英语国家概况UnitWord版.doc

传播优秀Word版文档 ，希望对您有帮助，可双击去除！Unit 5　The UK Economy (英国的经济)　一、本单元重点内容1. Absolute decline and relative decline of British economy (英国经济的绝对衰败和相对衰败)2. The privatization in the 1980s (20世纪80年代的私有化)3. The main sectors of the UK economy (英国经济的主要部门): 　Primary industries (第一产业): Agriculture (农业)& Energy production (能源生产)　Secondary industries (第二产业) : The manufacturing industry (制造业) 　　　 　　　　　　　　　　　 eg. The aerospace industry (航空和航天工业) Tertiary industries / service industries (第三产业/服务业)4. The City of London (伦敦金融城)5. The London Stock Exchange (伦敦证券交易所)二、本单元重、难点1. Absolute and relative decline of the British Economy1) By the 1880s, dominant in the world--- 1/3 of the world’s manufactured goods; 1/2 of the world’s coal, iron and cotton; shipping greater than the sum of the rest of the world.2) By 1900, overtaken by the U.S and Germany. 一直到19世纪80年代，英国经济一直在世界上居于主导地位。

但是到20世纪时，它被美国和德国超过 3) From 1945(the year when WWII ended) until present, thought of as relative decline because of steady economic growth and rapidly increasing living standards and still remaining one of the Group of Seven industrial economies(七大工业国:US, UK. Germany, France, Japan, Italy and Canada), but other countries developed more rapidly, so it slip from being the 2nd largest economy to being the 6th. 自1945年二战结束以来，英国经历了经济衰退，但是这是一种相对衰退，而不是绝对衰退英国比1945年更富有了，生产力更强了，且仍然是七大工业国之一，这七大工业国是美国、英国、德国、法国、日本、意大利和加拿大。

但是由于其它国家发展得更快，所以英国经济从第2位下滑至第6位4) causes for the relative decline 相对衰退的原因① Britain has gone into heavy debt to finance the war (selling many accumulated overseas assets, borrowing large amounts from the US and Canada)　　为了给战争筹集资金，英国已经背上了沉重的债务 ② British colonies which used to provide raw materials and big markets gained independence —the end of the era of empire. 过去常常为英国提供原材料和广阔市场的英国殖民地纷纷独立③Britain was heavily burdened with the huge military expenditure during the process of decolonisation. 教材编者还认为英国在非殖民化的过程中因为巨额的军备开支而重负不堪。

[It was still forced to maintain a substantial and expensive military presence in many overseas locations until the process was completed (mostly by the end of the 1960s). And as one of the shapers of the post-war world required substantial military contributions (member of NATO and UN Security Council).]④ Britain lacked the investment in modern equipment and new products 英国也缺少对现代化设备和新产品的投资Britain’s industry survived comparatively unaffected. It continued with its older factories and pre-war products. While the main losers in the war, Germany and Japan, had to start from nothing, so they could invest in the most modern equipment and new products, which was sufficient.) Summary of the decline:The UK has experienced an economic decline since 1945. but this is a relative decline rather than an absolute one. Britain is wealthier and more productive than it was in 1945, but since other countries developed more rapidly, it has slid from being the 2nd largest economy to being the 6th.2. Privatisation in the 1980sThe British economy went through a particularly bad period in the 1970s, with high rates of inflation and devaluation of he currency.(forced the Labour government to borrow money from IMF) Therefore, in the 1980s, when the Conservative party under Margaret Thatcher was in power, an extensive programme of privatization was carried out. Many state-owned businesses(such as steel, telecom, gas, aerospace) were turned into private companies. The author thinks that privatization was successful in controlling inflation but at the same time unemployment rate increased rapidly. 在20世纪70年代，英国经济经历了一个特别糟的时期，通货膨胀率很高，货币贬值。

因此，在20世纪80年代，在玛格丽特·撒切尔夫人领导下的保守党执政期间，广泛实施了私有化改革许多国有企业（例如钢铁、电讯、天然气、航空制造）等都变成了私有企业本教材编者认为这次私有化改革成功地控制了通货膨胀，但同时失业率也迅速上升 After the recession 1990-1992, the economy had a steady growth. The UK is the 2nd only to the U.S as a destination for international direct investment.3. the 3 main sectors of the UK1) primary industries, such as agriculture (crop and grazing)(small in relation to national health—1.4%, but efficient—producing 58% of the food need with 2% of the workforce; 3/4 of the land for agriculture—1/4 of that for crops, the rest for grazing animals of which sheep are the most numerous livestock), fishing(渔业), and mining [energy production: oil, gas, nuclear energy, coal mining etc. *3 of the 10 biggest companies in Britain: Shell(half Dutch), British Petroleum (BP), and British Gas英国三大能源公司:壳牌公司(与荷兰合资),英国石油公司,英国煤气天然气公司]; the world’s largest mining company, RTZ, is a UK company]世界上最大的采矿公司利奥锡锌公司 是一家英国公司。

2) secondary industries, which manufacture complex goods from those primary products第二产业，是用第一产业的产品制造复杂的商品英国的制造业尤其在药品、化工产品生产和航空制造业方面实力很强 (producing 22% of the national wealth, particularly strong in pharmaceuticals药品—the British company Glaxo-Wellcome (英国的格兰素-威尔康公司) is the biggest drug company in the world; chemicals化工产品—ICI is the 2n largest paint manufacturer in the world英国化学。