Complete the following sentences choosing the best ending.

1. The Spanish government is trying to achieve

a) high quality of all Spanish products.

b) an increase in clothing sales.

c) a change in the textile industry.

2. Tо show their advances the Spanish

a) hold exhibitions and shows.

b) send designers abroad.

c) invite foreign designers.

3. The Spanish fashion industry lacks

a) talented designers.

b) support from French designers.

c) government money.

4. The people involved in fashion are afraid of

a) strong competition.

b) not having creative designers.

c) not having enough money for the industry to expand.

5. Some fashion designers started

a) to open shops in Europe.

b) to open big shops throughout Spain.

c) to obtain financing for exporting their products.

6. Fashion businesses find it hard to expand because

a) they are too small.

b) their clothes are too expensive.

c) there are few industries wanting to expand.

 

4. Using the following words and word combinations express the main idea of each paragraph. Add your own words where appropriate.

1. The Spanish government, to promote fashion sector, international market.

2. To support fashion industry, to hold special events, to set up organizations, projects.

3. To create favourable conditions, lack of experience, better chances, in collaboration with.

4. To open salons, studios, shops, to export, growth and expansion.

5. Designer, products, to create a good image, be able to compete.

 

5. Put jumbled sentences in the logical order to sum up the contents of the text.

1. Original high quality Spanish designer products can well conquer the international market.

2. The government is doing its best to create favourable conditions for fashion designers.

3. To be successful Spanish fashion industry has to get more funding.

4. People in fashion are to promote their products on international markets.

5. It is easier to develop the fashion sector in Italy and France.

6. Fashion industry in Spain cannot be considered a flourishing one.

7. Fashion designers are attempting to change the situation for the better.

UNIT XIV

Key words and expressions: women entrepreneurs, to enter business, lack of training, to rise in number, to earn a degree, to face obstacles, to exclude, on one's own, to succeed, men dominated.

Pre-reading tasks

Look through the key words and guess what the text is about.

 

 

Until recently, most American entrepreneurs were men. Discrimination against women in business, the demands of caring for families, and lack of business training had kept the number of women entrepreneurs small. Now, however, businesses owned by women account for more than $40 billion in annual revenues, and this figure is likely to continue rising. As Carolyn Doppelt Gray, an official of the Small Business Administration has noted, "The 1980s was the decade of women entering management, and this decade has turned out to be the decade of the woman entrepreneur."

What are some of the factors behind this trend? For one thing, as more women earn advanced degrees in business and enter the corporate world, they are finding obstacles. Women are still excluded from most executive suites. Charlotte Taylor, a management consultant, had noted, "In the 1970s women believed if they got an MBA and worked hard, they could become chairman of the board. Now they've found out that isn't going to happen, so they go out on their own."

In the past, most women entrepreneurs worked in "women's" fields — cosmetics and clothing, for example. But this is changing. Consider ASK Computer Systems, a $22-milIion-a-year computer software business. It was founded by Sandra Kurtzig, who was then a housewife with degrees in math and engineering. When Kurtzig founded the business, her first product was software — and her office was a bedroom at home, with a shoebox under the bed to hold the company's cash. After she succeeded with the newspaper software system, she hired several bright computer-science graduates to develop additional programs. When these were marketed and sold, ASK began to grow. It now has 200 employees and Sandra Kurtzig owns $ 66.9 million of stock.

Of course, many women who start their own businesses fail, just as men-often do. They still face hurdles in the business world, especially problems in raising money; the banking and finance world is still dominated by men, and old attitudes die hard. Most businesses owned by women are still quite small.

But the situation is changing; there are likely to be many more Sandra Kurtzigs in the years ahead.

 

 

Post-reading tasks

 

Now that you have read the text think of a proper title to the text or choose from the ones given below. Motivate your choice.

a) Women in business: now and then.

b) Women's traditional business fields.

c) Discrimination of women in the US.

 

Choose the synonyms to the given words according to the context. Reproduce the sentence from the text with the synonym chosen.

 

entrepreneur a) shop assistant b) business person c) manager d) boss

hurdle   a) obstacle  b) drawback c) disadvantage d) trouble

board    a) chief manager b) committee c) officials d) authorities

to hire   a) to include b) to enroll c) to monitor d) to employ