Advanced Business English 1. Chapter 1 Why China Works ？ 2.

1

Advanced Business English

2

Chapter 1 Why China Works ？

3

Words and Expressions1. exotic • eg. There are some exotic words in English

language.

2. intrigue • eg.• Perhaps the most intriguing evolution in China's

hybrid markets is in the way leaders are tracking public opinion. Savvy management of public opinion may prove crucial as economic conditions head south.

4

3. navigate • eg.• （ 1 ） navigate a ship to the nearest port• （ 2 ） navigate a bill through Parliament

4. arsenal• eg.• In a time of crisis, China's officials can pick from

traditional market tools, like their Western counterparts, and from the arsenal of China’s market economic system.

5

5. incentive• eg. （ 1 ） Many companies in Britain are keen on the idea of

tax incentives for R&D.• （ 2 ） Early last year, as the housing market was overheating,

they simply ordered bankers to cut back on housing loans: then as home sales began to fall, they offered market incentives, like lower taxes on home purchases.

6. intervention • eg. （ 1 ） armed intervention• （ 2 ） But they've also issued orders that would be seen as

improper "intervention" in the West—for example, calling last week on state industries, including steel and construction, to "actively increase" their roles in the economy by buying up new assets at home and abroad.

6

7. bulwark • eg. （ 1 ） Democracy is a bulwark of freedom. • （ 2 ） Once seen as the bad habit of an immature economy,

China's state meddling is now seen as a bulwark of stability. 8.unleash • eg. （ 1 ） unleash a war• （ 2 ） Unleash all the advantages• （ 3 ） The state still exerts a strong and stabilizing hand, but

it has unleashed a private sector that now controls at least half the economy, and as much as 70 percent if you include state-owned companies that are in fact allowed to operate as private firms.

7

9. dismantle• Eg. In 1995, China began a revolutionary dismantling of

state-run industry, laying off 46 million state workers—the equivalent of the entire workforce of France and Italy—over the next six years alone.

10. streamline • eg. （ 1 ） We must streamline our methods. • （ 2 ） In the years following, the streamlining has

continued, sharply raising profitability at state-run firms (it was up 38 percent between 2004 and 2005, for example), and the private sector was allowed to play an increasingly important role in the economy.

8

11. security • eg. To that end, China is boldly moving beyond

stocks into new types of complex securities, including stock index funds, corporate bonds and other debt products.

12. lucrative • eg. But the more lucrative services market is

still run by authorities, who set prices on mobile-phone calls.

9

13. deregulate • eg. （ 1 ） Free-market reforms have moved governments

everywhere to downsize, deregulate, and privatize. • （ 2 ） The slow easing was designed to avoid the 1,000 percent

burst of inflation that hit Russia from 1991 to 1992 after Moscow deregulated prices.

14. tenure eg. He's a tenured professor at an Ivy League university.

15. scrap • eg. （ 1 ） It had been thought that passport controls would be

scrapped.• （ 2 ） That's one reason authorities have tried since August to

revive the stock market by scrapping the stamp tax on share purchases but in vain.

10

16. license• eg. Beijing has also chosen this moment to issue

new 3G mobile licenses, which will further funnel money through the state telecoms sector.

17. funnel• eg. Funnel money from donors to governments.

18. savvy • eg. But this time, they are adopting more

politically-savvy strategies.

11

Special Terms

1.credit crisis ：• A reduction in the general availability of loans (or credit) or a

sudden tightening of the conditions required to obtain a loan from the banks.

2.financial innovation ：• Generation of new and creative approaches to securities,

money management or investing.

3. overheating ： • An economy that is expanding so rapidly that too much money

is chasing too few goods and economists fear a rise in inflation.

12

4. capital-intensive sector ：• An industry that requires large amounts of capital,

machinery and equipment to produce goods. 5. state-run firm ：• A legal entity created by a government to

undertake commercial activities on its behalf. 6. institutional investor ：• A non-bank entity or organization such as

investment companies and mutual funds that invests in large quantities.

13

7. insider trading ：• The trading of a corporation's stock or other securities

(e.g. bonds or stock options ) by individuals with potential access to non-public information.

8. stamp tax ：• Tax levied on certain legal transactions such as the

transfer of a property such as building, copyright, land, patent, and securities.

• 9. stimulus package ：• A plan or a series of measures taken by a government to

ump-start its ailing economy, generally as a part of its fiscal policy.

14

Summary

• China is the only major economy that is likely to show significant growth this year, because it is the only one that routinely breaks every rule in the economic textbook.

• In a time of crisis, China's officials can pick from traditional market tools, like their Western counterparts, and from the arsenal of China’s economic system. Early last year, as the housing market was overheating, they simply ordered bankers to cut back on housing loans: then as home sales began to fall, they offered market incentives, like lower taxes on home purchases.

15

• In fact, the main reason China is not slowing as fast as the other big five economies is its capacity for macro-economic control.

• A command-and-control system run by relatively skilled technocrats allows China to get things done, quickly. "I'm always struck by the ability of the Chinese state to move in a coherent manner and to marshal its people and the resources of the country to a common target," noted David Murphy, head of CLSA's China Reality research division, in a recent report on the country's efforts to bolster growth.

16

• The Chinese don't want shock therapy, which has proven to be all shock, and no therapy," says Cheng Li, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute.

• The genius of Deng is that when he put China on the path to a market economy 30 years ago, he knew the country needed a stable political system. Whatever our system is, it is suitable for China."

17

• Thirty years ago, there were 963 million people in China, and 30 percent of them were hungry. Today, there are 1.3 billion, and 97 percent of them have a full stomach, but the step up to the middle class is harder.

• China's successful use of command capitalism also carries, at most, limited lessons for the United States or Europe. Still, the fact that an increasingly rich China still works so well is worth studying, not least because the credit crisis is provoking a wider questioning of free-market orthodoxy.

18

• "It is worth remembering that China is the only major nation that is experiencing neither a credit crisis, nor a crisis of confidence," notes Rothman. "Its still safe to say that nobody worries about the Chinese government's ability to get things done." As Wen Jiabao has said, "confidence is worth more than gold," and the Chinese people still believe in their system.

19

Questions:

• 1. How does the author view the Chinese economy?

