken into smaller units.

3. Those at the head of a big company coordinate the overall economic strategy

and regulate daily activity of separate units.

4. It is more efficient to invite specialists just to solve complex problems than

to have them permanently employed.

5. In business, it is common practice to use services of middlemen who are very experienced people, as a rule.

5. Say which paragraphs contain the information on:

1. Responsibilities of a company branch.

2. The structure of a big company.

3. Advantages of not having to employ all sorts of highly qualified professionals.

TEXT 6 EMPLOYMENT AND JOB HUNTING

1. Read and translate the text.

1 Curiously enough, wherever you go you see that most employees are young folk. There are very few middle-aged and no elderly folk at all among them, even though the retirement age is 65. The thing is that after a certain age is reached people crave to start their own businesses. They either set up their own firms, or join operating firms as partners.

2 One of motivations for this is the fear of becoming unemployed. Every employee is always haunted by the likelihood of losing his job, and girds himself²⁸ appropriately. Thus he pays dues²⁹ to cover loss of work which are complemented halfway by his employer. He also puts money aside “for a rainy day” as an investment or a bank deposit. He tries to acquire some sideline³⁰, even if it doesn’t meet all his needs, in short, be prepared for any eventuality.

3 In the United States job placement is also an industry. Firstly, you have federal and state employment agencies, who do not charge you for their services, but whose results are minimal. Secondly, you have similar private agencies, for whose services you must pay. During recession these agencies prosper. Some really get you employment. Charges differ. Sometimes an advance payment is demanded. Some agencies may require a deposit³¹ with a remainder paid up over a certain period of time after one gets a job. Sometimes an employer pays the fee, which, as a rule, is equivalent to one’s monthly pay. Or a percentage may be deducted from the pay over the entire period which is usually, when the job is temporary, of no more than six months or so.

4 However, the most common job-hunting approach is via newspaper advertisements, as even when recessions are worst and employees are laid off wholesale, newspapers feature a lot of want ads³², true, often not for the kind of job you are looking for. Most people secure jobs with the help of family and friends.