Бесплатный фрагмент - ESP: Accounting and Economics

MODULE 1

UNIT 1 CAREER CHOICE

Mind the Accent

Task 2. Fill in the table with words from the text below. Mind the rules of reading.

A few years ago, our firm put in a program that was suggested by Arianna Campbell of Boomer Consulting, and our people, especially our managers, really latched on to this, and we called it focus time. This is just a time that is set aside. We did three days a week, anywhere from an hour and a half to two hours. The rules are pretty simple. You’re allowed to turnoff your notifications, close your door, put on your headphones, whatever you need to focus, but you didn’t have to take phone calls from clients. You don’t have to schedule any meetings during that time. You don’t have to take phone calls from partners, from other employees. You’re free to work on whatever you need attention on at that time that you need uninterrupted activity. Cal Newport in his book Deep Work talks a lot about the power and the benefits and the fact that most of us in the knowledge profession need this uninterrupted time. Distractions can, even if we don’t realize them, can take a lot away from our focus and attention. The studies show it can take up to 20 minutes to get back into that concentrated effort. So you can imagine how slowly you would work if you had to deal with those interruptions on a regular basis.

Task 3. Practice good reading of the following limericks. Learn one of them by heart. Which occupations are mentioned in them? Which limerick is about your future profession?

Professions: teacher, miser (is not a profession), baseball player, rocket explorer.

Limerick about students’ future profession: none.

Vocabulary

Task 8. Take a look at the occupations given below. Decide which of these people: a) work in an office; b) do manual work; c) are self-employed. Some professions fall into several categories.

Work in an office:

A civil servant, a tutor, a CPA, a scientist, a lawyer, a PA, a professor.

Do manual work:

A carpenter, a newsagent, a florist, a stationer, a shop assistant, a plumber, a nurse.

Are self-employed:

A carpenter, a tutor, a CPA, a newsagent, a florist, a scientist, a stationer, a plumber, a lawyer, a cyclist.

Task 9. Explain the terms below and use them to complete the sentences.

1. Sorry, but the vacancy for a sales manager in the office has been filled.

2. Mike is very ambitious and interested in a job with good prospects for promotion.

3. Lucy studies at college during the day; that’s why she is in a part-time job.

4. Looking after a baby is a full-time occupation.

5. If you work extra hours, you will receive a handsome salary.

6. Not to go bankrupt, one third of the workforce is being made redundant.

7. Many workers were made redundant as a result of falling demand for the company’s products.

8. A performance-related pay gives our employees an incentive to work harder.

9. Energy efficiency and renewable power sources are the most essential topics addressed today.

10. Obviously, a pleasant and stress-free working environment increases productivity of the staff.

11. Jack’s been in a bad mood lately because of his temporary unemployment, perhaps.

12. Don’t even think to quit your permanent job or you’ll lose the stability you’ve been enjoying for so long!

Task 10. Work in pairs. Find the odd-one-out and explain why it doesn’t belong in the group. Use your dictionaries if necessary.

1. bonus — benefits — perks — fine

2. accountant — shrink — bookkeeper — CPA

3. interest — profit — penalty — benefit

4. revenue — loss — payment — bills

5. purchase — sale — asset — investment

6. idleness — business — career — position

7. salary — wage — capital — debt

8. experience — ignorance — practice — skill

9. professional — qualified — green — competent

10. manager — client — consumer — buyer

1) «Fine» is the odd-one-out because all other three mean something given or paid over and above what is due, whereas «fine» is a sum of money taken as a penalty.

2) «Shrink» is the odd-one-out because all other three are professionals who have completed their studies at some educational institutions and have required certificates.

3) «Penalty» is the odd-one-out because all other three mean «gaining something’ while «penalty’ stands for «losing».

4) «Revenue» is the odd-one-out because all other three mean «losing something’ while «revenue» stands for «gain».

5) «Sale» is the odd-one-out because it means «to sell something» while the rest infer «acquiring, buying something».

6) «Idleness» is the odd-one-out because it means «doing nothing, not working».

7) «Debt» is the odd-one-out because «debt» is an obligation to pay something while the other three mean that you are given some payment.

8) «Ignorance» is the odd-one-out because all other three are connected with the presence of knowledge while «ignorance» is «absence of knowledge».

9) «Green» is the odd-one-out because all other three are about people who are experts at their work while «green» means «lacking experience».

10) «Manager» is the odd-one-out because all other three are people who receive services, goods, etc. while a manager is a person who provides these services, goods, etc.

Task 11. Match the two halves of the sentences to make logical statements which contain a fixed phrase with job or work.

1) Our accountants must not make personal calls (C) in work hours

2) Thousands of hopeful job hunters (F) are queuing to emigrate

3) Job security is the most important factor (A) for many employees

4) Make sure your work place (H) is kept clean at all times

5) Her test results are excellent, but she (D) has no relevant work experience

6) Sorry, but washing the windows (B) is not in my job description

7) He’s too lazy and (E) has no work incentive

8) I’m more interested in job satisfaction than (G) in earning more money

Task 12. Fill in each gap with one suitable word from the table.

