Reform on the agenda No. 945 Mar. 7, 2012 p.2: The Buzz.

Reform on the agenda

No. 945 Mar. 7, 2012

p.2: The Buzz

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Lead-in Activities1

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Comprehension Points

Background Information

Fast Reading

Detailed Reading

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Main TasksMain Tasks

Discussion and Summary5

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Lead-in ActivitiesLead-in Activities Fill in the blanks with suitable phrases on p.2.

In stereotypes, the bodyguards of very important government officials are _____________ in build.

Nowadays there are some young men tending to rely heavily on women for a better living, but such _____________ should be condemned according to traditional ethics.

athletic

kept men

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Lead-in ActivitiesLead-in Activities The Supplemental _____________________

Program (SNAP) provides a basic safety net to millions of people by providing monthly benefits to eligible low-income families which can be used to purchase food. Formerly the Food Stamp Program.

___________, a social welfare institution, provides emergency shelter and free comprehensive support services to victims and survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault.

Nutrition Assistance

Safe Haven

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Lead-in ActivitiesLead-in Activities

A _______________ is a solid or painted object in a road that channelises traffic. It can also be a narrow strip of island between roads that intersect at an acute angle.

traffic island

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Lead-in ActivitiesLead-in Activities Which phrase on Page 2 is most appropriate to de

scribe the following contents? In law enforcement, a ___________________

is a deceptive operation designed to catch a person committing a crime. A typical sting will have a law-enforcement officer or cooperative member of the public play a role as criminal partner or potential victim and go along with a suspect's actions to gather evidence of the suspect's wrongdoing.

sting operation

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Lead-in ActivitiesLead-in Activities Are there any cases of sting operations in China?

If there are, can you give some example? 《泰晤士报》 (The Times) 关于“城管”的报道： ...local government enforcers known as chenggua

n, who are often involved in public confrontations in their main role of removing unlicensed street vendors and checking permits.

城管，中国地方政府执法者，他们的主要职责是检查执照，驱赶无照经营的街贩，常常在执行任务过程中卷入一些公众冲突事件。

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Lead-in ActivitiesLead-in Activities 《卫报》 (The Guardian) Chengguan, or urban management officers, are

employed to deal with low-level crime and disorder, often clearing away unlicensed vendors.

城管，或者叫城市管理员，是处理轻微犯罪和解决混乱状况的工作人员，经常需要驱赶无照摊贩。

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Lead-in ActivitiesLead-in Activities 《每日电讯报》 (The Daily Telegraph) ...Chengguan, an urban control force charged

with keeping the peace, ridding China's cities of illegal street hawkers and unlicensed taxi cabs, and checking permits.

城管，一股控制管理城市的力量，负责维护社会的和谐安定，检查核对执照，查处流落在城市中的非法街头小贩以及无照出租汽车。

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Lead-in QuestionsLead-in Questions 1. How much do you know about the

National People’s Congress (NPC) and Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) ?

2. When did China’s reform and opening policy start?

3. Do you think reform is necessary in terms of economic, social, military and other matters?

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Background InformationBackground Information Terms related to NPC and CPPCC: NPC = National People’s Congress 全国

人民代表大会 CPPCC = Chinese People’s Political Con

sultative Conference 中国人民政治协商会议

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Background InformationBackground Information The difference lies in that as the NPC is the

country’s top legislature ( 最高立法机构 ), an NPC motion ( 提议 , 动议 ) becomes legally binding ( 受法律约束的 ) when it is adopted ( 采纳 ); while a proposal ( 提案 ) to the CPPCC National Committee, the top advisory body ( 最高顾问机构 ), is not legally binding whether it is adopted or not.

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Background InformationBackground Information NPC motions are submitted ( 提交 ) by NPC d

eputies ( 代表 ) or relevant departments to the NPC. According to the Constitution ( 宪法 ), NPC deputies and members of the NPC Standing Committee ( 常务委员会 ) have the right to submit motions and proposals within the respective ( 各自的 ) functions and powers of the NPC and its Standing Committee in accordance with procedures prescribed by law ( 按照法律规定的程序 ).

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Background InformationBackground Information According to the Organic Law ( 组织法 ) of the N

PC and NPC rules for the discharging of its duties, a motion on issues within the power of the NPC can be raised by the presidium ( 主席团 ) of the NPC, the NPC Standing Committee, special committees of the NPC, the State Council ( 国务院 ) , the Supreme People’s Court ( 最高人民法院 ) , the Supreme People’s Procuratorate ( 最高人民检察院 ) , a provincial-level delegation ( 省级代表团 ) (of deputies) to the NPC, or a group of at least 30 NPC deputies.

