Industry vocabulary

Secondary sector: economic sector that consists of construction and industry.

Raw material: resource that is transformed into finished or semi-finished products by means of an industrial process.

Energy source: natural resource that provides the necessary power to operate machines.

Human resources: workers, personnel.

Capital: money, buildings and machinery used in industrial production.

Finished product: industrial product that is ready for consumption.

Semi-finished product: industrial product used as raw material in other industries.

Hydrocarbon: chemical compound of hydrogen and carbon.

Refining process: process that extracts derivates like petrol and diesel from oil.

Developed country: rich industrialized country with high living standards.

Strike: period of time when workers agree to stop working to get better working conditions.

Developing country: (comparatively) poor country trying to develop industry and improve living standards.

Pyme: small or medium-sized company with a limited number of employees and limited profits.

Steel: metal alloy (mix) of iron and carbon that can be elastic, hard, or resistant, depending on the proportion of the mix.

High-tension power line: line used for the transmission of electricity.

Phosphate: substance used as fertilizer.

Caustic soda: substance used in many industries, such as soap making.

Concrete: very hard building material made by mixing small stones, sand, water and cement.

Dairy product: milk or milk product.

Spinning: process of transforming raw material like cotton or wool into thread.

Weaving: process of making cloth or textiles from threads.

Industrial park: industrial areas on the outskirts of a city with factories, industrial plants, warehouses, services, and transport links; mostly for light industry.

Technology park: industrial area dedicated to high technology, research, development, and innovation, with low environmental impact.

Intranet: internal computer network with Internet technology for use inside a company or organization.

RDI: research, development and innovation (I+D+i: investigación, desarrollo e innovación).

Biodegradable: applied to substances that are rapidly decomposed by the action of living organisms, usually microorganisms.

Scrap metal: old pieces of metal that have been thrown away but can be reprocessed.

European Union: association of democratic European countries with common policies to achieve the political and economic integration of Europe.

Newly Industrialized Countries: Asian countries (South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand) whose economies have grown spectacularly in recent years because of the development of the industrial sector and have abundant human resources, state support, and competitive prices.

Ozone layer: layer of gases in the atmosphere that stops dangerous radiation from reaching the Earth.

Environmental impact study: study that evaluates the effects a new construction can have on the environment.

3º E.S.O. Unit 8. The secondary sector

1.             What are raw materials?

2.             What are energy resources?

3.             What are the origins of raw materials?

4.             Explain the classification of minerals.

5.             What’s mining?

6.             What are the renewable resources?

7.             What are the non-renewable resources?

8.             Explain the history of energies used by humans.

9.             What are the principal energy sources today?

10.         What are the oil and natural gas characteristics?

11.         Why oil pipelines are necessary?

12.         What are the objectives of OPEC? What is the OPEC?

13.         Who controls the refining process?

14.         Who are the biggest consumers of oil in the world? Why?

15.         Look at the map. What countries having enough oil for their requirements?

16.         Why is electricity one of the most widespread forms of energy today?

17.         What other energies provide the electricity? Name them.

18.         What is electricity used for?

19.         What do the power stations produce?

20.         What is the process in the power stations?

21.         What are the fuels used in the power stations?

22.         What produces the nuclear energy?

23.         How is nuclear energy produced?

24.         What western countries have more nuclear power stations?

25.         How does hydroelectric power work?

26.         Why will alternative energy sources be preferable to traditional energy sources?

27.         What are the main alternative energy sources? Name them.

28.         Where are the wind turbines?

29.         Explain thermal solar energy’s process.

30.         Explain photovoltaic energy’s process.

31.         Explain the use of biomass for obtaining electricity.

32.         What problems pose the alternative energy sources?

33.         What are the main types of industry?

34.         What are the inputs of industry?

35.         What are the outputs of industry?

36.         A synonym for light industry.

37.         What goods does the light industry produce?

38.         What are the principal light industries? Name them.

39.         What does the food industry produce?

40.         What are the differences between light industry and heavy industry?

41.         Where are light industries located? Why?

42.         What does heavy industry make?

43.         What are the principal heavy industries? Name them.

44.         What does capital goods industry produce?

45.         Where are heavy industries located? Why?

46.         Explain how the Ford Motor company produced its goods.

47.         Explain the globalization of the economy in the industrial sector.

48.         Explain the high-technology industries.

49.         Explain how the science and technology parks work today.

50.         Look at the map. What is the leading industrial power in the world?

51.         Look at the map. What is the second-most industrialized country in the world?

52.         Look at the map. What are the ‘Asian tigers’?

53.         Look at the map. What Indian town is important for world software industry?

54.         Look at the map. What are the main Brazilian industrial towns?

55.         Look at the map. What industrial regions exist in the U.S.A.?

56.         What are the common characteristics in industrial developed countries?

57.         What are the common characteristics in BRIC countries?