Temario English For Social Scientists 2015-16

LESSON
1
How to work with each unit
Punctuation and language use are important components of spoken and written English. Each unit will
be divided into two parts: use of language and contents.
o
The content part consists of reading and writing practice to improve your academic formal
English. This will involve reading different types of texts, linking words, expressions,
introductions, and conclusions.
In the use of language part, you will always have a theory section that consists of a short
reminder of basic aspects of grammar, and a practice section with short exercises to check that
you have understood the theory. All this practice will also work as a self-evaluation section.
DESCRIBING AND PRESENTING PRODUCTS AND SERVICES: PRICES, QUALITY, WEIGHT, AND SIZE
General objectives
In this lesson, you will first learn how to describe products and services, and then you will learn how to
measure them.
Specific objectives
1.
2.
3.
Describe objects and services. Revise basic writing skills. The sentence and the paragraph.
Review of basic grammar aspects related to the main general objectives: word order, use of
present tenses, adjectives and comparative forms and relative clauses. Numbers.
Differences between American and British English.
PART 1: READING AND WRITING SKILLS

Reading Comprehension 1
Reading comprehension 2 + writing skills
PART 2: USE OF LANGUAGE

1.1.
1.1.1.
1.1.2.
Word order in English: basic writing skills.

The sentence
The paragraph
Practice
1.2. Relative clauses
Practice
1.3. The use of adjectives and adverbs. Comparatives and superlatives
Practice
1.4. Present simple and present continuous
Practice
1.5. Numbers and measures

Practice
Check your progress

Extra activities
Bibliography
Glossary
Describe objects and services

Describing objects and services follows a similar pattern in both cases. Answering the following
questions will help the description of both
Write the name of the product or service you wish to describe filling in these boxes:
Name of product/object
What is it like?
Describing objects
Describing products
What shape is it?

How big is it?
What colour is it?
What is it made of?
Who is it made by?
What is it for?
How much does it cost?
1.1. Word order in English: basic writing skills
1.1.1.
THE SENTENCE
As you know, a sentence is a set of words that make sense.

There are sentences with one word: Come!
Two words: She runs
Or more: I love you
Most sentences in English can be written as it is done in Spanish. The problem comes when there
are several words in a sentence, and the order differs from the Spanish word order. Remember that
the word order in a simple declarative sentence is usually:
Subject + Verb: Anne is walking
Subject + Verb+ Complement: John is ugly
Subject + Verb+ Object: My mother repairs her car
Subject + Verb+ Direct Object+ Object complement: She made me happy
Subject + Verb+ Indirect Object + Direct Object: He bought me a present
Subject + Verb+ Direct Object + Adverb: He cooks the fish carefully
Regarding adverbs, you should keep in mind the following points:
Adverbs of frequency are normally placed before the verb:
He never goes to his mothers place
Except with the verb to be and the auxiliary and modal verbs:
Anne is always late
Ive never been there
You could always go there
Adverbs of time can be placed either at the beginning or at the end of a sentence:
Yesterday, I went to bed at 11
I went to bed at 11 yesterday
With several adverbs, the order is: Manner + Place +Time:
Anne cooked dinner very carefully at her mothers place yesterday.
A simple sentence has a meaning on its own, usually with one subject and one predicate. A sentence is
marked with a capital letter and finishes with a full stop, a question mark or an exclamation point.
The number of verbs gives a clue to check out the number of existing sentences.
Have a look at this example:
The man, who seemed very handsome, was called Peter
How many sentences are there? How many verbs can you see?
You see two verbs: was called and seemed, that means there are two sentence structures forming a
compound sentence.
In the following sentences:

The man was called Peter / who seemed very handsome,
Consider which one has a meaning on its own. You see that who seemed very handsome is
less important and equivalent to a qualifying adjective, while the sentence The man was called Peter
makes sense on its own.
A subordinate sentence, thus, depends on the main clause to complete its meaning. However,
two simple sentences united by coordinating conjunctions both have a full meaning. These
conjunctions are:
And, but, or, nor, for, yet, only
I like tea, and you like coffee
John likes meat, but Jane likes fish
Remember that if you use these sentences, the verbal tenses used in the sentences have to be the
same.
Complex sentences contain a main clause and one or more subordinate clauses.
There are many types of subordinate clauses, such as:
Nominal:
Why he came is still unknown
Do you know if she speaks English?
For Jane to leave John that way is unethical
Littering is forbidden
Adjectival:
The man who is wearing a black coat is my neighbour
My neighbour, whom I invited to my party, is very handsome
Adverbial:
Clauses of time (after, as, before, since, once, until, when, whenever, till, while, whilst, now (that), as
long as, as soon as, immediately (that), directly (that):
When I went to bed, she was still working
Clauses of place (where, wherever):
Put your suitcase wherever you like
Clauses of condition (if, although, even if, even though, unless, provided that, if only):
If I had enough money, I would buy a boat
Clauses of concession (although, though, however, no matter (that), even though, while, whereas):
No matter how important it is, you can leave it for tomorrow

Clauses of reason (because, since, as, seeing that):
I went to Italy because I like monuments
Clauses of purpose (that, so that, in order that):
I finished earlier so that I could catch the bus
Clauses of result (that, so that):
She was so pretty that she became a top model
Clauses of manner (as, as if, how):
She does just as she likes
Clauses of proportion (as):
As I had more experience, I learnt to cope with difficult clients
Clauses of preference (rather than, sooner than):
Rather than stay in Spain, Id prefer to work abroad
1.1.2.
THE PARAGRAPH
There are two important aspects here. How to organise information inside a paragraph which is, in fact,
a pre-writing activity, and how to structure and organise the sequence of paragraphs in a text.
Firstly, we should learn to list ideas, select which of them are more relevant to what we are trying to
say, and how to grade them according to their importance or their more or less direct relation to the
main topic. Reflecting on the role that main and subordinate clauses play in English will help in
organising ideas. Secondly, it is important to understand that a paragraph is a block of writing that
expresses the main idea. This main topic or idea is expressed using a series of sentences. Normally there
is a topic sentence, which is syntactically a main sentence, and one or more supporting sentences that
are either main or subordinate clauses. Most probably each selected idea will need a complete
paragraph for its exposition and development.
a)
Connecting paragraphs
Any written presentation needs to be structured, so the description of an artefact should be preceded
by a sentence explaining what this artefact is for. Imagine a twelve-year-old boy that has been asked by
her teacher to describe a bicycle to extra-terrestrial aliens about to land on the Earth. Maybe his first
introductory paragraph would include a comment explaining what bicycles are for and and this first
paragraph might also mention the fact that we humans have two arms and two legs. This way he would
be able to connect both ideas with a cause-effect connector.
One possible design of the paragraph could be:
A bicycle is a means of transport used by people to move from one place to another faster than walking.
As humans have two arms and two legs, this machine can be propelled by using the legs to push the
pedals down and can be steered by using the two arms and hands to hold the handlebars and control the
machine.
v Now try your own alternative organization:
b) Cohesive devices
Connecting ideas is possible by using cohesive resources. But the use of cohesive devices depends on
what you want to do with your text. If what you wish to do is simply add an element to an already
existing list, you can use an additive logical connector such as and, furthermore, in addition, also,
moreover, etc.
If one prefers to make a contrast in the list of elements, neither, nor, whereas, is like, is unlike, in
addition, etc., can be used. In all cases connectors should not be inserted mechanically. A well-organised
sequence of ideas in a composition requires the ideas to be relevant in the first place.
c)
Paragraph organization
The paragraphs that make up an essay should be organized in three groups. The first one is usually made
up of one or a maximum of two paragraphs. This introductory paragraph should contain the topic
sentence mentioning the main issue to be debated or studied or described. Sometimes this topic
sentence is just a paraphrase of the title, but that is not always the case.
The second group of paragraphs is called body paragraphs and it is where the writer develops his/her
ideas.
Finally, a concluding part of the essay is made up of the last paragraph where some conclusion is put
forward. This final paragraph should be easily identifiable because it should begin with a connector like
finally, to sum up, to conclude etc.
As we have mentioned before, a paragraph consists of a sentence or group of sentences which have a
relation in meaning, and which are somehow complementary in illustrating one point or another of the
whole piece of writing.
Paragraphs are formally marked by double spacing that separates one from the next, or by indenting the
first line of each paragraph, or both. Remember that to write an essay you need to take into account at
least three types of paragraphs:
Introductory paragraph. There is, at least, one main sentence that shows the main topic of the essay.
It has to state the thesis of the whole composition.
Body paragraphs. One or more paragraphs where the author develops the main idea (or ideas) stated
in the introductory paragraph. Their length varies. For a 1 000 word essay, we can have approximately
six or seven body paragraphs. All these paragraphs have to be well connected with the necessary linking
words and expressions.
Concluding paragraph. This summarises the possibilities or opinions of the former body paragraphs,
retakes the subject mentioned in the introductory paragraph, and draws the authors conclusion
towards the topic of the essay. It should start with words or expressions such as:
All in all / All things considered / Finally / Having taken all these considerations into account,
we could conclude that / In conclusion / Lastly / The obvious conclusion to be drawn is that /
To conclude / To sum up / We therefore conclude that
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Practice 1: Put these words into the correct order to make sentences.
a) Month / we / try / did / not / last / giving / up
b) Japan / ever / you / have/ to / been / ?
c) I / ever / hardly / come / see / to / my / girlfriend / Fridays /on
d) Bought / I / Sally / on / bunch / of / a / her / flowers / birthday
e) Never /done / he / has / it
f) The / cinema / cannot / tonight / I / to / go
g) Told / drink / the / wine / not / doctor / me / to
h) Tom / give / I / bottle / a/ when / cries / he
i) Is / very / person /she / a / suspicious
j) Please/ you / and / help / come / can / me / ?
k) Tomatoes / taste / like / do / not / the / like/ I / of
1.2. Relative clauses
A relative pronoun links two clauses into a single complex clause. It is called a relative
pronoun because it relates to the word that it modifies. In English, relative pronouns
are who, whom, which, whose, and that.
(1) This is a house. Jack built this house.

(2) This is the house that Jack built.
Pronoun
Use
that
When we talk about things and people
who
When we talk about people
which
When we talk about things
whom
When we talk about people and use a preposition
whose
Instead of a possessive
TIP
In American English whom is not used very often. It is more formal than who and it is very often omitted
in speech.
e.g.: The woman (who) you have spoken to is the waiter.
The relative pronoun is sometimes omitted. When?
A. You can omit the relative pronoun if this is the OBJECT of the verb:
e.g.: The woman I wanted to see has not come yet.

who
The woman I wanted to see has not come yet.

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B. You cannot omit the relative pronoun if this is the SUBJECT of the verb:
e.g.: I like the people
who go to vegetarian restaurants.
v PRACTICE 1
Read the following sentences and cross out the pronoun if it can be omitted.
a. I gave my boss all the documents that I had written.
b. This is the company whose workers do not accept shifts.
c. What happened to the report that was on the table?
d. This is the worst country that I have ever lived in.
e. I like the people who like working hard.
f. The supplier who comes to this company is normally on time.
g. Have you finished all the homework that the teacher told you to do?
h. People who work here are very professional.
v PRACTICE 2
1. Fill the gaps with the right relative pronoun.
1.
I talked to the customer __________ daughter comes to see me every day.
2.
Mr Richards wants to book the table ___________ he always books.
3.
We often go to the hotel___________ is in the square.
4.
Thats Peter, the product manager ___________ was very impolite to me.
5.
The report ____________ you gave me was full of mistakes.
6.
The public ____________ is waiting outside are annoying me.
7.
This is the table ____________ I always sit at. It is next to the window.
8.
The man ___________ you were talking to is a famous sociologist.
1.3. The use of adjectives and adverbs. Comparatives and superlatives.
ADJECTIVES give more information about nouns or pronouns. They can describe
a person or thing, or they can tell you about the class or group something belongs to.
e.g.: The new manager is effective and flexible.
ADVERBS add information about verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. They tell us how,
where, when or how often something happens, or about the speakers attitude.
e.g.: We need to look at this carefully.
FORMING COMPARATIVE ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS:
One-syllable adjectives and

adverbs
Adjectives and adverbs of two
or more syllables
Two-syllable adjectives ending
in -y
Adverbs ending in -ly
add -er
cheap: cheaper; fast: faster
more
expensive: more expensive
drop -y and add -ier
easy: easier
more
easily: more easily
FORMING SUPERLATIVE ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS:
One-syllable adjectives and add -est

adverbs
Adjectives and adverbs of two most
or more syllables
Two-syllable adjectives ending drop -y and add -iest
in -y
cheap: cheapest; fast: fastest

expensive: most expensive
easy: easiest
Some adjectives and adverbs have irregular comparative and superlative forms.
Good/well: better/best; bad/badly: worse/worst; far: further/furthest
Remember to use than before the second person or thing you compare.
e.g.: Smaller companies are better payers than large corporations.
Remember to use the in when you use the superlative.

e.g.: This is the most comfortable office in the whole building.
You can compare measures with twice/ three times as, and three/four times more/ -er.
e.g.: My new laptop was twice as expensive as my old computer, but its four times
faster.
v PRACTICE 1
Look at this graph about populated cities in the world and write five sentences with
superlatives and comparatives.
Million
Madrid
London
Buenos Aires
New York
Million
Sao Paulo
Mexico
Tokio
0
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
1.Tokio is _____________________________________________.
2. Madrid is ___________________________________________.
3. Mexico is ___________________________________________.
4. London is ___________________________________________.
5. Buenos Aires is ______________________________________.
v PRACTICE 2
Fill the gaps with the right comparative or superlative form:
1.
This is __________________student Ive ever had. (bad)
2.
The populations of Portugal and Belgium are similar, but the population of Portugal is
_______________. (big)
3.
I used to hate my old job, but I feel much ________________ in this one. (happy)
4.
You are going _________________than anyone in the road. (fast)
5.
Do you mind driving a bit __________________? Im scared. (slow)
6.
It was one of the _________________ companies I have ever worked. (good)
7.
The exercise was _________________ than I expected. (easy)
8.
This is ________________ mobile company in Europe. (large)
9.
Citizens feel ________________ here than in other cities. (secure)
10. I do not want to study at Manchester University because is ________________ than

Canterbury University. (far)
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v PRACTICE 3
Choose the correct answer:
1. As chairperson, shes the ____________ person on the committee.
a) strongest
b) stronger
c) most stronger
d) most strong
2. Our sons are ____________; they need new beds.

a) more high
b) higher
c) taller
d) more tall
3. Cats are much ________________ than dogs.

a) quieter
b) more quietly c) quietier
d) quiet
4. This exercise is too easy. I want to try a _______________ one.

a) difficulter
b) more difficult c) more difficulty
d) difficulty
5. Shes ________________ than me. We always buy the lottery together but she always wins.
a) luckily
b) lucky
c) more luckier
d) luckier
1.4. Present simple and continuous tenses
Choosing between present simple and present continuous.
You can use the present simple:

to give information about permanent
activities.
Ex: This factory makes luxury watches.
to describe a state that doesnt change.
Ex: He looks like his older sister
talk about routines or habits.
Ex: I often travel to Valencia on Thursdays.
You can use the present continuous:

to describe activities in progress.
Ex: Im writing an email to our manager.
to describe temporary situations.
Ex: Hes using my phone because his doesnt work.
to refer to future arrangements.
Ex: Hes starting a new business next month.
v PRACTICE 1
Make questions with you. Put the verbs in brackets in the present simple or
continuous:
_______________ (feel) tired now?
_______________ (usually write) a lot of emails a day?
_______________ (study) every day?
_______________ (try) to stop working overtime?
_______________ (ever use) this laptop?
_______________ (want) to learn how to calculate that?
_______________ (look) for someone to sell your house?
_______________ (do) an evening course at the moment?
_______________ (understand) what Im explaining?
_______________ (eat) healthy these days? Remember you were very ill.
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v PRACTICE 2
Complete the following job interview filling the gaps with the verbs in brackets:
Interviewer: Good morning. Please, take a seat. Is this the first time you __________
(be) in this city?
Candidate: I have been here four times but I ________________ (plan) to live here.
In fact, I ____________ (be/already) moving this week. I __________ (love) this city.
Interviewer: Perfect. I would like to know why you __________ (want) to work in this
company.
Candidate: I ___________ (want) to work here because I _____________ (finish) my
studies in a couple of weeks and this ________ (be) the best company in this city.
Interviewer: _____________ (have) any experience in the field?
Candidate: I _____________ (collaborate) with a big company but they _____________
(not/pay) anything at the moment. It is just to get some experience.
Interviewer: We _____________ (not/hire) people without real experience at the
moment. We ____________ (need) experts because we ________________
(not/have) time to train anyone. I am very sorry.
Candidate: But you ___________(not /mention) this in the newspaper ad.
Interviewer: Yes, we did. Read the job advertisement carefully.
PRACTICE 3
Complete this job advertisement with either the present simple or the present
continuous forms of the verbs in the box.
be want look for offer

open offer grow need
We ____________ one of the largest manufacturing companies in Europe. We

____________new branches in different countries every year. That is why we
______________new workers in order to ______________ more quality to our clients.
We ____________ reliable and enthusiastic candidates with experience who
______________to work hard to expand the company. We __________a competitive
salary and long holidays.
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1.5. Numbers and measures
Now you will practice two things. How to say numbers in English and describing trends in graphs.
Most people working in business need to spend a lot of time dealing with numbers. In this section you
will learn how to say numbers in English. You will be able to practise this in a number of exercises.
a)
Numbers
Words for numbers: figures, digits
b) Different ways of saying 0 in English

