商务英语阅读(第二版) 王关富Unit2The_World_Economic_Forum 课后答案

Unit 2

A Changed Global Reality

Exercises

1. Answer the questions on the text:

1) What are the features of the two major economies that the world has seen for more than 200 years?

One has dominated technological innovation and trade and amassed great wealth. The second—much of it politically under the thumb of the first—has remained poor and technologically dependent.

2) How much did low-and-middle-income countries contribute to world growth in 2010?

Almost half (46%)

3) Taking a long term view, why is it good news that developing countries are growing fast?

As billions of poor people become more prosperous, they will be able to afford comforts their counterparts in the rich world have long considered the

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normal appurtenances of life.

4) What are the worst-case scenarios that Europe has so far avoided?

A collapse of the euro, a debt crisis that spills from small economies such as Greece and Ireland to much bigger ones like Italy and Spain, and bitter social unrest in those nations that are having to massage wages down while cutting public budgets.

5) Why does Jim Walker think that 2011 will be a “year of reckoning”?

Because Jim Walker thinks that the rebound in the US is a mirage created by excessive stimulus. He expects the US to slip into the double dip it dodged in 2010.

6) Why has the private-sector debt crisis of 2008-2009 morphed into a public-sector debt crisis in 2010-11?

It has been the result of the debt and deficits amassed in the process of stimulating economies and bailing out banks during the downturn.

7) What are the risks that emerging economies face?

a. sharp rise in inflation

b. rising oil prices

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c. soaring food price

8) What did China and India do to cope with inflation and rising food prices?

China raised the reserve-requirement ratio;

India resorted to diplomatic means when Pakistan temporarily cut off some exports of onions to the country.

9) How can the disaffection with global capitalism in the developed world be prevented from turning into a backlash against it?

It would help if there were mechanisms in place to manage the stresses in the international economy.

10) What is the most serious division between countries that policymakers have to contend with?

Economic disparity

2. Fill in each blank of the following sentences with one of the phrases in the list given below:

1) The search for the child was scaled back sharply today, with almost a third of the volunteers heading home.

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2) The former Federal Reserve Chairman says there is a risk that the US could slip into a recession by year’s end.

3) The CEO of the firm said that they would switch priority from traditional labor-intensive products to more hi-tech and value-added ones.

4) In the aftermath of the financial crisis the group has put on hold some of its ambitious regional expansion plans.

5) Toyota Motor Corp. is offering widespread job buyouts to its US workers for the first time and cutting the workweek at some of its American plants by 10% to contend with falling sales.

6) Eventually, it must morph into a system that functions on stability, or it will fail and cause an unstoppable breakdown and widespread hardship.

7) Unfortunately most of the central banks in the world today are still firmly under the thumb of politicians.

8) The stock market’s endurance could depend heavily on whether economic and corporate performance remains uncertain, or begins indicating that the economy truly is out of the woods.

9) Survivors were encouraged to talk about their horrible experiences to help them come to terms with the flood disaster.

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10) Other countries—notably Australia—have also avoided a bust in their housing markets, and have instead seen prices increases flatten out.

3. Match the terms in column A with the explanations in column B:

______

A B

1）double-dip recession A) A physical substance, such as food, grains, and metals, which is interchangeable with another product of the same type, and which investors buy or sell, usually through future contracts 7

2) credit rating B) A measure that examines the weighted average of prices of foodstuffs, often used as an important factor to assess the cost of living. 9

3) austerity C) A government policy of deficit-cutting, lower spending, and a reduction in the amount of benefits and public services provided, sometimes coupled with increases in taxes to pay back creditors to reduce debt. 3

4) private sector D) A central bank regulation that sets the minimum reserves each commercial bank must hold to customer deposits and notes. 10

5）protective tariff E) The part of the economy that is not state controlled,

and is run by individuals and companies for profit. 4

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6）beggar thy neighbor F) An expression in economics describing policy that seeks benefits for one country at the expense of others. Such policies attempt to remedy the economic problems in one country by means which tend to worsen the problems of other countries. 6

7) commodity G) A published ranking based on detailed financial analysis by a credit bureau, of one’s financial history, specifically as it relates to one’s ability to meet debt obligations. 2

8）sovereign-debt crisis H) A crisis in which a national government owes so much debt that it is unable to repay or on the edge of bankruptcy. 8 9）food-price index I) A tariff which tries to ban imports to stop them competing with local products 5

10）reserve requirement J) A situation where economic growth slides back to negative after a short-lived growth and the economy may move into a deeper and longer downturn. 1

4. Translate the following into Chinese:

星期五，世界上20个主要经济体的领导人结束了在这座东北亚首都城市举行的为期两天的峰会。各国争论不休，然而却没有就避免破坏性货币和贸易战争的具体措施达成一致意见。会议遭遇的挫折远多于收获，而奥巴马总统最为沮丧，其采取统一方法推动全球经济的努力未能成功。 20国集团成员国突然拒绝支持美国迫使中国提高币值的尝试，延

