ECONOMY OF GREAT BRITAIN
PART I. Industry
Ex. 1. Practice the pronunciation of the following words:
a) stress the first syllable:
naval, power, primarily, public, private, enterprise, industry, nationalize, government, ferrous, transport, manage, sector, service, share, agriculture, vital, rise, workforce, company, nation, partly, presence, mineral, marble, granite, tin, slate, lead, copper, zinc, valuable, textile, science;
b) stress the second syllable:
economy, industrial, developed, electric, demand, account, predominate, technology, metallurgy, percentage, deposit, accessible, considerable, employ.
Great Britain is a highly-developed naval and industrial power. Its
economy was primarily based on private enterprises. However, some industries were nationalized after World War II. Now it has a mixed private-and public-enterprise economy. The government controls the coal-mining and electric power industries, ferrous metallurgy and shipbuilding. Part of public transport, civil aviation and national bank are also managed by the state.
The main sectors of British economy are manufacturing, services and agriculture. The share of industry in gross national product (GNP) is 11 times more than that of agriculture. Manufacturing plays a vital role in British economy. It accounts for 1/5 of the GNP and employs about 1/3 of the workforce. Small companies predominate, though companies with 500 or more employees employ a larger percentage of the workforce.
The rise of Great Britain as an industrial nation was partly due to the presence of considerable mineral resources, the most important of them being coal and iron. Next to coal and iron the chief minerals found on the British Isles are the building stone, marble, granite, slate, lead, tin, copper, zink, salt and china clay. But in the course of the last hundred years many of Britain's most valuable and accessible deposits have been worked out.
Coal-mining, metallurgy, textile, shipbuilding are the older branches of industry. The new industries are the chemical, electromechanical, automobile, aeromissile and electronics. The new industries have developed hand in hand with science and technology and are equipped to meet present technical demands.
Big cities and towns such as London, Glasgow, Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Sheffield and Birmingham have enterprises of nearly all branches of industry. The main centres of cotton and woolen industry are Leeds, Bradford and Manchester.
Ex. 2. Find equivalents:
1. Coal-mining 1. Частное предприятие
2. GNP 2. Энергетическая промышленность
3. Industrial nation 3. Хлопковая промышленность
4. Private enterprise 4. Рабочая сила
5. Power industry 5. Промышленная держава
6. Public transport 6. Авиаракетная промышленность
7. Workforce 7. Угледобывающая
8. Shipbuilding 8. Смешанная экономика
9. Mixed economy 9. Черная металлургия
10.Cotton industry 10. ВНП
11.Aeromissile industry 11. Судостроение
12.Ferrous metallurgy 12. Общественный транспорт
Ex. 3. Give the corresponding nouns to the following verbs:
a) to control, to transport, to service, to share, to work, to force, to rise, to head, to power, to base, to state, to centre, to demand, to mix;
b) to associate, to govern, to produce, to manufacture, to predominate, to account, to equip, to employ, to develop, to nationalize, to know.
Ex. 4. Fill in the blanks with prepositions or adverbs if necessary.
1. British economy was primarily based... private enterprises. 2. Some... industries were nationalized... World War II. 3. Part... public transport, power industry and most... civil aviation are managed... the state. 4. The rise... Britain as an industrial nation was partly due... the presence... considerable mineral resources. 5. Manufacturing plays a vital role... British economy. 6. The new industries have developed hand... hand... science and technology.
Ex. 5. Fill in the blanks below with the most appropriate terms from the list:
GNP; woolen industry; manufacturing; agriculture; private enterprises; industrial power; public-enterprise economy.
1. Great Britain is a highly-developed naval and______. 2. British
economy was primarily based on____. 3. Great Britain has a mixed private and. 4. The main sectors of British economy are____,
services and_______. 5. The share of industry in_______ is 11 times
more than that of agriculture. 6. The main centers of cotton and__ are
Leeds, Bradford and Manchester.
Ex. 6. Ask someone:
if Great Britain is a highly developed naval and industrial power;
its economy was primarily based on private enterprises; now Great Britain has a mixed private- and public-enterprise economy; in the course of the last hundred years many of Britain's most valuable and accessible deposits have been worked out;
when some industries were nationalized;
what industries the government controls; the main sectors of British economy are; the share of industry in GNP is; role manufacturing plays in British economy; the rise of Britain as an industrial country was due to; the chief minerals found on the British Isles are; the older branches of industry are; the new industries are; cities and towns have enterprises of nearly all branches of industry; the main centers of cotton and woolen industry are.