Leadership Skills

Accounting 1) professionals need to be ambitious self-starters who can develop new insights, manage projects, and motivate and engage 2) team members, all the while displaying solid leadership skills. While the partners at your firm or leaders in your department are 3) managing the business side of the organization, you may need to serve as a source of aid when colleagues need help 4) navigating a particular program or managing their first busy-season audit.

Additionally, your managers may look to you for 5) fresh ideas regarding how the organization can ensure continuity of service to 6) clients, improve compliance procedures or address a host of other issues.

Reading

Task 14. Answer the questions (1—6) using information from the text.

1. What kind of employees does the author look for?

B. Those who submit to the company’s culture.

2. During pre-interviews, the author pays attention to:

D. Communication skills.

3. How much do the hires of inexperienced workers in the author’s company comprise?

C. More than four fifths.

4. Internship program:

A. Shows the strengths and weaknesses of the prospective worker.

5. According to the author, it is better to invest in:

A. Interns.

6. The author is of the opinion that workers are:

D. Substitutable.

Task 16. Give synonyms from the text to the words below.

Free (thinkers) (paragraph 1)

Multiple (paragraph 2)

Unanimous (paragraph 3)

Interns (paragraph 4)

Leadership (paragraph 5)

Benefit (paragraph 6)

Tremendous (paragraph 7)

Morale (paragraph 8)

Grammar

Task 18. Fill in the table with appropriate verbs. Which grammar tenses are being described?

Task 19. Read the text and put the verbs in brackets into the Present Simple Tense.

The best tool for time management 1 IS probably one of the simplest tools, and that 2 IS having a schedule. You can do that on paper or with a phone or Outlook — whatever electronic versions 3 WORK best. Taking the time to actually schedule 4 IS really the key. Scheduling time to actually 5 GO through your calendar and fill it up. I find when my calendar 6 IS empty, I often will wander off to different tasks or get distracted with email or maybe just think about all the things there 7 ARE to do instead of actually getting them done. Having time set aside to schedule and plan 8 IS a pretty critical part of scheduling.

The more you can schedule blocks of time in a repetitive sort of manner so that you can get into a routine, then you can really find that the schedule 9 WORKS well for you and 10 BECOMES a natural process. One of the best ways that I 11 FIND to actually get things accomplished would be if you 12 SCHEDULE time out of the office, maybe at a coffee shop or 13 TAKE yourself to lunch, and that can be a great time to use for actually planning your schedule and planning time ahead.

Task 20. Match the headlines (A-D) to the extracts (1—4). Explain why the verbs in bold are used in the Present Simple or Present Continuous.

1) B. Assess your personal habits

2) D. Stimulate your brain

3) A. Try sleep programming

4) C. Read

Task 21. Say whether the sentences below are grammatically correct. Correct those which are wrong.

1) Look! Susan is planting forget-me-nots in front of her house. CORRECT

2) Do they discuss what Pete’s done? It’s so impolite. WRONG — Are… discussing

3) I often visit my relatives at weekends. CORRECT

4) Are you thinking it’s true Rose is leaving for Moscow? WRONG — Do… think

5) Can you hear? Someone knocks at the back door. WRONG — is knocking

6) No wonder he can’t buy a flat — the prices are rising these days. CORRECT

7) We don’t want to have lunch right now. CORRECT

8) Oh, no! Some strange guy tries to start your car! WRONG — is trying

9) Are you liking a strawberry ice-cream? WRONG — Do… like

10) I hate going out when it rains. CORRECT

Task 22. Complete the dialogs by putting the verbs in brackets into the Present Simple or the Present Continuous.

1) A: Where IS Linda?

B: She IS HAVING dinner again in the kitchen.

A: I BELIEVE she IS EATING quite much.

B: Me too, she IS NOT MOVING much and BECOMING a couch potato.

2) A: DO you HEAR the noise?

B: Oh, DO NOT WORRY. It IS John. He IS TYING to play the guitar.

3) A: IS Ann GOING with the Browns?

B: She WANTS to.

A: Where ARE they GOING?

B: They ARE FLYING to Spain.

A: DO they TAKE their friends or relatives with them?

B: I THINK not.

A: DO they MIND if Susan BRINGS her cat along?

B: I SUPPOSE yes.

A: Great! I HOPE they will enjoy their holidays.

B: They ARE GOING to keep me posted, so I’ll tell you everything.

Speaking

Task 23. A job interview is a challenging task for an employee and the top assessment tool for an employer. Decide what you should DO and should NOT DO during an interview:

Dos:

Ask questions;

Be confident;

Be courteous and professional;

Dress appropriately;

Maintain eye contact;

Smile;

Don’ts:

Have little knowledge of the company;

Say fillers such as «um’, «basically’, «so’, etc.;

Site stories from your previous work experiences;

Tap your fingers or conceal your hands.

Task 24. There are different types of job interviews. Match your behavior (1—9) to the type of the interview (A-I). Select and explain which of the types described below are more common and which are less frequent.

