Canada"s wealth comes from the exploitation of its rich natural resources and from the work of its
citizens. Canadians are employed in a variety of jobs. All of these jobs can be grouped into one of three
categories: extractive industries, manufacturing industries and service industries.
Industries that take raw materials from the natural environment are called extractive or primary
industries. Canada has a wealth of natural resources. The extractive industries that have been developed
to exploit these natural resources make an important contribution to the wealth of our economy. Without
these extractive industries and the money they bring from other countries, Canada"s economy could not
exist in its present form. Yet only a small percentage of Canada"s labour force work in extractive
industries. Extractive industries rely on laboursaving machines instead of human labour.
Manufacturing industries process the products of extractive industries into finished products.
Manufacturing industries transform raw materials into many different forms to be used by consumers or
by other companies. This processing may be done in one or more stages. For example, iron ore is
transformed into steel in factories. This is called primary manufacturing. The steel is then sent to
companies for further processing into cars, mining equipment, machines, nails, and other products-such
as bicycle frames. This is called secondary manufacturing.
Manufacturing industries are located in many towns and cities across Canada. Companies try to build
their factories in densely populated areas because they want to near the people who buy their products.
If they locate near their customers, then they save money on shipping costs. Manufacturing industries
provide more jobs to Canadians than do extractive industries. Yet the number of people employed in
manufacturing is still small in comparison to the third category, services. As with extractive industries,
manufacturing process use many machines that require relatively few workers.
Service industries provide services needed by the extractive and manufacturing industries, and by
society in general. Without these services, society could not operate. The majority of Canadian workers
do not produce "goods" in their jobs. Instead, they provide "services" for others. The range of services
is very great and includes such things as retailing, office work, education, health care, communications,
government, transportation, and personal services.
Service industries in one form or another are spread over the entire country. In every community
there are stores, banks, schools, police forces, and dozens of other services. The majority of service
industries are found in town and cities because services are provided for people and there are many
more people in urban areas.
Canada"s economy depends upon the creation of jobs in all three types of industry.
Introduction | All 1.________can be divided into three categories: extractive industries, manufacturing industries and service industries. |
Extractive industries | Extractive industries are also called primary industries, which are 2.________with the exploitation of raw materials from the natural environment. |
3.________ | |
industries | Manufacturing industries 4.________raw materials into products, which can be used by people or companies. |
Manufacturing industries can be grouped into primary manufacturing and 5.________ manufacturing. | |
Primary manufacturing 6.________ steel from iron ore for further processing. | |
Secondary manufacturing will then use the steel to make products like cars, bikes, etc. for people to use. | |
Service industries | Service industries provide services the other two industries need. Without these services, our society cannot 7.________. |
Service industries provide jobs for shop assistants, office 8.________, teachers, doctors, and many others. | |
Service industries mainly provide services for 9.________. | |
Closing | Our society is 10.________on all three types of industry. |
阅读理解 | |
Most Americans get what money they have from their work;that is ,they earn an income from wages or salaries.The richest Americans,however,get most of their money from what they own-their stocks, bonds,real estate,and other forms of property,or wealth.Although there are few accurate statistics to go by, wealth in American society appears to be concentrated in very few hands.More than 20 percent of everything that can be privately owned is held by less than one percent of the adult population and more than 75 percent of all wealth is owned by 20 percent of American adults.The plain fact is that most Americans have no wealth at all aside from their homes,automobiles,and a small amount of savings. Income in the United States is not as highly concentrated as wealth.In 1917 the richest 10 percent of American families received 26 percent of all income,while the poorest 10 percent received 17 percent, mainly from Social Security and other government payments.The most striking aspect of income distribution is that it has not changed significantly since the end of World War ?.Although economic growth has roughly doubled real disposable(可自由使用的)family income(the money left after taxes and adjusted for inflation)over the last generation,the size of the shares given to the rich and the poor is about the same. By any measure economic inequality is great in the United States. The reality behind these statistics is that a large number of Americans are poor.In 1918,14 percent of the population was living below the federal government"s poverty line,which at that time was an annual income of $9,287 for a nonfarm family of two adults and two children.In other words,about one out of seven Americans over 31 million people was officially considered unable to buy the basic necessities of food,clothes,and shelter.The suggested poverty line in 1981 would have been an income of about $11,200 for a family of four.By this relative definition,about 20 percent of the population or more than 45 million Americans are poor. | |
1.What does the majority of the Americans have in terms of wealth? | |
A. Their income and savings. B. Everything they own in their homes. C. Actually,they have no wealth at all. D. Their house,cars and small amounts of savings | |
2.What is the percentage of wealth that is in the hands of most Americans? | |
A. More than 25%. B. Less than 25%. C. More than 75%. D. Less than 20%. | |
3.Why is economic inequality still great in the US in spite of the economic growth? | |
A. Because the proportion of income received by the rich and the poor remains almost the same as in 1917. B. Because the economic growth has widened the gap of the family income between the rich and the poor. C. Because income in the US is still concentrated in the hands of the richest 10% of American families. D. Because some Americans made great fortunes during the Second World War. | |
4.What can we learn from comparison of the two poverty lines in the last paragraph? | |
A. The poverty line of 1918 is more favorable to the poor than that of 1981. B. The 1981 line didn"t leave much to the poor. C. There were more Americans who were officially poor by the 1981 line. D. There were more Americans who were officially poor by the 1918 line | |
阅读理解。 | |
根据短文内容,从下框的A~F选项中选出能概括每一段主题的最佳选项。选项中有一 项为多余选项 |