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Background InformationBackground Information Other useful terms: agenda 议程 session 一次会议 a plenary session 全体会议，全会 panel meetings 专题讨论小组会议 transfer 递交

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Background InformationBackground Information

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Fast ReadingFast Reading Decide whether the following statements are

TRUE or FALSE. 1. _____ China’s economic growth target for

2012 is set at 7 percent, the lowest in eight years and down from last year’s 8 percent.

2. _____ In 2012, government spending on education will account for over 4 percent of the country’s GDP.

3. _____ The government aims to raise the minimum wage by at least 13 percent each year from 2011 to 2015.

False

False

True

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Fast ReadingFast Reading 4. _____ China’s defense budget will be increa

sed by 11.2 percent to 670 billion yuan in 2012. 5. _____ In the coming 5 years, about 5 million

new jobs will be created. 6. _____ During the 12th Five-Year Plan Peri

od, registered urban unemployment rate to be kept at or below 1.28%.

True

False

False

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Detailed ReadingDetailed Reading 1. What are the two pillars of the annual

government work report, delivered by Premier Wen Jiabao to the National People’s Congress ?

The lowering of the economic growth target and the acceleration of work related to people’s livelihoods are summarized as the report’s pillars.

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Detailed ReadingDetailed Reading 2. China’s economic growth target for

year 2012 is set at 7.5 percent, the lowest in eight years and down from last year’s 8 percent.

What is the purpose of setting the growth rate at 7.5%?

It is considered a transition to achieve the overall target for the 12th Five-Year Plan Period (2011-15) which is 7 percent.

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Detailed ReadingDetailed Reading 3. Experts say that the lowered targets signal

China’s efforts to restructure the economy by boosting domestic consumption and making growth more sustainable.

Translate the sentence. 专家称，降低的经济增长目标意味着中国努力重新调整其经济结构，刺激国内消费，使经济增长更具可持续性。

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Detailed ReadingDetailed Reading 4. Ditching the 8 percent reference growth rate

is more about managing expectations than reflecting a serious lack of confidence in the economy’s prospects, said Steve Tsang, director of the China Policy Institute at Britain’s Nottingham University.

What attitude was held by Steve Tsang to China’s new economic growth rate?

Objective at least, and optimistic and favorable somewhat.

giving up; dropping

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Detailed ReadingDetailed Reading 5. That was a goal for the period between 1993

and 2000, and 4 percent was equal to the world’s average level at that time (The current figure is 7 percent). The government failed to achieve the goal.

What do the two sentences imply? They imply that it was not easy in the past to

achieve the goal when there was not enough money, and it’s also not easy to make the spending efficient to attain it now .

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Detailed ReadingDetailed Reading

6. … the additional spending would be given to poorer areas to facilitate balanced development of compulsory education.

What is the prospect of such an objective?

Promising, but hard to attain due to the mountains of difficulties, foreseen and unforeseen.

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Detailed ReadingDetailed Reading 7. Can you sum up the measures to boost

fairness in China? (1) Strengthening taxation adjustment of

high-income citizens; (2) Strictly regulating income of senior

managerial staff at State-owned enterprises and financial institutions;

(3) Enlarging the middle-income group; (4) Raising low-income people’s income .

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Detailed ReadingDetailed Reading 8. To “store wealth among the people” is an

important task of the 12th development plan.

Why is it an important task for the 12th Five-Year Plan period?

Because “storing wealth among the people” or “increasing people’s income” serves as the key to boost domestic demand .

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Detailed ReadingDetailed Reading 9. While Western media keep a close eye on Ch

ina’s defense budget change, Li Zhaoxing, spokesman for the ongoing NPC, stressed that China follows “the principle of coordinating defense development with economic development”.

Translate the sentence. 尽管西方媒体密切关注中国的国防预算变化，正在进行的全国人大发言人李肇星强调，中国遵循“国防发展与经济发展相协调的原则”。

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Detailed ReadingDetailed Reading

Discussion In this report, it is mentioned that Western

media always keep a close eye on China’s defense budget change.

(1) In your opinion, why do Western media pay such close attention to China’s defense budge change?

(2) Do you think China’s defense budget is reasonable? Why or why not?