The economy ENGLISH COLLOCATIONS IN USE (ADVANCED)

 

ENGLISH COLLOCATIONS IN USE (ADVANCED)

UNIT 34

The economy

 

	Budget speech   As we can all testify, this country’s economy is strong and getting stronger. Our measures to curb inflation1 have proved highly successful. The rampant inflation2 of the previous government is a thing of the past. Inflation currently stands at 2 percent. The strength of the current economic climate suggests that interest rates are unlikely to be raised again this year. This should help us to build up a culture of investing for the long-term. This government has steered the economy through seven years of uninterrupted economic growth; a trend which is set to continue with our major success in stimulating growth. And in the latest quarter, the economy has been growing at an annual rate of 2.5 percent. All indicators show that industry is thriving3. But we are particularly proud of the steady growth experienced by small businesses. We have made it our aim to safeguard their interests4 and the healthy economy we have created has enabled them to increase output. The plummeting profits5 caused by the previous government’s misguided policies are now safely behind them. Our goal is to establish world-class public services through investment and reform in order to ensure that taxpayers receive real value for money. Public spending goes to provide strong and dependable public services. These are vital to extend opportunity, tackle social exclusion6 and improve people’s life chances. The taxes that we levy7 allow us to allocate resources to achieve that goal. And we have met with considerable success8. In particular, we must now build on the success9 of the climate-change levy we introduced last year. Another of our goals is to win the battle against the black economy. If left unchecked10, the black economy – I think here particularly of the loss to our economy of undeclared earnings11 and other tax–evasion practices – will push up costs12 and lead to rising unemployment. This government is committed to its eradication.
	1 control inflation [continuous increase in prices] 2 very dramatic, uncontrolled inflation 3 doing very well 4 protect their interests 5 rapidly falling profits 6 the problems of the underprivileged, of those who have less fortunate places in society than others 7 impose or introduce 8 been very successful 9 develop previous success 10 not stopped 11 income that people fail to report to the tax authorities 12 make costs rise

 

EXERCISES

 

34.1	Match the beginning of each sentence with its ending. 1 The government is finding it very difficult to curb exclusion. 2 The country is suffering because of the current economic interests. 3 Although heavy industry is in decline, service industries are inflation. 4 The CEO is anxious to safeguard his company’s climate. 5 New machinery has enabled the factory to increase its resources. 6 The tax authorities plan to tackle the issue of undeclared output. 7 The budget plan explains how we intend to allocate our various thriving. 8 We must tackle and solve the problems caused by social earnings.
34.2	Which of these phrases would a finance minister be likely to use about the economy under his/her own guidance and which about the economy under a previous rival government?
34.3	Find the opposite of the underlined words in these collocations on the opposite page. 1 to invest for the short term 2 to restrict opportunity 3 declared earnings 4 falling unemployment 5 stunting growth 6 soaring profits 7 private spending 8 to reduce costs 9 to lower interest rates 10 to abolish a levy
34.4	Complete each sentence using words from 34.3 (either those underlined above or their opposites) in the appropriate form. 1 The government has more control over ________________ than over ________________ spending. 2 Tax inspectors make spot checks to ensure we do not have any ________________ earnings. 3 If you have a steady and secure income, then it may be sensible to invest for the ________________ rather than the ________________ term. 4 ________________ unemployment is a sign of a healthy economy. 5 If the government wants to slow down the economy by ________________ interest rates, then a company’s costs will be ________________ and so their profits may________________. 6 A progressive government will want to ________________ opportunity and to ________________ growth. 7 A political party might think it was a good idea to slow growth down but it would be very unlikely to say that it wanted to ________________ growth. 8 The government has decided to ________________ a levy on commercial waste collection in order to encourage recycling.
	Over to you Go to www.economist.com/index.html. Enter your own country in the Search box and select an article that interests you. Make a note of any more useful collocations relating to the topic of the economy.

 

ANSWER KEY

 

34.1 1 The government is finding it very difficult to curb inflation. 2 The country is suffering because of the current economic climate. 3 Although heavy industry is in decline, service industries are thriving. 4 The CEO is anxious to safeguard his company’s interests. 5 New machinery has enabled the factory to increase its output. 6 The tax authorities plan to tackle the issue of undeclared earnings. 7 The budget plan explains how we intend to allocate our various resources. 8 We must tackle and solve the problems caused by social exclusion.   34.2   34.3 1 long 2 extend 3 undeclared 4 rising 5 stimulating 6 plummeting 7 public 8 push up 9 raise 10 introduce   34.4 1 public; private 2 undeclared 3 long; short 4 Falling 5 raising; pushed up; plummet 6 extend; stimulate 7 stunt 8 introduce