http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7666570.stm

* Vocabulary
- Pump (verb): inject/ put
- Shake-up (noun): reform
- Insist (verb):demand specific thing/ require/ state/ assert/ swear
- Unprecedented (Adj): something never happen before.

* Summarise
UK government will inject £37 billion in bailing out package into three banks which are Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Lloyds TSB and HBOS. However, government will conduct the right to control the operation of banks. Moreover, taxpayers will hold 60% and 40% of Lloyds TSB and HBOS respectively. Prime Minister Gordon Brown stated that ’’This is difficult times with financial markets. Bail-out was unprecedented but essential for all of us’’. He added that government will sell some of investments. In addition, the reform scheme is set up such as British Land boss Stephen Hester will be chief executive of RBS, Lloyds and HBOS will be reducing the number of Lloyds TSB shares and so on. Other development strategies are also expected. For example, London's FTSE 100 index rising by about 5% as investors reacted to the news

Reading

* Vocabulary
- Pump (verb): inject/ put
- Shake-up (noun): reform
- Insist (verb):demand specific thing/ require/ state/ assert/ swear
- Unprecedented (Adj): something never happen before.

* Summarise
UK government will inject £37 billion in bailing out package into three banks which are Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Lloyds TSB and HBOS. However, government will conduct the right to control the operation of banks. Moreover, taxpayers will hold 60% and 40% of Lloyds TSB and HBOS respectively. Prime Minister Gordon Brown stated that ’’This is difficult times with financial markets. Bail-out was unprecedented but essential for all of us’’. He added that government will sell some of investments. In addition, the reform scheme is set up such as British Land boss Stephen Hester will be chief executive of RBS, Lloyds and HBOS will be reducing the number of Lloyds TSB shares and so on. Other development strategies are also expected. For example, London's FTSE 100 index rising by about 5% as investors reacted to the news.

Reading

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/sussex/7659538.stm

*Vocabulary
- terraced house: a series of house with the same style.
- manslaughter (noun): people who are committed like a murder but they do not want to do this action.
- restrain (verb): prevent someone to do something.
- arson (noun): a fire with the action of someone.
- detective (noun): people who join to investigate but they are not policeman.
- uncover (verb): to investigate or find out a secret.

* Summarise:
A special meeting was held at Shinewater Primary School to make clear love’s feeling with two small boys who died in a house fire last Saturday . Meanwhile, their mother was arrested by suspicion of manslaughter.
Authorities have been investigated the cause of fire, and they also revealed that the children died due to inhaling smoke.

Reading

1. Supermarkets and suppliers face big fines in cartel investigation.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d56b0e20-8a9a-11dd-a76a-0000779fd18c.html

* Vocabulary
- cartel (noun): association to fix prices / do sth.
- disclosure (noun): acknowledgment/ revelation.
- accuse (verb): charge/indict/ impute.
- probe (verb): investigate/ look into/search.
----> (noun): investigation/examination/detection.
- trigger (verb): explore/happen/ generate/ prompt.
- grocery (noun): goods and products were sold by grocer.
- trawl (noun):
- fierce (adj): wild/ aggressive.
- transparency (noun): clarity/limpidity/clearness.
- breach (noun): transgression/infraction.
- whistleblower (noun): people giving a fine.

* Summarise

According to The Office of Fair Trading (OFT), at least 24 supermarkets and suppliers are dealing with strict penalty. The watchdog confirmed that they had proof of sharing pricing plans. OFT also has investigated a series of companies such as Tesco, Wm Morrison and searched information from Nestle, Coca-Cola. As a result, no company has been charged.
The investigation was carried out by Asda via trawl e-mails of the grocery sector. The security in a aggressive price of Tesco had been provided commission e-mails.
The watchdog concludes that companies can be fined up to 10% of their revenues .

Linking words

* I tried my best but I cannot understand the fourth sentence. Some one help me please.

1. She wasn't very rich. She gave money to the beggar. (although)
Although she was not very rich, she gave money to the beggar.

2. He left early. He wanted to arrive on time. (so that)
He left early so that he wanted to arrive on time.

3. I don't earn a big salary. But if I did, I wouldn't buy a car. (even if)
Even if I earn a big salary I would not buy a car.

4. Take a sandwich. There might be no restaurant. (in case)


5. There was a lot of noise. He managed to sleep. (despite)
Despite the noise he managed to sleep.

6. Sue likes Opera. Joe prefers jazz. (They have different tastes.) (whereas)
Sue likes opera whereas Joe prefers jazz.

7. He had the 'flu. He went to work. (in spite of)
In spite of the flu, he went to work.

8. You have to put the alarm on. If not, it won't work. (unless)
Unless you have to put the alarm on it will not work.

The third essay (course essay)

Summarise the main effects of globalisation and discuss to what extent they are beneficial to your subject area.

