世界经济论坛回应全球挑战

 　　GENEVA, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- The World Economic Forum¹ (WEF) Annual Meeting 2015 scheduled from Jan. 21 to 24 in Davos of Switzerland would serve as a platform looking for solutions to major challenges faced by the world, said the organization on Wednesday.

　　Over 2,500 participants from more than 140 countries representing business, government, international organizations, academia, civil society and the media are expected to participate in this year's annual gathering², the WEF said.

　　The upcoming meeting is to be framed around 10 major global challenges, namely: environment and resource scarcity³, employment skills and human capital, gender⁴ parity⁵, long-term investing, infrastructure⁶ and development, food security and agriculture, international trade and investment, the future of the internet, global crime and anti-corruption, social inclusion, and the future of financial systems.

　　WEF summit to look for answers to major global challenges

　　Addressing a pre-event press conference, Klaus Schwab, founder⁷ and executive chairman of WEF, said 2015 would be a "critical" year, being "a year where we are at a crossroads."

　　"The world has changed substantially. We are in a post-crisis world. That is the reason why we have chosen the 'New Global Context' as this year's theme," said Schwab.

　　Schwab shared his expectations for the annual meeting, which included reaching an understanding of the new context and searching for solutions in such a framework, making contributions to confidence-building efforts for the conflict areas, and achieving progress in addressing major global challenges.

　　According to the WEF, over 40 heads of state and governments are expected to be at the four-day meeting where participants can attend the 280 sessions and workshops and exchange opinions on a range of issues.

　　Jennifer Blanke, chief economist⁸ with WEF, explained to Xinhua about this year's theme.

　　"We have seen that there is a rise in terms of conflict, a lack of trust in many cases. We felt that it is very important this year to step back, (to think) what is different about this new global context, how can we actually restore trust in the global economic and political system, so we can really expect in future decades a more collaborative environment," said Blanke.

　　She highlighted that one of the important issues for this year's meeting is to bring in the topic of security for the first time.

　　"We realize that there is a huge interplay between the economic system and the geopolitical system. It is very important for experts in both areas to understand each other very well, so we can come up with better solutions," said Blanke.

1 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

2 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

3 scarcity   

n.缺乏，不足，萧条

参考例句：

• The scarcity of skilled workers is worrying the government.熟练工人的缺乏困扰着政府。
• The scarcity of fruit was caused by the drought.水果供不应求是由于干旱造成的。

4 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

5 parity   

n.平价，等价，比价，对等

参考例句：

• The two currencies have now reached parity.这两种货币现已达到同等价值。
• Women have yet to achieve wage or occupational parity in many fields.女性在很多领域还没能争取到薪金、职位方面的平等。

6 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

7 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

8 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。