The United Kingdom is an industrial and commercial nation. The country is one of the most highly industrialized countries in the world. In terms of gross national product (GNP) it ranks fifth in the world, with Italy, after the United States, Japan, Germany and France. Most of the gross national product comes from manufacturing, mining and construction.
In industrial production the heavy industry occupies the leading place. Britain ranks as important steel producer. It exports nearly half of its finished steel. Britain also produces heavy machinery for industry, farming and mining. The country is one of the world’s largest producers of tractors. British aerospace industry is one of the largest in Western Europe. Britain is the fourth largest exporters of pharmaceuticals.
The industrial revolution began in Britain’s textile industry. Today Britain remains an important producer of cotton and woolen textiles. Britain has one of Europe’s largest clothing industries. British clothing has long been famous for its quality. Besides the above industries, food, drink, bricks, furniture, leather goods, glassware and paper are developed in Great Britain.
Service industries Finance, insurance and real property is the most important service industry in Britain. Britain is one of the wealthiest places in the world. Most of the country’s financial companies operate in London. Major financial institutions in London include The Bank of England, the United Kingdom’s national bank, the London Stock Exchange and Lloyd’s insurance society.
Wholesale and retail trade is the third most important service industry in Britain. London has thousands of small shops and attracts more that 15 million tourists each year. Tourism is another of Britain’s important service industries.
Natural resources. The United Kingdom is a major world producer of petroleum, coal and natural gas. These three fuels accounts for about 85 percent of the value of total mineral production in the country. Petroleum is Britain’s most valuable mineral. Today Britain’s oil wells provide nearly all the petroleum that the country uses and also supply petroleum for export.
Agriculture, one of Britain’s most important industries, supplies nearly two-thirds of the country’s food. Eighty percent of the land area is used for agriculture. The United Kingdom has about 240,000 farms. Many British farmers practice mixed farming – that is, they raise a variety of crops and animals. Britain’s most important crops are barley, potatoes, sugar beets and wheat.
Sheep are Britain’s chief livestock. Farmers in almost every part of the country raise sheep for meat and wool. British farmers also raise beef cattle, dairy cattle and hogs.
Trade. The United Kingdom ranks as a leading trading nation.. Britain exports aerospace equipment, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, machinery, motor vehicles, petroleum and scientific and medical equipment. It imports clothing, foods (especially fish, fruit, vegetables, meat, coffee and tea), machinery, metals, motor vehicles, petroleum products and textiles.
Most of the United Kingdom’s trade is with other developed countries. France, Germany and the United States are Britain’s main customers and supplies. Other trade partners include Canada, Ireland, Japan, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Sweden and Switzerland. Britain has a large merchant fleet. The ships in the fleet carry British-made goods to ports throughout the world and bring back needed imports.
The economic system. As in all European countries, the economic system in Britain is a mixture of private and public enterprise. From 1945 until 1980 the general trend was for the state to have more and more control over the country’s economy. Various industries became nationalized (in other words owned by the government), especially those concerned with production and distribution of energy. Transport system, communication services, education, health care were also nationalized. Between 1980 and 1994 a large number of companies were privatized (or “denationalized”). That is, the government sold them off. But the government still controls the production of coal, steel and ships it also runs railways and most civil aviation.
_____________________________________ ______________________________________
_____________________________________ ______________________________________
_____________________________________ ______________________________________
_____________________________________ ______________________________________
_____________________________________ ______________________________________
Ex. 2. Match the words with their dictionary definitions.
____ capitalism a) the act of buying and selling goods and services either on the
domestic or on the international markets.
____ retail b) an economy in which some industries are privately owned and
others are publicly owned or nationalized.
____ trade c) an economic system based on the private ownership of the
means of production, distribution and exchange.
____ wholesale d) a country, firm or person that sells and sends goods to another
country.
____ exporter e) a person or business enterprise that generates goods or services
for sale.
____ producer f) the sale of goods individually or in small quantities to
customers.
____ mixed economy g) the sale of goods in large quantities, especially to retailers.
Ex. 3. Give the English equivalents for the following words and phrases.
промышленная революция ____________________________________________________
валовой национальный продукт ________________________________________________
финансовые учреждения ______________________________________________________
недвижимость_______________________________________________________________
мировой производитель _______________________________________________________
фондовая биржа ______________________________________________________________
смешанное сельское хозяйство __________________________________________________
торговый партнер _____________________________________________________________
торговый флот _____________________________________________________________
розничная торговля _________________________________________________________
Ex. 4. Group the following words into seven synonymous group.
| domestic | important | naval | cheap |
| commercial | foreign | significant | leading |
| low-priced | mercantile | main | marine |
| national | overseas | chief | international |
Ex. 5. Croup the words that follow into six antonymous groups.
| cheap | full-time | low | personal |
| expensive | high | national | public |
| foreign | invisible | part-time | visible |
Ex.6. Match the beginnings of the sentences to their ends using the information from the
text.
| 1. The industrial revolution began | a. manufacturing, mining and construction. |
| 2. Finance, insurance and real property | b. is the third most important service industry in Britain |
| 3. Most of the gross national product comes from | c. a mixture of private and public enterprise. |
| 4. British aerospace industry is | d. in Britain’s textile industry. |
| 5. The economic system in Britain is | e. the production of coal, steel and ships it also runs railways and most civil aviation. |
| 6. The government still controls | f. practice mixed farming |
| 7. Many British farmers | g. is the most important service industry in Britain. |
| 8. Wholesale and retail trade | h. one of the largest in Western Europe. |
Ex. 7. Multiple choice. Choose the correct answer.
