English for Business Studies
Key to Unit 01: The three sectors of the economy
This unit covers a lot of basic vocabulary concerning developed economies much of it in an extract from a well-known British novel. It also discusses the evolution of the economy of most of the older industrialized countries, with the decline of manufacturing industry and its replacement by services. There is an extract from a magazine interview with an economist and an interview with a British Member of Parliament on this issue.
1a V ocabulary p09
Identify the most prominent features in this photograph, which illustrates various important elements of the infrastructure of a modern industrialized country.
The photo clearly shows a large factory (the Unilever factory in Warrington, England) in the center, with more factories, industrial units, or warehouses in the top right-hand corner. The large factory seems to include some office buildings. Also visible are agricultural land (in the background; the land in the foreground doesn’t appear to be cultivated), a river, a railway and several roads, and housing, perhaps with a school in the center of the housing estate top left.
1b Reading p10
What is the key point that this extract is making about economies?
The text suggests that most people take for granted the amazing complexity of the economic infrastructure.
1c Comprehension p11
1.In lines 4-7, Robyn sees examples of all three. What are they?
Tiny fields (the primary sector), factories (the secondary sector), and railways, motorways, shops, offices, and schools (the tertiary sector).
2.The long sentence from lines 12-28 lists a large number of operations belonging to the different sectors of the economy. Classify the 18 activities from the passage Primary sector: digging iron ore, mining coal.
Secondary sector: assembling, building, cutting metal, laying cables, milling metal, smelting iron, welding metal.
Tertiary sector: advertising products, calculating prices, distributing added value, maintenance, marketing products, packaging products, pumping oil, transportation.
3.Can you think of three important activities to add to each list (not necessarily in relation to the kettle)?
Primary sector: farming (agriculture), fishing and forestry
Secondary sector: manufacturing, transforming and processing
Tertiary sector: financing, designing, retailing
2a Reading p12
1.Why do people worry about the decline of manufacturing?
Because they think it will lead to unemployment.