• 2. According to the author, why can the Chinese economy perform so well?

• 3.What is “shock therapy”?

20

Translation

• Turn to Page 15 of the book and translate the passage into Chinese.

• New Words:1.Flood 2. decade 3. infrastructure 4. determination 5. quintuple 6. crumble 7. postsecondary 8. millennium 9. Pop10. prerogative 11. rescue 12. sputter

21

Chap 2 A Changed Global Reality

22

Words and Expressions

1. granite• eg.Financial institutions that had seemed as solid as

granite disappeared as if they were no more substantial than a bunch of flowers in the hands of an old-style magician.

2. epochal• eg. Given that the scale of the downturn was so

epochal, it should not be surprising that the nature of the recovery would likewise be the stuff of history.

23

3. appurtenance• eg. In the long term, this is nothing but good

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

24

4. wheeze• eg. The double-dip recession some economists feared

never materialized. In the U.S., which seemed to stall in the summer, there are early signs that consumers are spending and banks are lending again, while the stock market is at its highest point in 21⁄2 years.

• Though Europe is wheezing under cascading sovereign-debt crises, it has so far avoided the worst-case scenarios— 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.

25

5. proclaim • eg. While 2010 was the "Year of Doubt," 2011,

they proclaim, will be the "Year of Recovery."

6. dodge • eg.The rebound in the U.S., Walker says, is a

mirage created by excessive stimulus. He expects the U.S. to slip into the double dip it dodged in 2010. Even the less bearish worry that the global economy is far from healed.

26

7. distortion• eg.Stephen Roach , an economist at Yale

University, believes that the world economy is still digging itself out of the debt and distortions built up during the last boom. "It's a really slow postcrisis workout," Roach says. "I'm not prepared to give the global economy the green light."

27

8. retrenchment• austerity• Feeble • trajectory• eg.In the U.S., the miserable condition of state and local

governments‘ budgets is likewise leading to a job-killing retrenchment. Europe’s imposition of austerity has led to heightened political conflict. Ballooning debts and feeble growth prospects for the advanced economies are reordering the investor‘s perception of risk.

• Noting that the U.S. "has no plan in place to stabilize and ultimately reverse the upward debt trajectory," Moody's in mid-January warned that the country's AAA credit rating could come under pressure if debt continues to mount; a few days later, Moody's upgraded Indonesia's rating.

28

9. spiking• eg.Such spiking prices for the basics people

need to survive are hard enough to swallow in the developed world. "Just at the point you start to see a recovery coming, you get hit by commodity prices that hit people's incomes," says Stephen King…

29

10. curtail• quell • Eg. Fearing the consequences, policymakers

throughout the developing world have switched priorities from holding up growth to fighting inflation. In mid-January, China raised the reserve-requirement ratio — which forces banks to park more money at home for every loan they make — to a record high in an attempt to curtail credit and quell inflation, which rose at the fastest pace in two years in November.

30

11. disaffection• connive• Eg.In the U.S. and Europe, a certain

helplessness in the face of huge economic forces is fueling

• a disaffection — which makes itself felt in different ways in different societies — with the global financial elites and the policymakers who are thought to have connived with them.

31

12. scramble• fallout • intervene • dent • proxy• spiral • eg.As nations scramble to protect their own people from the

continued fallout of the Great Recession, the threat of currency and trade wars has become very real. Governments from Tokyo to Santiago have been intervening in currency markets, imposing measures to restrict capital flows and taking other steps to try to prevent rising currencies from denting export competitiveness. "The currency war is a proxy for a jobs war," says Roach. In the mind of every policymaker looms — at least, it should — the disastrous spiral into protectionism that deepened the Depression in the 1930s.

32

13. unmediated• disparity• eg.Yet the unmediated rift between countries,

each desperate to preserve its edge in the global economic game, is not even the most serious division that policymakers have to contend with. That, rather, is what the WEF's Global Risks calls economic disparity.

33

14.fragile• Eg.The warning is timely. In the rich world, the

gains that the working class made during what the French call the trente glorieuses （ The Glorious Thirty ） after 1945 — decent health care, guaranteed pensions — are seen as increasingly fragile.

34

Phrases

1.Beggar-thy-neighbor PopulismAn expression in exonomics 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.

35

2. double-dip recession• 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.

3. private sector• The part of the economy that is not state controlled,

and is run by individuals and companies for profit.

36

4. reserve requirement• A central bank regulation that sets the

minimum reserves each commercial bank must hold to customer deposits and notes.

5. protective tariff• A tariff which tries to ban imports to stop

them competing with local products.

37

6.sovereign-debt crisis• A crisis in which a national government owes so much

debt that it is unable to repay or on the edge of bankruptcy.

7.economic austerity• 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.

38

8. food-price index • A measure that examines the weighted average of

prices of foodstuffs, often used as an important factor to assess the cost of living.

9. credit rating • 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.

39

10.Euro zone • An economic and monetary union (EMU) of 17

European Union member states that have adopted the euro currency as their sole legal tender. Seven other states are obliged to join the euro zone once they fulfill the strict entrance requirements.

40

11.Doha Round• The Doha Development Round or Doha

Development Agenda(DDA) is the current trade-negotiation round of the World Trade Organization(WTO) which commenced in November 2001. Its objective is to lower trade barriers around the world, which allows countries to increase trade globally.

41

Summary

• Say this for the young century: we live in interesting times. Not quite 2 1⁄2 years ago, the world economy tipped into the most severe downturn since the Great Depression in the 1930s. World trade slowed sharply.

42

• The new reality can be expressed like this. For more than 200 years, since the Industrial Revolution, the world has seen two economies. 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. This divide remains stubbornly real. The rich world — the U.S., Canada, Western Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and the four original Asian dragons — accounts for only 16% of total world population but nearly 70% of world output.

43

• But before we celebrate a new economic order, deep divisions both between and within nations have to be overcome. Otherwise, the world could yet tip back into a beggar-thy-neighbor populism that will end up beggaring everyone. We are not out of the woods yet.

• The emerging economies face risks of their own. The most alarming is a sharp rise in inflation—a result of strong domestic growth, stimulus policies, and commodity prices pumped up globally by returning demand, fears of (or actual) supply constraints and the loose-money policies of the West.

