自学测验考试英美国家概况十八.docx

1、自学测验考试英美国家概况十八.Chapter18The, EconomyThe United* States is by far the biggest industrial country in theworld. It is both an economic and technological giant. It is first insuch advanced fields as computers, space, nuclear energy, and elec-.tronics. It produces a major portion of the worlds machinery,

2、 auto-I.mobiles, oil, electrical energy, and chemicals, although its share isdecreasing rapidly. The value of American exports increased from $ 97 billion in the 70s to $ 393.5 billion in 1990, and the value ofimports rose from $ 100 billion to $ 495. 3 billion during the sameperiod. Americas Gross

3、National Product (GNP) rose from 2,626billion in 1981 to $ 5, 465 billion in 1990 and the per capita incomerose from $ 10,949 to $ 19,220 in the same period. Now Americahas more than half of the European market in transistors, - oil refin-ing, farm products, telecommunications, and computers. TheAme

4、rican people enjoy a better standard of living than most of the.nations in theWOTId. The United States has less than 6% of the worlds population.Yet it produces about 25 % of the total world output. It has experi-enced remark4ble economic growth. The achievement has not comeabout simply by chance. T

5、his fast growth has been attributable tomany factors. First, the geographical location.of the United Statesprovides very good conditions for the country to grow and becomestrong. Second, the United States has been blessed by being a land300-rich in mineral resources and fertile farm soil, together w

6、ith a mod-erate climate. Third, America has been fortunate in having enoughpeople to provide the labour necessary for a constantly expanding e-conomy . A fourth factor is the quality of available labour - The Unit-ed States has a skilful and willing labour force. The American labourforce is not only

7、 hard-working, but also willing to experiment, tochange and to learn new technologies.L The Economic System of the United States The United States has a free-market economy with a dominantprivate sector. The privately owned and operated businesses, includ-ing farms, produce about 85 % of the total o

8、utput of goods and ser-vices. People in independent professional practice, such as doctors,lawyers and accountants, produce about 3 % of the total. Govem-ment enterprises account for the rest. Industries such as coal, steel,motor vehicle and shipbuilding, are all privately owned. The postalservice (

9、but not the telephone) . the road system and, of course, na-tional defense are government-run at the federal, state or/and locallevels. Only 25% of electricity and railways are state-owned. In theUnited States private ownership accounts for a larger share of the e-conomy than in any other developed

10、country. However, the government has always been an important elementin the American economy. Traditionally, leaders of the US govern-ment have been reluctant to become involved in the private sector,except for transportation. This attitude began to change during thelatter part of the 19th century,

11、when farm and labour movementsbegan to ask the government to intercede on their behalf. After aperiod of prosperity (1920-1929) , government involvement in the301economy increased during the Great Depression (1929-1937). Gov-ernment undertook massive public works programs and the completeoverhaul an

12、d regulation of banking to help the economy to recover.In the postwar years government involvement was again emphasizedwhen the United States adopted the Keynesian theory in running theeconomy. However, by the end of the 1970s, economic growth haddecreased. Unemployment and inflation had continued t

13、o rise. TheAmerican economy was plagued by stagflation. In the early 1980s,under the Reagan Administration, the traditional Keynesian ap-proach was replaced by new monetarist policies. Such policies soughtto fight inflation by increasing supply and reducing demand. On the one hand, taxes were cut to

14、 increase economic dynamism. On theother hand, interest rates were raised to reduce the supply of mon- ey. These policies lasted for about ten years in the United States. As.a result, inflation and unemployment were brought under control. However, these economic policies also led to a big increase i

15、n public borrowing and trade deficit. Apart from stagnation the American e- conomy is now facing another problem of increasing foreign debtsand trade deficit. The American economy is characterized by a high degree ofmonopoly. Many of the nation-s basic industries are represented byonly a few major c

16、orporations. For example, in the automobile in-dustry there-are three giants. They are General Motors, Ford andChrysler. In the field of electrical supplies, General Electric controls amajor share of the business. In computers, International BusinessMachines has the dominant position. In recent year