1) Use examples to demonstrate your skills. C One on one interview

2) Look primarily at the person who asked the question. D Panel interview

3) Show your personality, how you «fit’ in the company more than your skills. F Second interview

4) Keep your resume near to answer questions better and faster. E Phone interview

5) Find a positive way to stand out from the crowd. A Group interview

6) Sleep well the night before, don’t try to beat the test. H Testing interview

7) Order simple food so as to focus on the talk. B Lunch interview

8) Be prepared to complete some type of work sample. I Working interview

9) Don’t panic! It’s not about your skills, but about the way you can handle a situation. G Stress interview

Task 25. Look at the questions asked during a job interview and fill in the table with the phrases that belong either to the interviewer or the interviewee.

Role Play

Task 26. Look at the job interview below and put the sentences in the correct order.

1 — 2) Good afternoon, Mr. Green. My name is Greg Felton. I’m from the HR.

2 — 5) Good afternoon, Mr. Felton. Nice to meet you.

3 — 9) Nice to meet you, too. Now, if you don’t mind, let’s get to business and start our interview.

4 — 10) Sure.

5 — 1) Could you please tell me a bit more about yourself?

6 — 13) Well, I’m a good team player and like working with colleagues, even under pressure and tight deadlines. I’m a sociable and self-motivated person, good at multitasking.

7 — 6) I see. Now, tell me about your previous experience of work.

8 — 7) I worked in the telecommunication industry for 4 years before moving to Chicago, and I believe that this experience will be helpful in my new position. I’m a good negotiator — last year I signed a contract with our company’s main competitor.

9 — 14) What didn’t you like about your previous place of work?

10 — 8) It’s the flexible hours, I suppose. I used to work in shifts and extra hours during weekends. As long as I’m settled now, I want a work-life balance and spend more time with my family.

11 — 12) The position we offer involves fixed hours of work.

12 — 3) Excellent, it suits me perfectly.

13 — 15) When are you ready to start, Mr. Green?

14 — 4) From tomorrow if you wish, Mr. Felton.

15 — 16) Yes, it would be great. My assistant will explain you the details.

16 — 11) Thank you, Mr. Felton.

Writing Skills

Task 28. Study the cover letter given below and fill in the missing information from the table.

Dear Mr. Brown,

I would like to apply for the 1) position advertised in the Sunday Times on 23 February for a 2) CPA.

As you will see from my CV, I am 3) currently accountant of a large public accounting firm. In addition to the day-to-day financial analyzing and handling 4) monetary transactions, I represent the Chief 5) Financial Officer on some occasions and am delegated to take certain policy 6) decisions in his absence.

I speak good English, and use it in the 7) course of my work.

I am genuinely interested in this 8) vacancy as I would like to become more involved with green accounting your company promotes and make a 9) valuable contribution to society.

If there is any 10) further information you require, please contact me. I look 11) forward to hearing from you.

Yours 12) sincerely,

Rose Johnson

Rose Johnson (Ms.)

Text Bank

Text 1

The Best Job Candidates

The accounting profession is changing, and that means the ways firms recruit and retain top-tier talent need to change, too. Recent graduates have much different expectations of work and career than a generation ago, and technology is changing the way that firms reach and develop relationships with potential new hires.

However, firms aren’t just concerned with filling entry-level positions. There is a continuous need to hire and keep experienced CPAs at all levels. Finding a one-size-fits-all strategy for recruitment when the talent pool has diverse motivations and firms have varied needs is nearly impossible.

But firms can address this steady demand for high-quality, talented CPAs in a tight labor market by being insightful, authentic, and proactive, according to Sarah Dobek. The founder and president of Inovautus Consulting, a marketing firm that helps CPAs grow their business, Dobek discussed staffing strategies at the AICPA ENGAGE 2018 conference in Las Vegas on Tuesday.

Speaking in an interview prior to the conference, Dobek offered tips to firms looking to improve their recruitment and retention efforts.

Attracting the right candidates: The first step is getting the right candidates to apply for the opening, and reaching them requires understanding their job search motivations.

«In order to attract the right candidates, you have to speak to them about what they care about,» said Dobek.

Millennial candidates in line for early career positions are looking for flexibility in work time and location, a personalized career path, efficient use of technology within the firm, immediate learning opportunities, and brand authenticity, according to Dobek.

It is important that candidates see those qualities in a firm’s online presence, in their brand reputation, and in interactions with the firm, she said. That means making an effort to reach candidates as soon as possible in ways different from what firms may have traditionally done.

«Culture is still really important,» said Dobek. «You can’t just give them a marketing message. They want you to be true and honest. They want to hear from their peers as well through testimonials, case studies, and videos.»

However, firms don’t hire just people between the ages of 22 and 30, and candidates of different experience levels have different motivations.

To better understand what drives job seekers, Dobek recommends that firms talk with candidates about their motivations and needs throughout the recruitment process, and hold exit interviews with departing employees to gain insight into their motives.

Craft the right job description: A good job description can persuade the right candidate to apply for the job, and crafting that standout description will be easier once you understand your target audience, according to Dobek.

