Engineering
Britain has a long tradition of
achievement in engineering In the 19th century engineers
such as Isambard Kingdom Brunei and George Stephenson led the way in
the construction of bridges ,tunnels, railways, steamships. Brunei
built the first ocean-0crossing steam-powered ship, the Great
Western ,in 1838.In 1926 john Logie Baird demonstrated the first
television system in London .More recently, British Aerospace helps
manufacture the Airbus A320 ,the first civil airliner with
electronic “fly-by-wire” controls. Another current example of
engineering experts is the building by Britain and France of th4
Channel Tunnel ,which links France and England.
Agriculture
From the air Britain still looks
like an agricultural country. Towns and cities cover only about 10%
of the land, about 5% is forest and 10% is rough moorland. Much of
the rest of the land is cultivated. Britain has one of the most
efficient agricultural industries in Europe and produces 60% of its
food. Only about 1-2% of the workforce are employed in agriculture a
smaller proportion than in any other industrialized country. On the
eastern side of Britain farmers grow arable crops such as wheat and
cereals. In the wet grasslands of the west they keep cattle
and sheep.
Industry
In Britain oil is the main source
of power and Britain is now their ninth largest producer of crude
oil in the world .Manufacturing industries once employed the
greatest number of people. There are still a number of large
companies in the vehicle ,aerospace ,chemical and electronics
manufacturing industries .But the average company is fairly small
with 80% employing fewer than 20 people. Today it is the service
industries like banking ,insurance, advertising, computer software
,tourism and retailing that employ most of the British workforce.
These are also the fastest growing industries.
Trade
Britain has only 1% of the
world’s population but is the 5th largest trading
nation. It exports oil and manufactured goods such as machinery
,electrical and electronic equipment ,aerospace equipment and
chemicals. Products from the chemical industry( such as
pharmaceuticals) are among the biggest export earners. Britain’s
export earnings from services such as banking ,insurance and tourism
exceed those from exports of goods. Over half of Britain’s exports
are to countries in the European Community
Как
всегда несколько вопросов по
вышеуказанным темам:
- Which two countries does The
Channel Tunnel link up?
- Who designed the first
ocean-crossing steam-powered ship?
- Who gave the first
demonstration of a working television system?
- Which is the fastest growing
industrial sector in Britain?
- Which is the main source of
energy in Great Britain?
- What percentage of Britain’s
workforce are employed in agriculture?
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