17、s many corpora-tions have chosen to become conglomerates. Conglomerates are bigcompanies that own several smaller businesses whose products andservices are usually very different.302I11.Natural Resources Fertile soil is one of the most important natural resources in theUnited States. The rich soils

18、of the interior plains produce crops ofwheat and corn. In areas that have poor soils, irrigation, fertiliza-tion, and other scientific fanning methods are used to increaseproductivity.Americas forest rurces. are among the worlds largest. Whenthe first Europeans arrived in America they found that the

19、 countrywas enclosed by huge forests. Softwood forests including valuablewhite pines are found in the east and tall and giant redwood treesand Douglas firs are found throughout the coast ranges of the Pacif -ic. However, when they began to settle down, many of these forestswere cut down to make room

20、 for farms and cities and to provideshelter and fuel. As America grew, the need for timber increased .and trees were cut down in vast quantities. Wood, resin and otherforest products are the basic raw materials of several of the nationslargest industries. Despite the heavy use of forest products, fo

21、restsstill account for 31 % of the total land - This is a big portion as com-pared with other countnes in the world. Another natural resource that contributes to the welfare of thecountry is water. The early development of an agricultural systemand the later development of an industrial base were ma

22、de possiblelargely by vast water resources. Some areas, such as the Northeast,have good rainfall except in seasons of drought. In other areas farm-ing is usually possible without irrigation - Agriculture can depend annatural rainfall westward to the 100th meridian and also in the Pa-303cific Northwe

23、st. In the vast area from the Great Plains westward toCalifornia, however, crops must be irrigated . The Mississippi andother rivers provide excellent inland water routes. Water suppliesfrom underground sources, lakes, and streams are also large.Today the rivers and streams of America furnish 63 % o

24、f the wa-ter supply for cities, towns and farmlands, 93 % of the water usedby industries and almost all of the water used to generate electricity. The United States is rich in most of the minerals needed to supplyits basic industries. Mineral resources of the United States are welldeveloped. Coal, i

25、ron ore, copper, Oil, sulfur, lead, and zinc arefound in large quantities. The United States is among the worldleaders in the production of all these minerals. Other minerals, suchas uranium, gold, silver, potash and building stone, are also foundin large quantities in the UnitectStates. Major miner

26、al resources thatare scarce are tin, manganese, and nickel.Although much of the high-grade ore has been used, low-grade.ore reserves can last for centuries. Coal reserves are also sufficient tolast hundreds of years. The production, processing and marketing ofsuch petroleum products as gasoline make

27、 up one of Americaslargest industries. The Alaska pipeline, completed in 1977, stretch-es for 1, 2kilometres, and pipes 1. 2 million barrels of petroleum aday from the northern oil fields to a port on the south coast.Ill. American Agriculture The variety of climate and topography of the United State

28、smakesit possible for the people to grow many kinds of crops and mechniza-tion and scientific farming enable the American farmers to be veryproductive. The cultivated land in the United States makes up 21 %304of the total land, and people who are engaged in farming make uponly 2. 7% of the total pop

29、ulation. Yet the United States growsnearly one fourth of the worlds grain and supplies a half of all theexports of grain in the world. It is the worlds leading exporterof agricultural products. It ranks first, second, or third in theproduction and export of corn, wheat, rice, soybeans, oranges,meat,

30、 milk, apples, oats, cotton, tobacco, peanuts and edible veg-etable oil.equipment a farmer can manage 200 or more hectares without help.Machines are used to do almost all the farm work. With modernIn the American South one mechanical cotton picker can do the workof forty men. Airplanes are used to s

31、eed and fertilize the rice fields.As labour is scarce farmers do not mind lower yields per hectare if itmeans that they can farm with machinery. Farming is also scientif-ic. Different farming methods are used in different regions to makethe best possible use of the soil. Farmers use crop rotation to

32、 im-prove the land. Crop diversity has enabled much better use of the land, labour and modem technique. In those areas in the West where rainfall is scarce, both irrigated farming and dry farming arecarried on to make the landmore productive. The United States produces nearly 50 % of the corn in the world.Com is grown in ever