«When you write in the right context, it can attract the right person,» she said. «When you start focusing on the type of individual that you need, you’re going to start using language that that person would identify with.»

An effective job description also tells the story of your firm along with the features and benefits of the position.

«The job description is not just a bullet point list description of your job responsibilities,» she said. «An attractive job description is going to be much more than that; it’s really going to be a sales pitch of why you should come work for us.»

Don’t be afraid to be innovative in how you deliver the job description either, Dobek said. Younger candidates in particular are more open to different media, and you can reach them in new ways. Look to video, audio, and other multimedia opportunities to create and deliver your job description.

Actively recruit: Don’t wait until you need to fill a position to start recruiting and then expect HR to do all of the work, Dobek cautioned. Building an effective network that you can tap before it is hiring time means starting early, taking a proactive approach, and including a wide range of the firm’s stakeholders.

«It is not just the HR department’s job to recruit for your firm,» Dobek said. «Every partner has a role, every higher-level staff person should be involved in recruiting because every person has a network.»

Take advantage of digital platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and firm websites to build a brand network that draws an audience. Firm executives should be using their digital platforms, and their audiences, to promote the firm as an employment destination, according to Dobek.

«You have to be actively posting about your firm and your culture,» she said. «You need to be attracting people to your brand, to your firm, before you need to fill those positions.»

Even if you aren’t immediately hiring, Dobek sees value in using digital tools to expand a firm’s network and sees it as an investment in the firm’s future.

Task 1. Answer the questions (1—6) using information from the text. The correct answer is in bold.

1. A one-size-fits-all strategy for recruitment is…

A. quite widespread

B. diverse among firms

C. highly likely

D. almost impossible

2. What should companies do to be able to hire talented CPAs?

A. Be proactive and determined

B. Be insightful and authentic.

C. Offer a good salary.

D. Provide better working conditions.

3. How many tips did Sarah Dobek mention in the interview?

A. one

B. two

C. three

D. four

4. What are the job search motivations of millennial candidates?

A. flexibility, efficient use of IT within the firm, brand authenticity;

B. flexibility, personalized career path, remote learning opportunities;

C. personalized career path, efficient AI in the firm, brand authenticity;

D. immediate learning opportunities, culture, flexibility.

5. What will not make a job description attractive, according to the text?

A. Writing in the right context.

B. Telling the story of the firm.

C. A bullet point list description.

D. Innovative ways of its delivery.

6. What does Dobek see as an investment in the firm’s future?

A. Expanding a firm’s network.

B. Involving HR department in recruiting.

C. Taking advantage of digital platforms.

D. Promoting firm’s executives.

Task 2. Give synonyms from the text to the words below. Correct answers are in bold in the same line with the word.

Future (paragraph 1) — potential

Energetic (paragraph 3) — proactive

Before (paragraph 4) — prior

Colleagues (paragraph 9) — peers

Understanding (paragraph 11) — insight

Original (paragraph 16) — innovative

System of connections (paragraph 17) — network

Means (paragraph 21) — tools

Task 3. Match two words from different rows (A and B) to form collocations. They are mentioned in the text. Then use them in the sentences below. Make up your own sentences with the rest of the collocations.

Correct answers are given below.

A. brand; career; case; exit; job; new; proactive; staffing; steady; talent; target; top-tier.

B. approach; audience; authenticity; demand; description; hire; interview; path; pool; strategy; study; talent.

1. A real … … is upholding a certain level of integrity which includes total honesty and transparency of a company. (brand authenticity)

2. Cold drinks are in … … in the summer. (steady demand)

3. Contents of the … … record cannot be revealed to the resigning employee. (exit interview)

4. Many ... ... graduate from very respected, highly ranked educational institutions. (top-tier talents)

Collocations: brand authenticity; career path; case study; exit interview; job description; new hire; proactive approach; staffing strategy; steady demand; talent pool; target audience; top-tier talent.

Text 2

A Job for a Woman?

During Mary Winston’s tenure as a CFO at three large U.S. companies, she rarely dwelled on often being the only woman or person of color in executive meetings.

Instead, Winston, a CPA, concentrated on excelling at her job, whether it was in high-level roles at Pfizer or when she served as CFO for Scholastic, Giant Eagle, and Family Dollar.

«I could not be sitting in a room worrying about the fact that I was different from other people in the room,» she said. «That’s not why I was in the room. I was in the room to fulfill a job.»

In those roles, Winston was part of a small but growing percentage of minorities to hold CFO positions. Gender and racial diversity among CFOs continues to lag, studies show.

Women account for 12.6% of CFO positions in leading businesses, according to analysis of C-suite volatility in more than 673 large companies, most of which are based in the United States, by executive search firm Crist | Kolder Associates. That’s nearly double the percentage from a decade ago.

«Women in general in corporate America have made some strides and continue to,» Winston said. «It’s obviously too slow.»

Winston is doing her part to combat that. Through service on boards and through her executive consulting firm WinsCo, she is focused on pushing for more diverse leaders on boards and in C-suites.

Seven percent of CFOs are people of color, the report found, with 46 individuals identified as ethnically or racially diverse, according to the report. In 2006, Crist | Kolder listed 16 ethnically or racially diverse CFOs.