ZERO, OH, NAUGHT, LOVE, NIL
* For the number 0 we say: zero
* We say oh, as in the following examples:
In years
1901
nineteen oh one
After a decimal point
5.04
five point oh four
In telephone numbers
638 25 09
six three eight two five oh nine
In bus numbers
3205
three two oh five
In hotel room numbers
Room 406
room four oh six
* We say naught before the decimal point

0.003
naught point oh oh three

We say nil in football scores
Real Madrid won 5-0
Real Madrid won five nil
* We say love in tennis

The score is 15-0
The score is fifteen love
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c)
Points and commas
This is an important difference between English and Spanish. In English, we use a point (.) and not a
comma (,) for decimals. In Spanish, it is the other way round.
12,002
twelve thousand and two
12.002
twelve point oh oh two
12 002
Note that when accounts are prepared on

computers, commas are not used
d) Decimals
In English, we say all the numbers after a decimal point, separately. It is particularly important that you
get this right if you are doing business over the phone, as you may lose a lot of money if you do not.
The number 0.325 is said naught point three two five and not *naught point three hundred and twenty
five.
If you say zero point three hundred and twenty five, an English speaker is most likely to ignore the zero
point part, thinking that you have made a mistake, and you might lose (or gain) a lot of money.
12.55
Twelve point five five and not twelve point fifty five
0.628
naught point six two eight
0.006
naught point oh oh six
0.003
naught point oh oh three
If the number after the decimal point represents a unit of money or measurement, it is read like a
normal number:
5m 70
five metres seventy
12.5
twelve pounds fifty
24.5
twenty four euros fifty
Note the different spelling in British and American English:

British English: metre
American English: meter
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e) Per cent
It is pronounced stressing the cent part:
0.5%
half of one per cent
When talking about interest rates, percentages are said as follows:

0.25%
a quarter of a percentage point
5% p.a.
five per cent per annum
f)
Hundreds, thousands and millions
In English, years and numbers are said differently:
2002
year: year two thousand and two

number: two thousand and two
2001
year: year two thousand and one

number: two thousand and one
2000
year: year two thousand

number: two thousand
1999
year: nineteen ninety nine

number: one thousand nine hundred and ninety nine
* British and American English also differ in how they say hundreds:
142
a hundred and forty two (British English)

hundred and forty two (American English)
* Another important difference between English and Spanish is in how to refer to billions.
* Note that 1 000 000 is a million, but 1 000 000 000 is a billion in American English and now in British
English too, whereas in Spanish it is a thousand million:
* 1 000 000 is a million
* 1 000 000 000 is a billion in American English and now in British English too, whereas in Spanish it is
a thousand million
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g)
Trends
To go up (a little)
VERBS
NOUNS
to increase
an increase
to rise
a rise
to grow
a growth
To go down (a little)
VERBS
NOUNS
to decrease
a decrease
to fall
a fall
a drop
to drop
to decline
a decline
to go down
a downturn
to slip
an upward trend
a barely noticeable decline
To go up (a lot)
VERBS
NOUNS
to surge
a surge
to take off
an upsurge
to shoot up
a shoot-up
to jump
a jump
to leap
a leap
To go down (a lot)
VERBS
to plummet
to plunge
to crash
to sink
a dramatic rise
a steady growth
a sudden drop
NOUNS
a plunge
a crash
* To express no change you use:

No change
a stable situation
to remain stable
to level off
to stay at the same level
to remain constant
to stabilize
Change of direction
a fluctuating performance
to peak
to reach a peak
to reach a low point
to bottom out
to recover
to revive
v PRACTICE 1
Complete the following cheques.
Pay to: xxx
______________________________________________
2,555,823
Pay to: xxx

______________________________________________
$10,036.26
16
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Pay to: xxx

______________________________________________
342.50
PART 2. READING AND WRITING SKILLS

READING COMPREHENSION 1
v Exercises
1.
Read the following text
2.
Make a list of all the expressions showing a measure of quantity
3.
Underline different expressions used to mark an increase or decrease in quantity
4.
Write two comparative sentences and two superlative sentences related to the content of the
text
5.
Send the answers to your tutor though the virtual forums
UBS Earnings Sink, Following a Trend in Europe

By JULIA WERDIGIER
Sergio P. Ermotti, chief of UBS, which is trying to cut jobs and focus on more lucrative parts of its
investment banking operation.
UBS said on Wednesday that its profit slumped 54 percent in the first three months of the year after
investment banking income dropped and the bank took an accounting charge on the value of its own
debt.
The bank might also face a shareholder revolt over executive pay at its annual meeting in Zurich on
Thursday. Some investors have raised concerns about the levels of compensation after a year in which
the bank was hit by a trading scandal and its shares plummeted.
Net profit at UBS fell to 827 million Swiss francs ($911 million) in the first quarter from 1.8 billion francs
in the period a year earlier. Operating income fell 22 percent, to 6.5 billion francs.
Given challenging market conditions, I am proud of what our employees have achieved, Sergio P.
Ermotti, the chief executive, said in a statement.
UBS is the latest European bank to report a drop in first-quarter earnings. Like its rival Credit Suisse, UBS
is seeking to cut jobs and focus on the more lucrative parts of its investment banking operation, while
adhering to stricter capital requirements.
The sovereign debt crisis in Europe, broader concerns about the stability of the banking system and
government budget deficit issues in the United States are likely to continue to weigh on client activity in
the second quarter, UBS said. But the bank also said it expected the wealth management unit to
continue to attract net inflows of new money.
Jon Peace, a banking analyst at Nomura, said it was not a bad result given a tough quarter and after
the results from Credit Suisse last week, investors were prepared for a worse margin performance in the
private bank. UBS shares rose 3.7 percent in Zurich on Wednesday.
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Some shareholders remained less impressed with how much UBS was paying senior executives and
its bankers. Like Barclays, Credit Suisse and Citigroup, UBS is facing some opposition from shareholders
for its pay practices.
George Dallas, director of corporate governance at F&C Investments, gave UBS credit for cutting its 2011
bonus pool for the investment banking unit by 60 percent from a year earlier, but he said that may not
have been enough.
It was a year in which profit diminished, it had a major fraud scandal and the market
capitalization dropped, Mr. Dallas said. Those facts should be taken more into account.
UBS uncovered a $2.3 billion loss from unauthorized transactions at its London equity unit
in September, and a trader, Kweku M. Adoboli, was charged with fraud and false accounting. He
is in custody awaiting trial this year. The trading loss led to the resignation of Oswald J. Grbel as
chief executive.
UBS shareholders are to vote on the companys compensation report on Thursday. The vote
is nonbinding, but a rejection of the report would still put pressure on the bank to reconsider
its compensation policy.
Thomas C. Naratil, the chief financial officer, said in a conference call that he was pleased with
our progress and that the bank was on track with its program to reduce costs by 2 billion francs.
The earnings included an accounting charge of 1.2 billion francs on the value of the banks own debt
and costs of 126 million francs related to the restructuring effort.
Excluding the credit charge, the investment banking operation had a pretax profit of 730 million francs
in the quarter, down from 965 million francs in the period a year earlier. Total income at the unit fell as
an increase in revenue from capital markets services and products, including equities, was unable
to offset a drop in income from the debt, commodities and currencies business and a decrease in fees
from advising on mergers and acquisitions.
Net new money in the wealth management business was 10.9 billion francs in the first quarter, mainly
because of an increase from clients in the Asia-Pacific region and emerging markets. That was more
than in the previous three months but less than in the first quarter of 2011. The bank also attracted
more client money in its wealth management business in the United States.
May 2, 2012, 3:09 am
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/05/02/ubs-profit-falls-54-in-first-quarter/
READING COMPREHENSION 2 + Writing

v Exercises
Read the following descriptions or definitions taken from Wikipedia, (www.es.wikipedia.org) and
notice that they are written in present tenses, with adjectives and some comparative sentences.
Do the following exercises and send them both to your tutor through the virtual forums.
1.
2.
Make a list with all the adjectives and another one with comparative sentences that you have
found in all the texts.
Write two similar descriptions of the items that you have in the blank charts. Please, do not
copy the descriptions and try to use your own words.
18
18
1. Risk premium
https://goo.gl/rVQDj2
2. Graphs and charts

https://goo.gl/TxzAZp
For an individual, a risk premium is the

minimum amount of money by which the
expected return on a risky asset must
exceed the known return on a risk-free
asset in order to induce an individual to
hold the risky asset rather than the riskfree asset. It is positive if the person is risk
averse. Thus it is the minimum willingness
to accept compensation for the risk.
The certainty equivalent, a related
concept, is the guaranteed amount of
money that an individual would view as
equally desirable as a risky asset.
For market outcomes, a risk premium is
the actual excess of the expected return
on a risky asset over the known return on
the risk-free asset.
A graph or chart or diagram is a

diagrammatical illustration of a set of data.
If the graph is uploaded as an image file, it
can be placed within articles just like any
other image.
Graphs must be accurate and convey
information efficiently. They should be
viewable at different computer screen
resolutions. Ideally, graphs will also be
aesthetically pleasing.
Please note: "graph", "chart" and
"diagram" are ambiguous terms,
sometimes used equivalently.
3. Risk premium
https://goo.gl/OHhmir
4. Polygraph
https://goo.gl/MJkVQ2
An appellate court, commonly called an

appeals court or court of appeals
(American English) or appeal court (British
English), is any court of law that is
empowered to hear an appeal of a trial
court or other lower tribunal. In most
jurisdictions, the court system is divided
into at least three levels: the trial court,
which initially hears cases and reviews
evidence and testimony to determine the
facts of the case; at least one intermediate
appellate court; and a supreme court (or
court of last resort) which primarily
reviews the decisions of the intermediate
courts.
A polygraph (popularly referred to as a

lie detector) is a machine that measures
and records several physiological indices
such as blood pressure, pulse, respiration,
and skin conductivity while the subject is
asked and answers a series of questions.
The belief is that deceptive answers will
produce physiological responses that can
be differentiated from those associated
with non-deceptive answers.
According to Encyclopedia Britannica,
the polygraph was on its 2003 list of
greatest inventions, described by the
company as inventions that have had
profound effects on human life for better
or worse.
19
19
5. Supplier
6. Foreclosure
CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

Now you should think about what you have learnt in this unit and what you need to revise. Please, tick
() the appropriate box.
Vocabulary
I can do it very well
I can do it well
I need to improve
I can do it well
I need to improve
I can use new

vocabulary
and
expressions
about
measures, numbers,
sizes and descriptions
in general.
I can make a difference
between American and
British way of writing
them.
Grammar
I can use relative
sentences.
I know when to omit
the relative pronoun.
20
20
I know how to use the

present simple and the
present continuous.
I know how to form
comparatives
and
superlatives.
I
recognize
the
different parts of a
clause (subject, verb,
indirect object and
direct object)
I know how to order
the words in English.
Reading
I can do it well
I need to improve
I can do it well
I need to improve
I can understand
scientific texts related
to descriptions.
I can understand
scientific texts related
to measures and sizes.
Writing
I can write formal
descriptions related to
scientific topics.
I understand how to
organize the elements
in a clause.
I understand how to
organize the different
parts of a paragraph,
and I can use this
knowledge.
I understand how to
organize the different
paragraphs in an essay,
and I can use this
knowledge.
21
21
EXTRA ACTIVITIES
-
Read extra bibliography.

Browse the links and complete the grammar and vocabulary exercises you find more useful.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Collins Cobuild Students Grammar. Harper Collins Publishers.
Goded, M. 2005. All about Writing. Madrid. UNED.
Goded, M. 2002. English for Business. Madrid. UNED
Guffey, M.E. & Loewy, L. (2011) Business Communication. Process and Product. USA. Cengage Learning.
Hughes, J. & Ceri, J. (2011) Practical Grammar. UK. Heinle Cengage Learning.
Johnstone, W. (1998) For Good Measure: The Most Complete Guide to Weights and Measures and Their
Metric Equivalents. Pensylvania. NTC Publishing Group.
Leber, S. (1997) Writing to describe. USA. Zaner Bloster.
MacKenzie, I. 1996. English for Business Studies. CUP.
McCarthy, M., McCarten, J., Clark, D. & Clark, R. (2009) Grammar for Business. Cambridge. CUP.
Palmer, J.C. & Prez, M. (2000) Learning English to Trade. Castelln: Universidad Jaume I. Universitas.
Links to further references

http://www.blairenglish.com/exercises/numbers_figures/numbers_selectionpage.html
http://esl.about.com/library/listening/blnumbers2.htm
http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises_list/alle_grammar.htm
http://www.nonstopenglish.com/allexercises/vocabulary/vocabulary-numbers.asp
http://www.jamesabela.co.uk/exams/Describinggraphs.pdf
http://www.eslflow.com/describinggraphstables.html
http://www.nwoinnovation.ca/article/-380.asp
22
22

Punctuation and language use are important components of spoken and written English.
Each unit will be divided into two parts: use of language and contents.
In the use of language part you will always have a theory section that consists of a
short reminder of basic aspects of grammar, and a practice section with short exercises
to check that you have understood the theory. All this practice will also work as a selfevaluation section.
The content part consists of reading and writing practice in order to improve your
formal academic English. This will involve reading different types of texts, linking words,
expressions, introductions and conclusions.
At the end of each unit you will have to read a long scientific text and answer some
comprehension exercises that you will send to your tutor.
LESSON 2: Innovation: technologies, changes and investment

policies in research and R+D
General objectives
In this lesson you will know how innovation and changes affect companies and industry in
general and you will learn how to express your ideas related to these matters.
Specific objectives
1. Describe changes and innovation. Advantages and disadvantages of them.
2. Review of basic grammar aspects related to the main general objectives: The use
of make and do and the passive voice.
3. Use the passive voice in written texts related to investment.
23
Remember that the Language that you are going to practice in each unit is just a review
or reminder of the general grammar that you already know but related to the topic of
each lesson.
This symbol will be used for THEORY
This symbol will be used for PRACTICE
The use of make and do.

When do or make are used as main verbs it can be confusing for learners. The verb
make goes with some words and the verb do goes with other words. But there are not
strict rules for their use just general explanations or ideas to help.
DO
a) We use the verb do when someone performs an action, activity or task
do a crossword
do the ironing
do the laundry
do the washing
do the washing up
b) Do is often used when referring to work of any kind
do your work
do homework
do housework
do your job
c) Important Expressions with do
There are a number of standard expressions that take the verb do.
The best solution is to try to learn them and their meaning.
do badly
do business
do the dishes
do a favour
24
do good
do harm
do well
do your best
do your hair
do your nails
do your worst
MAKE
a) We use the verb make for constructing, building or creating
make a dress
make food
make a cup of tea / coffee
b) Make is often used when referring to preparing food of any kind
make a meal - breakfast / lunch / dinner
c) Important expressions with make
There are a number of standard expressions that take the verb make.
The best solution is to try to learn them and their meaning.
make amends
make arrangements
make a choice
make a comment
make a decision
make a difference
make an effort
make an enquiry
make an excuse
make a fool of yourself
make a fortune
make friends
make a fuss
make a journey
make love
make a mess
make a mistake
25
make money
make a move
make a noise
make a payment
make a phone call
make a plan
make a point
make a profit
make a promise
make a remark
make a sound
make a speech
make a suggestion
make a visit
v Practice 1
Write the translation into Spanish of all these expressions looking up a dictionary,
if necessary.
English
Spanish
English
do a crossword
make amends
do the ironing
make arrangements
do the laundry
make a choice
do the washing
make a comment
do the washing up
make a decision
do your work
make a difference
do homework
make an effort
do housework
make an enquiry
do your job
make an excuse
do badly
make a fool of yourself
do business
make a fortune
do the dishes
make friends
do a favour
make friends
do good
make a journey
do good
make love
do harm
make a mess
do well
make a mistake
do your best
make money
26
Spanish
do your hair
make a move
do your nails
make a noise
do your worst
make a payment
make a point
make a phone call
make a profit
make a plan
make a promise
make a remark
make a sound
make a speech
make a suggestion
make time
v Links for extra practice and self-evaluation

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises/confusing_words/make_do.htm
http://www.better-english.com/grammar/makedo.htm
http://www.saberingles.com.ar/exercises/225.html
http://perso.wanadoo.es/autoenglish/gr.make.p.htm
http://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=1215
The passive voice

The passive voice is especially helpful (and even regarded as mandatory) in scientific
or technical writing or lab reports, where the actor is not really important but the process
or principle being described. This is what is of ultimate importance. Instead of writing
I poured 20 cc of acid into the beaker, we would write Twenty cc of acid is/was
poured into the beaker.
The passive voice is also useful when describing, say, a mechanical process in which
the details of process are much more important than anyone's taking responsibility for
the action: The first coat of primer paint is applied immediately after the acid rinse.
We use the passive voice to good effect in a paragraph in which we wish to shift
emphasis from what was the object in a first sentence to what becomes the subject
in subsequent sentences.
We also use the passive voice when we dont wish to identify the subject. For example,
if we dont want to accuse John, we dont say
John broke the glass
but rather
The glass was broken
Explanations adapted from: http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/passive.htm
27
Compare these two sentences:

a) Scientists (Subject) finished (Verb) the research (object) last year
b) The research was finished last year
Sentence a shows the usual non-marked word order for active sentences. That is SVO.
Here we have a plain sentence stating a fact: that scientists finished their task some time ago.
In sentence b, the only important thing is that the research was finished. We are not interested
in who did what, but on the fact that the research is finished.
Note that the use of passives seems to be more frequent in English as compared with Spanish.
The linguistic reason for this is that Spanish has two possible grammar structures to do this:
the passive and the so-called construccin con se. Both are ways to avoid mentioning
the agent.
Passive verb formation

