Unit 1 the Three Sectors of the Economy
Ⅰ阅读理解
Just over ten years ago the Labour Party issued a glossy booklet entitled Modern Manufacturing Strength. It had as its subtitle Building a world class economy. It rightly complained of the destruction of much of Britain‘s industrial capacity during the years of Conservative rule. It called for a new strategy to revive British industry. Labor‘s booklet of ten years ago said that Conservative policy implied that manufacturing can be replaced by the service sector. ?This is a wholly false dichotomy‘, argued the booklet. ?A strong service sector requires a strong manufacturing base‘. In trading terms, Labor‘s booklet said, ?we manufacture or perish‘. Labor‘s booklet referred to what it described as Britain‘s ?appalling balance of payments deficit‘.
Today British manufacturing is even weaker than it was ten years ago. It employs fewer people. There are fewer factories. Manufacturing output represents a declining proportion of the total output of goods and services. The balance of payments on manufactured items is as bad as it has ever been.
The decline in British manufacturing affects not only the old so-called ?smoke-stack‘ industries but also industries that continue to cater for a substantial or growing market. Steel, engineering, motor-vehicle manufacture, electrical goods, shipbuilding, textiles, clothing, industrial chemicals, boots and shoes, furniture, pottery, computer manufacture and many other sections have all been affected. Their market share has declined.
It is an ironic commentary on this record of contraction that simultaneously under New Labour the income of the top people has leapt ahead of the general rise in the pay of working people. It is not success but failure that British capitalism has been rewarding. It is equally ironic that it now seems that our public sector, including the National Health Service and parts of the educational system, are to be injected more and more with the failed medicine of the bosses from the private sector.
It is plain as plain can be that capitalism has failed to halt the decline in British manufacturing industry and that in the immediate future manufacturing will continue on the path of contraction. Labor‘s booklet of ten years ago called for a national strategy for the modernization of British industry.
This would necessarily involve a big increase in investment. Productivity depends essentially on the kind of tools and equipment available to those employed in industry and on the education, training and skill of the workforce from the highest to the lowest level. The necessary increase in industrial investment will not come from private initiative and private sources. Tax incentives — and there have been plenty of them to help private companies — do little to influence long-term policy though they help to stuff the pockets of the industrial fat cats. There is no substitute for public investment and public accountability.
1. From the first paragraph, we know that the Labor party and the Conservative Party were different in their policies on A. Britain‘s manufacturing industry
2.
3.
4.
5.
B. The world economy
C. Britain‘s industrial capacity D. International trade
In the Labor‘s booklet, the sentence ?we manufacture or perish‘ means that A. Britain should upgrade its manufacturing industry. B. The manufacturing industry should convert itself.
C. Britain‘s economy will be destroyed if we don‘t revive our manufacturing
industry.
D. We should manufacture goods to support ourselves.
Compared with ten years ago, the manufacturing industry in Britain A. is stronger than it was ten years ago. B. employs a larger work force. C. has more factories. D. is even worse.
Against the context of slowdown in Britain‘s manufacturing industry, which of the following industry suffers from decline in market share? A. advertising B. banking
C. electrical goods D. consulting
The modernization of British industry will result in a big increase in A. unemployment B. private investment C. government investment D. output of manufacturing
The prospect facing British industry is worsened by the economic slow down in the world‘s principal capitalist powers, the USA, Japan and Germany. The path of their economies has shown once again that periodic booms and recession are an inevitable feature of an economic system dominated by the pursuit of private profit. It is not the satisfaction of human need that drives the economy but the motivation of profit. ?Effective demand‘ in the vocabulary of economists is the demand of people who have the money and the willingness to spend. All the huge unsatisfied basic wants of humanity count for nothing unless they represent a ?market force‘ expressed by the possession of an adequate income.
To those who argue that the problems of British industry are attributable primarily to the exchange rate there is an obvious answer. Who sets, or at the very least influences, the exchange rate? It is not set by divine intervention. It is Treasury policy and the bankers who have the main short-term influence. In the long-term exchange rates reflect the balance of trade.
It is not an answer to the decline of manufacturing to urge that Britain should join the Euro. This would reduce even more the possibility of remedial action. More and more decisions affecting British industry would be made increasingly remote from accountability to the British people.
New Labour should bring to an end its misplaced love affair with the private sector.
6. The author points out that periodic booms and recessions are the inevitable features of
A. Britain‘s economy
B. the world‘s principal capitalist powers C. USA‘s economy D. Japan‘s economy
7. In the economists‘ point of view, what drives the economy is the ?Effective demand‘, which is defined as A. human needs
B. the basic wants of low-incomers
C. the demand of people with adequate income
D. the demand of people with adequate income and willingness to spend 8. Which of the following factors influence the exchange-rate of a country?