44

• Fearing the consequences, policymakers throughout the developing world have switched priorities from holding up growth to fighting inflation.

• The same measures used to bust inflation, however, will also dampen growth. The World Bank predicts slowdowns for roaring China (from 10% growth in 2010 to 8.7% in 2011) and India (9.5% to 8.4%).

45

• Such numbers, of course, are beyond the dreams of workers and consumers in developed economies.

• Many in the developed world are only now becoming aware that the globe's economic future will be determined not just in London or New York City but in Beijing and New Delhi too. "The problem that Western economies have is that they haven't realized the full effect of the rise of the emerging world," says HSBC's King.

46

• How can a 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. Instead, there is something close to a breakdown in global economic cooperation.

• In the economic field, that is especially true. • As nations scramble to protect their own people from

the continued fallout of the Great Recession, the threat of currency and trade wars has become very real.

47

• The benefits of globalization seem unevenly spread. A minority is seen to have harvested a disproportionate amount of the fruits. Issues of economic disparity and equity at both the national and international levels are becoming increasingly important.

• None of these divisions — between and within nations — are ones that have to last for ever, and the future of the world is positive.

48

Translation

• Translate the following into Chinese:P38 。• New Words ：1.rancorous 2.avert 3. refrain4.spin 5.summit 6.slip7.imbalance 8.hostility 9.stride10.Seoul 11.compromise 12.pledge 13.consensus 14.specter

49

Chap 3 Time to rebalance

50

Words and Expressions

• 1. option• eg. （ 1 ） He has taken an option on shares

in the company. • （ 2 ） In the following months Mr Hilton

stepped up efforts to save his company. He gave up options to buy thousands of lots that the firm had snapped up across Arizona, Florida, Nevada and California during the boom, taking massive losses.

51

2. macroeconomic• eg.Instead, America’s economy will undergo one of its

biggest transformations in decades. This macroeconomic shift from debt and consumption to saving and exports will bring microeconomic changes too: different lifestyles, and different jobs in different places.

3. disposable• eg.Households’ wealth has shrunk by $12 trillion, or

18%, since 2007. As a share of disposable income it is back to its level in 1995. And if consumers feel less rich, they are less inclined to spend.

52

4. mortgage• eg.Banks are also less willing to lend: they

have tightened loan standards, with a push from regulators who now wish they had taken a dimmer view of exotic mortgages and lax lending during the boom.

53

5. opulentdeflate• eg.The effect on the economy of deflated

assets, tighter credit and costlier energy are already apparent. Fewer people are buying homes, and the ones they buy tend to be smaller and less opulent.

54

6. circulation• eg.In 2008 the median size of a new home

shrank for the first time in 13 years. The number of credit cards in circulation has declined by almost a fifth. American Express is pulling back from credit cards and is now telling customers how to use their charge cards (which are paid off in full every month) to control their spending.

55

7. pent-up• reassert • eg.Normally, deep recessions are followed by strong

recoveries as pent-up demand reasserts itself. In the recent recession GDP shrank by 3.8%, the worst drop since the second world war.

8. trigger • accumulate • eg.But this particular recession was triggered by a

financial crisis that damaged the financial system’s ability to channel savings to productive investment and left consumers and businesses struggling with surplus buildings, equipment and debt accumulated in the boom.

56

9. stagnation • afflict• bubble• eg.So if America is to avoid the stagnation that

afflicted Japan after its bubbles burst, where is the demand going to come from?

10. counteract • eg.In the short term the federal government

has stepped up its borrowing—to 10% of GDP this year—to counteract the drop in private consumption and investment.

57

11. moribund• eg.Barack Obama wants the deficit to come

down to around 3% of GDP by the middle of this decade, though it is not clear how that will be achieved. Indeed, if the rest of the economy remains moribund, the government may be reluctant to withdraw the stimulus for fear of pushing the economy back into recession.

58

12. fourfold• utility• eg.A fourfold increase in oil prices since the

1990s has rearranged both consumer and producer incentives. Sport-utility vehicles are losing popularity, policies to boost conservation and renewable energy have become bolder, and producers have found a lot more oil below America’s soil and coastal seabed.

59

13. commute• eg.Population growth in the suburbs has

slowed. For the present the rise of knowledge-intensive global industries favours centres rich in infrastructure and specialised skills. Some are traditional urban cores such as New York and some are suburban edge cities that offer jobs along with affordable houses and short commutes.

60

14. hobble • start-up • eg.A burst of productivity could lift incomes and

profits. That would enable consumers to repay some of their debt yet continue to spend. The change in the mix of growth should help: productivity in construction remains low, whereas in exports the most productive companies often do best. But the hobbled financial system will make it hard for cash-hungry start-ups to get financing, so innovation will suffer.

61

15.robust • eg.In February John Chambers, the boss of Cisco

Systems, a maker of networking gear, called it “one of the most robust, positive turnarounds I’ve seen in my career”.

16.resuscitate• beneficiary• formidable • eg.The cheaper dollar will resuscitate some industries

in commoditised markets, but the main beneficiaries of the export boom will be companies that are already formidable exporters.

62

17. pharmaceutical• eg. These companies reflect America’s strengths in high-end

services and highly skilled manufacturing such as medical devices, pharmaceuticals, software and engineering, as well as creative services like film, architecture and advertising.

18. jumbo • eg. Thanks to cheap digital technology, South Korea and

India now knock out the sort of low-budget films that compete with standard American fare. But only Hollywood combines the creativity, expertise and market savvy to make something like “Avatar” which has earned $2.6 billion so far, some 70% of which came from abroad. That adds up to several jumbo jets.

63

19. blessed• Indebtedness• eg.This time the deficit started out a lot larger and the

rest of the world is weaker. Still, even stabilisation around 3% would be a blessed relief because it would slow the growth in America’s indebtedness to foreigners.

20. exuberant • eg. Mr Hilton, for his part, runs his company on the

assumption that the days of easy money and exuberant consumers are gone for ever. In his office he has a yellowed copy of the Wall Street Journal from September 18th 2008, the week when Lehman failed and American International Group was bailed out.

