Практический курс английского языка - Камянова Т.
ISBN 5-85550-177-9
Скачать (прямая ссылка):
Still, the economy of the UK is one of the strongest in Europe; inflation, interest rates, and unemployment remain low, and the government expects growth of 2% to 2.5% in 2003. Among the most developed branches of industry there are machine tools, electric power equipment, automation equipment, railroad equipment, shipbuilding, aircraft, motor vehicles and parts, electronics and communications equipment, metals, chemicals, coal, petroleum, paper and paper products, food processing, textiles, clothing, and other consumer goods. The most developed agriculture products are cereals, oilseed, potatoes, vegetables, cattle, sheep, poultry, fish.
The relatively good economic performance has complicated the Blair government's efforts to make a case for Britain to join the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). The_Prime Minister has pledged to hold a public referendum which will determine whether joining EMU would have a positive effect on British investment, employment, and growth. Critics point out, however, that the economy is thriving outside of EMU, and they point to public opinion polls that continue to show a majority of British citizens opposed to the single currency.
Nevertheless the closest trade partners of Great Britain are the European countries - members of the EU (54%). Great Britain exports manufactured goods, fuels, chemicals, food, beverages, tobacco to Germany (11%), France (9%), Netherlands (7%), and also to the USA (15%). The main imports-partners of Great Britain^re Germany, France, Netherlands, Ireland, the USA, and Japan.
Notes
1. to witness - быть свидетелем, видеть
2. an empire, the British Empire - империя, Британская империя
3. UN (United Nations) - Организация Объединенных Наций
4. Security Council - Совет Безопасности
5. NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization) - Североатлантический Союз
6. to pursue - преследовать (цель), следовать по намеченному пути, выполнять план
7. EU (the European Union) - ЕС (Европейский Союз)
8. trade, to trade - торговля, торговать
9. agriculture - сельское хозяйство
10. GDP (gross domestic product) - ВВП (валовой внутренний продукт)
11. interest rate - процентная ставка
12. a branch of industry - отрасль промышленности
13. consumer goods - потребительские товары
14. a currency - валюта
337
TEXT
THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND (THE UK)
H. SOCIAL SECURITY
Social security is a term used for financial assistance, in whatever form it may be. Every British citizen who is employed (or self-employed) is obliged to pay a weekly contribution to the national insurance and health schemes. An employer also makes a contribution for each of his employees, and the government too pays a certain amount. Such an order was brought into existence according to the Parliamentary Act, adopted in 1948. Its aim is to prevent anyone from going without medical services, if he needs them, however poor he may be, to ensure that a person who is out of work will receive financial assistance to exist on, and to provide a pension to those who have reached the age of retirement. The amount of money needed to operate this scheme is enormous, and a large part of the money comes not from the contributions but from taxation. Types of social insurance are: medical insurance, pension insurance, unemployment insurance.
Medical insurance. Everyone can register with a doctor of his choice, and if he is ill he can consult the doctor without having to pay for the doctor's services, although he has to pay a small charge for medicines. The doctor may, if necessary, send a patient to a specialist, or to a hospital; in both cases treatment will be given quite free. Those who wish, may become private patients, paying for their treatment, but they must still pay their contributions to the national insurance and health schemes. During illness the patient can draw a small amount every week, to make up for his lost wages. Mothers-to-be and children receive special benefits such as free milk or certain foodstuffs for which only a minimum of charge is made.
Pension insurance. When a man reaches the age of 65 (and a woman the age of 60), he may retire from work, and then he has a right to draw a State pension. Nowadays there are about 10 million old-age pensioners in Britain, of whom 750 000 cannot live entirely independently. As people are living longer, in the future it will be more and more difficult for the national economy to support the increasing number of elderly people. At the present time, more than half of all old people are looked after at home. Many others live in Old People's Homes, which may be private or state-owned.
Unemployment insurance. It's quite clear that the main response to unemployment is through economic policy, which addresses the matter by considering the working of the economy as a whole. The causes of unemployment are complex. Some kinds are long term: technical unemployment as a consequence of redundancy. Some are medium term: cyclical unemployment because there is inadequate demand to key production. Some are short term: frictional unemployment because people change jobs or locations. Seasonal work leads to people being employed only for short periods of time. But anyway, if a person is out of work he may draw unemployment benefit until he finds a job again. There exist special employment services which are mainly focused on the unemployed person: they offer, for example, all kinds of information, retraining or work experience, which improves a person's comparative position in the labour market. It should be said that the sum of unemployment benefit is comparatively small, for the State doesn't want people to stop working in order to draw substantial sums of money for doing nothing.
