第3章　经　济

3.1　复习笔记

I. The Characteristics of the British Economy

II. Industry

III. Agriculture

IV. Trade and Finance

1. Trade

2. Finance

I. The Characteristics of the British Economy（英国国家经济的特点）

1. Britain is one of the world’s most advanced manufacturing and trading nations.

2. British agriculture does not produce enough food to meet the country’s basic needs.

3. British industry is operated by many different types of firms.

4. The British labor force is remarkably homogeneous.

1. 英国是世界上最发达的制造业和贸易国家。

2. 英国的农业满足不了国家的基本需求。

3. 英国的工业由很多不同类型的公司操纵。

4. 英国的劳动力是同质的。

II. Industry（工业）

1. Most of the industries were concentrated in specialized industrial areas: cotton in eastern Lancashire; wool in the West Riding of Yorkshire; linen in Northern Ireland: ship building on the Clyde, the northeast coast, and Northern Ireland; and iron and steel and chemicals in the north, the Midlands, and South Wales.

2. Machine industries were more widely distributed. The specialized manufacturing regions were also the chief coal-mining districts.

1. 英国工业较为集中在一些特殊地区：兰开郡东部的棉花区，约克郡西莱丁的羊毛区，北爱尔兰的亚麻区，克莱德河上、东北海岸和北爱尔兰的造船区、英国北部、中部和威尔士南部的钢铁和化学区。

2. 机器制造业分布较广。专业化制造业主要是煤矿区。

III. Agriculture（农业）

1. The land available for farming in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland is no more than 30 million acres.

2. British farmers produce enough food to supply two thirds of the needs of a population of over 57 million.

3. 70% of the gross sales of British agriculture are of animal products: only 30% of crops.

4. The main crops are wheat, barley, oats, rye and corn.

5. Cattle, sheep, pigs, and poultry are the important livestock.

1. 英国农业土地不超过3000万英亩。

2. 英国农民生产的食物只能满足5700多万人口需求的三分之二。

3. 这些食物的百分之七十为畜牧产品，百分之三十是粮食。

4. 粮食作物有小麦、大麦、燕麦以及土豆、甜菜和豆类等。

5. 畜牧业有牛、羊、猪及家禽类。

IV. Trade and Finance（贸易和金融业）

1. Trade（贸易）

(1) Foreign trade plays a major role in the British economy. Overseas commodity trade alone accounts for about one sixth of the country’s national income.

(2) Britain is basically an importer of food and raw materials and an exporter of manufactures.

(1) 对外贸易在英国经济中占据重要地位。国家收入的六分之一来自外贸。

(2) 英国主要进口食品和原料，出口工业成品。

2. Finance（金融业）

(1) The Bank of England is the centre of the British financial system. It was founded in 1694 and formalized its role as a public institution and instrument of government control.

(2) The economic crises brought on by inflation reduced the value of the pound. Although the English government increased the interest rate and changed tax, these measures cannot solve the economic crisis.

(1) 英格兰银行是英国的中央银行，建于1694年。它直接控制利率和整个银行系统。

(2) 经济危机使英镑贬值。英国政府虽采取了提高利率，变化税收等政策，但是解决不了经济危机。

3.2　课后习题详解

Exercise 1. Answer the following questions?

1. What are the characteristics of the British economy?

Key: The British economy was the first to have been fully industrialized. Britain was one of the world’s most advanced manufacturing and trading nations. The pound sterling is the exchange currency for about one third of the world’s foreign trade. The agriculture does not produce enough food to meet the country’s basic needs and part of all vital foodstuffs has to be imported. The labor force is homogeneous.

2. What was the industrial structure of the U.K. based on before the Second World War? What are the main mining industries?

Key: Before World War II the industrial structure of the United Kingdom was based largely on export trades developed in the 19th century. Most of the industries were concentrated in specialized industrial areas. The specialized manufacturing regions were also the chief coal-mining districts, for coal had been the most powerful localizing force. The main mining industry are coal and iron-ore mining industries.

3. How much land is available for farming in Britain? What crops are grown there?

Key: (1)The land available for farming in Britain is 29.3 million acres, and it shrinks every year as demands for roads and the expansion of towns slowly erode the areas of farmland.

(2)The crops grown in Britain are wheat, barley, oats, rye, corn, potatoes, sugar beets, kale, and beans.

4. What are the chief livestock industries?

Key: The chief livestock industries include cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry.

5. What does Britain import and export?

Key: Britain is basically an importer of food and raw materials and an exporter of manufactures.

6. Is the Bank of England the centre of the British financial system? When was it founded and when was it nationalized?

Key: Yes, it is the centre of the British financial system. It was founded in 1694 and was nationalized in 1946.

7. What are the policies that the Bank financially applies in order to maintain the British economy and government control?

Key: The preferred policies of the Bank of England are usually of a restrictive kind because it sees its role as protecting the gold and currency reserve and maintaining the international value of pound. One of the two traditional instruments of financial policy in Britain is the “bank rate”, the official rediscount rate charged by the Bank of England. The bank rate trends to determine the general level of all interest rates in London. The other is the fiscal policy which is not only used for purposes of economic control but also has to provide for a complex set of desiderata expected form the budget.

Exercise 2. Explain the following terms:

1. the development areas

Key: These areas refer to the relatively poor areas of the north and west of England.

2. the Bank of England

Key: It is the centre of the British financial system, founded in 1694 and nationalized in 1946.

3. “bank rate”

Key: It is one of the two traditional instruments of financial policy in Britain, that is, the official rediscount rate charged by the Bank of England.

4. “invisible trade”

Key: It is the trade related to profits, dividends and capital investment.