Since the sixteenth century, globalisation has started to appear in the fields of transportation and communication that were based largely on shipping trade. It began to spread widely in the late eighteenth century due to the Industrial Revolution and the improvements of human technology (Alok Sheel, 2008). In recent decades, globalisation has attracted more and more attention from all over the world. It is widely believed that globalisation has brought about opportunities for not only developing countries but also developed ones. Mark Vaile (the former Australian minister for trade) assumes that it has reduced trade barriers and tariffs significantly. Others, however, argue that globalisation has some disadvantages that we can foresee such as widening the gap between the rich and the poor, worsening the state of pollution and reducing traditional values. Nevertheless, globalisation has created many achievements. For example, UNESCO protects and introduces many cultural heritages. In this essay, I would like to overview the impacts of globalisation in some sectors. Then, I will focus on globalisation’s influence on banking industry.

Needless to say, globalization has brought about many chances to boost the advance of the world economy. As a matter of fact, there are many economic organizations founded such as World Bank, IMF and WTO. They play an important role in the development of nations. For example, in crisis situation, FAO work side-by-side with the World Food Progamme and other humanitarian charities to protect rural livelihoods and help people rebuild their lives (FAO). Obviously, integration can have strong influence on the reduction of poverty. Nowadays, WTO plays an important role in commercial disputes. It helps also reduce the trade barriers and promote free trade among nations, which increases the flow of capital from developed countries to developing ones. This, undeniably, has resulted in growth and prosperity for many economies. The poor and undeveloped countries are enabled to develop their infrastructure system and resolve the problem of unemployment. Interestingly, international integration has also promoted world culture. Thanks to the advance of technology, human can travel around the world more easily and simpler. People can also get to know about the world via mass of media such as internet, television and newspaper. As a result, they can open their mind while cultural and geographical gap has been narrowed moderately.
Nevertheless, anti-globalisation people argued that globalisation has just made industrial countries stronger. That is because they transferred the outdated technology to undeveloped countries and pay the meagre salary for local people. This cannot help poor countries develop and gain experience. Moreover, dangerous wastes, which accumulate from manufacturing process has caused environmental disasters. Efforts to resolve this problem have to deal with many difficulties as the amount of money spent to settle it is too much. Eventually, it costs undeveloped countries many times as much as what they can earn from this development. Thus, the improvement of technology and the economy become imagination. Remarkably, poor countries are becoming more and more dependent in varied sectors from economy to politic. Wealthy countries may take advantage of their influence to intervene in some political disputes. Additionally, some people believe that integration is the cause of miscellaneous culture. The traditional culture of some countries may be displaced by a common trend all over the world. A recent research of UNESCO presented that the past three hundred years have seen a dramatic increase in the disappearance of languages (Atlas on endangered languages).
It is generally agreed that nowadays globalisation is a common topic all over the world. This, indisputably, has brought about many benefits for our society. For example, one of the greatest contributions of WHO is prevents the increase of people with AIDS. The operation of this organisation has drawn more attention from people worldwide and save the life of many poor people who do not have enough money to buy necessary medicine for their treatment. In terms of economy, financial flows are unstopped due to the increasing free trades among nations. This is an opportunity for developing nations to take advantage of foreign capital and even foreign investors to get more money.
Obviously, globalisation has influenced virtually all aspects and my subject area - banking industry is not an exception. Thanks to the advance of technology, banks can take achievements and serve their customers more professionally. According to Rupali Sagar, due to the exposure to global trends after the Information explosion led by the Internet, customers are now demanding better services with more products from their banks (Impact of globalization, 2008). For example, home banking has become popular service in both developed and developing countries. Customers can deal directly with their banks via the internet. This helps them save time and money for travel, and banks themselves can save a great deal in terms of employees and place for transaction. Moreover, the appearance of foreign banks has created the sound and challenges for banking system. The fair competition between domestic and foreign banks has made perfect products. It is also a flexible time for international co-operations in the field of finance and banking. This co-operation strengthens both of them when they have available markets and capital flow. According to Dr Phung Khac Ke, vice governor, State Bank of Vietnam, international integration opens an opportunity for international cooperation in finance and monetary policy between commercial banks in their transaction (WTO accession and banking reform in Vietnam).
It could be argued that globalisation has brought about are not only chances but also challenges for local banks. This increases harsh competition from outside. Their lack of capital and weakness in management are the major reasons which hinder their development. Moreover, the high speed in advance of technology happens rapidly which requires a huge amount of money to facilitate it. Thus, their market will be shared and they are encountering many difficulties foreseeable such as brain-drain which is an indispensable trend in integration process of foreign banks. They attract the talented employees by professional working environment, high salary and promotion which are not strengths of domestic banks. However, this is not a desperate future of local banks. They can develop and maintain their strength with the improvement in their services and management method. It is suggested that taking advantage of their understanding about domestic market is a valuable tool and can create separate advantages.
All things considered, globalization has allowed a better communication flow amongst more developed countries and less developed countries. It has enabled trade to grow, capital and education flows to increase and a better allocation of resources to be met around the world (Global vision, 2005). There is no doubt that multinational co-operation is an inevitable trend all over the world. Banking industry has also benefited greatly from this. It has provided the varied financial resources which play an important role in the development and is the powerful foundation of every nation. However, international integration also requires the efforts of every country to restrict the disadvantages of this process. It is recommended that globalization need to be paid more attention from governments that may help them to build long-term policies for their development and wealthy.


