Economy and Transportation System of Scotland
5.Scotland has a western style open mixed economy which is closely linked with the rest of the United Kingdom and the wider European Economic Area. Scotland has the second largest GVA per capita of countries in the United Kingdom after England, though it is still lower than the average of the United Kingdom as a whole.
6.Scotland was one of the industrial powerhouses of Europe from the time of the Industrial Revolution onwards, being a world leader in manufacturing industries, which today has left a legacy in the diversity of goods and services which the Scottish economy produces, from textiles, whisky and shortbread to aeroengines, buses, computer software, ships, avionics and microelectronics to banking, insurance, fund management and other related financial services. Deindustrialisation during the 1970s and 1980s saw a shift from a manufacturing focus towards a more service-oriented economy.
7.The British Pound Sterling is the official currency in Scotland, and the central bank of the UK is the Bank of England which retains responsibility for the monetary policy of the whole of the United Kingdom.
Natural resource
8.Scotland has a large abundance of natural resources from fertile land, suitable for agriculture, to oil and gas. In terms of mineral resources, Scotland produces coal, zinc, iron, oil shale. The mining of coal - once a major employer in Scotland has declined in importance since the later half of the 20th century, due to cheaper foreign coal and the exhaustion of many seams. The last deep-coal mine closed in 2002.
Agriculture and forestry
9.Only about one quarter of the land is under cultivation - mainly in cereals. Barley, wheat and potatoes are grown in eastern parts of Scotland. The Tayside and Angus area is a centre of production of soft fruits such as strawberries, raspberries and loganberries, owing to the mild climate. Sheep raising is important in the less arable mountainous regions, such as the northwest of Scotland which are used for rough grazing, due to its geographical isolation, poor climate and acidic soils. In such areas, the land is generally flatter, coastal, and the climate less harsh, and more suited to cultivation.
10.The south-west of Scotland is a centre of dairying. Agriculture is highly mechanised and generally efficient. Hill farming is also prominent in the Southern Uplands in the south of Scotland, resulting in the production of wool, Lamb and mutton. Farming in Scotland has been particularly hard hit in recent years and is still recovering from the effects of the BSE and the European ban on the importation of British beef from 1996.
11.About 13,340 km2 of land in Scotland is forested - this represents around 15% of the total land area of Scotland. The majority of forests are in public ownership. Forests, especially those surrounding populated areas in Central Scotland also provide a recreation resource.
Fishing
12.The waters surrounding Scotland are some of the richest in Europe. Fishing is an economic mainstay in parts of the North East of Scotland and along the west coast, with important fish markets in places such as Aberdeen and Mallaig. Fish and shellfish such as herring, crab, lobster, haddock and cod are landed at ports such as Fraserburgh, Stornoway, Lerwick and Oban. Inland waters are rich in fresh water fish such as salmon and trout although here too there has been an inexorable and so far unexplained decline in abundance over the past decades.
Oil and gas
13.With Scottish waters consisting of a large sector of the North Atlantic and the North Sea, containing the largest oil resources in the European Union - Scotland is the EU's largest petroleum producer. Oil was discovered in the North Sea in 1966. With the growth of oil exploration the city of Aberdeen became centre of the North Sea Oil Industry, which it still is today, with the port and harbour serving many oil fields off shore. Shetland is the site of a major oil terminal, where oil is piped in and transferred to tankers. Grangemouth is at the centre of Scotland's petrochemicals industry. The oil related industries are a major source of employment and income in these regions. It is estimated that the industry employs around 6% of the working population of Scotland.
Energy
14.Scotland is endowed with some of the best energy resources in Europe, and is a net exporter of electricity, with a generating capacity of 10.1GW primarily from coal, oil, gas and nuclear generation. Scotland has been identified as having significant potential for the development of renewable energy sources, with abundant wave, tidal and wind power. Currently renewable energy sources provide Scotland with 35% of its electricity production. There are also many windfarms along the coast and hills.
Manufacturing
15.Manufacturing in Scotland has shifted its focus in recent years with heavy industries such as shipbuilding and iron and steel declining in their importance and contribution to the economy. However, the decline in heavy industry in Scotland has been supplanted with the rise in the manufacture of lighter, less labour intensive products such as optoelectronics, software, chemical products and derivatives as well as life sciences.
Whisky
16.Whisky is probably the best known of Scotland's manufactured exports contributing around £800 million to the Scottish economy, supporting 41,000 jobs as well as adding £2 billion to the balance of trade, making it one of the UK’s top five manufacturing export earners. The principal whisky producing areas include Speyside and the island of Islay In many areas the whisky industry is closely related with tourism, with many distilleries also functioning as tourist attractions worth £30 million Gross Value Added to the industry each year.