Auxiliary
Plural
Past
Participle
The car/cars is
are
designed
Present perfect
The car/cars has been
have been
designed
Past
The car/cars was
were
designed
Past perfect
The car/cars had been
had been
designed
Future
The car/cars will be
will be
designed
Future perfect
The car/cars will have been will have been designed
Tense
Subject
Present
Singular
Present progressive The car/cars is being
are being
designed
Past progressive
were being
designed
The car/cars was being
The passive is often used when the mention of the agent (who or what did the action)
is avoided because it
is unknown: This university was built in 1980.
is obvious or has already been mentioned: The theory will be tested.
is not important: The problem has been solved.
refers to people in general: All men are created equal.
doesnt want to be known: Im afraid the book has been photocopied.
28
v PRACTICE 1
Write the passive voice of the following active sentences and check your answers.
1. A security guard recognized the bank robber and arrested him
________________________________________________________________
2. Many historians think that Michelangelo could have painted this painting
________________________________________________________________
3. They are building a new school near y village
_______________________________________________________________
4. My mother warned me about the bad weather before I went to England
________________________________________________________________
5. She was cleaning the floor and washing the windows when I arrived.
________________________________________________________________
http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises_list/passiv.htm
http://www.autoenglish.org/gr.pas.i.htm
http://englishstandarts.blogspot.com.es/2012/06/passive-voice-worksheets.html
PART 2. READING AND WRITING SKILLS (see the forums for supplementary materials)
READING COMPREHENSION 1
v Exercises
READING COMPREHENSION 2 + Writing
v Exercises
29
CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

Now you should think about what you have learnt in this unit and what you need to
revise. Please, tick () the appropriate box
Vocabulary
I
can
use
I can do it well
I need to improve
I can do it well
I need to improve
new
vocabulary
and
expressions
about
measures, numbers,
sizes
and
descriptions
in
general.
I
can
make
difference
between
American
and
British way of writing

them.
Grammar
I can use relative
sentences.
I know when to omit
the relative pronoun.
I know how to use
the present simple
and
the
present
continuous.
I know how to form
comparatives
and
superlatives.
I
recognize
the
clause
(subject,
verb, indirect object
30
and direct object)

I know how to order
the
words
in
English.
I understand the use
of passives.
Reading
I can do it well
I need to improve
I can do it well
I need to improve
I can understand
scientific texts
related to
descriptions.
I can understand
scientific texts
related to measures
and sizes.
Writing
I can write formal
descriptions related
to scientific topics.
I understand how to
organize
elements
the
in
clause.
I understand how to
organize
the
paragraph and I can
use this knowledge.
I understand how to
organize
the
different
31
paragraphs
in
an
essay and I can use

this knowledge.
EXTRA ACTIVITIES
-

Browse the links and complete the grammar and vocabulary exercises you find more useful.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Collins Cobuild Students Grammar. Harper Collins Publishers.
Goded, M. 2005. All about Writing. Madrid. UNED.
Goded, M. 2002. English for Business. Madrid. UNED
Guffey, M.E. & Loewy, L. (2011) Business Communication. Process and Product. USA. Cengage Learning.
Hughes, J. & Ceri, J. (2011) Practical Grammar. UK. Heinle Cengage Learning.
Johnstone, W. (1998) For Good Measure: The Most Complete Guide to Weights and Measures and Their
Metric Equivalents. Pensylvania. NTC Publishing Group.
Leber, S. (1997) Writing to describe. USA. Zaner Bloster.
MacKenzie, I. 1996. English for Business Studies. CUP.
McCarthy, M., McCarten, J., Clark, D. & Clark, R. (2009) Grammar for Business. Cambridge. CUP.
Palmer, J.C. & Prez, M. (2000) Learning English to Trade. Castelln: Universidad Jaume I. Universitas.
10
32

Punctuation and language use are important components of spoken and written English. Each unit will be divided into
two parts: use of language and contents.
o
The content part consists of reading and writing practice to improve your formal academic English.
This will involve reading different types of texts, linking words, expressions, introductions and conclusions.
In the use of language part, you will always have a theory section that consists of a short reminder of basic
aspects of grammar, and a practice section with short exercises to check that you have understood
the theory. All this practice will also work as a self-evaluation section.
LESSON 3: Writing Formal Documents

General objectives
-
The general objective is to learn the basic aspects of writing documents in general
Specific objectives
-
Revise the basic organization of the English sentence

Learn how paragraphs are organized in a piece of writing
Learn how to write different types of documents
33
Activity
Fill in these sentences with the appropriate linking words or expressions from the
following list:
In addition
Do not agree
However
As far as I am concerned
First of all
Consequently
., I have to admit that from my position at the hospital I .. with the practice of alternative therapies
in cancer treatment. ., these therapies can cause great danger to the patients, they might
stop taking the traditional medical treatment, and put their lives at risk.
., they suffer from financial abuse, as they are usually forced to pay large sums of money to these
so-called doctors. , I understand the despair of those people who had been told that
there is no alternative and try the last resources they find.
Activity (Optional)
Write an essay (300-350 words) on a TV program using some of the former words. Consider
these three parts:
Introduction with the title, the type of program and when you watched it.
A couple of body paragraphs explaining more details about the program.
The conclusion expressing whether you liked the programme or not, giving reasons.
PART 2. READING AND WRITING SKILLS. DOCUMENTS RELATED TO THE WORKING ENVIRONMENT
Depending on the purpose of writing, you can produce different types of documents.
In this unit, we study a number of texts related to the working and business environment.
Application letters / cover letters
CV / rsum writing
In the very near future, when you graduate, you might need to look for a job, apply for postgraduate courses or a grant, etc. or maybe you will be looking for a promotion in your present
position.
There are many ways to find out about positions offered. Apart from the personal network of
contacts (relatives, friends, teachers, previous employers, etc.), you may need to look into the
classified ads section of newspapers or the Internet in your own country or abroad.
Lets have a look at a variety of openings in different newspapers:
34
TIM & PAM Boutique Manager

Required for a new luxury boutique at the Ritz Hotel. Based in Waikiki Beach,
Hawaii.
At least, ten years managerial experience in the fashion industry required, plus fluency
in Japanese, Spanish, and other European Languages valued.
Excellent salary, free accommodation, and other fringe benefits.
Write with full CV to Ms. Marjory Thomson, Human Resources
Manager, TIM & PAM Fashion, P.O Box 455, Springfield Il, 89749.
You can also find ads like this one on the Internet
Job Profile
Job Number:
3828461
Job Title:
Date Posted:
WEBSITE DEVELOPER
2003/02/05
Salary:
BASED ON EXPERIENCE
Experience:
Location:
PART-TIME/ PERMANENT/ DESIGN AND DEVELOP WEB SITES/ MIN. 2 YEARS

OF COLLEGE
WINDSOR
Employer:
DIGITAL IMAGING STUDIO AND DESIGN
Contact:
APPLY BY FAX OR MAIL Address:

1864 WYANDOTTE STREET EAST WINDSOR
ONT
N8Y 1E3
FAX:(519) 254-8040
35
Richmond Recruitment
Merchants House Merchants Quay Dublin 8

Tel: +353-1-679 6266
www.richmond.ie:
Fax: +353-1-679 6442
Are you looking for an opportunity to join a dynamic team in an exclusive setting?
Email: naasjobs@richmond.ie
Excellent opportunity to live in a vibrant and expanding town. Our client, a leading
Country Club near Naas, are looking to recruit an Assistant Restaurant Manager for
their award winning dinning room.
Ref no
IJ- NIJ42190
Title:
Assistant Restaurant Manager 4* Hotel
Date:
24 Jan 2003
Date last updated by recruiter:
Location:
Kildare
Job type:
04 Feb 2003
Salary:
Additional benefits:
Permanent Full-Time
Role(s):
See description
That best describe this job
Assistant Manage
Minimum experience required: Restaurant Manager
Role:
Restaurant Supervisor
2 - 3 Years
2 yrs exp Dynamic, Eager, shows enthusiasm
Day to day running of the restaurant
Requirements:
Manage 2 assistants, hostess, wine waiter and 10

waiters
Overseeing the running of the floor
Sole responsibility for the restaurant when the
Manager is not there
Salary:
2 yrs experience in a similar role

Must have Hotel Experience from Grade 4 star up
Friendly, professional, neat appearance, efficient,
capable of dealing with people at all levels,
Capable of working on your own initiative
Will be working as part of a team
For immediate interview please

forward your CV to
Salary will range from 20k upwards with living in
Some interesting sites to look for a job abroad
facilities. Neg. Salary for non-live in.
www.headhunter.net/JobSeeker http://www.jobpilot.com/index.phtml
www.jobware.com/
naasjobs@richmond.ie
36
Cover / Application Letters

If you are looking for a job you should include a presentation or cover letter to accompany
your CV. This letter has to be very neat and clear and sufficiently attractive so that the person who is
going to employ you feels interested in reading your CV in the first place and meeting you personally for
an interview too.
In this type of letter, you have to mention the most relevant aspects of your studies and working
experience. You should also make reference to some personal details such as hobbies or interests.
In general, a cover letter should include the following sections:
Address
On the top right hand corner, you do not usually write your name before your address, as it
will be repeated more than two or three times (in your CV, when you sign and if your signature is
not legible, under it). However if you write your name it is not incorrect.
Example:
4, St. James Sq. London, N1 4BQ England
JOHN F. TERENCY
1876, Comstock Avenue
Los Angeles, CA, 90024-5320
USA
In the top centre (American style)
Then, on the top left hand side of the sheet, you have to write the name of the
person you are writing to (if you know it), his/her title, the company (if any) and
his/her/its address, as you can see here:
Mr. Peter Whinstly

Sales Manager
Rachel Cosmetics, Ltd.
90, Carnation St.
San Francisco, CA. 98776
In case of not knowing the persons name, you can write the + the title of the job
he or she has.
The Sales Manager,
37
Date
On the right, under the same address and on the line below.
In British English, the date is written as in Spanish, with the day, the month and
then the year. Pay attention to the spelling of the months, as you have to begin with a
capital letter, while in Spanish we do not.
10.10. 99 or 10 October 1999 (it is read as The tenth of October nineteen ninetynine, although the and of are not written)
You can also use the ordinal numbers for the date:
10th October 2004
By the way, 1997 is read nineteen ninety seven, but 2004 two thousand four.
In American English, the month is first, then the day and finally the year. So, the first
day of May 2004 will be written this way:
5.1.04 or May 1st 2004
Salutation
Dear Sir/Madam (if you do not know the name of the person or his/her title).
The Sales Manager (if you only know his position in the company). Dear Mr Jones (If
you know his name). In British English you cannot write a full stop after Mr; Ms (not
specifying if she is married or single). Miss (single lady) or Mrs (married lady) but in
American English this full stop has to appear: Mr. Mrs. Miss. Ms.
The introductory paragraph which explains the reasons why you are applying for the
job and by what means you have found out about the offer.
I wish to apply for the position of
In answer to your advertisement in. X newspaper / magazine / web site/ etc.
I am writing to apply for the post of/position
Dont forget to use the same kind of language as in the advertisement when referring
to the job type. For example, if they are looking for flight attendants do not mention in
your letter the word air-hostess.
Make reference to your academic background and professional experience that make you think you
could be the right candidate for the position offered.
I hold a Degree in Philology from the UNED University in Madrid Im a Bachelor in Medicine I have
read Medicine; I have studied Medicine at Oxford University; I earned a first in Chemistry from
Cambridge in 2002; Since 1990 I have worked for IBM...; My background is in Law and Foreign
Languages; I have been working in this field for the last twenty years.
15
38
Especially highlight the relation between your experience and knowledge and the requirements of the
job on offer.
Therefore, I would be a suitable candidate for the job you are offering.
Show your interest for a future interview and offer the possibility of them contacting you in case they
need more information about a specific point.
Do not hesitate to contact me for any further information you may require
Please find enclosed my CV
I look forward to hearing from you in due course
Valediction
Yours faithfully, (In case you do not know the persons name)
Yours sincerely,
Truly yours,
Signature
At the bottom of the page on the left or in the centre. In Spain, many people sign only with their first
name. In English, this is never acceptable. You sign with first name or initials and surname. The English
signature is more legible as it often lacks the supplementary circles or lines which cover the names.
Mention the CV you are sending with the letter and / or the references you are endorsing.
British model
4, Ball Pond Place London, N1 4BQ England
London, 4 January 2003
Mr Peter Whinstly
Sales Manager
Rachel Cosmetics, Ltd.
90, Carnation St.
San Francisco, CA. 98776
Dear Sir,
I am writing to apply for the position of salesperson, which you advertised in The Guardian on the 20
December 2002.
I am 25 years old. I hold a degree in Marketing (London University) and have been working as a trainee
marketing assistant in two small advertisement companies in Manchester and Reims (France) for the
last three years.
15
39
I have moved back to the United Kingdom and I would like to work for a good company where I have the
chance to develop my career. I would be particularly glad to join the prestigious team of the Rachel
Cosmetics.
I enclose a recent photograph of myself and I would be glad to attend an interview should you wish to
consider me for the vacancy.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours faithfully,
Martha Smith
Enclosed: CV and references.
American model
1876, Comstock Avenue
Los Angeles, CA, 90024-5320
April 8, 2002
Mr. James Jennson
Human Resources Manager
Delia Hotels and Resorts
P.O. Box 233
Springfield, Il. 89749
Dear Mr. Jennson,
Ms. Dolly Easygow, a Hotel Manager working for your chain at Kobe (Japan), has informed me that Delia
Hotels is looking for a person with a solid background in the hotel industry, who is able to speak several
foreign languages fluently and would like to be based in Southern Italy.
I believe that my enclosed rsum will demonstrate that I have the characteristics and experience you
seek. In addition, Id like to mention how my work experience in the past decade makes me a
particularly suitable candidate for the job.
After having completed my major in Tourism Industry in Geneva (Switzerland), I took several postgraduate courses in France and Italy, where I had the opportunity to practice my French and Italian. I
worked as a trainee in these countries for the Wonderful Hotels of the World chain. I have been a hotel
manager since 1994, working for the HM Group in San Francisco, and I am very familiar with all areas of
the Hotel industry. I think my profile is suitable, as I possess the professional experience you are seeking,
Joining the prestigious Delia Hotel Chain will give me the opportunity to grow both professionally and
personally, and I am confident I would be able to meet the expectations required for the position.
I would welcome the opportunity to discuss these and other qualifications with you. If you are
interested, please contact me any afternoon at (552) 242-0745 after 16:00 p.m. or feel free to leave a
message.
I look forward to meeting with you. Sincerely yours,
15
40

John Terency

Enclosure: Rsum and letters of recommendation
Andrew Norton
Enclosure: resume

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS
Now you should think about what you have learnt in this unit and what you need to revise. Please, tick
() the appropriate box.
Vocabulary
I can do it well
I need to improve
I know how to use the
I know the suitable
I can do it well
I need to improve
I can do it well
I need to improve
suitable vocabulary to
write formal
documents.
vocabulary related to
professions and jobs

Grammar
I know the layout of

formal letters
I know the structure of
memos,
emails
or
reports

Reading
I
understand
related
texts
to
the
professional world.

15
41
Writing
I can do it well
I need to improve
I know how to answer

formal documents such
as formal letters.
I can organize lay outs
and
structures
of
paragraphs in formal o
scientific writing.
Bibliography
Coe, N. Robin Rycroft and Pauline Ernest. Writing Skills. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press.
Donahue Latulippe, L. 1987. Developing Academic Reading Skills. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Jolly, D. 1991. Writing Tasks. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press.
Littlejohn, A. 1994.Writing. Cambridge Skills for fluency.Cambridge University Press.
15
42

Each unit will be divided into two parts: use of language and contents.
The content part consists of reading and writing practice in order to improve your reading
comprehension and formal academic English. This will involve reading different types of texts, linking
words, expressions, introductions and conclusions.
In the use of language part, you will always have a theory section that consists of a short reminder of
basic aspects of grammar, and a practice section with short exercises to check that you have
understood the theory. All this practice will also work as a self-evaluation section.
LESSON 4
The role of Government: Public Policies
General objectives
In this lesson, you will learn how different Governments react to public policies. You will also learn how to
express ideas related to these matters.
Specific objectives
1.
Describe public policies in different countries.
2.
Review basic grammar aspects related to the main general objectives: present and past continuous.
3.
Use the present and past continuous to express opinions about facts that were happening in the past
and are going on now.
43
PART 1. READING AND WRITING SKILLS.

