Consecutive Interpreting_World Economy

Exercise 1. Work on pronunciation

Read with temperate speed and then, for the second reading, double the speed.
a) 15 12 - 23 46 55 19 195 532 861 434 181 759 17 13 18 70 50 - 90.
1246 8672 5662 3965 1445 3048 11522 62487 32699 76658 10258 - 42678
1st - 5th - 9th - 13th - 17th - 20th - 24th - 28th - 32nd - 3rd - 4th - 7th - 8th - 16th - 10th - 14th - 28th - 2nd.
b) Betty bought butter but the butter was bitter, so Betty bought better butter to make the bitter butter better.
c) Three tree turtles took turns talking tongue twisters. / If three tree turtles took turns talking tongue
twisters, / where's the twisters the three tree turtles talked?

Exercise 2. Text segmentation and interpretation

Read aloud the following text. Divide it into translation units. Interpret consecutively the text based on the
units of translation.
THE GLOBAL ECONOMY OF THE TWENTY FIRST CENTURY

International trade is the lifeboat of virtually all modern developed and developing economies. As such, it
involves the buying and selling goods and services across national frontiers. At a personal level this is clearly
seen through the many imported items that can be found in supermarkets and other retail stores. Products
such as Coca Cola, Fuji film, Nike trainers and Nescafe coffee are global brands and are widely available
throughout the world.
Increasingly, through international trade, economies have become more and more economically
dependent upon each other. For example, the well-being of the US economy affects the well-being of many
other economies in Central and South America, Europe, Asia and Africa.
Trade provides an important link between developed and developing economies. From a very general
standpoint, the developed economies provide a range of consumer goods, equipment and financial services
in exchange for raw materials, certain types of agricultural products and, increasingly, for a range of
manufactured goods from the developing economies. Also included in international trade are the ever-
increasing global receipts from international tourism. These are of very substantial importance, both
domestically and as a source of foreign exchange, for many developing economies in the Caribbean, East
Africa and Asia.
Trade permits countries to specialize in products and commodities which they can produce relatively
efficiently. The reasons for this specialization are many and include the availability of particular factors of
production. Economies which have naturally occurring resources, such as oil or copper, can exploit these and
trade them on the world market. Alternatively, the climate or soils of a country may make it a good source of
certain types of food product or a good destination for international tourists. Other economies may have a
highly skilled workforce or have labour costs below that of others so enabling them to competitively produce
clothing, electrical goods or vehicles.

Exercise 3. Word study. Choose 10 units and use them in a sentence.

a) Consult the dictionary. Explain the difference between: commodity, goods, products, items;
trade, commerce.
b) Translate the following word combinations with the key word trade:
external ~ , foreign ~, international ~, oversees ~, domestic ~, free ~, legal ~, bilateral ~, retail ~, wholesale
~, book ~, timber ~;
carry on / conduct / do ~, develop / expand / increase / promote ~, ban / restrict ~;
~ figures / statistics, ~ surplus / deficit, ~ embargo / restrictions / sanctions, ~ tariff , ~ liberalization, ~
agreement / treaty, ~ negotiations / talks / cooperation / links / relations, ~ law / rules, ~ exhibition / fair, ~
centre / association, group, organization, ~ partner, ~ barrier, ~ policy, ~ deficit (gap), ~ school.
Trader; the tools of the trade, Jack of all trades, trademark, tradable (syn. marketable), trade union.