The emergency

Question

The Queen said the UK was "enormously thankful" for the commitment of all those working in science, health and the emergency and public services.
I read the above in BBC news online
Please explain the use of the definite article before "emergency and public services".
Why don't we need article before the noun "science and health"?

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

JigneshbharatiPlease explain the use of the definite article before "emergency and public services".

It's the emergency services and the public services. They are not general. There is only one collection of each kind.

JigneshbharatiWhy don't we need article before the noun "science and health"?

They are not like services. They are general. People work in science. You could also say that they work in the sciences, and the article would be needed because there are a lot of different sciences. "Health" is a slightly different matter. That seems to be a relatively recent media catchall word for things medical. You would have seen "medicine" on the old days, but they want to include everybody in the field, from brain surgeons to orderlies, from cancer researchers to Chinese witch doctors, so they say "health".

The emergency

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