1. INTRODUCTION.
According to the Johns Hopkins Institute for Policy Studies (http://ips.jhu.edu/pub/public-policy),
public policy is the action taken by government to address a particular public issue. Local, state,
federal, and international government organizations all craft and implement public policy to protect
[...] their populations. Virtually all political issues can be addressed by public policy: crime, food
security, environmental protection, education, health, social services, et cetera. The public policy
process can be structured in stages or steps: (1) Agenda setting (definition of the problem); (2)
Formulation (translation of the agenda item in a decision); (3) Implementation (enforcement of the
policy); (4) Evaluation (assessment of the impacts of the policy). Thus, public policymaking implies
deciding what is and is not a problem, choosing which problems to solve, and deciding on solutions.
The public policy process includes many actors (governments, political parties and interest groups),
who define the problems differently and support distinct solutions. They often have to negotiate and
agree on decisions taking into consideration institutional constraints.
The timeline for a new policy to be put in place can range from weeks to several years, depending on
political and economic circumstances as well as on the complexity of the issue. Public policy is
nowadays a significant subfield of political science.
ACTIVITIES
READING PRACTICE 1
1.
Read The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith
2.
Read the text Economic governance: the organization of cooperation - https://goo.gl/gMyK25
Read this extract from Robert Dahls seminal book Who Governs (1961)
In a political system where nearly every adult may vote but where knowledge, wealth, social
position, access to officials, and other resources are unequally distributed, who actually governs? []
The question is peculiarly relevant to the United States and to Americans. In the first place, Americans
expose democratic beliefs with a fervency and unanimity that have been a regular source of
astonishment to foreign observers [... such as] de Tocqueville and Bryce [].
In the political system of the patrician oligarchy, political resources were marked by a cumulative
inequality: when one individual was much better off than another in one resource, such as wealth, he
was usually better off in almost every other resource social standing, legitimacy, control over
religious and educational institutions, knowledge, office. In the political system of today, inequalities
in political resources remain, but they tend to be noncumulative. []
44
First, among all the persons who influence a decision, some do so more directly than others in the
sense that they are closer to the stage where concrete alternatives are initiated or vetoed in an
explicit and immediate way. []
Second, the relationship between leaders and citizens in a pluralistic democracy is frequently
reciprocal: leaders influence the decisions of constituents, but the decisions of leaders are also
determined in part by what they think are, will be or have been the preferences of their constituents.
[]
In American politics, as in all other societies, control over decisions is unevenly distributed; neither
individuals nor groups are political equals.
Questions:
1.
Robert Dahl is one of the best known political scientists writing on democratic government.
What is his main intellectual concern in Who Governs?

2.
Why wouldnt he accept the answer Its only the government which governs?
3.
What is the difference between governing in a patrician oligarchy and a democracy?
4.
The government depends on individual-based decisions. Decisions are very much related with
modern economics. Can you explain why?
5.
The policymakers implement public policies based on their potential voters, rather than on public
benefits. Comment this sentence critically.
Read the press release of the Royal Swedish Academy of Science in relation to the award of the Nobel Prize
2009 to Elinor Ostrom and Oliver E. Williamson.
Elinor Ostrom has demonstrated how common property can be successfully managed by user
associations. Oliver Williamson has developed a theory where business firms serve as structures for
conflict resolution. Over the last three decades, these seminal contributions have advanced economic
governance research from the fringe to the forefront of scientific attention.
Economic transactions take place not only in markets, but also within firms, associations, households,
and agencies. Whereas economic theory has comprehensively illuminated the virtues and limitations
of markets, it has traditionally paid less attention to other institutional arrangements. The research of
Elinor Ostrom and Oliver Williamson demonstrates that an economic analysis can shed light on most
forms of social organization.
Elinor Ostrom has challenged the conventional wisdom that common property is poorly managed and
should be either regulated by central authorities or privatized. Based on numerous studies of usermanaged fish stocks, pastures, woods, lakes, and groundwater basins, Ostrom concludes that the
outcomes are, more often than not, better than predicted by standard theories. She observes that
resource users frequently develop sophisticated mechanisms for decision-making and rule
45
enforcement to handle conflicts of interest, and she characterizes the rules that promote successful
outcomes.
Oliver Williamson has argued that markets and hierarchical organizations, such as firms, represent
alternative governance structures which differ in their approaches to resolving conflicts of interest.
The drawback of markets is that they often entail haggling and disagreement. The drawback of firms
is that authority, which mitigates contention, can be abused. Competitive markets work relatively well
because buyers and sellers can turn to other trading partners in case of dissent. But when market
competition is limited, firms are better suited for conflict resolution than markets. A key prediction of
Williamson's theory, which has also been supported empirically, is, therefore, that the propensity of
economic agents to conduct their transactions inside the boundaries of a firm increases along with
the relationship-specific features of their assets.
Questions:
1.
How can Ostroms and Williamsons theoretical contributions be used to make an argument
against too much government intervention?
2.
Are Ostroms and Williamsons theories virtually the same? How would you distinguish them
from one another?
3.
Ostrom and Williamson were awarded with the Noble Prize in Economics because of the study of
out-of-the-market activities. The concept of market is, however, critical for the understanding of
economics. How can you explain that the Swedish Academy gave these two scholars this
prestigious award?
4.
Economic analysis can shed light on political and social phenomena. What could be the possible
reasons behind this? Relate your answer with Ostrom and Williamsons award.
ACTIVITIES
1. Go to http://goo.gl/pABre2 and read the extract from David Lodges novel Nice Work, and study
the Comprehension section in it. Then go to the section Manufacturing and services and answer
the questions.
2. Read the following article from The Economist, a British weekly news publication targeting highly
educated readers and supporting free markets and free trade.
Spains government
Another blow
The ruling conservative party is shaken by a damaging corruption scandal
A chorizo is a spicy Spanish sausage, best accompanied by a glass of Rioja, though often sliced and
served in a doughy bocadillo, or sandwich. Chorizo is also slang for a swindler or cheat. At protests
46
against Mariano Rajoys government demonstrators have taken to wave loaves aloft and shouting:
There isnt enough bread for so many chorizos!
Now the allegations have touched Mr Rajoy directly. Never, ever have I received or handed out black
money, he insisted on January 21st. But revelations from Spains two main newspapers, El Pas and
El Mundo, claim otherwise. They allege that slush money flowed liberally through the headquarters of
Mr Rajoys Popular Party (PP) for at least two decades. Some of it supposedly went straight into the
pockets of the partys leaders. Envelopes with cash were handed out as salary top-ups to certain top
party officials, said Jorge Tras Sagnier, a former PP deputy and the only whistleblower so far to go
on the record.
The allegations, although denied by almost everyone who has been implicated, have turned into a
full-blown scandal. The most serious evidence, contained in secret ledgers purportedly kept by the
partys chief accountant, show Mr Rajoy receiving 25,000 ($34,000) a year for a decade. On February
3rd, standing by Angela Merkel, Germanys chancellor, at a press conference in Berlin, a nervous Mr
Rajoy protested that except for a few bits the ledger entries were false.
The pivotal character in the scandal is Luis Brcenas, a party administrator for two decades, whom the
party made a senator in 2004 and Mr Rajoy himself promoted to treasurer in 2008. Court began
investigating Mr Brcenas four years ago amid allegations that he was among the beneficiaries of a
backhander scheme run by local party members in Madrid and Valencia. Mr Rajoy stood by his man
and the PP paid for his defence. But Mr Brcenas eventually stood down, as both treasurer and
senator. Rumours spread that he had taken away incriminating documents.
The bombshell came last month when court investigators discovered that Mr Brcenas had a 22m
Swiss bank account. He also admitted using tax amnesty last year to declare 10m of hidden money.
The 14-page ledger, published by El Pas, is said by some handwriting experts to be in Mr Brcenass
hand. It appears to show that much of the PPs secret fund came from construction magnates who
received public contracts and helped inflate Spains disastrous real-estate bubble. Regular cash-inhand payments to the PPs leaders supposedly carried on even while they held public office,
continuing until 2009, five years after Mr Rajoy became leader.
Some recipients of loans and other payments acknowledged having received money, but said that
they were entirely legal. They include Po Garca-Escudero, the senate president. Press reports agreed
that the slush fund was shut down several years ago. For the rest, the evidence is either confusing, of
unknown provenance or both. Certainly, Mr Rajoy and the rest of his party deny it all. The prime
ministers denial of self-enrichment deserves credence, as this is the first suggestion that he is
anything less than squeaky clean.
On the other hand, El Mundo has quoted five unnamed sources who spoke of regular cash-in-hand
payments to party leaders. And voters are beginning to latch on to the idea that Mr Rajoy ran a party
which hid, distributed and lied about dirty money. Four out of five Spaniards believe the PPs
leadership should resign en bloc. Just over half want a snap general election.
47
Will the scandal bring down Mr Rajoys government? It has a comfortable parliamentary majority and
three years until the general election. Spains courts proceed slowly. They have only just started
hearing the trial related to a ring of world-ranking cyclists and other athletes who allegedly doped
themselves at the Madrid clinic of a doctor first arrested in 2006.
Yet the damage to Spain cannot be measured by the fate of a single party at the next general election.
Spaniards have lost respect for their politicians. Other parties, especially the Convergence and Union
coalition, which runs Catalonia, are knee-deep in allegations of corruption. The opposition Socialists
have cases rumbling, too, especially in places where mayors and real-estate developers seemingly fell
into a toxic embrace. Polls show that 96% of Spaniards believe many politicians are on the take.
Support for the main parties has tumbled over the past year, as a double-dip recession deepened, and
unemployment climbed to 26%. The kings son-in-law, Iaki Urdangarin, and his business partner
were recently told to post a 8.1m bail after being investigated for corruption charges that also
involve regional PP governments.
A recent poll gave the two big parties, which have run Spain for the past three decades, only 46% of
the vote. The political settlement Spaniards agreed on as they emerged from dictatorship in the
1970s gave huge power to the parties to solidify democracy. This may have backfired. Having
created the monster, we are being devoured by it, says Antonio Argandoa at IESE, a business
school.
In 2011, the countrys legion of indignados took over city squares, shouting: They dont represent
us. They have even more reason to be indignant now.
Activities and questions
1.
Summarize the content of this article in less than 100 words using the following words and
expressions:
Black/dirty/slush money
Corruption
Scandal
Salary top-ups
Cash-in-hand payments
Public opinion polls
Newspaper revelations
2.
How does corruption affect the governments legitimacy to support public policies that imply
social expenditure cutbacks or reductions?
3.
There are several dimensions (ethical, legal, social, sociological, political) affected by
corruption. Can you describe from an economic point of view what corruption is and some of its
consequences in terms of incentives?
48
4. Answer these questions:

a. What kind of translation does the author give for chorizo?
b. Whats the singular of loaves?
c. Give a synonym of hand out.
d. What is a ledger?
5. Note how Spanish words are reproduced in italics and in the original language. This is how foreign
words are included in another language texts.
6. Look for follow-up references on this issue in The Economist website - http://goo.gl/8tBPVg
7. Write a three-paragraph comment on these facts in relation with the present Spanish situation of
reduction in public policy spending.
PART 1. USE OF LANGUAGE

Remember that the Language that you are going to practice with in each unit is just a review or
reminder of the general grammar that you already know, but related to the topic of each lesson.

PRESENT AND PAST CONTINUOUS OR PRESENT AND PAST PROGRESSIVE.
We use the present continuous:

-
To talk about temporary events and actions in progress at the moment of speaking: The train is
coming.
To talk about repeated events over a specific period of time: The trains arent stopping at the
station this week.
To talk about trends and changing situations: The cinema is getting really expensive.
To talk about near future: I am meeting some friends after work.
Time expressions.
We use the present continuous tense with time expressions such as now, at the
moment, currently, today, this week, nowadays, etc.
49
We use the past continuous:

-
To express that the action was in progress in the past, but it has already finished: They were
laughing at the situation.
Routine action that happened in the past: Yesterday morning, from 8.00 to 9.00 I was running.
It is normally used with the past simple to explain that two actions happened at the
same time. An action in the past continuous was in progress at the time the action in the
past simple happened: When I arrived, everyone was laughing.
v Practice 1
Make sentences with the following words. Use the present continuous form.
1. for/look/I/glasses/my
2. you/read/kind/what/book/of?
3. Pamela/why/cry?
4. you/work/Jennifer/as/for/company/same/the?
5. Sunday/have/I/party/a/next
v Practice 2
Choose the correct verb form: Simple Past or Past Continuous
1. We at the breakfast table when the doorbell...
a) were sitting/rang
b) sat/rang
c) was sitting/were ringing
d) were sitting/was ringing
2) He . a lot of friendly people while he .. in California.

a) was meeting/was working
b) met/was working
c) met/worked d) were meeting/were working
3) When they .. the museum, the sun .. .

a) was leaving/shone
b) were leaving/was shining
c) left/was shining
d) left/shone
4) The students .. cards when the teacher . in.

a) were playing/came
b) played/was coming
c) was playing/was coming
d) played/ came
5) When I . the door, it . .

a) opened/rained
b) were opening/rained c) was opening/rained
d) opened/was raining

http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/presentcontinuous.html
http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/pastcontinuous.html
http://www.tolearnenglish.com/exercises/exercise-english-2/exercise-english-50862.php
http://www.ompersonal.com.ar/omexercise/tiemposverbales/unit12.htm
50
FREQUENCY ADVERBS
Always = 100% of the time
Frequently = about 90% of the time
Usually = about 80% of the time
Often = about 70% of the time
Sometimes = about 50% of the time
Occasionally = about 40% of the time
Seldom = about 20% of the time
Rarely = about 10% of the time
Never = 0% of the time
(Note: The percentages here are rough estimates only)
POSITION OF FREQUENCY ADVERBS

-
Frequency Adverbs come BEFORE most of the verbs.

Ex: I always help the other students.
Ex: My brother usually comes late to school.
Ex: Jenny and Susan often study in the library after class.
Frequency Adverbs come AFTER forms of the verb TO BE (am, is, are, was, were, etc.).
Ex: I am always a good student.
Ex: My brother is usually late to school.
Ex: Jenny and Susan are often in the library after class.
v PRACTICE 1
Write the frequency adverb in the right position:
1. He listens to the radio (often)
2. They write letters by hand (sometimes)
3. We are on time (always)
4. My mother gets angry (never)
5. She is smiling at work (always)
5. My children are hungry (often)
6. I drink milk for breakfast (usually)
7. I smoke when I am with my kids (seldom)
8. I go to the mountains (frequently)
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v Links for extra practice and self-evaluation.

http://www.tolearnenglish.com/english_lessons/adverbs-of-frequency-exercises
http://www.language-worksheets.com/adverbs-frequency-elementary.html
http://perso.wanadoo.es/autoenglish/gr.frequ.i.htm
Bibliography
Reinicke, W. (1998) Global Public Policy: Governing without Government. Massachussets: The Brooking
Institution.
Wade, R. (1990) Governing the Market. New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

Now you should think about what you have learned in this unit and what you need to revise. Please, tick ()
the appropriate box.
Vocabulary
I can do it well
I need to improve
I can do it well
I need to improve
I can do it well
I need to improve
I know vocabulary
related to public policies
and government
Grammar
I know the difference
between present and
past continuous
I know what a frequency
adverb is and how to
insert them in sentences
Reading
I am able to understand
critical texts related to
public policies and
government
52
Writing
I can do it well
I need to improve
I am able to summarize
and write critical short
essays
EXTRA ACTIVITIES
-
Check the extra bibliography.
Complete the grammar and vocabulary exercises provided in the links.
53

Each unit will be divided into two parts: use of language and
contents.
o The content part consists of reading and writing practice in order to improve your formal
academic English. This will involve reading different types of texts, linking words,
expressions, introductions and conclusion.
o
reminder of basic aspects of grammar, and a practice section with short exercises to
check that you have understood the theory. All this practice will also work as a selfevaluation section.
TEXT 5
LANGUAGE STUDY
-
Future and present tenses revision.
Prefixes and suffixes
ACTIVITIES
Read the following text
AMERICAN AND BRITISH POLITICS