#MeToo sparks discussions

The lack of women in leadership positions is receiving more scrutiny following sexual harassment and assault scandals that felled several major business and entertainment figures in 2017.

Eileen Treanor, the CFO at Lever, a Silicon Valley recruiting software company, said female CFOs began reaching out over the last year to talk to each other about how to open up the pipeline of women in the financial industry to ensure top talent can rise.

She credits the #MeToo movement, through which many women have used social media to share their experiences of sexual harassment and gender discrimination, for highlighting the issue.

«It’s started a conversation that should have been started a few years ago,» Treanor said.

In her career, Treanor said she can recall multiple occasions when she’s been talked over by male counterparts, or had an idea she came up with ignored or dismissed while the same idea was embraced when voiced by a male colleague.

«It’s scary how quickly women have become accustomed» to disparate treatment, Treanor said.

Skipped over early on

The gulf between male and female representation in CFO roles underscores the challenges women face in corporate workplaces, said Melissa Hooley, CPA, CGMA, the partner-in-charge of employee benefit plan services at Colorado accounting and consulting firm Anton Collins Mitchell.

«Just getting women into the pipeline isn’t enough,» said Hooley, chair of the AICPA Women’s Initiatives Executive Committee.

Women face setbacks early on in their careers, such as being passed over for promotions, that can be hard to rebound from, according to a 2017 report by McKinsey and Lean In, an organization founded by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg to promote women’s standing in corporate America.

The study, which analyzed hiring and promotion practices of more than 200 large companies and surveyed 70,000 employees, found that women are getting passed over for key promotions early in their careers, and continue to be passed over for promotions at disproportionate rates compared with their male colleagues throughout their careers.

That results in fewer women in top jobs. Reversing the tide could help rectify the gender inequities, the report’s authors wrote.

«This gender disparity has a dramatic effect on the pipeline as a whole: If entry-level women were promoted at the same rate as their male peers, the number of women at the SVP and C-suite levels would more than double,» the report said.

Companies should closely examine why women aren’t getting more promotions and look at unintentional biases, Hooley said.

She said that women in the workplace tend to understate their abilities while men overstate theirs, one reason she suspects men are promoted at higher rates than women.

«Once people become more aware, I think that that’s where we’re going to make progress,» Hooley said.

Indeed, it is important to engage male leaders. Including men in conversations about diversity initiatives can help raise their awareness about the barriers faced by women and give them a voice in how an organization can implement advancement opportunities.

Support family policies

Companies that want to attract and retain talented women should strongly support associates as they go through life changes, such as becoming parents, Winston said.

Winston was in high-powered positions when both of her children were born and was initially worried if she’d face setbacks in her career by taking maternity leave.

Those fears were set aside when her boss pulled her aside toward the end of her pregnancy and told her she had nothing to worry about.

«Having someone say that to you shows there’s support in the organization,» she said.

Need for talent

One major challenge most companies are facing is finding talented leaders. And that problem is only going to get worse, Hooley said.

«There’s going to be an incredible shortage of talent in the next 10 to 15 years with Baby Boomers retiring,» she said.

Even if you aren’t immediately hiring, Dobek sees value in using digital tools to expand a firm’s network and sees it as an investment in the firm’s future.

Task 1. Answer the questions (1—6) using information from the text. The correct answer is in bold.

1. What did Mary Winston look like?

A. Only a woman

B. Not white

C. Excellent professional

D. Very different from other people

2. How many women are in CFO positions in the U.S.?

A. Less than a fifth of the total number

B. More than a fifth of the total number

C. One third of the total number

D. One quarter of the total number

3. What often happened to an idea Eileen Treanor came up with?

A. It was welcome.

B. It was embraced.

C. It was talked over.

D. It was ignored.

4. What is the result of the unfair advancement opportunities?

A. fewer women in top jobs;

B. women understate their abilities;

C. men overstate their abilities;

D. unawareness of barriers faced by women.

5. If a company supports its associates, it wants to…

A. retrain them.

B. keep them.

C. attack them.

D. empower them.

6. Which companies will be at a disadvantage, according to the text?

A. Finding talented leaders.

B. Competing for talented leaders.

C. Not seriously considering women leaders.

D. Not hiring talented diverse leaders.

Task 2. Give synonyms from the text to the words below. Correct answers are in bold in the same line with the word.

Administration (paragraph 1) — tenure

Variety (paragraph 4) — diversity

Top managers (paragraph 5) — C-suite

Brought down (paragraph 9) — felled

Key person (paragraph 10) — top talent

Underlining (paragraph 11) — highlighting

Remember (paragraph 13) — recall

Gap (paragraph 15) — gulf

Task 3. Decipher the following abbreviations and provide their proper translation into Russian:

CFO; U.S.; CPA; CGMA; AICPA; COO; SVP

Correct answers.