A. divine power
B. Treasury policy and the bankers C. the balance of trade D. B & C
9. The proposal that Britain should join the Euro
A. can help British manufacturing get through the difficulties
B. will not be a remedy for the secondary sector of the British economy
C. will enable the British people to have the final say in its manufacturing
industry
D. will enhance Britain‘s position in the European Union 10. The author suggests that, the new Labor party today should
A. attach greater importance to the private sector than the public sector B. increase investment on the industry
C. change its current attitudes towards the private sector D. ignore the private sector
Ⅱ 词汇与结构
11. As a giant manufacturing economy, America is still the richest nation in the world. Therefore, the assumption that manufacturing has no future in the advanced industrialized countries is highly ＿＿＿.
A. confusing B. untrue C. dubious D. doubted
12. The majority of the people inhabits in their own little worlds, ＿＿＿ of how they connect with the outside world.
A. oblivious B. unknown C. curious D. thinking
13. Researchers have ＿＿＿ across a drug that may help patients with Parkinson‘s disease.
A. discovered B. come C. found D. stumbled
14. Violence increased to ＿＿＿ that residents were afraid to leave their homes.
A. the position that B. the extent that C. the result that D. the depth that
15. The majority of the economists hold that it is impossible to stop this ＿＿＿ change in the patterns of human consumption.
A. huge B. progressive C. dramatic D. great
16. Nowadays, people in cities rely on the mining of coal or pumping of oil to ＿＿＿ their cars.
A. move B. fuel C. drive D. use
17. The deadline for submitting the proposals is due in two days, but they offered no solution for all our ＿＿＿ problems
A. great B. immense C. myriad D. large
18. She gave no thought to all this, and neither ＿＿＿ occurred her to do so before she came here.
A. would it have B. it would have C. would it D. it have
19. Some people believe that the manufacturing industry in developed countries will change, ＿＿＿ itself.
A. adapt B. modify C. Correct D. convert
20. After a country‘s people are supplied ＿＿＿ the physical subject of consumption, they go on to concern about their design.
A. for B. to C. with D. about
Ⅲ 完形填空
In 1998, 25-year old John Stewart was ＿＿＿(21) redundant. He was left with a compensation ＿＿＿(22) of ￡5,000 and a determination to be his own boss. As a supporter of his local football club, he had often helped them by maintaining and repairing their seating. He now decided to set up his own company and make a ＿＿＿(23) out of his hobby.
His first step was to get 1,000 brochures printed, ＿＿＿(24) the two main services which he could ＿＿＿(25), repair and maintenance. He sent these brochures to ＿＿＿ (26) and professional football clubs, and other similar ＿＿＿(27), such as hockey clubs.
The week after completing the mailing was the worst of his life. He had no responses at all. Then a letter arrived from Scotland inviting him to give a ＿＿＿(28) for a pre-season check of a football club‘s seating. He arrived in Scotland in three hours; by the end of the afternoon he had signed the ＿＿＿(29) to do the work. For ￡500 the club had its seating made good, and on arriving home three days later, John worked ＿＿＿(30) that he had made a ￡250 profit.
The next four weeks were extremely busy, as club after club invited John to work for them. He priced each job in the same way as the first, working out all the direct ＿＿＿(31), then adding 100%. Money started to ＿＿＿ (32) in and John bought a van and rented a factory unit on an industrial estate near his house.
Then in late August the phones stopped ringing as the pre-season work dried up. John ＿＿＿ (33) that he needed longer-term work and decided to move into the manufacture of seating for new sports stadiums and the replacement market.
21. A. told B. made C. required D. found 22. A. salary B. wage C. payment D. amount 23. A. living B. practice C. labor D. task
24. A. declaring B. expressing C. outlining D. designing 25. A. do B. provide C. achieve D. succeed 26. A. amateur B. unprofessional C. casual D. informal 27. A. organizations B. situations C. activities D. sports 28. A. bid B. tender C. valuation D. quotation 29. A. charge B. terms C. invoice D. contract 30. A. out B. up C. off D. over 31. A. figures B. bills C. costs D. prices 32. A. come B. fly C. flow D. blow 33. A. agreed B. realized C. understood D. knew
Ⅳ 汉译英
34. 两百年前，几乎每一个国家的绝大部分人居住在农村并从事农业劳动。
35. 由于服务行业的发展和随着制造业往‘发展中国家’迁移而萎缩，许多人已经在谈论“后工业化国家”时代。
36. 我们之所以担心先进的工业化国家失业率会上升和制造业会萎缩，唯一的原因在于我们没有看到到更大范围内的社会发展。
37. 发达国家也可以制造产品，因为事实上发达国家所拥有的生产技术意味着其制造业仅需极少的劳力支出。
38. 一个国家三大经济成分的规模和复杂程度是其经济发展水平的最重要决定因素。
Ⅴ 写作
39. 随着出口贸易的进一步发展，中国的制造业继续蓬勃发展，中国也已成为了当之无愧的“世界工厂”。但是近年来，中国制造多次在西方国家遭遇了滑铁卢，使得国内的相关制造产业如玩具制造业等遭受重创。请结合实际，谈谈你对“中国制造”的看法，字数为150字左右。