The following text (Contrast between the American and British Political Systems) is by Roger
Darlington, a sort of polymath who works for several different organizations in the United
Kingdom and is strongly interested in politics in general and British and American politics in
particular. He acknowledges that this script is somewhat oversimplified, but it aims at clearly
emphasizing the most enlightening differences between the American and British political
systems. Roger Darlington manages his own web site, where you can find his reflections on the
subject (http://www.rogerdarlington.me.uk/USvsUK.html) [last modified by the author on 201603-06; retrieved on 2016-03-06].
54
Contrasts between the American and British Political Systems

by Roger Darlington
THE CONSTITUTION
Perhaps the most fundamental difference between the American and British political systems
is the constitution - or the lack of one. The United States has a written constitution as do the vast
majority of nation states. The UK does not have a single document called the constitution but
instead its constitutional provisions are scattered over various Acts of Parliament.
The American constitution is hard to change and, in current political circumstances, perhaps
impossible to change in any meaningful respect. The Equal Rights Amendment - which sought to
provide equal rights for women - failed and there has been no successful amendment of the US
Constitution - except for one technical measure - since 1971. What, for practical purposes,
constitutes the British Constitution - various Acts of Parliament - can be changed by a simple
majority in the legislature. For instance, the Coalition Government introduced fixed terms for the
House of Commons by passing the necessary legislation.
In the United States, political discourse frequently makes reference to the constitution typically Republicans arguing that Democratic initiatives are 'unconstitutional'. Besides the fact
that the UK does not have a constitution as such, it is rare for British politicians to argue that the
actions or proposals of their opponents are illegal or ultra vires.
A defining feature of the American constitution is the strict separation of the powers of the
executive, the legislature and the judiciary. The British political system has no such formal
separation of the powers - indeed one person is actually a member of all three arms of
government, since the Lord Chancellor is a member of the Cabinet (the executive), a member of
the House of Commons or of the House of Lords (the legislature) and the head of the legal system
(the judiciary).
In the United States, because of the separation of the powers, no Cabinet member is allowed
to be a member of the Congress. In Britain, every Government Minister must be a member of one
of the two Houses of Parliament and, if he or she is not already in the Parliament, then he or she
is made a peer (that is, a member of the House of Lords).
Although the American political system has a strict 'separation of the powers' meaning that
nobody can be a member of more than one of the three arms of government, members of the
Supreme Court (the judiciary) are nominated by one of the other arms of government (the
President) and approved by one part of another arm of government (the Senate, which is part of
the legislature). In the UK, almost all members of the upper chamber of the legislature (the House
of Lords) are effectively chosen by the political party leaders in the lower chamber of the
legislature (the House of Commons).
THE EXECUTIVE
The most obvious - and certainly the most visible - of the differences between the American
and British political systems is that the USA is a presidential system, with the apex of power in a
directly-elected President, whereas the UK is a parliamentary system, with the Prime Minister
holding office and power only so long as he or she commands a majority of votes in the House of
55
Commons.
In theory then, the American President has much more power than the British Prime Minister he is the commander-in-chief and has the power to issue executive orders which have the
full force of law. However, the constitutional system of 'checks and balances' seriously
circumscribes the power of the US President who often finds it really difficult to push
legislation through Congress. By contrast, a British Prime Minister usually heads a
government with a majority of seats in the House of Commons and the ability to pass almost
any legislation that he wishes.
In the United States, the transition period between the election of a new president and
that person's inauguration is two and half months. In Britain, the changeover of Prime
Ministers is virtually immediate - within hours of the election result, one person leaves 10
Downing Street and within the following hour the successor enters it.
In the US, government is highly partisan with the President appointing to the
executive colleagues who are almost exclusively from within his own party. In the UK,
government is normally equally partisan with all Ministers coming from the governing
party but, in 2010, exceptionally the Conservatives were required to go into a coalition with
the Liberal Democrats and grant them 17 ministerial positions.
In the United States, the incoming President and his aides make a total of around
7,000 political appointments. In Britain, the Prime Minister appoints around 100 members
of the Government and members of the Cabinet each appoint a couple of Special Advisers, so the
total number of political appointments is around 150.
In the United States, all the most senior appointments are subject to confirmation
hearings and votes in the Senate. In Britain, there is no procedural method of challenging the
appointment of a particular Minister although, in theory, the Opposition could move a vote of no
confidence in the appropriate House of Parliament.
In the USA, the Secretary of State is (arguably) the most senior member of the Cabinet and in
many countries would be known as the Foreign Secretary. In Britain, the political head of
each Government Department is called Secretary of State and so almost every member of the
Cabinet is a Secretary of State.
In the United States, the incoming President's inaugural address is a highly public
and prestigious affair. In Britain, the new Prime Minister simply sets out his or her vision
for the country in a speech to the House of Commons on the subject of the Queen's Speech
which opens the new session of Parliament.
In the United States, the President each year gives a high profile 'State of the Union Address'.
In Britain, there is no equivalent occasion, the nearest event being the Prime
Minister's introduction to the Government's legislative intentions for the next year or so
after the State Opening of Parliament each session.
As a result of the separation of the powers, the US President does not attend or
address Congress except for the annual 'State of the Union Address'. Since there is no
separation of the powers in the UK system, the Prime Minister is a member of one of the
Houses of Parliament - these days, invariably the House of Commons - and regularly
addresses the Commons, most notably once a week for Prime Minister's Question Time
(PMQ). When the President addresses Congress, he is given a respectful hearing. When the
Prime Minister addresses Parliament, he is barracked and interrupted and Prime Minister's
Question Time in particular is a gladiatorial affair.
56
THE LEGISLATURE
In the USA, both houses of the legislature - the Senate and the House of Representatives - are
directly elected. In the UK, the House of Commons is directly elected, but the House of Lords
is largely appointed (making it unique in the democratic world).
In the States, as a consequence of the separation of the powers, all legislation is introduced by
a member of Congress, so even the signature legislation attributed to President Obama
on healthcare reform was actually introduced by a Congressman (Democratic member of the
House of Representatives Charles Rangel). In total contrast, almost all legislation in Britain is
introduced by the Government with only a very small number of Bills - usually on social issues
with minimal implications for the public purse - introduced by individual Members of
Parliament (they are called Private Members' Bills).
Senate rules permit what is called a filibuster when a senator, or a series of senators,
can speak for as long as they wish and on any topic they choose, unless a supermajority of threefifths of the Senate (60 Senators, if all 100 seats are filled) brings debate to a close by invoking
what is called cloture (taken from the French term for closure). There is no such filibustering
provision in either House of the British Parliament.
In both the House of Representatives and the Senate, the majority party chairs all committees
which have considerable power. In the two chambers of the British legislature,
committee chairpersonships are allocated between the different parties, roughly in proportion to
the size of the party in the House, and the committees are much less powerful than in the US
Congress.
In the House of Representatives, the Speaker - chosen by the members of the largest party
- has considerable power and acts in a highly partisan fashion. In the House of Commons,
the Speaker - chosen by the whole House - only has procedural responsibilities and acts in a
non-partisan manner (usually he is not opposed in a General Election).
THE JUDICIARY
In America, the Supreme Court is an intensely political institution: its members are appointed
by the President on a partisan basis and its decisions are often highly political and
highly controversial. By contrast, in Britain the Supreme Court is not appointed on a political basis
and, like all British courts, avoids making decisions which it regards as proper to
politicians and Parliament.
POLITICAL PARTIES
In the USA, the Republicans are the Right of Centre party and the Democrats are the Left of
Centre party. In the UK, the Conservatives are the Right of Centre party and Labour is the Left of
Centre party. However, the 'centre' in American political is markedly to the Right of the 'centre' in
British or most of European politics. This means that the policies espoused by Tea
Party candidates would not be supported by any political party in Britain, while the policies
supported by an American politician like Bernie Sanders, the Independent senator from Vermont,
would be mainstream in the British Labour Party.
In the USA, there is no centre party in this sense of one positioned politically between the
Republicans and the Democrats. In Britain, there is a Liberal Democrat Party which
ideologically
57
sees itself as between Conservative and Labour.

In the USA, there are only two parties represented in Congress and both are federal
parties; there is no political party that only seeks votes in one state or a selection of states. In the
UK, as well as political parties that seek votes throughout the entire country, there are
nationalist political parties that field candidates only in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
respectively.
In the United States, the Democratic and Republican Parties absolutely dominate federal and
state elections with independents securing only small proportions of the vote. In the United
Kingdom, the two main political parties - Conservative and Labour - win a smaller and declining
share of the total vote, with a growing share being taken by the likes of the Liberal Democrat
Party and the UK Independence Party at national level and by the likes of the Scottish and Welsh
Nationalist Parties at the devolved level.
In American politics, the two main political parties are loose coalitions with individual
candidates or Congressmen adopting varying positions on many issues (although, in recent years,
the Tea Party movement has forced Republican politicians to proclaim more consistently
conservative positions). In British politics, all political parties have much tighter rein on the
policies promoted by candidates and the voting by elected representatives. (In the House of
Commons, each week a 'whip' is issued which sets out how the Member of Parliament should
vote on each major issue before the legislature that week).
The major parties in the USA have a large-scale congress every four years to choose their
candidate for the forthcoming presidential election and ostensibly determine the policy platform
of that candidate. All the political parties in the UK hold annual conferences where they debate
the policy positions to be adopted by the party, but these conferences do not choose the party
leader (which is done through a separate and broader process varying from party to party).
In illustrations and promotional material, the Democratic Party is often represented as a
donkey, while the Republican Party is featured as an elephant - symbols that date back to the
1870s. British political parties regularly change their symbols and very few electors have any idea
what they are.
ELECTIONS AND CAMPAIGNS
In the USA, the term of a President, Senator or Congressman is known precisely as four years,
six years and two years respectively and the dates of the elections are fixed. In the UK, the term of
members of the House of Commons - and therefore of the Government - is legally a maximum of
five years but traditionally a Prime Minister could call a general election whenever he or she
wished and it has been considered 'cowardly' to wait the full five years and so the election has
been more typically after around four years. However, the current Coalition Government has
enacted legislation to provide for a fixed five-year term except for special circumstances.
Candidates for the Presidency, the Senate and the House of Representatives - plus a host of
other positions below federal level - in the US political system are chosen by a system of primaries
in which (usually) all registered Democratic and Republican voters participate in the choice of the
candidate for 'their' party in the main election. Britain does not have a system of primaries and
the selection of candidates is normally confined to actual members of the relevant political party
in the constituency in question.
The filling of vacancies varies between and within the two political systems. The US
58
Constitution states that special elections will be held to fill vacant Senate seats, but that
state legislatures may empower the governor of the state to fill the seat by an appointment
between the time that it becomes vacant and the time that the winner of the special election is
certified. Most states allow the governors to pick the replacement who serves until the
next general election when the voters decide who will serve the remainder of the term.
Several states, however, require that a special election be held with the governor certifying
the winner as the Senate member. By contrast, the Constitution requires that governors call
special elections to fill a vacancy in the House of Representatives. They are usually held
within three-six months of a vacancy because the entire election process must be
followed: nominating conventions or primary elections plus a general election. In the UK,
vacancies in the House of Commons are filled by a by-election in the relevant constituency
which is usually held within three or four months. Since members of the House of Lords were
not elected in the first place, there is no by-election when a peer resigns or dies.
The American general election effectively lasts almost two years, starting with the
declaration of candidates for the primaries. The British general election lasts around four weeks.
American elections depend on vast sums to purchase broadcasting time. Parties
and candidates in British elections cannot buy broadcasting time.
As a consequence of the Supreme Court decision in the Citizens United case, effectively there
are no limitations on expenditure in American political elections. There are statutory
limitations on expenditure for all elections in the UK.
In the States, almost 40 million television viewers watched the Convention speeches of Barack
Obama and Sarah Palin in 2008. No party conference speech in Britain would attract more than a
few million.
American presidential candidates have been taking part in televised debates since 1960. British
political leaders only agreed to televised debates for the first time in the General Election of 2010.
The first televised debate between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney in 2012 attracted
almost 70 million viewers. Even allowing for the difference in population, the televised debates
between the British party leaders do not attract the same level of interest.
In an American presidential election, turnout is typically around 50% (although in the
2008 election it was over 60%) and, in the case of mid-term Congressional elections, turnout
typically falls to around 40%. In the UK, turnout in General Elections used to be around 75%
but more recently has fallen to around 60%.
In the USA, blue signifies states held by the Democratic Party, the more left-wing. In the
UK, blue identifies the Conservative Party, the more right-wing.
In the USA, red signifies states held by the Republican Party, the more right-wing. In the
UK, red identifies the Labour Party, the more left-wing.
In an American general election, the states that might go to one party or the other are known
as 'purple states' or 'swing states' or simply 'competitive'. In a British general
election, constituencies that might go to one party or another are called 'marginal
constituencies' (where three parties are each in contention - which is not unknown - it is called 'a
three-way marginal').
American general elections are often so raw and vitriolic that candidates make spurious claims
about themselves or their opponents that need to be analysed for the truth and whole web sites
are devoted to fact checking. While British politicians are certainly not beyond exaggeration
or
59
obfuscation, they are rarely guilty of the blatant truth-twisting that one sadly sees in the US.
In the United States, certain families have provided a number of very promiment
politicians: such as the Kennedys and Clintons for the Democrats and the Bushes for the
Republicans. Furthermore a significant number of members of Congress are relatives of
someone who has previously served in Congress or high office. Name recognition is very
important in American elections. By contrast, in Britain sons (and sometimes daughters) have
followed fathers (or even mothers) into the House of Commons but less frequently and less
prominently than is the case in the USA. In British elections, the party is usually much more
important than the individual.
STYLE OF POLITICS
In America, the term 'conservative' means really right-wing, especially on social issues.
In Britain the name 'Conservative' means mainstream right-wing, especially on economic issues.
In America, the term 'liberal' generally means quite left-wing. In Britain, the name
'Liberal' means broadly centrist.
In the States, it is considered necessary for a politician to emphasize their patriotism. In
Britain, it is assumed that anyone who wants to run for national office cares for his or her country.
In the United States, the flag holds special place in the political heart of the nation, people sing
to it while placing a hand over their heart, and many people would like to make burning it
a criminal offence. In Britain the flag is rarely prominent at political events.
In the United States, since 9/11 most politicians wear a pin depicting the stars and stripes.
In Britain, no politician would wear a badge displaying the union jack.
So many political speeches in the US include the phrase "my fellow Americans". In
British political terminology, there is simply no equivalent phrase.
In the States, virtually every political speech seems to mention God, especially in the final call
"God bless America". In Britain, no politician mentions God and none would think of inviting Him
to show a special preference for his or her nation state.
In the US, politicians frequently refer to their position on social issues like abortion
and homosexuality. A British politician would think it unnecessary and inappropriate to talk
about such issues unless asked.
In the US, politicians constantly talk about the problems and the aspirations of the
middle class. In the UK, politicians tend to talk more about the needs of the working class.
They mean something similar but the language is different because the perceptions are different.
In America, the working class is seen as the poor and most citizens perceive themselves as
middle-class or aspiring to be so. In Britain, the middle-class is seen as a comfortable minority
with the majority of the population perceiving themselves as working class.
Although taxes are never popular, the issue of taxation is much more emotive in
American politics than in British (or European) politics and the terms of debate on taxation are
much more hostile. The United States was born in a revolt against paying taxes and many
Republicans are against any tax increases and believe that low taxation stimulates economic
growth, whereas many British (and European) politicians see taxation as a social instrument as
well as a fiscal one with the power to bring about redistribution in society.
American political speeches do not tend to make much use of facts and figures (those of
former President Clinton tend to be an exception) but appeal more to broad values which do
not
60
lend themselves to quantification. Many British political speeches focus on practical issues
and use figures to highlight problems and make comparisons with the policies or the performance
of one's opponents.
In the States, there are currently some outstanding political speakers, led by Bill Clinton
and Barack Obama. In Britain, there is no politician who can be so inspirational, although Tony
Blair at his best came close (but he's gone). On the other hand, British politicians tend to
be better debaters because of the more confrontational style of discussion in the House of
Commons,
especially
Prime
Minister's
Questions.
In US political theory and discourse, there is a notion called 'American exceptionalism'. There
are several versions of this nebulous concept, perhaps the most common being that the
United States has a special 'superiority' in the world because of its history, size, wealth
and global dominance plus the 'sophistication' of its constitution and power of its
values such as individualism, innovation and entrepreneurship. Many American politicians refer
to the USA being "the greatest country on earth" or even "the greatest nation in history".
Although Britain fairly recently ruled over the largest empire in world history and has other
claims to 'greatness' - not least its political system and cultural reach - there is no concept in
British political discourse which compares to 'American exceptionalism'.
Part two: Use of language

In this lesson, we will learn to identify prefixes and suffixes. We will also revise the use of the
present tense when presenting or accounting for facts.
Prefixes and stems

A prefix is a letter or group of letters which can be added at the beginning of a word to make a
change of meaning.
The stem of a word carries its most basic meaning.
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Activity. Study the following groups of words, and try to work out what the general meaning of
the prefix in each case is.
aabadanticom-/condismis-/malprosyn-/symsuper-/ suprauni-
Apathy, amoral, atheist

Abandon, abdicate, abnormal
Advertisement, admit, advance
Antibiotic, antisocial, antipathy
Component, combine, conglomerate, competitive
Disappear, disadvantage, disapprove, discredit
Misleading, misbehave, mischance, mishandle, malformation
Promote, proclaim, propose, provide
Synthesis, sympathy
Superintendent, supranational
Unilateral, universal
(Adapted from OConnell, S., 1989:188 and Donahue, L., 1987)
2. Study the following stems and answer the questions.

Stems
bio
vis
cent
ben/bon
Meanings
life
see
hundred
good
Questions
1. Contraception
If conception is the beginning of pregnancy or the act of fertilization, then what is
contraception?
2. Supervisor
What is the job of a supervisor?
3. What is the meaning of antidiscrimination laws?
62
Revision of the use of the present tense

A certain future can be expressed using the present simple to indicate a particular future based on
evidence of a fixed timetable or programme. For example:
We arrive in New York at 6am.
When do you break up for the Easter holidays?
ACTIVITIES
1. Read the text thoroughly and underline verbs in the Present and Future tenses.
2. Write a three-paragraph short essay, paraphrasing and using the text above.
Remember that the elaboration of the text is needed. For example, your introductory
sentence could be something like this:
Roger Darlington, in his analysis of British and American political systems, explains
that
3. Define following expressions:
- 10 Downing Street
- Secretary of State (in the USA)
- Secretary of State (in UK)
- Union Jack
- Stars and stripes
- National level vs. devolved level
4. What is the main difference between the British and American political systems from a
constitutional perspective?
5. The political system of the United States is the paradigm of presidentialism. What are
its key characteristics?
6. The British political system is the archetype of parliamentarianism. What are its basic
features?
63
7. Read Obamas second Inaugural Address on January 21, 2013 in:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/01/21/inaugural-address-presidentbarack-obama
You can also listen to it in either of the following links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zncqb-n3zMo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddx8t6zGWxA
Note that Obamas second Inaugural Address is also known as Obamas Victory Speech.
8. Identify prefixes and suffixes in the text.
9. What is the task of the contemporary American generation according to President
Obama?
64

Punctuation and language use are important components of spoken and written English. Each unit
will be divided into two parts: use of language and contents.
The content part consists of reading and writing practice in order to improve your formal academic
English. This will involve reading different types of texts, linking words, expressions, introductions
and conclusions
In the use of language part you will always have a theory section that consists of a short reminder
of basic aspects of grammar, and a practice section with short exercises to check that you have
understood the theory. All this practice will also work as a self-evaluation section.
At the end of each unit you will have to read a long scientific text and answer some comprehension
exercises that you may discuss in the subject forums.
PART ONE
ACTIVITIES
1.
2.
3.
4.
Read the text An Unreliable Third Parent by Michael Prowse.

