英语国家概况精讲系列（十六）

Reasons for the British coal mining is called a “sick” industry today.

英国煤矿被称为“生病”工业的原因。

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

如今的英国煤矿业衰退，从而导致矿工、煤矿的数量和总产量都大大下降。

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.

煤工业衰退的原因包括：老煤矿的枯竭，昂贵的提炼费用，破旧的设备，极少的投资，由于进口更干净、更便宜、更高效的燃料导致的需求下降等等。

Britain’s oil and natural gas

英国的石油和天然气

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年在北海发现天然气和石油。今天英国的石油不仅能自给自足，还有盈余供出口。交通和家庭供热系统主要依靠石油，因为大部分农业的高度机械化，食品供应也靠石油。

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

如今英国钢铁工业的主要问题。

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

英国钢铁工业衰退的原因如下：

1. Local supplies of iron ore have become exhausted;

当地贮备枯竭；

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

他们生产焦炭的老式炉不能提取有价值的副产品，

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

高炉、钢铁厂和轧钢厂经常分开，导致不如更紧凑的企业出效益；

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

许多钢铁厂倒闭，导致该地区的大批人失业。

英语国家概况精讲系列（十七）

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

New Industries

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.