1. The United Kingdom is
a) an industrial nation
b) a commercial nation
c) a developed nation
d) all of the above
2. The most important service industry in Britain is
a) finance, insurance and real property
b) community, social and personal service industries
c) wholesale and retail trade
d) none of the above
3. Major financial institutions in London include
a) the Bank of England
b) the United Kingdom’s national bank
c) the London Stock Exchange
d) all of the above
4. The industrial Revolution began in Britain’s
a) textile industry
b) coal industry
c) food industry
d) steel industry
5. Britain’s chief livestock are
a) beef cattle
b) chickens
c) sheep
d) hogs
6. The United Kingdom is a major world producer of
a) petroleum
b) coal
c) natural gas
d) all of the above
7. Most of the United Kingdom’s trade is with
a) Canada, Ireland and Japan
b) France Germany and the United States
c) Norway and Saudi Arabia
e) Sweden and Switzerland
8. The economic system of Great Britain is of
a) command type
b) traditional type
c) free-market type
d) mixed type
GRAMMAR REVIEW
Ex. 8. Put the verbs in brackets into the correct tense and voice form.
1. In the past clothes _________________(to make) by individuals, now clothes ____________(to make) both by individuals and at big factories.
2. __________prices for fuel ______________(to grow) last year?
3. All data ______________________(to consider) before a decision _____________(to make).
4. Climate ____________________(to become) warmer in recent decades and conditions for agriculture and industry ____________________(to change).
5. Energy scarcity __________________(to limit) further development of many industries now.
6. In the 1970s prices for oil ________________________(to grow) very fast.
7. Better equipment __________________________(to require) in order to increase efficiency.
8. Prices for all goods ________________________(to rise) twice in the USA since the 1950s.
9. When the factory ____________________(to produce) more goods, it _________________(to require) more resources.
10. After prices _______________(to rise), the demand for these goods _____________(to fall).
Text for written translation
Text 1 PRIVATISATION
Britain’s energy and transport industries were originally run by companies in the private sector. But in the late 1930s and 1940s these essential services were privatizedunder huge state-owned corporations. In later years, the state took over other companies that were in economic difficulties in order to protect jobs: some car manufacturers (including Rolls-Royce) and shipbuilders became state-owned in this way.
From 1979 it was Conservative government policy to return privatizedn industries to the private sector. There was considerable political debate about this policy. The Labour Party, which had been responsible for privatizing many industries in the 1940s, felt they should be kept in state ownership. The Conservatives argued that he state ownership had brought no real benefits. They therefore privatized whole industries, such as gas and telecommunications. They also encouraged local authorities, hospitals and schools to use private firms from outside for services such as cleaning and rubbish collection.
Text 2 SHARE OWNERSHIP
The sale of state-owned industries meant that share ownership increased. State corporations were turned into companies whose shares could be bought and sold on the stock market. For example British Telecom and British Gas shares were sold to the general public with huge advertising campaigns. On the other hand the National Freight Corporation was initially bought from the state by its own employees to preserve their jobs: shares were not available to the general public until five years later.
In 1979 less than a third of shares in the London stock market were owned by private individuals. The rest were owned by large financial institutions such as insurance companies, and the proportion of individuals owning shares had fallen far behind the rate in other western industrial countries.
Privatization altered the picture dramatically. However, it is impossible to say whether share ownership has made individuals generally richer as that depends on the state of the stock market at any given time.
Text 3 THE CITY OF LONDON
London has been an important centre for finance for many years. The financial district, known simply as “the City”, occupies one square mile of central London. It is the site of the original walled city, and still has its own Lord Mayor and local government. Until very recently it was the home of the “City gent” with black bowler hat and tightly rolled umbrella; the bowler is rarely seen today. I contrast to the entertainment district in the West End of London, the city is almost deserted at night. Although hundreds of thousands of people work in its offices by day, only about eight thousand actually live within the square mile.
Although the City is central to international finance, to many observers it seems increasingly independent of the British domestic economy. When London was an imperial capital, the City was its financial heart, but in the age of telecommunications, the City could be situated anywhere.
Text 4 THE STOCK OF EXCHANGE
London has had a Stock Exchange for dealing in stocks and shares for over 200 years. Since 1973 it has been the single International Stock Exchange for the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. In March 1986 membership of the London Stock Exchange was opened to overseas companies, and commissions became negotiable. In October 1986 it became possible for stockholders to deal in shares through telephones and computers instead of face-to-face on the floor of the Exchange. These dramatic changes in City practices became known as “Big Bang”: they linked London much more closely with the other major international financial centres in Tokyo and New York.
A number of international exchanges are also based in the City. These provide an international market where materials and services can be bought and sold. For example, the London Metal Exchange deals in industrial metals and the Baltic Exchange arranges the sale of half of the world’s ships and most of the world’s sea cargo.
УСРС “RECRUITMENT”
Ex. 1. So you chose a job ad, sent your resume to the company and they invited you to the interview. Are you nervous? Now try to imagine that you are a director of a company. What kind of a person would you employ? Tick the most essential features and give your reasons. Add your own variants.
♦ positive minded
♦ hard working
♦ with a good sense of humor
♦ intelligent
♦ sociable
♦ competitive
♦ self-motivated
♦ dedicated
♦ talkative
♦ experienced
♦ active
♦ determined to succeed
♦ enthusiastic
♦ brave.
You know that there are special newspapers dealing with recruitment. These are some job ads from such a newspaper. Look them through and choose an advertisement which attracts your attention at once.
1.
DX Communications in Scotland is a leading telecommunications company trading throughout the UK with subsidiaries in Ireland and Holland. Specialising in the sale of mobile phones and related telecommunications equipment, we are currently listed as one of the three fastest growing private companies in the UK. In line with this rapid growth, we are now looking to recruit the following key people.