CFO stands for Chief Financial Officer. It is the officer of a company that has primary responsibility for managing the company’s finances, including financial planning, management of financial risks, record-keeping, and financial reporting. (финансовый директор)

U.S. stands for the United States. It is a country. (Соединенные Штаты Америки)

CPA stands for Certified Public Accountant. It is the title of qualified accountants in numerous countries in the English-speaking world. (сертифицированный бухгалтер)

CGMA stands for Chartered Global Management Accountant. It is a professional management accounting designation issued beginning in January 2012. (сертифицированный международный специалист в области управленческого учета)

AICPA stands for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. It is the national professional organization of CPAs in the United States. (Американское общество дипломированных бухгалтеров)

COO stands for Chief Operating Officer, also called a Chief Operations Officer. It is one of the highest-ranking executive positions in an organization, comprising part of the «C-suite». (главный операционный директор, аналог исполнительного директора в России)

SVP stands for Senior Vice President. This person holds an executive role in organizations, usually reporting to the CEO or the President of the company. They supervise a department (e.g. Engineering, Marketing) or a specific region where the company operates. (первый вице-президент)

UNIT 2 LEARNING GLOBISH

Mind the Accent

Task 2. Read the abstract below and fill the proper letter combinations mentioned in Task 1 into the gaps. Translate the text.

As an (1) aCCounting professional, (2) CHances are good that you collaborate across departments and communicate (3) wiTH a wide array of colleagues or clients. The people you speak with may not be as savvy with (4) THe numbers as you are, so you need to be able to present information in an easy-to-digest manner.

(5) WheTHer you communicate via email, (6) PHone conversations, in-person meetings or presentations, relaying information clearly and concisely goes a long way toward supporting your credibility.

(7) AlTHough the (8) teCHnical skills on your resume might land you an interview, companies are looking for accounting professionals with a collaborative personality, an executive presence, conflict-management abilities and adaptability. Of course, (9) THese aren’t the kind of skills easily taught in a classroom. But you can enhance them simply by paying attention to how (10) oTHers handle professional situations.

Task 3. Practice good reading of the following limericks. Learn one of them by heart. Which countries are mentioned in them? What language is spoken there?

Peru — Spanish

Niger — English

Japan — Japanese

India — Hindi

Vocabulary

Task 8. Take a look at the five barriers impeding effective communication in an international organization. Fill in the missing prepositions: in, from, from, to, to.

1) Cultural barriers hinder effective communication due to the fact that employees in an organization belong (1) TO different religions, states or countries;

2) Emotional barriers involve the fear and mistrust that stop us (2) FROM communicating effectively with our co-workers;

3) Language barriers to effective communication describe workers’ failure to express and communicate (3) TO others;

4) Perceptual barriers presuppose the difference (4) IN opinion and varied perceptions between people;

5) Physical barriers mean that hierarchy in the organization forbids team members (5) FROM effective interaction with each other.

Task 9. Set expressions or idioms in a foreign language make a lot of difficulties for learners. Study the phrases related to work (1—10) below and match them to their meanings (A-J).

1) Cash cow (I) a part of business that makes a profit.

2) Crunch the numbers (A) to do a lot of calculations.

3) Eager beaver (E) a person who works very hard and enthusiastically.

4) Golden handshake (G) a large sum of money given to a person when they leave their job.

5) Have a lot on your plate (J) to have a lot of work at the moment.

6) Hold the fort (F) to have the responsibility for something while others are away.

7) People person (D) a person with great social skills.

8) Put something off (B) to delay doing something.

9) Take off (C) to become popular very quickly.

10) Walking paper (H) a notice of dismissal.

Task 10. Work in pairs. Find the odd-one-out and explain why it doesn’t belong in the group. Use your dictionaries if necessary.

1. important — essential — paramount — optional

2. modern — out-of-date — state-of-the-art — new

3. foreign — domestic — internal — national

4. hike — boost — reduce — lift

5. credit — loan — mortgage — cash

6. subsidiary — branch — HQ — division

7. adjust — mismatch — settle — accord

8. extra — primary — basic — initial

9. specific — standard — individual — peculiar

10. option — choice — restraint — alternative

1) «Optional» is the odd-one-out because all other three mean «significant», whereas «optional» is something unnecessary and unimportant.

2) «Out-of-date» is the odd-one-out because all other three mean «not ancient or remote; relating to present and recent time».

3) «Foreign» is the odd-one-out because all other three mean «native, relating to one’s own country or nation».

4) «Reduce» is the odd-one-out because all other three mean «to increase, become bigger in size, amount, number, etc.».

5) «Cash» is the odd-one-out because all other three mean «an amount of money that a person / business borrows from a bank».

6) «HQ» is the odd-one-out because all other three mean «a company / part of a company that is owned by a larger company».

7) «Mismatch» is the odd-one-out because all other three mean «agreement».

8) «Extra» is the odd-one-out because all other three mean «forming the main part of something, without which it cannot really exist».

9) «Standard» is the odd-one-out because all other three mean «different from usual; more than standard».

10) «Restraint» is the odd-one-out because all other three mean «something that you can choose».

Task 11. Fill in each gap with one suitable word from the table.