64

Special Terms

1. consumerism• A movement equating personal happiness

with purchasing material possessions and consumption.

• Eg.The bubbly asset prices, ever easier credit and cheap oil that fuelled [fjuəl] America’s age of consumerism are not about to return.

65

2. economic model • A theoretical construct that represents

economic processes by a set of variables and a set of logical and quantitative relationships between them.

• Eg.The crisis and then the recession put an abrupt end to the old economic model.

66

3. disposable income • The amount of income left to an individual after taxes

have been paid, available for spending and saving.

4.consumer spending• The amount of money spent by households,

measured monthly, making up an important part of an economy.

• Eg.Consumer spending and housing rose from 70% of GDP in 1991 to 76% in 2005. By last year it had fallen back to 73%, still high by international standards.

67

5. economic restructuring• The phenomenon of an economy shifting from

a manufacturing to a service sector economic base.

• Eg. Tighter credit and lower consumer borrowing are not the only drivers of economic restructuring. A less noticed but significant push comes from higher energy prices.

68

6. emerging market• An economy, with fast growth rate but low to

middle per capita income, has opened up its market and integrated itself into the global economy.

• Eg.…as the dollar fell and emerging markets’ growing appetite put pressure on global production capacity.

69

7.turnaround• The process of moving from a period of losses or low

profitability into a more profitable stage for a firm, industry or economy.

8. current account• Portion of the balance of payments consisting of

exports and imports of goods and services, as well as transfer payments such as foreign aid grants.

• Eg.America’s current-account deficit, the broadest measure of its trade and payments with the rest of the world, shrank from 6% of GDP in 2006 to 3% last year.

70

9.profit margin• Ratio of profit after taxes to cost-of-sales, often

expressed as a percentage, measuring the profitability of a firm and indicating its cost structure.

• Eg.In the last quarter of 2009 Intel, helped by resurgent demand for technology, enjoyed record profit margins.

71

Summary

• America’s economy is set to shift away from consumption and debt and towards exports and saving. It will be its biggest transformation in decades, says Greg Ip.

• The same could be said for America. Virtually every industry has shed jobs in the past two years, but those that cater mostly to consumers have suffered most. Employment in residential construction and carmaking is down by almost a third, in retailing and banking by 8%. As the economy recovers, some of those jobs will come back, but many of them will not, because this was no ordinary recession.

72

• Instead, America’s economy will undergo one of its biggest transformations in decades. This macroeconomic shift from debt and consumption to saving and exports will bring microeconomic changes too: different lifestyles, and different jobs in different places.

• The crisis and then the recession put an abrupt end to the old economic model.

• The effect on the economy of deflated assets, tighter credit and costlier energy are already apparent. Fewer people are buying homes, and the ones they buy tend to be smaller and less opulent.

73

• Normally, deep recessions are followed by strong recoveries as pent-up demand reasserts itself. In the recent recession GDP shrank by 3.8%, the worst drop since the second world war. In the recovery the economy might therefore be expected to grow by 6-8% and unemployment to fall steadily, as happened after two earlier recessions of comparable depth, in 1973-75 and 1981-82.

74

• No bounce-back• But this particular recession was triggered by a financial

crisis that damaged the financial system’s ability to channel savings to productive investment and left consumers and businesses struggling with surplus buildings, equipment and debt accumulated in the boom. Recovery after that kind of crisis is often slow and weak, and indeed some nine months into the upturn GDP has probably grown at an annual rate of less than 4%. Unemployment is well up throughout the country, though it declined slightly in February.

• So if America is to avoid the stagnation that afflicted Japan after its bubbles burst, where is the demand going to come from?

75

• The road to salvation • As consumers rebuild their savings, American firms

must increasingly look abroad for sales.• Exports are a classic route to recovery after a crisis.

Sweden and Finland in the early 1990s and Thailand, Malaysia and South Korea in the late 1990s bounced back from recession by moving from trade deficit to surplus or expanding their surplus. But given its size and the sickly state of most other rich countries’ economies, America will find it much harder.

76

Questions

• 1.What did Mr. Hilton do to save his company?

• 2.What does “the biggest transformations” mean?

• 3.How is the current recession different from the previous ones?

77

Translation

• Translate the following passage into Chinese.(P60)

• New words:1.Skyrocket 2.slump 3.devastate4.undermine 5.pump 6.counterfeit7.confusion 8.uproar 9.ruin10.mortgage 11.orient 12.era13.terrorism 14.plummet 15.clue

78

Chapter4 The Incredible Shrinking Europe

79

Words and Expressions

1.insular • Eg.If Europe wants to become a global power to rival the

U.S. and China then it needs to stop acting like a collection of rich, insular states and start fighting for its beliefs.

2. holdout• eg.It was supposed to be the moment Europe grew

muscles. Last fall, after a decade of work to simplify policymaking and make the European Union more efficient at home and stronger abroad, the last few holdouts signed a 1,000-page document known as the Lisbon Treaty.

80

3. crunch• eg.And Europe's economies would prove to the

ruthless free markets of North America and Asia that the social market still offers the best way out of an economic crunch.

4. Haggleeg.The dream didn't last a month. At the climate

change conference in Copenhagen in December, it was China and the U.S. who haggled over a final deal, while Europe sat on the sidelines.

81

5. confab• eg.At the same time, U.S. President Barack Obama

announced he would be skipping an E.U.--U.S. confab in Spain in May, frustrated, it appeared, with the endless summitry that goes with accommodating the E.U.

6. articulated• articulate• eg.At times, it simply seems unable to say what it thinks.

Washington and Beijing may squabble from time to time, but the U.S. has a reasonably well-articulated China policy: engage economically, encourage democratically, and criticize on human rights when appropriate. What's the E.U.'s China policy in a few words?

82

7. underwhelm• provocative• doom• eg.The E.U. underwhelms on other big issues.

"When it comes to pressing international problems like Afghanistan, Pakistan or North Korea, the E.U. is either largely invisible or absent," wrote Grant in his essay, provocatively titled "Is Europe Doomed to Fail as a Power?"

83

8. hangover• eg. Lucio Caracciolo, editor of Limes, one of Italy's leading

foreign policy magazines, says the problem is a Cold War hangover. The post--World War II period was a golden age for Western Europe, a time of reconstruction under the U.S. security umbrella, he argues. When it ended, Europe went into shock.

