1
BUSINESS ENGLISH
UNIT 3
READING COMPREHENSION AND TRANSLATION
1. If you are not sure what a word means you should examine its immediate context. Here are some
examples of words that are frequently misunderstood:
All plants need light and water. (Pflanzen)
More nuclear plants will have to be built. (Kernkraftwerke)
The manager inspected the car company’s new plants. (Produktionsanlagen)
The bank is in the city centre. (Bank)
The building site is on the left bank of the Thames. (Ufer)
This kind of fuel is very expensive. (Brennstoff)
The oil price hike will fuel inflation. (anheizen)
We want to know what the crates contain. (enthalten)
It’s going to be very difficult to contain inflation. (in Grenzen halten)
The government is doing its utmost to contain inflationary pressure. (eindämmen)
So far he has shown little interest in the project. (Interesse)
How much interest will you have to pay? (Zinsen)
Heavy metals like lead are dangerous. (Blei)
Political instability may lead to higher inflation. (führen)
Politicians often waste public funds. (vergeuden)
The report says that Israel has exported nuclear waste to Mauritania. (Abfälle)
Last week the company announced a cut in prices. (Preissenkung)
He said the company was not prepared to cut prices. (senken)
If food prices continue to rise there will be more riots1 in Third World countries. (steigen)
There was another price rise in July. (Preisanstieg)
Does he still work in the purchasing department? (immer noch)
In September our expenses exploded. Still, we broke even2 in November. (trotzdem)
How much did you have to pay for the repairs? (für)
Consumers are worried, for fuel prices have never been so high. (denn)
For this reason it may be necessary to cut our expenses again next year. (aus)
He hasn’t paid his bills for two years. (seit)
For all his wealth he still lives in a small house on the outskirts 3 of Birmingham. (trotz)
He hasn’t yet got in touch with the firm. (noch)
He has a good job, and yet he never seems to have any money. (dennoch, trotzdem)
The authorities want to ban this book. (verbieten)
The President said he might lift4 the ban. (Verbot)
Some of these countries will have to import more cereals. (importieren)
Imports have gone up by 10%. (Importe)
The workers will strike if their employers refuse to negotiate. (streiken)
The strike was called off yesterday. (Streik)
2. You can often determine a word’s meaning by examining its valency 5. Here are some examples:
There has been a sharp rise in oil prices.
Oil prices continued to rise.
Last year there was an unexpected increase in tax revenue.6
1
Ausschreitungen
2
die Gewinnschwelle erreichen
3
Stadtrand
4
aufheben
5
Valency (Ger. Valenz) is the capacity of a word to control other sentence elements. Examples: His brother
(1) / owns / a car (2). – Mr Smith (1) / sold / the car (2) / to his brother (3). The verb own can control two
elements (a subject and a direct object), while sell can control three (a subject, a direct object and an indirect
object).
6
Steuereinnahmen / Steueraufkommen
BUSINESS ENGLISH
UNIT 3
READING COMPREHENSION AND TRANSLATION
1. If you are not sure what a word means you should examine its immediate context. Here are some
examples of words that are frequently misunderstood:
All plants need light and water. (Pflanzen)
More nuclear plants will have to be built. (Kernkraftwerke)
The manager inspected the car company’s new plants. (Produktionsanlagen)
The bank is in the city centre. (Bank)
The building site is on the left bank of the Thames. (Ufer)
This kind of fuel is very expensive. (Brennstoff)
The oil price hike will fuel inflation. (anheizen)
We want to know what the crates contain. (enthalten)
It’s going to be very difficult to contain inflation. (in Grenzen halten)
The government is doing its utmost to contain inflationary pressure. (eindämmen)
So far he has shown little interest in the project. (Interesse)
How much interest will you have to pay? (Zinsen)
Heavy metals like lead are dangerous. (Blei)
Political instability may lead to higher inflation. (führen)
Politicians often waste public funds. (vergeuden)
The report says that Israel has exported nuclear waste to Mauritania. (Abfälle)
Last week the company announced a cut in prices. (Preissenkung)
He said the company was not prepared to cut prices. (senken)
If food prices continue to rise there will be more riots1 in Third World countries. (steigen)
There was another price rise in July. (Preisanstieg)
Does he still work in the purchasing department? (immer noch)
In September our expenses exploded. Still, we broke even2 in November. (trotzdem)
How much did you have to pay for the repairs? (für)
Consumers are worried, for fuel prices have never been so high. (denn)
For this reason it may be necessary to cut our expenses again next year. (aus)
He hasn’t paid his bills for two years. (seit)
For all his wealth he still lives in a small house on the outskirts 3 of Birmingham. (trotz)
He hasn’t yet got in touch with the firm. (noch)
He has a good job, and yet he never seems to have any money. (dennoch, trotzdem)
The authorities want to ban this book. (verbieten)
The President said he might lift4 the ban. (Verbot)
Some of these countries will have to import more cereals. (importieren)
Imports have gone up by 10%. (Importe)
The workers will strike if their employers refuse to negotiate. (streiken)
The strike was called off yesterday. (Streik)
2. You can often determine a word’s meaning by examining its valency 5. Here are some examples:
There has been a sharp rise in oil prices.
Oil prices continued to rise.
Last year there was an unexpected increase in tax revenue.6
1
Ausschreitungen
2
die Gewinnschwelle erreichen
3
Stadtrand
4
aufheben
5
Valency (Ger. Valenz) is the capacity of a word to control other sentence elements. Examples: His brother
(1) / owns / a car (2). – Mr Smith (1) / sold / the car (2) / to his brother (3). The verb own can control two
elements (a subject and a direct object), while sell can control three (a subject, a direct object and an indirect
object).
6
Steuereinnahmen / Steueraufkommen
