English Vocabulary in Use Advanced » Unit 55: Industries: from manufacturing to service

Word List
  • assemble
  • child labour
  • component
  • conventional
  • cost-cutting exercise
  • cutting-edge
  • heavy industry
  • high-tech
  • high-technology
  • inward investment
  • light industry
  • low-tech
  • low-technology
  • manufacturing industry
  • multinational
  • nationalisation
  • piecework
  • privatisation
  • public-private partnership
  • relocate
  • reskill
  • retrain
  • service industry
  • state ownership
  • subsidy
  • sweatshop
  • switch production
  • trade union representation
  • zero hours contract
Exercises

55.1 ‣ Use expressions from the table in A opposite to rewrite the underlined parts of these sentences with more appropriate vocabulary.

  1. The economy cannot depend only on businesses like restaurants and hotels. We need to encourage industries that make things we can sell.
    _____
  2. In this area, there are a lot of industries that use computers and things, while in the north, they depend more on industries that don’t use such up-to-date technology.
    _____
  3. The latest, innovative technology is very expensive, so the company has to rely on existing, standard technology.
    _____
  4. The idea that industries should be owned by the government is less popular than it was, but the trend towards selling off these industries has slowed down.
    _____
  5. Industry with big factories producing things like steel and so on has declined, and now we’re more dependent on industry that makes things like radios and furniture.
    _____

55.2 ‣ Give words or expressions which mean:

  1. a combination of state ownership and private ownership _____
  2. payment or grant from the government which enables a loss-making industry to continue _____
  3. investment in a country by foreign companies _____
  4. system of paying employees only for the amount they produce _____
  5. an economy that depends on factories producing large quantities of cheap goods based on long hours and low wages _____
  6. to change the location where goods are produced (Give two answers.) _____
  7. to train people for new jobs and teach them new skills (Give two answers.) _____
  8. a big company with operations in many different countries _____
  9. an effort to reduce costs _____
  10. using children to do adult jobs _____
  11. an employment contract which does not guarantee you work or pay every week _____

55.3 ‣ Here are some more expressions relating to problems in industry. Make sure you know what they mean, then use them to fill the gaps in the sentences below. Use a dictionary if necessary.

  1. black market
  2. copyright infringement
  3. industrial piracy
  4. industrial espionage
  5. money laundering

  1. _____ is a serious problem in many parts of the world, with factories producing illegal copies of top brand names.
  2. It was a serious case of _____. The designs for the new aircraft were photographed illegally and sold to a rival company.
  3. _____ is a problem for people who make a living writing books. Illegal editions mean that the author receives no payment.
  4. _____ is a huge international problem, as police and banks try to trace money from the illegal drugs trade and terrorism.
  5. There is a big _____ in the importation of untaxed luxury cars in some countries.

55.4 ‣

Over to you

  1. What kinds of industries have you worked in? Which would you like to work in? Why?
  2. Would you buy an item if you believed child labour was involved in its manufacture? Why / Why not?
  3. Would you buy illegal imitations of famous designer brands? Why / Why not?
Answer Key
A ‣ Industries and industrial practices

expressionexplanation oppositeexpressionexplanation
heavy industrye.g. steel works, shipbuildinglight industrye.g. manufacturing car parts, TV sets
manufacturing industrymaking things, e.g. consumer goodsservice industryserving people, e.g. tourism, banking
high-technology (hightech; informal)involving computers, e.g. software industrylow-technology (lowtech; informal)involving little or no computer technology
cutting-edge technologyinvolving new and innovative technologyconventional technologyusing standard, proven technology
privatisatione.g. selling off state railways to private companiesnationalisation / state ownershipwhen industry is owned by the government

Many big industries are run as public-private partnerships. [partly state-owned, partly owned by private industries or businesses]

The nuclear industry receives a huge subsidy from the government. [money/grants which enable it to stay in profit]

The government tries to encourage inward investment. [investment from foreign companies]

B ‣ Industrial practices

exampleexplanation
Most of the factory workers are on piecework.they are only paid for the amount they produce
Many people now work on zero hours contracts, which means they have no job security.they are employed by a company, but the number of hours they work each week may vary, and some weeks there may be no work for them, so they receive no pay
Child labour is a serious problem in some countries.the employment of children to do adult jobs
In many countries, the right to trade union representation has only come after long struggles.a union that negotiates wages and conditions for the people it represents
Many cheap electrical goods are produced in sweatshops in poorer countries.factories where people work very long hours for low wages
Retraining and reskilling are necessary when an economy is modernised.training people for new jobs and teaching them new skills

The big multinationals1 often close factories as a cost-cutting exercise2 and relocate3 and switch production4 to countries where labour and costs are cheaper.
In many cases, components5 for cars are imported and then assembled6, rather than manufactured in the country.

1 big companies with operations in many different countries
2 effort to reduce their costs
3 move the company’s offices (or, less commonly, production) to a different place
4 move the centre of manufacturing to a different place
5 parts
6 put together

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