Word List. Unit 4
An administrator is a person who controls a business, company, or organization.
Everyone in the store did whatever the administrator asked them to do.- If someone is affluent, they are wealthy.
People in the city are usually more affluent than people in the country. - To audit means to inspect financial records from a person or business.
The government usually audits companies that report lower than usual incomes. - To automate a company means to install machines or computers to do the work.
When the bank automated, it started installing ATM machines. - To bribe someone means to illegally persuade them for a favor with money.
The judge was bribed so that she would set the suspect free. - If someone is corrupt, they break the law for money or fame.
The corrupt policemen didn’t arrest the man because he gave them money. - To dispose of something means to get rid of it.
He disposed of the can by throwing it into the recycle bin. - A headquarters is a building where the bosses of a company work.
He drove the long route to headquarters because it was a nice day. - An incentive is what makes a person want to do something.
The chance of winning a prize was incentive to get people to play the game. - An infrastructure is a collection of services needed to run a society or business.
Power lines are important parts of a city’s infrastructure. - To legislate means to make laws.
Senators have to legislate fairly, so most people will enjoy the benefits. - If something is legitimate, then it is acceptable according to the law.
She found a legitimate plan to raise extra funds for her vacation. - To manipulate something means to skillfully or unfairly control or affect it.
The Dr. manipulated the data to make it look like the cure was working. - Merchandise is goods ready to be purchased or sold.
The store added more merchandise because there were more shoppers. - Retail is the activity of selling goods to the public, often for personal use.
Though cheap to make, once a t-shirt reaches retail, it costs ten times as much. - Revenue is the income made by a company.
The new products really increased the business’s monthly revenue. - Rubbish is trash or waste.
The floor around the garbage can was covered with all kinds of rubbish. - A subsidy is money given by the government to companies to assist them.
The official gave the company a subsidy, so it could open two new factories. - A transaction is an act of buying or selling something.
Because the clerk was new at the job, the simple transaction took a long time. - To violate a law, rule, or agreement means to break it.
I was given a ticket because the policeman said I violated the speed limit.
The Corrupt Administrator
Mr. Pig was an administrator at a big factory that made different kinds of merchandise. During a meeting at the company’s headquarters, his bosses said they wanted the factory to make more money. “If the factory makes more money, then you will too,” his boss, Mr. Horse, told him. It was a great incentive. Pig had always wanted to be as affluent as his bosses. Mr. Pig returned to the factory and started making changes. However, most were not very nice, and some were not legitimate.
First, he fired all his employees. Then he automated the entire factory. Machines now made everything, and the other animals, Mr. Rabbit, Mr. Sheep, and Mr. Dog had no jobs. Next, he bribed some corrupt senators into legislating special subsidies for the factory. Finally, instead of paying a company to dispose of the factory’s rubbish properly, he violated the law by throwing it into the river to save money. At first, all the changes to the factory’s infrastructure created more revenue.
But soon many stores could no longer sell the factory’s goods at retail. It seemed that the machines couldn’t make products as well as the workers. The customers were disappointed with the factory’s merchandise. There were other problems, too. The animals had told their friends and family to stop buying the factory’s goods. Officials discovered the factory’s rubbish in the river, and when they audited the company, they discovered that Pig had manipulated the law in order to get more money. All transactions with Pig’s factory stopped. The factory lost money, and Pig lost his job. He realized his mistakes too late. He had tried to become rich by saving money any way possible, but the cheapest way was not always the best.