Read the NYT article A Question of Attitude by Hugh Carnegy.
Write a paragraph explaining two ways in which TV series may affect children.
This is a pre-internet article. Can you think of any aspect that could be compared with the present
pervasive use of the web? How can these two media be compared?
5. Rewrite the whole text using reported speech. For example, you can start writing something like
this:
Michael Prowse, in his 1993 article, comments one of the pessimistic essays about the
corrosive effects of television written by
An Unreliable Third Parent

By Michael Prowse.
I have been reading one of those gloomy essays on the corrosive effects of television. In
the winter issue* of the journal Daedalus, Professor John Condry of Cornell University argues
that dross on the box is stunting the development of American children. Television, he claims,
is contributing to increased youth violence (including rising rates of suicide), to physical and
mental disorders, and to a secular decline in educational performance.
Children once learned about society, and their place in it, from school and by directly
observing adults in their local communities. Today, says Mr Condry, television is swamping
these influences. On average American children spend an incredible 40 hours a week watching
the box or playing video games more than a third of their total waking hours. School,
including time spent travelling and doing homework, absorbs another 40 hours. All other
interactions with family and peers which are potentially far more productive than TV have
to be crammed into just 32 waking hours, a fraction of the time enjoyed by past generations.
65
As well as robbing children of precious time, TV distorts their sense of reality. Because it is
designed primarily to sell things, it has to put a premium on gaining and keeping
peoples attention. The easiest way to do this is by projecting violence. According to Mr
Condry the average hour of childrens programming contains 25 acts of violence far
more than adult TV. Television distorts in other, more insidious ways. It depicts wealth as the
key to happiness but rarely shows people working hard, because this would be dull viewing.
TV thus leads children to seek quick fixes, to want things but not to see they must work
for them. It also presents a dangerously simplistic moral code, typically dividing the world into
heroes, who can do no wrong, and villains who can do no right. Mr Condrys indictment has to
be taken seriously. If children spend more time than a third of their waking hours
watching TV, their characters must be moulded by it. Yet his criticisms do not apply to all
commercially successful programming. The producers of the popular series Star Trek, to take
one example, appear quite responsible. Back in the late 1960s, the starship Enterprise
was run almost exclusively by white males (there was a token black female
communications officer and an Asian helmsman) and toured the universe seemingly
looking for trouble. In nearly every episode, Captain James Kirk proved his manhood by
fighting with some unpleasant alien species (surrogates for the evil Soviet empire) and
falling in love with a beautiful blonde guest star.
Star Trek: The Next Generation (the 1980s relaunch of the series) shows distinct signs of
progress. The cerebral Captain Jean-Luc Picard has superseded tough-guy Kirk. A blind black
has a responsible post on the bridge. Women play a more active role and are no longer
treated as mere sex objects; the ships doctor and security officer, for example, are both
female. As in the first series, the Enterprise is subject to the prime directive essentially a
code of non-interference.
This year a third series - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine- has hit the nations screens.
Perhaps reflecting the more reactive stance of US foreign policy in the 1990s, it is set on a
stationary space station rather than a roving starship. Waiting, rather than looking for
trouble is the station commander, Ben Sisko (impressively played by Mr Avery Brooks),
a black single parent. His deputy is a feisty female. The station is packed with aliens of all
shapes and sizes, many of whom dislike and misunderstand each other a metaphor for the
friction endemic to Americas multiracial
society.
Pushing back social frontiers, one leading character, the demure Lieutenant Jadzla Dax, is
a fusion of two life-forms. She has the body of a 28-year-old woman but the memories and
(party) mind of a combative old man and former mentor to Commander Sisko. This could
provide scope for a sensitive exploration of gender and sexual identity. Deep Space Nine
is not exactly great art. As is previous incarnations of Star Trek, each episode includes plenty
of sanitized violence. But by reserving the best roles for minorities and women, and by
spending as much time on social problems as on warfare, it at least sends some useful
signals to children. Commander Sisko could become quite an important role model for
young black boys. But even though some commercial TV may do more good than harm, Mr
Condry is right to argue that the US has paid far too little attention to the social impact
of this greedy institution. It seems pointless endlessly to debate ways of improving school
education when so few restraints are placed on childrens TV curriculum.
Ways could surely be found to reduce the number of childhood hours lost to the box,
to increase the proportion of educational programmes, and to limit the portrayal of
violence. (One act of violence every two minutes seems excessive even for the US.)
After all, few parents would thinkingly consign their offspring, for 40 hours a week, to
an institution as empty-headed and violent as commercial television.
* Thief of Time, Unfaithful Servant: Television and the American Child. Daedalus,
Winter 1993.
Financial Times, March 22 1993
66
Read the following article by Hugh Carnegy
A Question of Attitude
Sweden, perhaps more than any other country, prides itself on the high degree of equality
its women have reached in society. But a detailed statistical profile published by the
government last month has highlighted the extent to which even Swedish women have failed
to break down male dominance in management, particularly in the private sector.
The study shows how decades of active promotion of equal opportunity has had an impact
on the wider role played by women in Sweden. The long list of legislative measures goes back
to the estab1ishment of equal inheritance rights for women and men in 1845.
More recently, it encompasses the steady extension of paid maternity leave, an important
encouragement for women joining the workforce. The first legislation giving the right to three
months paid leave for women was enacted in 1955. This year, a ruling has come into force so
that fathers must take at least one month of a couples current combined 12-month paid
leave entitlement on the birth of a child.
Combined with the simultaneous extension of near-universal child care provision,
these measures have resulted in 80 per cent of Swedish women joining the workforce, one
of the highest levels in the world.
Women have also made startling inroads in politics and government compared with
most other countries. The general election last year brought the number of women in the
Riksdag up to 40 per cent of the total, compared with a European average for national
parliaments of 11 per cent.
Even the royal family has embraced equal opportunity: in 1980, the law of succession was
altered to give the right of inheritance to the throne to the monarchs first born, regardless of
sex. The next monarch of Sweden will therefore be Princess Victoria, eldest child of King Carl
Gustav.
All this makes more striking the slow progress of women in penetrating senior and even
middle management levels in industry, the service sector and even public administration.
The gap is most evident in the private sector, where estimates have put the proportion of
women directors of Swedish stock market companies at four per cent, and the proportion
of senior women executives in the same companies at two per cent.
In the public sector, women account for 29 per cent of managers. Yet there is a heavy
preponderance of women in the public service workforce. Only one per cent of women in the
public sector reach senior management positions, compared with six per cent of men.
Birgitta
Hedman,
head
of
the
gender
statistics
unit
of
Statistics
Sweden,
says
direct comparisons with other countries are difficult because of lack of information or
variances in defining categories.
Given the legislative background, why have Swedish women not made greater inroads
in leadership positions outside the realm of political power?
67
A primary reason is that women are still overwhelmingly carrying the burden of family care
in Sweden. Most women workers are employed in the countrys famously large public
services, providing the backbone of the health care services, pre-school child care services,
care of the elderly and education services. Women in the Nordic countries are paid to do
what women in other countries do unpaid, said Hedman.
The headline figures for employment of women also disguise how Swedish women spend a
far greater amount of time on their own family care than men. Of those women in the
workforce, only 44 per cent are in full-time work, compared with 70 per cent of
employed men.
Furthermore, figures show that women spend more than 33 hours a week on unpaid work
mostly household and child care work while men do 20 hours. That gap is even wider for
couples with children under school age.
Education is another factor. Girls in Sweden focus on the humanities and social
sciences and, in vocational training, favour areas such as nursing, while boys are
more heavily represented in engineering and technical education.
There is also the unquantifiable issue of attitudes. Attitude is the biggest problem today,
says Vivianna Johansson, a senior executive with Vestgota, a company in central Sweden.
She is involved in initiatives to promote women in managerial positions run by Ledarna,
a countrywide association of managerial staff.
She says that, to date, senior male leaders in industry and business -a relatively tight-knit
circle in Sweden -have been reluctant to open the door to women, and companies are
reluctant to promote women who have access to such generous legal rights to maternity
leave. But Johansson also acknowledges that women have, until recently, been reluctant to
push for leadership positions in industry.
The person with overall responsibility for equal opportunity in Sweden is Mona Sahlin, the
deputy prime minister. She, too, looks for a change of attitude to bring about a breakthrough
for women into positions of economic power. She says the private sector must abandon male
expectations about single-minded devotion to work and long hours.
If I can be deputy prime minister with three children and still take care of them, then
surely so can bosses in the private sector.
By Hugh Carnegy
Financial Times, June 16 1995
68
Activity 2: Answer the following questions.

Look for a word or a group of words in the first text, which have the same meaning as:
Laws
Stop
Being paid while taking care of a new born baby.
Now answer the following questions about the second text.
Do Swedish men spend equal time on child care and family duties as women?
Why are companies in Sweden reluctant to promote women?
PART TWO
Reported speech.
1. Reported speech is used when statements, questions, commands and requests are
mentioned later and a reporting verb in the past is used. This means that the original tenses
move one step back in time. The following chart illustrates this shift.
Present perfect
Past tense
Present perfect tense
Past perfect
Past tense
Past perfect tense
Future tense
Conditional
Future perfect tense
Conditional perfect
2. Expressions of time and place may also change. For example:

here
there
now
then
this
that
ago
before
yesterday
the day before
last week
the previous week
next Monday
the following Monday
69
3. Sentences in reported speech are often longer than the original and they may combine
several sentences using normal link words such as and, but, so, because or participles such as
adding that, explaining that.
For example:
He left the house yesterday morning, she explained, and nobody has seen him since then
becomes She explained that he had left the house the previous day and that nobody had seen him
since then.
VOCABULARY
Some idioms and phrasal verbs related to work.
The words work out and work load, both have a word in common; however, their meanings are
quite different. Study how this word combines in English to build up different meanings.
Activity 1. Go to the link below and study the following example: workload.
http://www.wordreference.com/definition/workload
Activity 2. Continue studying the definitions and the different word classes they belong to in the
following cases that can also be found in connection with this work entry.
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
working bee
working capital
working class
working day
working drawing
Working Families Tax Credit
working girl
working memory
working party
working week
workman
workmanlike
workmanship
workmate
workpeople
workroom
works
works council
worksheet
workshop
70
Activity 3. Analyze the different meanings of work out and tick those ones which are not related to
the working environment.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
to achieve or accomplish by effort.

to solve or find out by reasoning or calculation: to work out an answer, to work out a sum.
to devise or formulate: to work out a plan.
to happen as specified: it all worked out well.
to take part in physical exercise, as in training.
to remove all the mineral in (a mine, body of ore, etc.) that can be profitably exploited.
71
Punctuation and language use are important components of spoken and written
English. Each unit will be divided into two parts: use of language and contents.
In the use of language part, you will always have a theory section that consists of a
short reminder of basic aspects of grammar, and a practice section with short
exercises to check that you have understood the theory. All this practice will also work
as a self-evaluation section.
The content part consists of reading and writing practice in order to improve your
formal academic English. This will involve reading different types of texts, linking
words, expressions, introductions, and conclusions.
Lesson 7. Money: Currencies, figures, prices, expenses

General objectives
In this lesson, you will know how to talk about economic issues such as currencies, prices or
expenses. You studied the necessary information about figures and measures in lessons 1 and
2. So you are able to follow this lesson without difficulty.
Specific objectives
1. Knowledge of different currency symbols.
2. Review of basic grammar aspects related to the main general objectives:
The use of quantifiers and present and past tenses in order to describe an economical
situation.
PART 1. USE OF LANGUAGE.
Remember that the language that you are going to practice with in each unit is just a
review or reminder of the general grammar that you already know but related to the topic of
each lesson.
Present and past tenses.
As you know, the present tenses are used to express actions that are happening at the
moment of speaking or on a daily basis. And the past tenses are the ones that place the action
or situation in a past time. These tenses might be simple, perfect or continuous.
There m ay be
some misunderstanding in making a difference between action in the past or in the present
when the present perfect or the simple past are used.
- The present perfect is used when the time period has not finished or the
action can be repeated in the period of time we are speaking. For example, I have
gone to the cinema twice this week (I may go to the cinema again because the week
has not finished yet).
72
- The simple past is used when the time period has finished. We are speaking
about something that happened in the past.For example, I went to the cinema last
week (The week has already finished).
Links for extra practice and self-evaluation of present perfect and simple past:
http://www.aulafacil.com/Ingejerc/Lecciones/Lecc20.htm
http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/verbs5.htm
http://www.usingenglish.com/quizzes/228.html
In the following exercise, you have to choose the suitable tense. They are all related to
the present and the past, but they can be in the continuous form too.
1. Do you mean that the Minister stole / has stolen / has been stealing money all this time?
2. You look very guilty. What did you do / have you done / have you been doing since I left / I
have left the room?
3. Its a long time since I saw / have seen / have been seeing you. What did you do / have you
done / have you been doing lately?
4. Im having problems with my ex-husband. He has called / has been calling me up to work to
come back home.
5. How long did you have / have you had / have you been having driving lessons? And did you
take / have you taken / have you been taking your test yet?
Quantifiers
Quantifiers go before nouns to tell you how much or how many things we are talking about.
The main quantifiers are a few, a little, a lot of, a great deal of, all, enough, lots of, many,
much, more, most, no, some, any, a number of and several.
A few and few, a little and little. These expressions show the speakers attitude towards the
quantity he/she is referring to.A few (for countable nouns) and a little (for uncountable nouns)
describe the quantity in a positive way:
Ive got a few coins, I can buy that book (= maybe not many, but enough)
Ive got a little money, I can survive (= Ive got enough to live on)
Few and little describe the quantity in a negative way:
73
Few people called him when he was ill (= he had not many calls)
He had little money and he had ask for a loan (= he had almost no money and he
needed it)
Quantifiers with countable and uncountable nouns

Some quantifiers can only go with uncountable nouns (sugar, water, money), and some can
only go with countable nouns (coins, books, computers). They are shown in the following
chart. The quantifiers in the middle column can be used with both countable and uncountable
nouns.
With uncountable nouns
With uncountable and countable
With countable nouns
How much
How much/how many
How many
A little
No/none
A few / a number of
A bit (of)
Not any
A number of
A great deal of
Some
Any
A large quantity of
A lot of / lots of
A majority of
PRACTICE 1
Complete this report comparing three airlines using the following quantifiers: more, fewer,
less, (not) as many, (not) as much, the most, the fewest and the least (adapted from Grammar
for Business (2009) C.U.P. Mc Carthy. M., McCarten, J., Clark, D. & Clark, R.)
Happy Flying had a mixed year. They had (1)____________ passengers than close rival Sunny
Days and in fact had (2) ______________ passengers of the three airlines. However, there are
dangerous signs for the company. Happy Flying generated (3) ___________revenue than
Sunny Days, and New World made almost (4) ____________ profit as Happy Fliying with half
the passenger numbers. Sunny Days had a good year, making (5) _____________profit of all
three airlines and giving away (6) _______________ free seats. Although they didnt fly (7)
________________passengers as their big rival Happy Flying, Sunny Days generated (8)
______________ revenue than Happy Flying, probably because it gave away (9) ____________
free seats. New World generated (10) _____________ revenue, and gave away (11)
___________ seats, but they have the best revenue-to-profit ratio of any of the airlines. Happy
Flying , the biggest carrier, made (12) ____________profit in relation to revenue.
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Happy Flying
Sunny Days
New World
Passengers
41.6 million
36.2 million
22 million
Free seats
800,000
700,000
850,000
Revenue
$1,700 million
$1,960 million
$1,109 million
Profit after tax
$300 million
$400 million
$318 million
Links for extra practice and self-evaluation:

http://www.myenglishpages.com/site_php_files/grammar-exercise-quantifiers.php
http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises_list/mengen.htm
Currencies
Links for information about currencies.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Currency
http://finance.boston.com/boston/currencies
http://www.coins-world.org/MonedasyPaises.htm

1. INTRODUCTION: EXERCISE 1
Money is the medium of exchange. This simple statement answers the question: What is
money? But the answer merely shifts the attention to a different set of questions. What is a
medium of exchange? Why is it used? What benefits or costs accrue to individuals and society
from the use of money?Attempts to answer these questions have introduced motives for
holding or using money, legal restrictions, or assumed some difficult-to-define services
provided by money, for example, liquidity. Money is used in transactions or to reduce costs of
bearing uncertainty about the timing of future receipts or payments.Money is a nominal stock
with a nominal price of unity; a dollar is a dollar, and a pound is a pound. The real value of a
unit of money is 1/p, where p is some measure of the cost of a basket of goods and services
such as the consumer or retail price index. As p rises, each unit of money buys fewer real
goods and services. The real value of a unit of money falls, and in periods of high inflation, the
real value of money falls rapidly. The cost of holding money rises with the price level. The
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longer money is held, the less each unit is worth. People use substitutes for money to avoid
the costs of holding money. Barter is an alternative to money, but it is a very costly procedure.
(Wood, 1998: 8)
a) Write a summary of 5 lines (max.) about money and how it is related to economy.
b) Find passive sentences in the text (see unit 2 for more information).
c) What do you think about money? Give your opinion in the forum.
READING COMPREHENSION: EXERCISE 2

Read the following extract from the Financial Times and complete the chart (adapted from
Market Leader. Intermediate. (2005) Cotton, D., Falvey, D., & Kent, S.)
WAL MART
By Lauren Foster
Wal-Mart yesterday really surprised investors when it sounded a strong note of optimism.
This optimism is a marked turnaround for three months ago when Wal-Mart warned about the
strength of the recovery in US consumer spending. Lee Scott, the CEO, said: I am more
optimistic about the year we have just started than I have been in several years. I am not only
optimistic about the economy and the continuing strength of the housing market but also
encouraged about Wal-Mart s position.
Mr. Scott was also encouraged by consumer spending, which he said was driven by higher
tax refunds and eventually improvements in the jobs picture.
The worlds largest retailer by revenues said fourth quarter profits rose 11 percent to $2.7
bn, or 63 cents a share, compared with $2.5bn, or 56 cents a share over a year ago. Revenues
for the quarter increased 12.2 percent to $74.5bn.
For the full year, Wal-Marts profits jumped 13.3 percent to $8.9bn or $2.03 a share, up
from $7.8bn. Revenues increased 11.6 percent from $229.6bn to $256.3bn. International sales
were strong, contributing about $7bn to the near $27bn gain in overall sales.
Mr. Scott said Wal-Mart had a good year but the international division had an excellent
year.
He stressed that, while gross margin was better than originally forecast, the improvement
was thanks to the mix of merchandise, not higher prices. We are not raising prices and have
no intention of doing so, Mr. Scott said.
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Wal Mart 4th quarter
Wal Mart Full year
Total profits
% increase in profits/earnings
Earnings per share
Sales revenue
b) Are the following statements true or false? Justify your answer.