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续了这场痛苦的争端，很多人认为争端最终会导致全球贸易战。

在离开这座城市之前，各国领导人发表了一项打了折扣的声明，仅仅同意避免货币的“竞争性贬值”。这份联合声明大致描述了他们推动增长，并平衡贸易和汇率以及避免贸易保护主义的意图。美国称此为一份重要协议，将会帮助减轻一些承受巨额贸易逆差的国家的压力。但是各国并没有义务遵守这些协议。

在最后的讲话中，奥巴马对这次令人失望的峰会持积极态度，说世界上的发达国家和发展中国家已经成功地把世界经济引入通往复苏的道路。但是他也承认参与峰会的各国可能重陷一种险境：引起本次全球经济危机的经济失衡。尽管如此，他不会承认在后门会议上遭遇的失败。这样的会议经常被认为是处于陷入敌对状态的边缘。

“我们在此所做的工作并不一定那么激动人心、始终能改变世界，但我们确实是在稳步地增强国际管理机制和机构，减少世界各国间的摩擦”，奥巴马说。他强调二十国集团领袖们作出了巨大的努力，包括建立国际社会所要求的裁定当事国是否对贸易伙伴采取不公平做法的仲裁机制。“有时我觉得人们本能地聚焦于分歧也是很自然的，”美国总统说，但实际上“我们在每次这样的峰会上都取得实质性的进展。”

但在首尔，世界领袖们一再显示他们无意妥协，只愿做出空泛的许诺，难以遮盖他们在寻求共识果敢行动上的。不能达成共识有时则会促使世界各国去追求各自的利益，而会损害有协调的全球均衡增长。

5. Fill in each of the following gaps with one of the sentences given below:

1) This week the IMF predicted that global GDP should expand by 4.8% this

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year.

2) Most obviously, there is the gap between the vitality of the big emerging economies, some of which have been sprinting along at close to 10%, and the sluggishness of many rich ones.

3) Poor countries, especially young ones, ought in theory to invest more than they save, and so be a net source of demand for richer, older ones, all the more so when the latter are in bad shape.

4) Rich countries are planning tax rises and spending cuts worth 1.25% of their collective GDP in 2011, the biggest synchronised fiscal tightening on record.

5) Even in America the ageing of the baby-boomers points to a slower-growing workforce.

Supplementary Reading

The Survival of the Safest

1. Which of the following is an important reason for the American economy’s persistent weakness?

A. new risks

B. damage to morale∨

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C. distrust in one another

D. John Maynard Keynes’ theory

2. According to the passage, the book “Why Wages Don’t Fall During a Recession” focuses on:

A. the recession of 1999

B. the recession of 1990-1999

C. the recession of 1990-1991∨

D. the recession of 2008-now

3. What is unusual about the market for labor compared with other productive factors?

A. For other productive factors such as wheat, the price usually drops until the excess supply is mostly gone.

B. Excess supply of labor shows up as unemployment.

C. Unlike factors of productions such as wheat or trucks, human beings don’t have morale issues.

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D. For labor market, excess supply can be prominent and persistent. ∨

4. The managers that Professor Bewley interviewed consistently told that:

A. they are concerned about both the emotional and physical state of their core employees.

B. they are concerned about the emotional state of their core employees ∨

C. they are concerned about the physical state of their core employees

D. they are concerned about the emotional state of all their employees

5. The underlined part in the sentence “…they steel themselves against sentimentality…”means:

A. Become hard-hearted ∨

B. Wrap themselves with steel.

C. Be equipped with steel

D. Fight against

6. Why do managers often lay off more people than necessary?

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A. To ensure that they don’t have to repeat the ordeal anytime soon. ∨

B. To ensure that the remaining workers work harder.

C. To cut down cost

D. Because the remaining workers want to take extra work.

7. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A. The laid-off employees can directly “poison the atmosphere” in their former workplaces.

B. The laid-off employees can never “poison the atmosphere” in their former workplaces once they get fired.

C. The laid-off employees can indirectly “poison the atmosphere” in their former workplaces. ∨

D. The laid-off employees are forbidden to get in touch with those remaining employees.

8. Which of the following will employees who stay employed not experience?

A. survivor’s guilt

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B. pain

C. empathy with the less fortunate

D. extravagant vocations ∨

9. Which of the following is NOT a consequence of the reticence of employees?

A. Preserving jobs in one’s own company ∨

B. Working against job growth elsewhere.

C. Resulting in a loss of vigor in the aggregate economy.

D. Leading to the sapping of creativity.

10. The author suggests that the current unemployment may be solved by:

A. Inspiring creativity in private sector.

B. Initiating big government programs to create jobs ∨

C. Boosting work moral in businesses.

D. Raising wages for employees.

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