Electronics
17.Silicon Glen is the phrase that is used to describe the growth and development of Scotland's hi-tech and electronics industries through the 1980s and 1990s. Companies such as IBM and Hewlett-Packard have been in Scotland since the 1950s being joined in the 1980s by others such as Sun Microsystems (now owned by Oracle). Today, Scotland produces 28% of Europe’s PCs; more than seven per cent of the world’s PCs; and 29% of Europe’s notebooks.
Textiles
18.Historically Scotland's export trade was based around animal hides and wool. In modern times, knitwear and tweed are seen as traditional cottage industries but names like Pringle have given Scottish knitwear and apparel a presence on the international market. Despite increasing competition from low-cost textile producers in SE Asia and the Indian subcontinent, textiles in Scotland is still a major employer with a workforce of around 22,000. Furthermore the textiles industry is the 7th largest exporter in Scotland.
Construction
19.Scotland builds around 24,000 new homes per year. The home building industry in Scotland contributed around £5 billion to the Scottish economy in 2006 - that's 6% of GDP and greater than agriculture, fishing, electronics and tourism. The net value of new building and repairs, maintenance and improvements combined is just under £11.6 billion, which is 14.0% of Scottish GDP in 2006.
Major trading partners
20.Excluding intra UK trade, the United States and the EU constitute the largest markets for Scotland's exports. As part of the United Kingdom and the European Union, Scotland fully participates in the Single Market and Free Trade Area which exists across all EU member states and regions. Recently with the high rates of growth in many emerging economies of SE Asia such as China, Thailand and Singapore, there has been a drive towards marketing Scottish products and manufactures in these countries, with Singapore entering the top ten markets for Scottish exports in 2004. Top 10 export destinations are the USA, Netherlands, France, Germany, Belgium, Norway, Spain, Italy, Republic of Ireland and Switzerland.
Services
21.Edinburgh is the 14th largest financial centre in Europe behind London, Paris, Frankfurt, Zurich and Amsterdam, with influential financial players such as the Royal Bank of Scotland and the Bank of Scotland. Centred primarily on the cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow, the financial services industry employs 5% of the Scottish workforce and generates 6% of Scotland's GDP.
Banking
22.Scotland is home to 4 clearing banks - the Bank of Scotland, the Royal Bank of Scotland, the Clydesdale Bank and Lloyds TSB Scotland. The Royal Bank of Scotland expanded internationally to the second largest bank in Europe, fourth largest in the world by market capitalisation in 2008, but collapsed in the 2008 financial crisis and had to be bailed out by the UK Government at a cost of 76bn pounds.
23.Although the Bank of England remains the central bank for the UK Government, three Scottish clearing banks still issue their own banknotes: (the Bank of Scotland, the Royal Bank of Scotland and the Clydesdale Bank). These notes have no status as legal tender; but in practice they are accepted throughout the UK. The full range of Scottish bank notes commonly accepted are £5, £10, £20, £50 and £100. The current value of the Scottish banknotes in circulation is £3.5 billion.
Tourism
24.It is estimated that tourism accounts for 3% of Scotland's economic output. The United States news channel CNN has named Scotland as the number one destination for tourists to visit in 2013.
Transport
25.Scotland has five main international airports (Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Glasgow Prestwick and Inverness), which together serve 150 international destinations with a wide variety of scheduled and chartered flights. The Scottish motorways and major trunk roads are managed by Transport Scotland (an Executive Agency of the Scottish Department for Transport). The remainder of the road network is managed by the Scottish local authorities in each of their areas. Regular ferry services operate between the Scottish mainland and many islands. Other ferry routes, served by multiple companies, connect to Northern Ireland, Belgium, Norway, the Faroe Islands and also Iceland. Scotland’s rail network has around 340 railway stations and 3000 kilometres of track. Over 62 million passenger journeys are made each year.
26.Scotland has 8.4% of the UK population, 32% of the land mass and generates 9.6% (£53.1bn) of UK tax revenues, and receives 9.3% (£63.8bn) of UK spending back from Westminster.
Ex. 3 Give the English equivalents to the words and words-combinations:
ü Часткове самоврядування/частичное самоуправление;
ü Економіка, яка базується на сфері послуг/экономика, базирующаяся на сфере услуг;
ü Управління фондом/управление фондом;
ü Впливовий промисловий центр/влиятельный промышленный центр;
ü Випускати свої банкноти/выпускать свои банкноты;
ü Чартерний рейс/чартерный рейс;
ü Частина, яка залишилась/оставшаяся часть;
ü Об’єкти, які приваблюють туристів/объекты, привлекающие туристов;
ü Економіка, яка розвивається/развивающаяся экономика;
ü Надомне виробництво/кустарная промышленность, надомное производство;
ü Бути незалежним від/быть независимым от.
Ex.4 Find the synonyms in the text to the following words:
To prohibit, to be located, to represent, variety, wealth, rest, similar, skin, betterment, restricted, health services.