1. WM feels confident about the future.
2. WM has developed a fashionable image.
3. WM had particularly good results overseas in the last 12 months.
4. 4. WM is planning to increase prices.
5. WM feels its success is due to the variety of its goods.

CURRENCY
A currency (from Middle English curraunt, meaning in circulation) in the most specific use
of the word refers to money in any form when in actual use or circulation, as a medium of
exchange, especially circulating paper money. This use is synonymous with banknotes, or
(sometimes) with banknotes plus coins, meaning the physical tokens used for money by a
government.
A much more general use of the word currency is anything that is used in any
circumstances, as a medium of exchange. In this use, "currency" is a synonym for the concept
of money.
A definition of intermediate generality is that a currency is a system of money (monetary
units) in common use, especially in a nation. Under this definition, British pounds, U.S. dollars,
and European euros are different types of currency or currencies. Currencies in this definition
need not be physical objects, but as stores of value are subject to trading between nations in
foreign exchange markets, which determine the relative values of the different currencies.
Currencies in the sense used by foreign exchange markets are defined by governments, and
each type has limited boundaries of acceptance.
In most cases, a central bank has monopoly control over emission of coins and banknotes
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(fiat money) for its own area of circulation (a country or group of countries); it regulates the
production of currency by banks (credit) through monetary policy.
In order to facilitate trade between these currency zones, there are different exchange
rates, which are the prices at which currencies (and the goods and services of individual
currency zones) can be exchanged against each other. Currencies can be classified as either
floating currencies or fixed currencies based on their exchange rate regime.
In cases where a country does have control of its own currency, that control is exercised
either by a central bank or by a Ministry of Finance. In either case, the institution that has
control of monetary policy is referred to as the monetary authority. Monetary authorities have
varying degrees of autonomy from the governments that create them. In the United States,
the Federal Reserve System operates without direct oversight by the legislative or executive
branches. A monetary authority is created and supported by its sponsoring government, so
independence can be reduced by the legislative or executive authority that creates it.
Each currency typically has a main currency unit (the dollar, for example, or the euro) and a
1
fractional currency, often valued at 100 of the main currency: 100 cents = 1 dollar, 100
1
1
centimes = 1 franc, 100 pence = 1 pound, although units of 10 or 1000 are also common.
Some currencies do not have any smaller units at all, such as the Icelandic krna.
(Adapted from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Currency)
Answer the following questions:
1. Where does the word currency come from?
2. What is the meaning of currency nowadays?
3. Who has the control over the emission of coins and banknotes?
4. Who controls the currency of each country?
5. How does the currency system work in USA?
Bibliography
Galant, M. & Dolan, B. (2007) Currency Trading for Dummies. Indianapolis. Wiley Publishing
Lecq, V. (2000) Money, Coordination, and Prices. Massachussets. Edward Elgar Publishing.
McCarthy, M., McCarten, J., Clarck, D. & Clarck ,R. (2009) Grammar for Business. UK.
Cambridge University Press.
Wood, G. (1998) Money, Prices and the Real Economy. Massachussets. Edward Elgar
Publishing.
78
How to work with each unit.

o
In the use of language part you will always have a theory section that consists of a short
The content part consists of reading and writing practice in order to improve your formal
academic English. This will involve reading different types of texts, linking words, expressions,
introductions and conclusions.
LESSON 8
Negotiating and persuading
General objectives
In this lesson you will know the necessary skills for a good negotiation and the grammar structures to
use in a negotiating environment.
Specific objectives
1.
How to use indirect questions in conversations.
2.
Use of conditionals in conversation.
79
PART 1. USE OF LANGUAGE.
Remember that the Language that you are going to practice in each unit is just a review or
reminder of the general grammar that you already know but related to the topic of each lesson.
This symbol will be used for PRACTICE.
Conditional sentences
Conditional sentences are sentences expressing factual implications or hypothetical situations
and their consequences. They are so called because the validity of the main clause of the
sentence is conditional on the existence of certain circumstances, which may be expressed in
a dependent clause or may be understood from the context.
Conditional clauses begin with if or a word with a similar meaning and are used to express that
the action in the main clause can only take place if a certain condition is fulfilled. There are
three types of conditional sentences:
-
First conditional:
We use this conditional to talk about events which are possible or very likely to happen.
Structure: if + simple present, will (future)
Example: If you dont try harder you will fail.
-
Second conditional:
We use this conditional for unlikely situations in the present or future:

Structure: if + simple past, would (conditional)
Example: If I ate less I would be thinner.
-
Third conditional:
We use this conditional to talk about an event or situation that did not happen in the past.
Structure: if+past perfect, would have +past participle
Example: If I had not become a teacher, I would have become an artist.
Practice 1.
Complete the following sentences to make appropriate conditional sentences:
1.
If I _____________(visit) Athens last year, I ____________ (phone you).
2.
If I _____________ (not tired) I ____________ (not go to bed) early last night.
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3.
If you _________ (start) coming to the course earlier, you __________ (could pass) the exam.
4.
If I ____________ (meet) you before, my life _____________ (be) happier now.
5.
If he ____________ (not see) the other car, there ____________ (be) a serious accident.
Links for extra practice and self-evaluation.
http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises_list/if.htm
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/conditional2.htm
http://www1.icsi.berkeley.edu/~kay/bcg/lec07.html
http://www.grammarly.com/handbook/sentences/conditional-sentences/
Imperative
The imperative is a grammatical tense used to form commands or requests, including the giving of
prohibition or permission, or any other kind of exhortation. We can use the imperative to give a direct
order (Shut your mouth), to give instructions (open your books), to make an invitation (make yourself at
home), on signs and notices (insert a coin), to give an advice (get some sleep and recover). We can give
more emphasis to the imperative by adding Do (do sit down)
PRACTICE 1.
Write a sentence with an imperative verb (affirmative or negative) for the following signals.
http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises/various/imperative.htm
http://www.tolearnenglish.com/english_lessons/imperatives-exercises
http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/330/grammar/imperat1.htm
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Indirect questions
Indirect questions are used to ask sensitive or polite question, trying to add something to the
direct question. For example: can you tell me, I wonder, I would be grateful if, would
you mind telling me. You do not need to add the auxiliary do or to change the order of
subject/verb.
"Can you tell me what you like most about your present job?."
"Would you mind telling me if you have applied for a similar position before?"
PRACTICE 1.
Write indirect questions for the following direct question or orders.
1.
Do you know the truth?
2.
Are you giving her the money she needs?
3.
Where is the theatre?
4.
Give me help.
5.
Go to my conference.
Links for extra-practice and self-evaluation.
http://www.e-grammar.org/indirect-question/
http://www.eslbase.com/grammar/indirect-questions
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_difference_between_direct_and_indirect_question
PART 2. READING AND WRITING SKILLS.

1. INTRODUCTION. THE ART OF NEGOTIATING
The art of negotiating involves finding a balance between achieving the best possible result,
while at the same time establishing a mutually beneficial working relationship with your
counterparts. Both counterparts have to invent options for mutual gain rather than negotiating
on a win-lose basis. The former tries to expand the pie by discovering new options, while the
82
latter sees negotiations as a fixed pie where the more one side wins, the more the other side
loses. The problem with fixed positions and a win-lose orientation is that most business
relations involve long-term cooperation. Negotiations are a case of give and take, and good
negotiators are sensitive to the priorities and musts of the other side. Beating the other side
into submission, even though it may give you a sense of victory, is certainly not the way to
establish the atmosphere of mutual understanding necessary for an outgoing business
relationship.
In negotiating you have to consider some important points:
-
Establish interests and not positions. Establishing interests is a two-part process. First, you
must clearly establish your interests; second, you must strive to understand your
counterparts interests. You should try to put yourself in the others shoes and let them
know that you have tried to understand their position.
Give importance to socializing and protocol. Almost every case will begin with socializing
before sitting down at the negotiating table. This can involve the exchange of business
cards and gifts and conversation with compliments, expectations for a mutually
beneficial relationship, and sharing of interests and hobbies. Breaks in the negotiations will
also provide an opportunity for socializing and for sounding out individual members
concerning their feelings about issues.
Listen and observe actively. Entering negotiations with a preconceived notion or a fixed
position will prevent you from listening to and observing your counterparts. Listening can
help you pick up signals as to how far your counterparts are willing to go to meet you. Try
to use expressions such as As I understand your position or If I understand correctly.
Know your limits. Before the negotiations, set your opening offer and your resistance
point-the point you would resist going beyond. Factor into your resistance point the
concessions you would require to move beyond that point. Finally, set your bottom line-the
limit you are willing to go before breaking off negotiations.
(Adapted from English for International Business)
PRACTICE 1.
Summarize the main points, according to the text, to get a good negotiation, and say if you agree or not
and why.
READING COMPREHENSION. EXERCISE 2.

THE IMPORTANCE OF PERSUASIVE SKILLS
Effective negotiators achieve their results partly by understanding the factors that influence peoples
attitudes and behavior, and partly by exercising a range of skills that can be described in general terms
83
of persuasion. All managers need to develop these skills, because much of a managers activity is
concerned with resolving issues on which people have different views but need to agree about
solutions. The better a manager is at convincing other people of the need to accept or support a
particular course of action, the less frequently serious disagreements will get in the way of progress, or
decisions have to be imposed by senior management. The effective manager is a persuasive manager.
There is no single characteristic of persuasiveness: it is an amalgam of skills such as:
- style (confrontational or collaborative)
- the others person viewpoint
- talking and listening
- probing and questioning
- using adjournments
- concessions and compromise
- summarizing
- reaching agreement
- body language.
(Adapted from Negotiating, persuading and influencing (2004: 35)
PRACTICE ONE
Write your own description of each of the skills named in the article to get a good persuasion and check
your answers by reading the book by Fowler (2004)
Bibliography
Fisher, R., Ury, W. & Patton, B. (1991) Getting to yes: Negotiating and Agreement without giving in. New
York. Houghton Hiffin.
Fowler, A. (2004) Negotiating, persuading and influencing. Great Britain. The Cromwell Press.
Mills, H. (1990) Negotiate: The Art of Winning. Singapore Institute of Management and Heinemann Asia
Rodgers, D. (1998) English for International Negotiations: a Cross Cultural Case Study Approach. USA.
Cambridge University Press
84
EXTRA ACTIVITIES.
-
Complete grammar and vocabulary exercises of links.
85

o
The content part consists of reading and writing practice to improve your formal academic
English. This will involve reading different types of texts, linking words, expressions,
introductions, and conclusions.
LESSON 9
Marketing, advertising, promotion, and trade

General objectives
In this lesson, you will know how the world of advertising and promotion works.
Specific objectives
1.
Vocabulary about brands and advertising. Word partnerships.
2.
The use of articles.
86
Remember that the language that you are going to practice in each unit is just a review or
reminder of the general grammar that you already know but related to the topic of each lesson.
The use of articles
a/an is used:
1.
before singular countable nouns:
Example: he works for an important company.

2.
To introduce new information: When I arrived, I saw an important person. That person is
now my husband.
3.
Before professions: My brother is an architect.
4.
When the listener does not know what particular person, thing or fact we are talking
about.
The is used:
1.
When it is clear from the context what particular person, thing or fact we are talking about:
The cat outside is black
2.
To speak about somebody in an official position: The President is a good person who cares
about poor people.
3.
With proper names: The Alps, The Sheraton, The Beatles
Zero article is used:

1.
We do not use the article before mass nouns used in general: Women have more problems
in getting high management responsibilities.
Practice 1.
Write a/an, the, or to complete the sentences.
1.
We arrived at the airport and got _______ taxi that took us to ______ Oxford Street.
2.
Take these parcels to ________Post Office and keep ______receipts you are given, please.
87
3.
I picked up ______ kids from school and took them ________home while my wife was at
______ work.
4.
I work in ______office in _____city center and I always have _______ problem in finding where
to park.
5.
________ teachers are normally badly paid. But ______ teachers that work here have good
salaries.
http://www.myenglishpages.com/site_php_files/grammar-exercise-articles.php
http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises_list/artikel.htm
http://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=4378
Word Partnerships.
Two or more words sometimes collocate together to form a partnership with a specific
meaning. These partnerships are very common in Business English, and there are no general
rules to explain their formation.
We can find here word partnerships related to brands and advertising and their meanings. Do
the following exercises to practice.
PRACTICE 1
Match the following word partnerships with their meanings.

1. Brand loyalty
a) the name given to a product by the company that makes it
2. Brand image
b) using an existing name on another type of product
3. Brand stretching
c) the ideas and beliefs people have about a brand
4. Brand awareness
d) the tendency to always buy a particular brand
5. Brand name
e) how familiar people are with a brand
6. Product launch
f) the set of products made by a company
7. Product lifecycle
g) the use of a well-known person to advertise products
8. Product range
h) when products are used in films or TV programs
9. Product placement
i) the introduction of a product to the market
10. Product endorsement
j) the length of time people continue to buy a product
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http://www.linguarama.com/ps/sales-themed-english/word-partnerships.htm
http://www.onestopenglish.com/community/lesson-share/pdfcontent/grammar/grammar-meeting-word-partnerships-lessonplan/147557.article

1. INTRODUCTION: MARKETING
In popular usage, marketing is the promotion of products, especially advertising and
branding. However, in professional usage, the term has a wider meaning that recognizes that
marketing is customer-centered. Products are often developed to meet the desires of groups of
customers or even, in some cases, for specific customers. It is the process of communicating he
value of a product or service to customers. It is the link between a societys material
requirements and its economic patterns response. Marketing satisfies these needs and wants
through exchange processes and building long term relationships.
There are four Ps that are the basis of Marketing: Product (goods and services that are sold),
Price (the cost to the buyer of goods and services), Promotion (informing customers about
products and persuading them to buy them) and Place (where goods and services are
available).
BRAND WARS
Aggressive comparative advertising has now reached fever pitch; extra millions are pouring into
R&D, and the market leaders are under constant pressure to slash their prices in a cut-throat struggle
for market domination. When Philip Morris knocked 40c off a packet of Marlboro, $47-and-a-half billion
was instantly wiped off the market value of Americas top twenty cigarette manufacturers. Lesser
brands went to the wall. And thats just one example of how fair competition within a free market has
rapidly escalated into brand war.
In spite of the efforts of the corporate heavyweights to win market share, when it comes to fast
moving consumer goods, more and more consumers are switching to the supermarkets own-label
products. And brand loyalty is fast becoming a thing of the past. The one unchallengeable Nescaf and
Kelloggs are actually losing sales, as their higher price is no longer automatically associated with higher
quality. And in many supermarkets across Europe and the States own-labels now account for over fiftyfive percent of total sales. Their turnover has never been higher.
89
Brand stretching is another way in which the household names are fighting back. By putting
their familiar trademark on attractive and fashionable new products, companies can both generate
additional revenue and increase brand awareness. The high-life image suits companies like Philip
Morris, for whom, as the restrictions on tobacco ads get tougher, brand stretching is the perfect form
of subliminal advertising.
But, brand wars aside, the single biggest threat to the market remains saturation. For it seems
there are just too many products on the shelves. In the States, they call this product clutter
and it is currently the cause of a strong anti-consumerism movement. In fact, product
proliferation and widespread me-tooism mean that some stores stock seventy-five different kinds
of toothbrush and 240 types of shampoo. It would take you over twenty years to try them all,
assuming you even wanted to. And thats just got to be crazy when you think that eighty to ninety
percent of new brands fail within their first six months.
(Adapted from New Business Matters Coursebook (2004) by Powell, Martinez, & Jillet)
Give a definition in your own words of the following expressions:

-
Aggressive comparative advertising
Consumer goods
Fair competition
Brand stretching
Brand awareness
Subliminal advertising
Product clutter
Market saturation
Bibliography
Armstrong, G. & Harker, M. (2009) Marketing an introduction. UK. Pearson Education.
Keller, K. (2008) Strategic Brand Management. UK. Pearson Education.
Powell, M., Martinez, R. & Jillet, R. (2004) New Business Matters Coursebook. Singapore. Thomson.
Shimp, T (2007) Advertising, Promotion & other Aspects of Integrated Marketing Communication. USA.
Cengage learning.
90
Differences between the Spanish and Anglo-American Legal Systems
LANGUAGE STUDY
Complex clauses. Clauses of contrast, reason and comparison.
Relative clauses.
ACTIVITIES
What I have learned
Punctuation and language use are important components of spoken and written
English. Each unit will be divided into two parts: use of language and contents.
The content part consists of reading and writing practice to improve your formal
academic English. This will involve reading different types of texts, linking words,
expressions, introductions and conclusions.
In the use of language part, you will always have a theory section that consists of a
short reminder of basic aspects of grammar, and a practice section with short
exercises to check that you have understood the theory. All this practice will also
work as a self-evaluation section.
Part one: Differences between the Spanish and Anglo-American

Legal Systems
In this lesson, we will be introduced to the sources of both Spanish and Anglo-American
legal traditions. We will learn something about how both legal systems still coexist in the
Western World.
While in Europe Common Law originated in Britain in the 11th century, and is still in use in
Britain, Ireland, Scotland and other countries such as India, the Roman tradition of Civil Law
has been the main source in countries such as Italy, France, Spain, etc.
COMMON LAW SYSTEMS

Common law is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and/or tribunals. It is
very pragmatic: the law can be developed on a case-by-case basis, and it is not necessary to
wait for Parliament to pass an Act.
91
In this system, Court decisions are considered law (case law) and have the same force
as any law passed by Parliament (statutory law).
Leading cases set a precedent which is binding, that is to say, obligatory and the precedent
binds future decision on the principle of stare decisis (similar cases should be decided in such a
way that they reach similar results and it would be unfair to treat similar facts differently
on different occasions.
Also, the decisions by appellate courts are binding on lower courts and future decisions of
the same appellate court, but decisions of lower courts are considered a persuasive authority.
(Adapted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_law)
CIVIL LAW SYSTEMS

Civil law systems are also called code systems or codified systems. This concept is
denominated as write law that equals to codify law, and it is applied as such.
In addition to a written constitution, there are also specific codes (e.g., civil code,
criminal code, commercial code, etc.).
(Adapted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_law_/28legal_system/29)
READ THE FOLLOWING TEXTS IN SIMPLE EVERYDAY ENGLISH.

