專八人文知識精講(9)：英國經(jīng)濟(jì)

I. The Evolution of the British Economy since the War

戰(zhàn)后英國經(jīng)濟(jì)發(fā)展

The evolution of the British economy since WWII falls into three periods:

二戰(zhàn)后英國經(jīng)濟(jì)發(fā)展可分為三個階段：

(1) Steady development in the 50s and 60s: The British economy in this period is characterized by slow but steady growth, low unemployment and great material prosperity with rising standards of consumption.

(1)戰(zhàn)后50-60年代平穩(wěn)發(fā)展時期。其主要特點(diǎn)是經(jīng)濟(jì)緩慢而持續(xù)增長，失業(yè)率低，物質(zhì)豐富，人民消費(fèi)水平不斷增長。

(2) Economic recession in the 70s: In the 1970s among the developed countries, Britain maintained the lowest growth rate and the highest inflation rate, and the high record of trade deficits.

(2)70年代經(jīng)濟(jì)滯脹。在70年代，英國在所有的發(fā)達(dá)資本主義國家中，始終保持最低經(jīng)濟(jì)增長率，最高的通貨膨脹率，和最高的貿(mào)易赤字紀(jì)錄。

(3) Economic recovery in the 80s: An outstanding feature of the economic recovery in the 80s was its length, lasting seven years. Another was the improved financial position of the government, with stronger current account of the balance of payments.

(3)80年代經(jīng)濟(jì)復(fù)蘇。一個顯著特點(diǎn)是時間長，復(fù)蘇持續(xù)了7年。另一個特點(diǎn)是國際收支大大盈余，政府金融地位最高。

II. Measures taken by Mrs. Thatcher's government to improve the economy

撒切爾政府的經(jīng)濟(jì)復(fù)蘇政策

Mrs. Thatcher's government took numerous measures to improve the efficiency of the economy during the past decade, using both macroeconomic and microeconomic policies.

撒切爾政府運(yùn)用宏觀經(jīng)濟(jì)政策和微觀經(jīng)濟(jì)政策，采取了許多措施提高經(jīng)濟(jì)效益。

(1) Macroeconomic measures were directed towards bringing down the rate of inflation and achieving price stability.

宏觀經(jīng)濟(jì)政策直接針對降低通貨膨脹率和維持物價穩(wěn)定。

(2) Microeconomic policies were aimed at working with the grain of market forces by encouraging enterprise, efficiency and flexibility.

微觀經(jīng)濟(jì)政策旨在通過鼓勵實業(yè)，效率和靈活性共同努力提高市場競爭力。

III. Reasons for the British coal mining is called a "sick" industry today.

英國煤礦被稱為"生病"工業(yè)的原因。

Today the coal industry in Britain is on the decline，the number of miners, collieries and the total output have been falling.

如今的英國煤礦業(yè)衰退，從而導(dǎo)致礦工、煤礦的數(shù)量和總產(chǎn)量都大大下降。

The reasons for the decline are as follows: exhaustion of old mines, costly operations of extraction, poor old equipment, little investment, fall in demand due to imports of cleaner, cheaper and more efficient fuels, etc.

煤工業(yè)衰退的原因包括：老煤礦的枯竭，昂貴的提煉費(fèi)用，破舊的設(shè)備，極少的投資，由于進(jìn)口更干凈、更便宜、更高效的燃料導(dǎo)致的需求下降等等。

IV. Britain's oil and natural gas

英國的石油和天然氣

Natural gas was discovered in 1965 and oil in 1970 under the North Sea. Today Britain is not only self-sufficient in oil but also has a surplus for export. The transport and domestic heating systems mostly depend on oil. So does the food supply, because most agriculture is highly mechanized. Modern farming requires things which are all oil-based.

在1965年及1970年在北海發(fā)現(xiàn)天然氣和石油。今天英國的石油不僅能自給自足，還有盈余供出口。交通和家庭供熱系統(tǒng)主要依靠石油，因為大部分農(nóng)業(yè)的高度機(jī)械化，食品供應(yīng)也靠石油。

V. Main problems associated with Britain's iron and steel industry today.

如今英國鋼鐵工業(yè)的主要問題。

British iron and steel industry is declining for the following reasons:

英國鋼鐵工業(yè)衰退的原因如下：

1. Local supplies of iron ore have become exhausted;

當(dāng)?shù)刭A備枯竭;

2. Old fashioned furnaces for making coke cannot recover valuable by-products;

生產(chǎn)焦炭的老式爐不能提取有價值的副產(chǎn)品，

3. Blast furnaces, steelworks, and rolling mills are often separated from each other and thus cannot perform as well as more compact operation;

高爐、鋼鐵廠和軋鋼廠經(jīng)常分開，導(dǎo)致不如更緊湊的企業(yè)出效益;

4. Many steelworks have to be closed down, causing major unemployment in an area.

許多鋼鐵廠倒閉，導(dǎo)致該地區(qū)的大批人失業(yè)。

VI. Textile Industry

紡織工業(yè)

The main textile producing regions of Britain are the East Midlands, Yorkshire, Humberside, and Northern Ireland.

英國主要紡織基地是現(xiàn)在的中東部，約克郡和漢伯塞德郡及北愛爾蘭。

The reasons behind the decline of Britain's textile industry are:

英國紡織業(yè)的衰退原因如下：

(1) Exports of textiles have not competed well with those of other foreign producers who have managed to produce cheaper goods.

紡織品出口不能很好地與設(shè)法生產(chǎn)出更便宜商品的國外產(chǎn)家競爭。

(2) There has been a rise in cheaper imports of textiles to Britain from foreign producers.

英國增加了從外國產(chǎn)家進(jìn)口更廉價紡織品。

(3) Poor and outdated management decisions have caused problem.

薄弱及過時的管理決策導(dǎo)致許多問題。

(4) Substitutions of human-made fibres have been made for natural fibres.

人造纖維代替品已取代了天然纖維。

(5) An improvement of output per worker has been achieved, due to mechanization.

由于機(jī)械化，每個工人的生產(chǎn)量有了提高。

VII. New Industries

新興工業(yè)

New industries include microprocessors and computers, biotechnology and other high-tech industries. There are three areas in Britain which have seen some high-tech industrial growth: (1) the area between London and South Wales, (2) the Cambridge area of East Anglia and (3) the area between Glasgow and Edinburgh in Scotland. The third area is the most spectacular of the three and is now often referred to as the "Silicon Glen". By the end of 1985 half of Britain's microchip output was estimated to have come from Scotland.

英國的新興工業(yè)包括微處理器、計算機(jī)、生物技術(shù)和其他高科技產(chǎn)業(yè)。英國的草科技產(chǎn)業(yè)主要集中在以下三個地區(qū)：(1)倫敦和南威爾士之間的地區(qū)，(2)東英吉利的劍橋地區(qū)，(3)蘇格蘭格拉斯哥和愛丁堡之間的地區(qū)。其中最后一個地區(qū)是最大的，如今有“硅谷”之稱。j到1985年底，英國有一半的微芯片都產(chǎn)自蘇格蘭。