自考英语国家概况-复习资料-课文要点课文要点

Chapter 6

1.Soon after the Seconder World War, Brtain not only gave up its economic hegemony but also suffered a deep loss of its position of industrial leadership. Its per capita GDP had been overtaken by the United States in 1900, by France and West Germany in 1950 and by Italy in 1960.

2.Britain has been running balance of payments deficits for many decades. Britain is no longer able to match the growth rates of other industrialized countries. The term "British disease" is now often used to characterise Britain's economic decline.

3.Steady development in the 50s and 60s. With help from the United States the British economy quickly recovered. By the end of 1947 the British economy had returned to its pre-war levels. The British economy in this period : slow but steady growth, low unemployment, great material prosperity with rising standards of consumption. The theory fo John M. Keynes. High consumption and low investment.

4.Economic recession in the 70s. The end of 1973 witnessed the first oil shock. In some years of the period Britain even had minus growth and the trade deficits were the highest among the Western countries.

5.Economic recovery in the 80s. Privatization, deregulation, market liberalization. By 1988 the recovery had lasted seven years. In 1980s Britain became a net exporter of oil.

6.Just as the 1940s decade is remembered in Britain as the era of nationalization, the 1980s will be remembered as the decade of privatization, During the past decade almost 40% of the British state enterprises were privatized.

7.The Thatcher programme was successful to some extent. Mrs Thatcher tried to cure the "British disease" by applying monetarism and encouraging the market-directed economy but she failed.

8.Almost all the industrial areas in Britain except London and Belfast are based on coalfields. The output of coal reached its peak just before the First World War when 286 million tons were mined, since then the number of miners, collieries and the total output have fallen.

9.Most of which are thought to be under the North Sea. Britain is not only self-sufficient in oil but also has a surplus for export.

10.Rich deposits of iron ore were found in central England. Today the original advantages of the locations of many steelworks in Britain have gone. Local supplies have become exhausted and although new discoveries of ore have been found in Britain. Ore must be imported from Spain, Sweden and elsewhere.

11.Britain's steelworks are not efficient.

12.The main textile producing regions of Britain are now the East Midlands, Yorkshire and Humberside, and Northern Ireland. The cotton textile industry lies in Lancashire west of the wool-weaving cities, because on the west side of the Pennine Mountains, the climate is humid and the damp air makes it possible to spin cotton without breaking it.

13.The reasons behind the decline can be summarized generally as follows(以下5点）

14.There are three areas in Britain which have seen some high-tech industrial growth: the