1.
http://www.law.berkeley.edu/library/robbins/CommonLawCivilLawTraditions.html
Most nations today follow one of two major legal traditions: common law or civil law.
The common law tradition emerged in England during the Middle Ages and was applied
within British colonies across continents. The civil law tradition developed in continental
Europe at the same time and was applied in the colonies of European imperial powers such
as Spain and Portugal. Civil law was also adopted in the nineteenth and twentieth
centuries by countries formerly possessing distinctive legal traditions, such as Russia and
Japan, that sought to reform their legal systems to gain economic and political power
comparable to that of Western European nation-states.
Americans may find common law more familiar than civil law. Even though England
had many profound cultural ties to the rest of Europe in the Middle Ages, its legal
tradition developed differently from that of the continent for a number of historical reasons.
One of the most fundamental ways in which they diverged was in the establishment of
judicial decisions as the basis of common law and legislative decisions as the basis of civil law.
Common law has certain particular characteristics. For example, common law is generally
uncodified. This means that there is no comprehensive compilation of legal rules and
statutes.
92
It is largely based on precedent, meaning the judicial decisions that have already been made in
similar cases. These precedents are maintained over time through the records of the courts
as well as historically documented in collections of case law known as yearbooks and reports.
The precedents to be applied in the decision of each new case are determined by the
presiding judge. As a result, judges have an enormous role in shaping the American and
British law. Common law functions as an adversarial system, a contest between two
opposing parties before a judge who moderates. A jury of ordinary people without legal
training decides on the facts of the case. The judge then determines the appropriate
sentence based on the jurys verdict.
Civil Law, in contrast, is codified. Countries with civil law systems have
comprehensive, continuously updated legal codes that specify all matters capable of being
brought before a court, the applicable procedure, and the appropriate punishment for each
offense. Such codes distinguish between different categories of law. Substantive law
establishes which acts are subject to criminal or civil prosecution and procedural law
establishes how to determine whether a particular action constitutes a criminal act,
and penal law establishes the appropriate penalty. In a civil law system, the judges role
is to establish the facts of the case and to apply the provisions of the applicable code.
Though the judge often brings the formal charges, investigates the matter, and decides on
the case, he or she works within a framework established by a comprehensive, codified set of
laws. The judges decision is consequently less crucial in shaping civil law than the decisions
of legislators and legal scholars who draft and interpret the codes.
The term civil law derives from the Latin ius civile, the law applicable to all Roman cives or
citizens. Its origins and model are to be found in the monumental compilation of Roman
law commissioned by the Emperor Justinian in the sixth century. While this compilation was
lost to the West within decades of its creation, it was rediscovered and made the basis
for legal instruction in eleventh-century Italy. In the sixteenth century it came to be known
as Corpus iuris civilis. Succeeding generations of legal scholars throughout Europe adopted
the principles of ancient Roman law in the Corpus iuris civilis to contemporary needs.
Medieval scholars of Catholic church law, or canon law, were also influenced by Roman
law scholarship as they compiled existing religious legal sources into their own
comprehensive system of law and governance for the Church, an institution central to
medieval culture, politics, and higher learning. By the late Middle Ages, these two laws,
civil and canon, were taught at most universities and formed the basis of a shared
body of legal thought common to most of Europe. The birth and evolution of the
medieval civil law tradition based on Roman law was thus integral to European legal
development. It offered a store of legal principles and rules invested with the authority of
ancient Rome and centuries of distinguished jurists, and it held out the possibility of a
comprehensive legal code providing substantive and procedural law for all situations.
As civil law came into practice throughout Europe, the role of local custom as a source of
law became increasingly importantparticularly as growing European states sought to
unify and organize their individual legal systems. Throughout the early modern period, this
desire generated scholarly attempts to systematize scattered, disparate legal provisions
and local customary laws and bring them into harmony with rational principles of civil law
and natural
93
law. Emblematic of these attempts is the Dutch jurist Hugo Grotius 1631 work, Introduction
to Dutch Jurisprudence, which synthesized Roman law and Dutch customary law into a
cohesive whole. In the eighteenth century, the reforming aspirations of Enlightenment
rulers aligned with jurists desire to rationalize the law to produce comprehensive,
systematic legal codes including Austrias 1786 Code of Joseph II and Complete Civil Code of
1811, Prussias Complete Territorial Code of 1794, and Frances Civil Code (known as the
Napoleonic Code) of 1804. Such codes, shaped by the Roman law tradition, are the models of
todays civil law systems.
2. Common law. Source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_law
Common law, also known as case law or precedent, is law developed by judges
through decisions of courts and similar tribunals, as opposed to statutes adopted
through the legislative process or regulations issued by the executive branch.
A "common law system" is a legal system that gives great precedential weight to
common law, on the principle that it is unfair to treat similar facts differently on different
occasions. The body of precedent is called, "common law" and it binds future decisions. In
cases where the parties disagree on what the law is, a common law court looks to past
precedential decisions of relevant courts. If a similar dispute has been resolved in the past,
the court is bound to follow the reasoning used in the prior decision (this principle is
known as stare decisis). If, however, the court finds that the current dispute is
fundamentally distinct from all previous cases (called a "matter of first impression"), judges
have the authority and duty to make law by creating a precedent. After that, the new
decision becomes precedent, and will bind future courts.
In practice, common law systems are considerably more complicated than the
simplified system described above. The decisions of a court are binding only in a particular
jurisdiction, and even within a given jurisdiction, some courts have more power than others.
For example, in most jurisdictions, decisions by appellate courts are binding on lower
courts in the same jurisdiction and on future decisions of the same appellate court, but
decisions of lower courts are only non-binding persuasive authority. Interactions between
common law, constitutional law, statutory law and regulatory law also give rise to
considerable complexity. However, stare decisis, the principle that similar cases should be
decided according to consistent, principled rules so that they will reach similar results, lies at
the heart of all common law systems.
One-third of the world's population (approximately 2.3 billion people) lives in common law
jurisdictions or systems mixed with civil law. A particular case of common law originated
in England it in the Middle Ages. Countries that trace their legal heritage to England as
former colonies of the British Empire, include India, the United States, Pakistan, Nigeria,
Bangladesh, Canada, with the exception of Qubec, where a mix of civil law (on the
provincial level) and common law -mostly on the federal level- is used), Malaysia, Ghana,
Australia, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, Singapore, Myanmar, Ireland, New Zealand, Jamaica,
Trinidad and Tobago, Cyprus, Barbados, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Cameroon, Namibia,
Botswana, Guyana and Israel.
94
3. Civil law:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_law_(legal_system)
Civil law (or civilian law) is a legal system originating in Western Europe,
intellectualized within the framework of late Roman law, and whose most prevalent
feature is that its core principles are codified into a referable system that serves as the
primary source of law. This can be contrasted with common law systems whose intellectual
framework comes from the judge-made decisional law that gives precedential authority to
prior court decisions on the principle that it is unfair to treat similar facts differently on
different occasions (doctrine of judicial precedent).
Historically, civil law is the group of legal ideas and systems ultimately derived from
the Code of Justinian but heavily overlaid by Germanic, canon-law, feudal, and local
practices, as well as doctrinal strains such as natural law, codification, and legislative
positivism.
Conceptually, civil law proceeds from abstractions, formulates general principles, and
distinguishes substantive rules from procedural rules. It holds case law to be secondary and
subordinate to statutory law, and the court system is usually inquisitorial, unbound by
precedent and composed of specially-trained, functionary judicial officers with limited
authority to interpret the law. Jury trials are not used, although in some cases, benches may be
sat by a mixed panel of lay magistrates and career judges.
4. Source:
http://ppp.worldbank.org/public-private-partnership/legislation-regulation/frameworkassessment/legal-systems/common-vs-civil-law
Common Law System
Countries following a common law system are typically those that were former British
colonies or protectorates, including the United States.
Features of a common law system include:
There is not always a written constitution or codified laws;
Judicial decisions are binding decisions of the highest court can only be overturned
by that same court or through legislation;
Extensive freedom of contract - few provisions are implied into the contract by law
(although provisions seeking to protect private consumers may be implied);
Generally, everything is permitted that is not expressly prohibited by law.
95
A common law system is generally less prescriptive than a civil law system. A
government may therefore wish to enshrine protections for its citizens in specific legislation
related to the infrastructure program being contemplated. For example, it may wish to
prohibit the service provider from cutting off the water or electricity supply of bad payers.
There are few provisions implied into a contract under the common law system it is,
therefore, important to set out ALL the terms governing the relationship between the
parties to a contract in the contract itself. This will often result in a contract being longer than
one in a civil law country.
Civil Law System
Countries following a civil law system are typically those that were former French,
Dutch, German, Spanish or Portuguese colonies or protectorates, including much of Central
and South America. Also, most of the Central and Eastern European and East Asian countries
follow a civil law structure.
The civil law system is a codified system of law. It takes its origins from Roman
law. Features of a civil law system include:
There is generally a written constitution based on specific codes (e.g., civil code, codes
covering corporate law, administrative law, tax law and constitutional law) enshrining basic
rights and duties; administrative law is however usually less codified and administrative court
judges tend to behave more like common law judges;
Only legislative enactments are considered binding for all. There is little scope for
judge-made law in civil, criminal and commercial courts, although in practice judges tend to
follow previous judicial decisions; constitutional and administrative courts can nullify laws and
regulations and their decisions in such cases are binding for all.
In some civil law systems, e.g., Germany, writings of legal scholars have significant
influence on the courts;
Courts specific to the underlying codes there are therefore usually separate
constitutional court, administrative court and civil court systems that opine on consistency of
legislation and administrative acts with and interpret that specific code;
Less freedom of contract - many provisions are implied into the contract by law and
parties cannot contract out of certain provisions.
A civil law system is generally more prescriptive than a common law system. However, a
government will still need to consider whether specific legislation is required to either limit the
scope of a certain restriction to allow a successful infrastructure project, or may require
specific legislation for a sector.
There are a number of provisions implied into a contract under the civil law system less
importance is generally placed on setting out ALL the terms governing the relationship
between the parties to a contract in the contract itself as inadequacies or ambiguities can be
96
remedied or resolved by operation of law. This will often result in a contract being shorter than
one in a common law country.
In the following chart you can find the main differences between both law systems
regarding a series of features. The compared feature is listed in the second column.
Common Law
Feature
Civil Law
Not always
Written constitution
Always
Binding
Judicial decisions
Not binding on 3rd parties; however, administrative

and constitutional court decisions on laws and
regulations binding on all
Little influence
Writings of legal scholars
Significant influence in some civil law jurisdictions
Extensive only a few

Freedom of contract
provisions implied by law
into contractual relationship
More limited a number of provisions implied by

law into contractual relationship
In most cases, contractual

relationship is subject to
private law and courts that
deal with these issues
Most PPP arrangements (e.g. concessions) are seen

as relating to a public service and subject to public
administrative law administered by administrative
courts
Court system applicable

to PPP projects
ACTIVITIES
Write a brief summary of the origin of both legal traditions.

Go again to the text above and identify three main differences between both systems.
Articulate your comparison using the following constructions:
o On the one hand on the other
o While.
Part two: Use of language

In this section, we will learn how to understand and write large comparative paragraphs
illustrating these differences.
Comparatives
You can describe something by saying that it has more of a quality of something else. To do
this you can use comparative adjectives. Only adjectives usually have comparatives, but a few
color adjectives also have them. Comparatives normally consist of the usual form of the
adjective with either '-er' added to the end, as in 'harder' and the word 'more' placed in front,
as in 'more interesting.'
The adjective 'good' and 'bad' have the irregular comparative forms 'better' or worse'.
Comparatives can be used as modifiers in front of a noun. For example,

Demands for a bigger West German defense budget were refused.
97
Harder mattress often helps with back injuries.
Comparatives can be used as modifiers in front of a noun.

Note that comparatives can also be used as modifiers in front of 'one'. As in:
"Understanding of this reality provokes a better one. Comparatives can also be used as
complements after a linking verb.
Comparatives can also be used after a linking verb such as in

The ball soaked up water and became heavier.
His breath became quieter.
We need to be more flexible.
Comparatives are often followed by 'than' when you want to specify
what the other thing involved in the comparison is. You say exactly what
are comparing by using one of a number of structures after 'than' as in:
o
o
'More' is sometimes used in front of a who/e noun group to indicate

that something has more of !he qualities of one thing than another, or is
one thing rather than being another.
o
o
The answer had been less truthful than his own.
You can also use 'less' and an adjective to say that something does not have as much of
a quality as it had before.
o
Music is more a way of life than an interest.

This is more a war movie than a western.
The form which is used to indicate that something does not have as
much of a quality as something else is 'less' followed by an adjective.
o
Charlie was more honest than his predecessor.

...an area bigger than Great Britain.
As the days went by, Sita became less anxious.
Note that 'less than' is used before adjectives like an emphatic negative.
o It would have been less than fair.
(Adapted from Collins Cobuild English Grammar. London: Longman. 1990: 84-85.)
98
In the web grammar reference below you can find the basics of relative clauses. You can also
find the eight different types of adverbial clauses, which are introduced by a conjunction as
well as linking structures.
As a brief guide to the words used with these subordinate clauses, see the following chart
adapted from the same sources.
Type of clause
time clauses
conditional clauses
purpose clauses
reason clauses
result clauses
concessive clauses
place clauses
clauses of manner
Usual conjunction
when, before, after, since, while, as, until

if, unless
in order to, so that
because, since, as
so that
although, though, while
where, wherever
as, like, the way
References:
COLLINS COBUILD English Grammar. London: Longman. 1990
99

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LESSON

PART 1: READING AND WRITING SKILLS

PART 2: USE OF LANGUAGE

Word order in English: basic writing skills.

1.5. Numbers and measures

Check your progress

Describe objects and services

What shape is it?

1.1. Word order in English: basic writing skills

As you know, a sentence is a set of words that make sense.

In the following sentences:

No matter how important it is, you can leave it for tomorrow

v Now try your own alternative organization:

1.2. Relative clauses

(1) This is a house. Jack built this house.

When we talk about things and people

When we talk about people

When we talk about things

When we talk about people and use a preposition

The relative pronoun is sometimes omitted. When?

e.g.: The woman I wanted to see has not come yet.

The woman I wanted to see has not come yet.

I talked to the customer __________ daughter comes to see me every day.

Mr Richards wants to book the table ___________ he always books.

We often go to the hotel___________ is in the square.

The report ____________ you gave me was full of mistakes.

The public ____________ is waiting outside are annoying me.

The man ___________ you were talking to is a famous sociologist.

1.3. The use of adjectives and adverbs. Comparatives and superlatives.

FORMING COMPARATIVE ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS:

One-syllable adjectives and

cheap: cheaper; fast: faster

expensive: more expensive

drop -y and add -ier

easily: more easily

FORMING SUPERLATIVE ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS:

One-syllable adjectives and add -est

cheap: cheapest; fast: fastest

Remember to use the in when you use the superlative.

This is __________________student Ive ever had. (bad)

You are going _________________than anyone in the road. (fast)

Do you mind driving a bit __________________? Im scared. (slow)

It was one of the _________________ companies I have ever worked. (good)

The exercise was _________________ than I expected. (easy)

This is ________________ mobile company in Europe. (large)

Citizens feel ________________ here than in other cities. (secure)

10. I do not want to study at Manchester University because is ________________ than

2. Our sons are ____________; they need new beds.

3. Cats are much ________________ than dogs.

b) more quietly c) quietier

4. This exercise is too easy. I want to try a _______________ one.

b) more difficult c) more difficulty

1.4. Present simple and continuous tenses

Choosing between present simple and present continuous.

You can use the present simple:

You can use the present continuous:

_______________ (feel) tired now?

_______________ (usually write) a lot of emails a day?

_______________ (study) every day?

_______________ (try) to stop working overtime?

_______________ (ever use) this laptop?

_______________ (want) to learn how to calculate that?

_______________ (look) for someone to sell your house?