Writing in Plain English

If you are like most CPAs, you do not consider yourself a 1) natural writer. In fact, you may have chosen accounting as a 2) profession in the fervent hope that you would never have to write again. However, clients need written explanations of the 3) numbers you work so hard to produce. You also want to avoid any potential liabilities that may come from a 4) misinterpretation of your writing. It’s no wonder that 5) CPAs in large firms and individual practitioners alike spend dozens — sometimes hundreds — of hours preparing proposals and reports only to find that clients still consider their writing dense and 6) difficult. Make your clients happier by writing in their language. Here is a before and after example of how to use plain English 7) successfully:

Before
The proxies solicited hereby for the meeting may be revoked, subject to the procedures described herein, at any time up to and including the date of the meeting.

After
You may revoke your proxy at any time up to and including the day of the meeting by following the directions on page 18.

Fortunately, you do not need to be a natural writer to produce 8) correct, client-friendly documents. If you follow basic writing principles, your clients not only will have a better grasp of your services and responsibilities but they also may even look 9) forward to reading your letters.

Reading

Task 12. Before reading the text, decipher the abbreviations given below. What do they stand for? Which of them belong to your field of study?

GAAP — Generally Accepted Accounting Principles

CPA — Certified Public Accountant

IAS — International Accounting Standards

GPLA — General Price Level Accounting

CCA — Current Cost Accounting

Don’t belong to accounting:

US — United States (of America)

vs. — versus

HBL — House Bill of Landing

Task 14. Answer the questions (1—7) using information from the text.

1. Which process of worldwide integration was typical of U.S. largest companies?

B. Globalization.

2. As a CPA, what don’t you expect in transnational financial statements?

D. style.

3. How many options does a company have while preparing its primary statement?

C. Three.

4. What does the lack of notes to the foreign financial statements show?

A. Lack of accounting sophistication on the foreign company’s part.

5. What helps understand country-specific information in a financial statement?

D. All of the above.

6. Where can a CPA find information about doing business in certain foreign country?

B. HLB International Web site.

7. What are the two common models for inflation adjustment?

C. GPLA and CCA.

Follow-up

Task 16. Give synonyms from the text to the words below.

Blurt (paragraph 1)

Subsidiary (paragraph 2)

Adjust (paragraph 3)

Obvious (paragraph 4)

Inquiry (paragraph 6)

Variety (paragraph 8)

Resort (paragraph 9)

Grammar

Task 18. Check your literacy. Which grammar phenomena are tested?

1) Read the two sentences below.

He’ll be driving back home from his office at 6 p.m. tomorrow. A

I’ll taste your dish tomorrow. B, C

A. Which of the two actions takes place at a given moment in the future? (1 mark)

B. Which of the two sentences has «shall» in the contracted form? (1 mark)

C. Which of the two verbs cannot be used in the Continuous form? (1 mark)

2) You want to invite your friend’s friend to your birthday party but only with a certain gift. Which of the following do you say? Why? (3 marks)

C. I’ll invite Nigel in case he gives me one of his kittens as a present.

3) Which verb form should you use in the following sentence? Why? (2 marks)

Rose doesn’t know if Denis …?… on a cruise with her.

D. will go

4) Which conjunction should you use in the following sentence? (1 mark)

Henry isn’t sure …?… Claire will call him or not.

B. if

5) Read the three sentences below.

Kate is a doctor and a kind person.

Both countable, B, «a» is used with predicative nouns (as they are part of the predicate)

Peter has a car. The car is blue.

Both countable, «a» is used with the noun mentioned for the first time, «the» is used to show that the subject has already been mentioned.

My sister doesn’t like coffee.

Uncountable, zero article is used with uncountable nouns.

A. Which of the five nouns in bold is countable / uncountable? (1 mark)

B. Which of the three sentences contains a predicative noun? (2 marks)

C. Why do we use different articles in all the sentences? What do they show to the reader / listener? (3 marks)

6) Are the sentences below correct? (2 marks)

Hot July is a usual thing in the Sahara Desert.

Lucy knows the English well enough.

C. Only the first sentence is correct. («English», but not «the English»)

7) You are a first-year. Which of the following do you say? Why? (2 marks)

A. I love being at college. (2 reasons: first, love/like + infinitive means «feel pleasure» while love/like + ing-form means «have a habit, find smth useful, but not like it»; second, the absence of any article means «studying, the process of learning» while «the» points at the building not the process of learning)

8) Read the two sentences below.

Fred has been working as a driver for fifteen years.

George has worked for T&G since he left school.

A. Which of the two actions is connected with the present? (1 mark) FIRST

B. Is Fred still working? (1 mark) YES

C. Is George still working? (1 mark) NO

D. Which of the two adverbial modifiers of time in bold describes the action’s starting point? (1 mark) SECOND

9) You want to go abroad, but first you want to ask your friend about his / her experience of living in Italy. Which of the following do you say? Why? (2 marks)

A. Have you ever been to Italy? («when» is not used with the Present Perfect)

10) Are the sentences below correct? (2 marks)

Has Ann been sleeping all this time?

Bill and Hannah are in love; they have been seeing each other since last month.

