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 Vocabulary 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.