• "We're in denial," Caracciolo says. "We see that the Americans are not interested--to put it mildly --in our interests, and we put our head in the sand." Europe "happily decides," Caracciolo says, that Afghanistan Iran are American affairs. "Any major crisis is something that is analyzed abroad. We are not up to the responsibilities of the time."

84

9. Cajolesensitivityfeat • eg.Critics point to the selection of Herman Van

Rompuy and Catherine Ashton as Europe's President and Foreign Minister as symbolic of a lack of vision. Van Rompuy, a former Belgian Prime Minister, is known for his ability to balance local sensitivities--no small feat in Belgium --and cajole opposing camps towards a consensus.

85

10. embers• Notwithstanding• Pathetic• eg.Start with history. The modern conception of a

united Europe was born in the embers of World War II and rested upon the notion that binding Germany's fortunes to those of France and the rest of Europe could end the violence that had regularly engulfed the continent for centuries. Judged by that measure--and notwithstanding the pathetic failure to prevent or quickly end the wars of the Yugoslav succession--the E.U. has worked out fine.

86

11. punch• subsume• eg.Beyond its neighborhood, however the E.U. has

rarely punched its collective weight. The main reason for that, of course, is that member states still like to defend and pursue their own national interests, rather than subsume them in a multinational body. There's also a case--and plenty in Europe make it--that Europe is better off continuing to aim low. "Very few European countries see the role of the E.U. as a power," says Moïsi. "They see Europe as a place--with a common market, a common currency, but not a power that should project itself onto the outside world."

87

12. proselytize• prone• solely• eg.In Africa, India, Latin America, leaders would fall

over themselves to engage more closely with a power that's neither the U.S. nor China--both nations that can come across as too powerful, too proselytizing of their own values, too prone to see their interaction with others solely in terms of their own national interests.

88

13. chagrin • unified• eg.But since the end of the Cold War, it has

stepped back from the E.U., regularly taking a different path when Europe attempted a unified policy (notably during the financial crisis in 2008 and 2009), and strengthening ties with Russia, to the chagrin of Britain and France.

89

14. contemplate• condescending• eg.As they contemplate the future, leaders of the

E.U. can no longer avoid the hard question: Is a common foreign policy what its member states--and their domestic political constituencies--really want? If it isn't, then the rest of the world can adjust its expectations accordingly. If it is, then Europeans can start the real work of public diplomacy, speaking out for their asserted virtues of tolerance, compromise and liberality, not in a condescending way, but in one that explains how the world's true dark continent in the 20th century found a path to peace.

90

15. democratic• Eg.That, it should be said, would be easier said

than done. We should not forget: Europe is rich and democratic; its values are closer to those of the U.S. than those of anywhere else. But Europeans cannot rely on that shared sensibility to secure American favor forever. The world beyond Europe's borders is changing fast.

91

Special Terms

1.free markets• A market in which there is no economic intervention

by the state, except to enforce private contracts and the ownership of property.

2. economic crunch• An economic turmoil where companies go bankrupt,

people are laid off, and markets are sluggish. There is a lot of panic in both business and daily lives.

92

3. pension scheme• A qualified retirement plan set up by a

corporation, labor union, government, or other organization for its employees.

4. health insurance• A form of collectivism by means of which

people collectively pool their risk, in this case the risk of incurring medical expenses.

93

5. soft power• The ability to obtain what one wants through

economic or cultural means. It allows nations to exert their influence without using military means or coercion.

6. turf war• A fight or contention for territory, power,

control, or resources between two more parties in a place or area.

94

7. demonstration effects• Effects on the behavior of individuals caused by

observation of the actions of others and their consequences.

8. national interest• Things of great importance to a nation, including its

goals, visions and ambitions in political, economic, cultural fields, etc. and actions, circumstances, and decisions to achieve them.

9.coalition government• A cabinet of a parliamentary government in which several

parties cooperate.

95

Summary

• If Europe wants to become a global power to rival the U.S. and China then it needs to stop acting like a collection of rich, insular states and start fighting for its beliefs.

• In November, the E.U.'s first real President and Foreign Minister were chosen. Europhiles dusted off their familiar dream: of a newly emboldened world power stepping up to calm trouble spots, using aid and persuasion where it could, but prepared to send in troops when it had to.

96

• And Europe's economies would prove to the ruthless free markets of North America and Asia that the social market still offers the best way out of an economic crunch.

• The dream didn't last a month. At the climate change conference in Copenhagen in December, it was China and the U.S. who haggled over a final deal, while Europe sat on the sidelines.

97

• Little wonder that Europe finds itself in one of its periodic bouts of angst-ridden self-doubt. And little wonder that the rest of the world is asking questions: What does Europe stand for? Where does it fit into a world that seems set to be dominated by China and the U.S.? Would anyone notice if it disappeared?

98

• Let's get one thing straight: Europe is a remarkably good place to live. Many of the E.U.'s member states are among the richest in the world. Workers in Europe usually enjoy long vacations, generous maternity leave and comfortable pension schemes. Universal health insurance is seen as part of the basic social contract. Europe is politically stable, the most generous donor of development aid in the world. Sure, taxes can be high, but most Europeans seem happy to pay more to the state in return for a higher--and guaranteed--quality of life.

• But the good life at home doesn't make Europe strong abroad. The E.U. may have all the soft-power credentials in the world, but on the grand stage it has lacked the weight and influence of others. The E.U. underwhelms on other big issues.

99

• No Europe: So What? • For most of that time, its leaders have been happy to

concentrate on domestic policies: a single market, a European currency, free movement of people.

• Beyond its neighborhood, however the E.U. has rarely punched its collective weight. The main reason for that, of course, is that member states still like to defend and pursue their own national interests, rather than subsume them in a multinational body.

• Europe is right to think big--both for its own sake and for that of others. Many in the rest of the world would welcome a stronger European voice.

• But if Europe is to realize its own dreams and those of others, it has to change the way it does business. Acting as a true single bloc would bring greater influence. Next, Europeans need to appreciate that ideals alone don't bring you respect. You have to win others to your side.

