Сборник лингвострановедческих материалов. Английский язык

The federal budget for fiscal year 1993-1994 included estimated expenditures of $1.48 trillion, or about one-quarter of the nation's gross national product (GNP). Revenue in 1991-1992 was estimated at $1.08 trillion. The United States has consistently recorded annual budget deficits of $ 100 bi I lion or more since the early 1980s. In 1993 the United State's annual GNP was more than $6.4 trillion. With a per-capita GNP of nearly $24,700, the people of the United States had one of the highest standards of living. The GDP in 1994 was over $6.7 trillion. The US economy consists of three main sectors-the primary, secondary, and tertiary. Primary economic activities are those directly involving the natural ( environment, including, forestry, fishing, and mining, and usually contribute about 4 per cent of the yearly GDP. Secondary economic activities involve processing or combining materials into new products, and include manufacturing and construction, ^ this sector accounts for approximately 23 per cent of the GDP. *^3 Tertiary economic activities involve the output of services rather than goods. Examples of tertiary activities include wholesale and retail trade, banking, government, and transport. The tertiary is the most important sector by far and accounts for almost 73 per cent of the annual GDP. (Агабекян, И.П. Английский для экономистов / И.П. Агабекян, П.И. Коваленко. - 8-е изд. - Ростов н/Д.: Феникс, 2007.) Answer the questions: 1. When, according to the author, the US became a world's leading industrial nation? 2. What tendency took place by the end of the Civil War? 3. What is said in the text about the development of the service industry? 4. What is said about the size of the manufacturing sector of the economy? 17