References
Simon Jeffery, 2002, guardian.co.uk ‘What is globalisation’, viewed 26 August 2008.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2002/oct/31/globalisation.simonjeffery
Mark Vaile, 2000, The Practical Benefits of Globalisation and the New Economy, viewed 27 August 2008.
http://www.trademinister.gov.au/speeches/2000/000922_globalisation.html
Alok Sheel, 2008, a brief history of globalisation, viewed 28 August 2008.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Guest_Writer/A_brief_history_of_globalisation_/rssarticleshow/3276531.cms
UNESCO, Atlas on endangered languages, viewed 1st September 2008.
http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=16548&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
Rupali Sagar, 2008, impact of globalisation on banking service in India, viewed 1st September 2008.
http://india.smetoolkit.org/india/en/content/en/36639/Impact-of-Globalisation-on-Banking-Services-in-India-Adv-Rupali-Sagar
Phung Khac Ke, WTO accession and banking reform in Vietnam, viewed 1st September 2008.
http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTRANETTRADE/Resources/WBI-Training/vietbanking_ke.pdf
Global vision, the influence of globalisation, 2005, viewed 2nd September 2008.
http://www.globalenvision.org/library/3/732/

Gerund and infinitive

1. It's obvious he's only interested in making money.

2. Anne couldn't find a taxi so I offered to drive her to the station.

3. I managed to book two seats on the morning flight

4. I promise to send you our new brochure as soon as it's available.

5. Peter was delighted to meet to a former colleague at the conference.

6. I avoid taking the car whenever possible, especially in big cities.

7. We finished the job by working 12 hours a day.

8. Bob sent a report to the Chairman instead of attending the meeting.

9. A lot of people dislike driving at night.

10. I intend to speak to my boss about your complaint

writing

Topic: Most people today place too much emphasis on satisfying their immediate desires. The overall quality of life would be greatly improved if we all focused instead on meeting our long-term needs.

It is generally agreed that some people tend to live with a short-term view. However, it is also said that human should consider long-term needs carefully as it may improve the quality of life. I myself agree with this opinion. That is because human will receive several benefits from this.

Needless to say, environment is one of the issues which are affected by the immediate passion. For example, to resolve the lack of electricity, some countries built thermal power plants. These plants use/ consume a huge amount of fossil fuels which may run out/ be used up in some years later. Moreover, the exploitation causes/ brings about the imbalance of ecosystem. As a result/ consequence, human have to deal with serious disasters.

Furthermore, the economy of a nation is also affected by the short-term benefits. This may happen due to the carelessness in some great/ large-scaled investment projects. The authorities believe that business activities help to reduce the unemployment rate and increase the income for national budget and local people. However, leaders have forgotten some disadvantages that projects will bring about in the future. For example, to develop industial zones authourities have taken a huge number of farming land which leads to the lack of agricultural development. Obviously, the authorities have paid so much attention to the short-term benefits that they omit the negative effects which may crop up in the future. Consequently, the failure of the projects can lead to the collapse of the whole national economy.

On the other hand, we cannot ignore the pros of the short-term needs. That is because they are the resources to create the background/ foundation and bring up the long-term needs. For example, to develop a big project, investor earns profit from small business, which helps them save enough money for bigger business. Obviously, to carry it out, companies should make careful consideration before giving a decision.

All things considered, government and authorities play an important role in the decisions concerning national benefits. Nevertheless, organizations and citizens should also enhance their awareness. This brings advantages for not only themselves but also the future generation.