Ex. 7. Give the characteristic of British economy using the following words and word-combinations:
highly-developed naval and industrial power; mixed private- and public-enterprise economy; coal-mining and electric power industries; shipbuilding; ferrous metallurgy; private enterprise; public transport; civil aviation; national bank; manufacturing; services; agriculture; vital role; to account for; workforce; GNP; due to; considerable mineral resources; new industries; electrotechnical; automobile; aeromissile industries; hand-in-hand; science and technology; to meet present technical demands.
ECONOMY OF GREAT BRITAIN
PART II. Agriculture
Agriculture is one of the most important sectors in British economy. It supplies nearly 2/3 of the country's food and directly employs about 2,5 per cent of the working population. However its share of the gross domestic product is less than 3 per cent — the lowest figure among the developed countries.
Great Britain is self-sufficient in milk, eggs, to a very great extent in meat, potatoes and wheat. However it has to import butter, cheese, sugar, tea, fruit and some other agricultural products.
There are more than 250 thousand farms in Great Britain. Most of them are small family farms, where all the work is done by the farmer and his family. The tendency in agricultural development of the country is the disappearance of small traditional farms as they cannot compete with big industrial farms.
The types of farms are different in different regions of the country. In the East most farmers grow such crops as barley, wheat, sugar beets and potatoes. In the West climate is good for the production of farm animals. The greater part of the land here is used for dairy and beef cattle breeding, and sheep farming. There are a lot of farms where farmers grow some crops and breed some farm animals. These farms are known as mixed farms.
British agriculture is efficient for it is based on modern technology and research. The work in agricultural sector is highly mechanized. Computers and different agricultural machines are used by the farmers in Great Britain.
Ex. 2. Give the verbs from which the following nouns are derived:
computer, disappearance, difference, growth, development, management, employment, population, product, production, tendency, import, competition.
Ex. 3. Give Russian equivalents for the following words and word-combinations. Use them in the sentences of your own:
one of the most important sectors; developed countries; small family farms; agricultural products; to be self-sufficient; to compete; share of the gross domestic product; to a very great extent; agricultural development; agricultural sector; farm animals; dairy and beef cattle breeding; highly mechanized; sheep farming; disappearance, mixed farms; modern technology and research.
Ex. 4. Fill in the blanks below with the most appropriate terms from the list:
mixed farms; computers; self-sufficient; modern technology; sectors; the disappearance; farm animals; crops; efficient; compete.
1. Agriculture is one of the most important______ in British economy. 2. Great Britain is in milk, eggs, meat, potatoes and wheat.
3. In the West climate is good for the production of____. 4. There are a lot of farms where farmers grow some_________________________________________ and breed some farm animals. These farms are known as_____________________________________. 5. British agriculture is _____for it is based on ___________and research. 6. Different machines and ____________are used by the farmers. 7. The tendency in agricultural development of the country is__ __of small traditional farms as they cannot_____________________________________________ with big industrial farms.
Ex. 5. Match the synonyms:
self-sufficient, share, agriculture, self-supporting, trend production, for, to provide, significant, because, part, farming, tendency, producing, developed, about, efficient, to supply, important, advanced, nearly, effective.
Ex. 6. Fill in the blanks with prepositions or adverbs if necessary:
1. Agriculture is one... the most important sectors... British economy. 2. Its share... the gross domestic product is less than 3 per cent - the lowest figure... the developed countries. 3. Great Britain is self-sufficient... milk, eggs, to a very great extent... meat, potatoes and wheat. 4. Most... the farms are small family farms, where all... the work is done... the farmer and his family. 5. The tendency... agricultural development... the country is the disappearance... small traditional farms as they cannot compete... big industrial farms. 6. The types... farms are different... different regions... the country. 7.... the West climate is good... the production... farm animals. 8. British agriculture is efficient... it is based... modern technology and research.
Ex. 7. Answer the following questions:
1. Is agriculture one of the most important sectors in British economy? 2. What is the share of the gross domestic product? 3. What agricultural products is Great Britain self-sufficient in? 4. What products does the country import? 5. How many farms are there in Great Britain? 6. What is the tendency in agricultural development of the country? 7. The types of farms are different in different regions of Great Britain, aren't they? 8. What three types of farms are there in the country? 9. Why is the British agriculture efficient?