Three sectors of the economy

Three sectors of the economy 

Sunlight flooded the cabin as the plane changed course. It was

  a bright, clear  morning. Robyn looked out of the window as

  England slid slowly by beneath them: cities and towns, their

  street plans like printed circuits, scattered over a mosaic of tiny

 fields, connected by the thin wires of railways and motorways.

  Hard to imagine at this height all the noise and commotion going

  on down there. Factories, shops, offices, schools, beginning the

  working day. People crammed into rush hour buses and trains, or

  sitting at the wheels of their cars in the traffic jams, or washing up

 breakfast things in the kitchens of pebble-dashed semis. All

  inhabiting their own little worlds, oblivious of how they fitted

  into the total picture. The housewife, switching on her electric

  kettle to make another cup of tea, gave no thought to the

  immense complex of operations that made that simple action

 possible: the building and maintenance of the power station that

  produced the electricity, the mining of coal or pumping of oil

  to fuel the generators, the laying of miles of cable to carry the

  current to her house, the digging and smelting and milling of ore

  or bauxite into sheets of steel or aluminum, the cutting and

 pressing and welding of the metal into the kettle's shell, spout

  and handle, the assembling of these parts with scores of other

  components-coils, screws, nuts, bolts, washers, rivets, wires,

  springs, rubber insulation, plastic trimmings; then the packaging

  of the kettle, the advertising of the kettle, the marketing of the

 kettle to wholesale and retail outlets, the transportation of the

  kettle to warehouses and shops, the calculation of its price, and

  the distribution of its added value between all the myriad people

  and agencies concerned in its production. The housewife gave

  no thought to all this as she switched on her kettle. Neither had

 Robyn until this moment, and it would never have occurred to

  her to do so before she met Vic Wilcox.

Translation:

Cabina a fost invadata de lumina soarelui,odata ce avionul si-a schimbat cursa.Era o dimineata luminoasa si senina.Robyn s-a uitat pe geam, in timp ce Anglia luneca incet de sub ei : orase mari si mici,planurile lor de strada ca niste circuite imprimate,risipite asupra unui mozaic de cimpuri mici,unite de firele subtiri ale cailor ferate si autostrazi.  Greu de imaginat cum tot acest zgomot si agitatie se petrec acolo.Fabricile,magazinele,oficiile,scolile isi incep ziua de lucru.Oamenii s-au ticsit in autobuze si trenuri in timpul orelor de virf, statind pe linga rotile masinelor lor in ambuteiaje, sau spalindu-si vasele in bucatarii in urma semifabricantelor. Fiecare fiind preocupat cu chestiile sale personale, intru totul incadrindu-se in priveliste. Gospodina, conectind ceainicul electric pentru a-si pregati o cana de ceai ,nici nu s-a gindit la imensul sistem de operatiuni,care fac aceasta actiune simpla posibila:constructia si intretinerea centralei elctrice care produce electricitatea,minierea carbunelui sau pomparea uleiului generatoarelor,intinderea milelor de cabluri care transmit curentul pina la  case,saparea si macinarea minereului sau bauxitei in foi de otel sau aluminiu,presarea si sudarea metalului in coaja ceainicului,gura de scurgere si minerul,montarea acestor parti cu ajutorul altor componente: bobine,suruburi,piulite,bolduri,saibe,nituri,fire,arcuri,izolatie de cauciucuri, garnituri din material plastic,apoi ambalarea ceainicului,promovarea ceainicului, comercializarea acestuia la depozit si magazine,calcularea pretului si distribuirea valorilor sale adaugate printre un numar vast de oameni si agenti preocupati de productia lui.Gospodina nici nu s-a gindit la toate acestea cind a conetat ceainicul sau.Nici Robyn nu a facut acest lucru pina la acest moment , si nici nu s-ar fi intimplat daca ea nu l-ar fi intinit pe Vic Wilcox.

Три сектора экономики 

Солнечный свет заполнял кабину по мере того, как самолёт менял свой курс. Утро было светлым и безоблачным. Робин выглядывала в иллюминатор по мере того, как Англия медленно проплывала под ним: городские улицы, похожие на напечатанные на бумаге планы городов, рассыпанных в мозаике крохотных полей, связанных тонкими линиями дорог и железнодорожных путей. C такой высоты было трудно представить себе весь шум и суматоху, царившие внизу. Фабрики, магазины, офисы, школы, начинают свой рабочий день. Люди, толкающиеся в автобусах и поездах в час пик, или сидящие за рулём своих машин в пробках, или моющие посуду на кухне после завтрака приготовленного из полуфабрикатов. Каждый крутится в своём маленьком мирке, естественно вписывающемся в общую картину. Домохозяйка, включающая чайник для того, чтобы заварить себе чашечку чая, даже представить себе не могла весь тот безмерный комплекс действий, делающий этот простой процесс возможным: устройство и поддержку  электростанции, производящей электричество, добычу угля или выкачивание нефти, чтобы обеспечить топливо для электрогенераторов, прокладку  кабелей на сотни миль для того, чтобы доставить ток к ней домой, добычу, переплавку, прессовку руды или бокситов в листы стали или алюминия, весь процесс нарезки, прессовки и сварки металла для того, чтобы получить каркас чайника, его ручку и носик, сбор всех этих деталей в единое целое с использованием множества других компонентов - катушек, винтиков, гаек, болтов, заклёпок, проводов, пружин, изоляции, пластиковой гарнитуры; затем, упаковка чайника, его реклама, маркетинг для оптовых и розничных магазинов, перевозка чайников на склады и в магазины, расчёт конечной стоимости и распределение добавочной стоимости среди тысяч людей и компаний, участвующих в производстве. Домохозяйка никогда не задумывается обо всём этом при включении чайника. Впрочем, Робин тоже не думала об этом, и так бы никогда и не подумала, если бы не встретила Вика Вилкокса.

1. Comprehension


1. In lines 4-7, Robyn sees examples of all three. What are they?


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 according to which sector they belong to.


2. Discussion
Which sector do you intend to work in or do you already work in? How do you 'fit in the total picture' ?


 
3. Manufacturing and services

Two hundred years ago, the vast majority of the population of virtually every country lived in the countryside and worked in agriculture. Today , in what many people call ‘the advanced industrialized countries’, only 2-3 % of the population earn their living from agriculture. But some people already talk about ‘the post industrial countries’, because of the growth of service industries, and the decline of manufacturing, which is moving to ‘the developing countries’.

 Is manufacturing industry important? Is its decline in the ‘advanced’ countries inevitable? Will services adequately replace it?

4. Reading

 We worry about unemployment and the loss of manufacturing industry in the advanced industrial countries only because we don’t look at the larger social developments. The US, for example, no longer depends on heavy industry for employment to the extent that it once did.

 This is related to a larger fact that has attracted very little discussion. After a country’s people are supplied with the physical objects of consumption, they go on the concern about their design. They go on to an enormous industry persuading people they should buy these goods; they go on to the arts, entertainment, music, amusement-these become the further, later stages of employment. And these are things that are extremely important.

 Paris, London, New York and so on do not live on manufacturing; they live on design and entertainment. We do not want to consider that this is the solid substance of economics, but it is.

 I don’t think it is possible to stop this progressive change in the patterns of human consumption. It is inevitable.

1. Why do people worry about the decline of manufacturing?
2. Which activities are as important as the production of goods?
3.  Should people worry about this state of affairs?

Edit by:
Elena Ursu