British Agriculture

Agriculture, one of Britain's most important industries, supplies nearly two-thirds of the country's food. British agriculture is efficient, for it is based on modern technology and research.

Nearly 80% of the land is used for agriculture. The total agricultural acreage of Great Britain is about 45,000,000 acres. Soils vary from the poor ones of highland Britain to the rich fertile soils in the eastern and south-eastern parts of England. Britain is self-sufficient in milk, eggs, to a very great extent in meat, potatoes, wheat. However, it needs to import butter, cheese, sugar and some other agricultural products.

There are about 55,000 farms in Britain. They are not large. An average sized farm is about 30-40 acres. There are three main types of farming in Great Britain: pastoral, arable, mixed. The kind of farming depends on many things: on climate, slope, soil and altitude.

Mixed farms are farms with some arable land for growing crops and some grassland for grazers. If farmers have a bad harvest then they can make-up their losses with the profit from the animals. Moreover, the grain and vegetables provide food for the animals while the animals provide dung for the land to grow good crops.

Intensive farming is also practiced on some very small farms. These farms usually specialize in growing one variety of crop or rearing one kind of animal. So there are special pig farms, chicken farms and fruit farms. At Worthing we see small farms that consist almost entirely of glasshouses, in which there are cucumbers and tomatoes. And we find a lot of orchards of cherry, pear or apple trees in Kent.

60% of farms are developed mainly to dairying or beef cattle and sheep. Sheep and cattle are reared in the hill and moorland areas of Scotland, Wales, Nothern Ireland and south- western England. Milk production is the first importance in the structure of British agriculture.

Pig breeding is carried on in most areas but particularly in southern England, north- east Scotland and Nothern Ireland.

Arable farms are mainly in the eastern part of the country. The main cereal crops in Great Britain are wheat, barley and oats. Rye is grown in small quantities for use as cattle fodder.

Great Britain produces different kinds of fruit: apples, pears, cherries, gooseberries, strawberries, raspberries and others. Potatoes are grown for sale, for fodder and for seed.

Modern machines: tractors, combines and other equipment are used on British farms. But today the main tendency in British agriculture is that small traditional farms are gradually disappearing because they cannot compete with big industrial farms.

Private woods make up 56% of the total forests area in Great Britain. Woodlands cover nearly 2.2 million hectares.

Britain's second major source of food is the surrounding sea. The fishing industry provides about 70% of British fish supplies.

Вариант № 5

I.Перепишите предложения, определите в каждом из них видовременную форму и залог глагола- сказуемого, переведите предложения на русский язык.

1) New houses are being built in our street.

2) The student was visited at the hospital.

3) The farm bought two new combines last year.

4) Our laboratory will be given some new modern devices.

5) The book had been published by the end of the year.

II. Перепишите предложения и переведите их на русский язык, найдите и подчеркните инфинитив и причастие, определите функцию инфинитива и причастия в предложении.

1) To finish a new canal the workers worked very hard.

2) To work on a farm is necessary for every student of an agricultural university.

3) She will be cleaning the flat from 10 till 12 tomorrow.

4) He hurried so as not to miss the train.

5) Finished with his breakfast, he remained for some time at the table.

6) The work to be done is very important.

7) The house was built in the forest

8) The only thing left was to go home.

III. Перепишите предложения, найдите и подчеркните объективный и субъективный инфинитивные обороты, переведите на русский язык.

1) The house seemed not to have been lived in for a long time.

2) The crop was supposed to be rich that year.

3) They think him to be the most outstanding actor.