100

• The Peaceful Continent• Others notice the failure of the E.U. to find a single voice.

Instead of tackling that failing--an obvious priority for this century--Europe has spent much of the past few months obsessing over how Washington views it. Obama has visited Europe six times since taking office, and made just one trip to China. But the U.S. President's decision to skip the Spain summit, and his failure to attend the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, has had Europe acting like a jilted lover.

• We should not forget: Europe is rich and democratic; its values are closer to those of the U.S. than those of anywhere else. But Europeans cannot rely on that shared sensibility to secure American favor forever. The world beyond Europe's borders is changing fast.

101

Questions:

1. Why does the passage say that Europe is a remarkably good place to live?

2.Does the good life at home make Europe strong abroad ? Why?

3.What roles did Germany play in Europe in the 20th century?

102

Translation

• Translate the following into Chinese.P83• New words:1.perk 2. refuge 3. denial 4. Bluster 5. punctuate 6. Bicker7. Heap 8. bout 9. diminish10. Failing 11. adversity 12. rejuvenation

103

Chap 5 Japan Goes from Dynamic to Disheartened

104

Words and Expressions

1. Dynamic • disheartened Eg. （ 1 ） Title:• Japan Goes from Dynamic to disheartened（ 2 ） The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or

ASEAN, was established on 8 August 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand. ASEAN members include Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand ， Brunei ， Viet Nam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia.

105

2. affluence • condominium • Eg. Like many members of Japan’s middle

class, Masato Y. enjoyed a level of affluence two decades ago that was the envy of the world. Masato, a small-business owner, bought a $500,000 condominium, vacationed in Hawaii and drove a late-model Mercedes.

106

3. flashy • upbeat • Eg. “Japan used to be so flashy and upbeat,

but now everyone must live in a dark and subdued way,” said Masato, 49, who asked that his full name not be used because he still cannot repay the $110,000 that he owes on the mortgage.

107

4. reversal• Eg.Few nations in recent history have seen

such a striking reversal of economic fortune as Japan. The original Asian success story, Japan rode one of the great speculative stock and property bubbles of all time in the 1980s to become the first Asian country to challenge the long dominance of the West.

108

5. relentless• corrosive• afterthought • Eg.But the bubbles popped in the late 1980s and

early 1990s, and Japan fell into a slow but relentless decline that neither enormous budget deficits nor a flood of easy money has reversed. For nearly a generation now, the nation has been trapped in low growth and a corrosive downward spiral of prices, known as deflation, in the process shriveling from an economic Godzilla to little more than an afterthought in the global economy.

109

6. scar imprint pessimism• Fatalism grim vibrancy Dire• Eg.Just as inflation scarred a generation of

Americans, deflation has left a deep imprint on the Japanese, breeding generational tensions and a culture of pessimism, fatalism and reduced expectations. While Japan remains in many ways a prosperous society, it faces an increasingly grim situation, particularly outside the relative economic vibrancy of Tokyo, and its situation provides a possible glimpse into the future for the United States and Europe, should the most dire forecasts come to pass.

110

7. scaled-back• cramped• Eg. • The downsizing of Japan’s ambitions can be

seen on the streets of Tokyo, where concrete “microhouses” have become popular among younger Japanese who cannot afford even the famously cramped housing of their parents, or lack the job security to take out a traditional multidecade loan.

111

8. quadruple• Eg. With the Japanese stock market

quadrupling and the yen rising to unimagined heights, Japan’s companies dominated global business, gobbling up trophy properties like Hollywood movie studios (Universal Studios and Columbia Pictures), famous golf courses (Pebble Beach) and iconic real estate (Rockefeller Center).

112

9. eclipse• Eg. China has so thoroughly eclipsed Japan that few

American intellectuals seem to bother with Japan now, and once crowded Japanese-language classes at American universities have emptied. Even Clyde V. Prestowitz, a former Reagan administration trade negotiator whose writings in the 1980s about Japan’s threat to the United States once stirred alarm in Washington, said he was now studying Chinese. “I hardly go to Japan anymore,” Mr. Prestowitz said.

113

10. voracious • frugality• Eg. Its once voracious manufacturers now

seem prepared to surrender industry after industry to hungry South Korean and Chinese rivals. Japanese consumers, who once flew by the planeload on flashy shopping trips to Manhattan and Paris, stay home more often now, saving their money for an uncertain future or setting new trends in frugality with discount brands like Uniqlo.

114

11. vitality • Eg. When asked in dozens of interviews about

their nation’s decline, Japanese, from policy makers and corporate chieftains to shoppers on the street, repeatedly mention this startling loss of vitality.

115

12. apparel • Eg. “It’s like Japanese have even lost the desire

to look good,” said Akiko Oka, 63, who works part time in a small apparel shop, a job she has held since her own clothing store went bankrupt in 2002.

116

13. refinement• Eg. But in the past 15 years, the number of

fashionable clubs and lounges has shrunk to 480 from 1,200, replaced by discount bars and chain restaurants. Bartenders say the clientele these days is too cost-conscious to show the studied disregard for money that was long considered the height of refinement.

117

14. disgruntled• forgo• Eg. Yukari Higaki, 24, said the only economic

conditions she had ever known were ones in which prices and salaries seemed to be in permanent decline. She saves as much money as she can by buying her clothes at discount stores, making her own lunches and forgoing travel abroad. She said that while her generation still lived comfortably, she and her peers were always in a defensive crouch, ready for the worst.

118

15. gridlock• subterfuge • Eg. Some years ago, he came up with an idea

to break the gridlock. He created a company that guides homeowners through an elaborate legal subterfuge in which they erase the original loan by declaring personal bankruptcy, but continue to live in their home by “selling” it to a relative, who takes out a smaller loan to pay its greatly reduced price.

119

Special Terms

1.speculative stock• a stock with high risk relative to any potential positive

returns.

2. property bubble• A procedure with rapid increases in valuations of real

estate until they reach unsustainable levels relative to incomes and other economic elements, followed by a reduction in price levels.

120

3. budget deficit • The amount by which a government,• company, or individual's spending exceeds its

income over a particular period of time.

4. easy money • Commerce money that can be borrowed at a

low interest rate.