A. Yes, both sentences are correct. («see» in the Continuous form means «date»)

Task 19. Read the text and choose the most appropriate article for each gap: a) — ; b) a; c) an; d) the. Explain your choice.

When it comes to 1) D workplace, learning to say «no» is just as important as saying «yes.»

«Saying „no“ is 2) C essential skill for 3) A career success,» said Jennifer Brick, CEO and a career coach with Capdeca Solutions in 4) A New York. The key is to agree to 5) D requests that will help you learn and grow, while politely turning down 6) A those that won’t build your skills or that will leave you feeling overloaded.

But many employees, particularly 7) A newer ones, «often want to become the go-to employee and prove themselves professionally,» said 8) A Beth Cabrera, executive vice president of KNF&T Staffing Resources in Boston. «They initially believe that if you don’t say „yes“ to 9) A every request, then you might miss opportunities.»

By taking on too much, however, you may end up with more than your fair share of 10) A work, potentially leading to long hours, subpar work, and, eventually, feeling burned out.

That’s why being able to say «no» gracefully is 11) C important skill to learn in order to maintain 12) B positive image.

When turning something down, consider your 13) A words carefully. Skip «any use of terminology that could suggest 14) C «it’s-not-my-job’ mentality,» Cabrera said. «Instead, be honest and transparent.»

If you have too much on your plate, say so. You could also suggest 15) B time in 16) D future when 17) D project could be done, provided it isn’t urgent, said Ashley Bryan, CPA, 18) B controller with Threaded Fasteners Inc. in Mobile, Ala.

«You can also ask for 19) A assistance or redirect the request to someone else,» Bryan said, «perhaps by asking 20) D requester what he or she wants to accomplish and leading him or her to conclude someone else might be 21) B better fit.» Try language like «So-and-so is going to know 22) B little bit more about that based on what they do on 23) B daily basis,» she suggested.

Task 20. Match the headlines (A-E) to the extracts (1—5). Put the verbs in brackets into the Present Perfect, the Present Perfect Continuous, the Future Simple or the Future Continuous Tense.

A. Smart travelling tips

B. Stick to your regular diet

C. Travel only when needed

D. Find creative ways to exercise

E. Prepare for delays

1______A. Smart travelling tips ______________

Those who consider themselves road warriors 1) HAVE MADE more than a few mistakes we can all learn from. From buying cheap luggage to not planning for delays, these finance professionals 2) HAVE LEARNT the hard way how small tricks can save you time, money, and sanity.

2______ C. Travel only when needed __________

With the rapid evolution of communication technology, it is increasingly unnecessary to travel to a location for a regular business meeting. While it can still be important to be in the same room with clients from time to time, applications such as Skype, Zoom, and other videoconferencing tools 3) WILL HELP drastically reduce your need for travel.

Sara Lord, CPA, national director of audit services for RSM US LLP, has three young kids at home and every once in a while requests to attend a meeting virtually. Next week, she 4) WILL COACH her daughter’s basketball team and the championship game 5) HAS FALLEN on the same night as an important seminar out of town.

«I 6) HAVE just TALKED with the person heading the seminar, and said, „I want to be there, but I have to be home,“» she said. «It 7) WILL MAKE me sad for a really long time if I miss this, so can I just video-call in to make it work?»

The seminar organizer was more than happy to accommodate Lord, and with the help of technology, she 8) HAS BEEN ABLE to meet both work and family obligations.

«I think it’s that balance of making sure people know I 9) WILL BE there when I need to, but every once in a while, something in my life requires me to be home,» she added. «I 10) HAVE FOUND that people are really receptive to that.»

3_______E. Prepare for delays _________________

«I look at travel time as a way to get caught up on a lot work that I 11) HAVE BACKLOGGED,» he said. «That way, if I get to the airport and the flight’s delayed for whatever reason, I 12) WILL PULL out the work I 13) HAVE PLANNED to do and 14) WILL USE that time productively. Having a good book or magazine with you 15) WILL HELP take some of the frustration out of travel delays as well,» he added.

«Once your flight 16) HAS BEEN DELAYED for 15 or more minutes, you should be getting a backup itinerary, so you can get going where you need to go,» he said.

His backup itinerary strategy 17) HAS PAID off. Since 2005, Tankersley 18) HAS TRAVELED about 1.3 million miles on Delta, and only once was unable to get to his destination.

4_______B. Stick to your regular diet _____________

«When you travel for leisure or on vacation, it’s not uncommon to eat and drink at the airport, but if you do that on business, you 19) WILL PACK on a lot of weight,» he said.

5_______D. Find creative ways to exercise ______________

«I was told there’s a place where you can run and see kangaroos,» she said. «How cool! I 20) WILL BE FITTING in a workout during my trip! By combining the two, I 21) WILL BE ABLE to see a bit of Australian wildlife as well.»

Speaking

Task 21. Speaking English is rather a challenging task for a foreign worker. You have to use not only formal language but also colloquial, e.g. with your colleagues. Study the phrases given below and fill in the table by putting the phrases into appropriate columns according to the situation they can be applied to. Provide their proper translation into Russian.