CANKAYA UNIVERSITY OFFICE OF BASIC AND ELECTIVE COURSES

-ENGLISH UNIT-

ECONOMIC ISSUES

FOR ENG 205 COURSE

WEEK 8

WARM UPWhat are the greatest threats to the world

economy?

mass unemployment?

trade wars?

international terrorism?

poverty in the Third World?

an ageing population?

the East-West divide?

Vocabulary itemsDeficit (n.): the amount by which money spent or

owed is greater than money earned in a particular period of time

Ex: a budget / trade deficit Ex: The trade balance has been in deficit for the past

five years.Ex: the country’s widening budget deficitCollocations: have/show/face/reduce/cut/eliminate a

deficitSwing (v.): to change or make sb/sth change from

one opinion, mood, etc. to anotherEx: His mood could swing from joy to despair.Ex: Do campaign gift swing votes?Ex: The war had begun to swing in Britain’s favour.Ex: swing to the Right/Left (politics)

Vocabulary itemsSoar (v.): if the value, amount or level of sth

soars, it rises very quicklyEx: soaring costs / prices / temperatures Ex: Unemployment has soared to 18%.Ex: The price of petrol has soared in recent

weeks.Slump (n): a period when a country’s economy

or a business is doing very badlyEx: the slump of the 1930s Ex: The toy industry is in a slump.Ex: The war was followed by an economic slump.Ex: a worldwide slump

Vocabulary itemsBoom (n.): a sudden increase in trade and

economic activity; a period of wealth and success

Ex: a boom in car sales Ex: Living standards improved rapidly during the

post-war boom. Ex: a boom year (for trade, exports, etc.) Ex: a property / housing boom Ex: The economy went from boom to bust very

quickly.Speculative (adj.): (of business activity) done

in the hope of making a profit but involving the risk of losing money

Ex: speculative investments

Vocabulary itemsPursuit (n.): (pursuit of sth) the act of looking

for or trying to find sthEx: the pursuit of

happiness/knowledge/profit/liberty/war criminalsEx: She travelled the world in pursuit of her

dreams.

Merger (n): the act of joining two or more organizations or businesses into one

Ex: a merger between the two banks Ex: Our proposed merger with the university has

been declined.

Vocabulary itemsMeltdown (n.): a situation in which prices fall

by a very large amount or an industry or economic situation becomes much worse

Ex: meltdown on the New York Stock ExchangeEx: The stock market crash may lead financial

meltdown.

Lay off (phr. v.): to stop employing sb because there is not enough work for them to do (syn. make sb redundant)

Ex: The company laid off 286 workers in December.

Ex: Millions of people have been laid off in the steel industry.

Vocabulary itemsInstability (n.): the quality of a situation in

which things are likely to change or fail suddenlyEx: political and economic instabilityEx: the instability of the market

Escalate (v.): to become or make sth greater, worse, more serious, etc.

Ex: The fighting escalated into a full-scale war. Ex: the escalating costs of health care Ex: We do not want to escalate the war.

Vocabulary itemsInflux (n.): the fact of a lot of people, money or

things arriving somewhereEx: a massive/sudden influx of visitors Ex: the influx of wealth into the regionEx: a sudden influx of cash

Unemployment benefit (n. phr.): money paid by the government to sb who is unemployed

Ex: people on (= receiving) unemployment benefit

Ex: Applications for unemployment benefits dropped last month.

Vocabulary itemsThe poverty line (n. phr.): the official level of

income that is necessary to be able to buy the basic things you need such as food and clothes and to pay for somewhere to live

Ex: A third of the population is living at or below the poverty line.

Ex: 20% of the population now live below the poverty line.

Dead-end (n.): a point at which you can make no further progress in what you are doing

Ex: We had come to a dead end in our research. Ex: He’s in a dead-end job in the local factory (=

one with low wages and no hope of promotion). (very impt)

Vocabulary itemsMonopoly (n.): the complete control of trade in

particular goods or the supply of a particular service; a type of goods or a service that is controlled in this way

Ex: In the past central government had a monopoly on television broadcasting.

Ex: Electricity, gas and water were considered to be natural monopolies.

Unprecedented (adj.): that has never happened, been done or been known before

Ex: The situation is unprecedented in modern times.

Ex: Crime has increased on an unprecedented scale.

Vocabulary itemsRecession (n.): a difficult time for the

economy of a country, when there is less trade and industrial activity than usual and more people are unemployed

Ex: the impact of the current recession on manufacturing

Ex: The economy is in deep recession. Ex: policies to pull the country out of recession

Bring down (phr. v.): to reduce sthEx:We aim to bring down prices on all our

computers.Ex: The government hope these measures will

help to bring down inflation.

Vocabulary itemsEnter into (phr. v.): to begin sth or become

involved in sthEx: to enter into an agreement Ex: to enter into negotiations

Bring about (phr. v.): to make sth happen (syn. cause)

Ex: What brought about the change in his attitude?

Ex: How can we bring about a change in the attitudes of some students?