121

5. deflation • A general decline in prices, often caused by a

reduction in the supply of money or credit.

6. gross domestic product • The monetary value of all the finished goods

and services produced within a country's borders in a specific time period.

122

7. chief executive officer • The highest-ranking corporate administrator in

charge of total management of an organization.

8. personal bankruptcy • A procedure which, in certain jurisdictions,

allows an individual to declare bankruptcy

123

9. stagnation • A period of time in which an economy

experiences difficulties and achieves little or no growth.

10. price war • Market situation in which (usually two)

Powerful competitors try to usurp each other's market share by progressively reducing prices until one of them retreats, at least temporarily.

124

Summary • Few nations in recent history have seen such a striking reversal of

economic fortune as Japan. The original Asian success story, Japan rode one of the great speculative stock and property bubbles of all time in the 1980s to become the first Asian country to challenge the long dominance of the West.

• But the bubbles popped in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and Japan fell into a slow but relentless decline that neither enormous budget deficits nor a flood of easy money has reversed. For nearly a generation now, the nation has been trapped in low growth and a corrosive downward spiral of prices, known as deflation, in the process shriveling from an economic Godzilla to little more than an afterthought in the global economy.

125

• Now, as the United States and other Western nations struggle to recover from a debt and property bubble of their own, a growing number of economists are pointing to Japan as a dark vision of the future.

• Many economists remain confident that the United States will avoid the stagnation of Japan, largely because of the greater responsiveness of the American political system and Americans’ greater tolerance for capitalism’s creative destruction.

126

• Still, as political pressure builds to reduce federal spending and budget deficits, other economists are now warning of “Japanification” — of falling into the same deflationary trap of collapsed demand that occurs when consumers refuse to consume, corporations hold back on investments and banks sit on cash. It becomes a vicious, self-reinforcing cycle: as prices fall further and jobs disappear, consumers tighten their purse strings even more and companies cut back on spending and delay expansion plans.

127

• Just as inflation scarred a generation of Americans, deflation has left a deep imprint on the Japanese, breeding generational tensions and a culture of pessimism, fatalism and reduced expectations. While Japan remains in many ways a prosperous society, it faces an increasingly grim situation, particularly outside the relative economic vibrancy of Tokyo, and its situation provides a possible glimpse into the future for the United States and Europe, should the most dire forecasts come to pass.

128

• Scaled-Back Ambitions• In 1991, economists were predicting that Japan

would overtake the United States as the world’s largest economy by 2010. In fact, Japan’s economy remains the same size it was then: a gross domestic product of $5.7 trillion at current exchange rates. During the same period, the United States economy doubled in size to $14.7 trillion, and this year China overtook Japan to become the world’s No. 2 economy.

129

• But perhaps the most noticeable impact here has been Japan’s crisis of confidence. Just two decades ago, this was a vibrant nation filled with energy and ambition, proud to the point of arrogance and eager to create a new economic order in Asia based on the yen. Today, those high-flying ambitions have been shelved, replaced by weariness and fear of the future, and an almost stifling air of resignation. Japan seems to have pulled into a shell, content to accept its slow fade from the global stage.

130

• As living standards in this still wealthy nation slowly erode, a new frugality is apparent among a generation of young Japanese, who have known nothing but economic stagnation and deflation. They refuse to buy big-ticket items like cars or televisions, and fewer choose to study abroad in America.

• The classic explanation of the evils of deflation is that it makes individuals and businesses less willing to use money, because the rational way to act when prices are falling is to hold onto cash, which gains in value. But in Japan, nearly a generation of deflation has had a much deeper effect, subconsciously coloring how the Japanese view the world. It has bred a deep pessimism about the future and a fear of taking risks that make people instinctively reluctant to spend or invest, driving down demand — and prices — even further.

131

• After years of complacency, Japan appears to be waking up to its problems, as seen last year when disgruntled voters ended the virtual postwar monopoly on power of the Liberal Democratic Party. However, for many Japanese, it may be too late. Japan has already created an entire generation of young people who say they have given up on believing that they can ever enjoy the job stability or rising living standards that were once considered a birthright here.

• Deflation has also affected businesspeople by forcing them to invent new ways to survive in an economy where prices and profits only go down, not up.

• Economists said one reason deflation became self-perpetuating was that it pushed companies and people like Masato to survive by cutting costs and selling what they already owned, instead of buying new goods or investing.

132

Translation • Translate the following into Chinese.(P106)• New words ：1.cringe 2.copped 3.skyline 4.grandiose 5.speculator 6.lavish 7.panic 8. schadenfreude 9.ensue10.bruise 11. credit

133

专题 1 ：英文经济合同常用词汇分析一、 hereby二、 hereof三、 hereto四、 herein五、 hereinafter六、 therein七、 thereof八、 whereas

134

一、 hereby

例 1 ：• This Contract is hereby made and concluded

by and between Co. … （ hereinafter referred to as Party A ） and…Co. （ hereinafter referred to as Party B ） on…（ Date ）， in… （ Place ）， China ， on the principle of equality and mutual benefit and through amicable consultation 。

135

例 2 ：• This agreement is hereby made and entered

into on… （ Date ）， by and between…Co. China （ hereinafter referred to as Party A ） and …Co. （ hereinafter referred to as Party B ）。

136

二、 hereof

例 1 ：• Whether the custom of the Port is contrary to this

Clause or not ， the owner of the goods shall ， without interruption ， by day and night ， including Sundays and holidays （ if required by the carrier ）， supply and take delivery of the goods 。 Provided that the owner of the goods shall be liable for all losses or damages including demurrage incurred in default on the provisions hereof 。

137

例 2 ：• In the event of conflict between the provisions

on arbitration formulated and prepared prior to the effective date of this Law and the provisions of this Law ， the provisions hereof shall prevail 。

138

三、 hereto例 1 ：• All disputes arising from the performance of this Contract

shall ， through amicable negotiations ， be settled by the Parties hereto 。 Should ， through negotiations ， no settlement be reached ， the case in question shall then be submitted for arbitration to the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission ， Beijing and the arbitration rules of this Commission shall be applied 。 The award of the arbitration shall be final and binding upon the Parties hereto 。 The Arbitration fee shall be borne by the losing party unless otherwise awarded by the Arbitration Commission 。

139

例 2 ：• The termination of this Contract shall not in

any way affect the outstanding claims and liabilities existing between the Parties hereto upon the expiration of the validity of the Contract and the debtor shall continue to be kept liable for paying the outstanding debts to the creditor 。

140

四、 herein例 1 ：• Unfair competition mentioned in this Law refers to

such acts of business operators as contravene the provisions hereof ， with a result of damaging the lawful rights and interests of other business operators ， and disturbing the socio-economic order 。

• Business operators mentioned herein refer to such legal persons ， other economic organizations and individuals as engage in the trading of goods or profit-making services （ hereafter called Goods including services ）。

141

例 2 ：• The term “company” mentioned herein refers

to such a limited liability company or such a company limited by shares as are established within the territory of China in accordance with this Law 。

142

五、 hereinafter

例 1 ：• In accordance with the Law of the People’s

Republic of China on Chinese-Foreign Equity Joint Ventures and the Contract signed by and between…Co. （ hereinafter referred to as Party A ） and… Co. （ hereinafter referred to as Party B ）， the articles of association hereby is formulated and prepared 。

143

例 2 ：• Financial institutions with foreign capital mentioned

in these Regulations refer to the following financial institutions that are established and operate in China upon approval in accordance with the relevant laws and regulations of the People’s Republic of China ：

（ 1 ） subsidiary banks incorporated by foreign capital whose head offices are in China （ hereinafter referred to as foreign banks ）；

144

六、 therein

例 1 ：• “Temporary Works” means all temporary

works of every kind （ other than the Contractor’s Equipment ） required in or about the execution and completion of the Works and the remedying of any defects therein 。

145

例 2 ：• The contractor shall not ， without the prior

consent of the Employer ， assign the Contract or any part thereof ， or any benefit or interest therein or thereunder ， otherwise than by ：

146

七、 thereof

例 1 ：• When the Buyer is entitled to determine the

time within a specified period and /or the place of taking delivery ， the Buyer in question shall give the Seller the notice thereof 。

147

例 2 ：• The collection of tax or the cessation thereof ， the

reduction ， exemption and refund of tax as well as the payment of tax unpaid shall ， in accordance with the provisions of the relevant law ， be implemented 。 Provided that if the State Council is authorized by the law to formulate and prepare the relevant provisions of the regulations ， the provisions in question shall be implemented and complied with 。

148

八、 whereas例 1 ：• Whereas the Borrower proposes to borrow from the

Banks ， and the Banks ， severally but not jointly ，propose to lend to the Borrower ， an aggregate amount of $50 ， 000 ， 000 ， the Parties hereto have hereby made and concluded this Agreement as follows ：

149

例 2 ：• Whereas Party A and Party B ， adhering to

the principle of equality and mutual benefit and through friendly consultation ， agree to jointly invest to establish a new joint venture company in China （ hereinafter referred as “Joint Venture” ）。 The Contract hereunder is made and concluded 。

150

专题 2 ：信用证常用词语分析一、 against二、 subject to三、 draw 四、 negotiate 和 honor 五、 unless otherwise expressed 六、 bona fide holders 和 act of God 七、 other than

151

一、 against

1 、“反对” ( indicating opposition) • （ 1 ） Public opinion was against the Bill.

2 、 “用 . . . 交换， 用 . . . 兑付”• （ 1 ） the rates against U. S. dollars

152

3 、“凭 . . .”“ 以 . . .”（ 1 ） This credit valid until September 17 ， 2011 in

Switzerland for payment available against the presentation of following documents…

（ 2 ） Documents bearing discrepancies must not be negotiated against guarantee.

（ 3 ） The payment is available at sight against the following documents.

（ 4 ） The consignment is handed over for disposal against payment by the buyer.

153

二、 subject to

1 、“受 . . . 约束， 受 . . . 管制” （ 1 ） This documentary credit is subject to the

Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits (2007 Revision) International Chamber of Commerce (publication No. 600).

（ 2 ） We are subject to the law of the land.

154

2 、“有待于，须经 . . . 的， 以 . . . 为条件”

（ 1 ） The certificate of inspection would be issued and signed by authorized applicant of L/C before shipment of cargo ， whose signature is subject to our final confirmation.

（ 2 ） This Proforma Invoice is subject to our last approval.

155

三、 draw • “ 开给”“向 . . . 开立的” 1 、 draw 的派生词（ 1 ） drawer（ 2 ） drawee（ 3 ） drawn clause

2 、例句（ 1 ） We hereby establish this Irrevocable Credit which is

available against beneficiary’s drafts drawn in duplicate on applicant at 30 days sight free of interest for 100% of invoice value. Document against acceptance.

156

（ 2 ） Drawn on Bank of China ， Head Office.

（ 3 ） The beneficiary's drafts drawing at 120 days after sight are to be paid in face value as drawn at sight basis ， discounting charges ，accountance commissions and usance interest are for account of the accountee.

157

四、 negotiate 和 honor

1 、 negotiate “ 议付”（ 1 ） At the time of negotiation ， 5%

commission to be deducted from invoice value and should be remitted by the negotiating bank in the form of a bank draft in favor of Cima Co.

158

2 、 honor “ 兑现、承付”（ 1 ） This L/C will be duly honored only if the

seller submits whole set of documents that all terms and requirements under L/C No. 45675 have been complied with.

159

五、 unless otherwise expressed

1 、例句（ 1 ） Unless otherwise stipulated herein ， any

charges and commissions in respect to negotiation of drafts under this credit prior to presentation to us to be collected from beneficiary.

2 、类似的变形• unless otherwise expressed• except otherwise stated• so far as otherwise expressly stated. . .

160

六、 bona fide holders 和 act of God

1 、 bona fide holders （ 1 ） This documentary credit is available for

negotiation to pay without specific restriction to drawers or bone fide holders.

2 、 act of God

161

七、 other than

（ 1 ） We will also accept a transport document issued by a courier or expedited delivery service evidencing that courier charges fee for the account of a party other than the consignee.

（ 2 ） All parts of the house other than the windows were in good condition.

（ 3 ） The truth is quite other than what you think.（ 4 ） I borrowed some books other than novels.