2014年经济学人 沙特对美明修栈道 国际货币基金组织总结教训

Business this week

Federal air-accident investigators¹ began looking into what caused a spaceplane owned by Virgin² Galactic to explode over theMojave desert during a test flight, killing³ one pilot. The accident is a setback⁴ for the burgeoning⁵ private space industry. Virgin Galactic had been hoping to take rich tourists to the edge of space in the aircraft perhaps as early as next year. Sir Richard Branson, its founder⁶, promised to keep the project going and build a second spaceplane. He had planned to be aboard the inaugural⁷ passenger flight.

Access to the internet

Robert Hannigan, the head of Britain's GCHQ intelligence agency, called for more support from internet giants such as Google and Apple in gathering⁸ information about suspected terrorists. He described social-media sites as “the command and control networks of choice” for terror groups, and criticised the extra security measures being added to the internet by companies in their efforts to deter⁹ surveillance by Western spies.

Haruhiko Kuroda, the governor of the Bank of Japan, strongly defended the massive expansion of the government's quantitative-easing measures, announced on October 31st. Mr Kuroda said that he would do whatever it takes to cure Japan's “chronic disease of deflation”, though critics think the scale of the new initiative will distort markets. After the policy was revealed the Nikkei stockmarket index jumped to a seven-year high and the yen¹⁰ tumbled against the dollar.

Inflation in the euro zone will remain below the European Central Bank's target of almost 2% until at least 2016, according to the latest official economic forecast from the European Commission, which also sharply reduced the outlook for growth next year, to 1.1%.

America's economy grew at an annualised rate of 3.5% in the third quarter, thanks in part to increased government spending and exports. But the unexpectedly large growth of the trade deficit¹¹ in September suggests that the GDP figure will be revised downwards¹².

Amid the rouble rubble¹³

The announcement by Russia's central bank that it would curb¹⁴ its support for the rouble pushed itto new lows against the dollar and the euro. The bank spent more than 30 billion propping¹⁵ up the currency in October and it raised interest rates to 9.5% just recently. Limiting its interventions¹⁶ will increase inflation, but also protect foreign reserves and help avert¹⁷ the risk of a full-scale currency crisis.

The price of Brent crude sank to a four-year low afterSaudi Arabia cut its price for oil forAmerica while raising it elsewhere, seen by some as an aggressive move by the Saudis to increase market share. With the Saudis trying to boost oil imports intoAmerica, BHP Billiton, meanwhile, was hoping to test a ban on oil exports fromAmerica by selling oil it has extracted but processed only very lightly inTexas.

A report by the IMF's internal auditor¹⁸ concluded that having first advised countries to adopt fiscal¹⁹ stimulus²⁰ during the global financial crisis, the fund's later push for austerity had “turned out to be a mistake and its timing²¹ unfortunate”, because the recovery was fragile. Christine Lagarde, who has led the IMF since 2011, said the auditor's report benefited from hindsight.

The trial of the most senior Swiss banker to be charged with helping²² Americans evade²³ tax came to a swift end, when a jury inFlorida took just over an hour to find him not guilty. Raoul Weil used to run the wealth-management division at UBS. The prosecution²⁴'s case was based partly on testimony²⁵ from his former subordinates, some of whom struck deals to avoid prosecution. His defence team was so confident about winning that it didn't bother calling any witnesses.

Alibaba issued its first earnings²⁶ report since making its stockmarket debut²⁷ in September. The Chinese e-commerce company's revenue in the third quarter grew by more than half, to 2.7 billion, from the same period last year, mostly because many more people inChina are using mobile devices to shop.

Ryanair,Europe's biggest low-cost airline, reported solid earnings for the latest quarter and raised the outlook for its annual profit. The butt²⁸ of many jokes about poor airline service, Ryanair has refocused on attracting business passengers and overhauled²⁹ its systems, reducing its online booking process from 17 to five clicks. Its boss, Michael O'Leary, who once described passengers as “idiots”, said that being nice was new to him, but was turning out to be a winning strategy.

A tasty deal

United Biscuits, a British baker³⁰ that includes Jaffa Cakes and Twiglets among its brands, was sold by its private-equity owners toYildiz,Turkey's biggest food company, for a reported 2 billion.

1 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 virgin   

n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的

参考例句：

• Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗？
• There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。

3 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

4 setback   

n.退步，挫折，挫败

参考例句：

• Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
• She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。

5 burgeoning   

adj.迅速成长的，迅速发展的v.发芽，抽枝( burgeon的现在分词 )；迅速发展；发（芽），抽（枝）

参考例句：

• Our company's business is burgeoning now. 我们公司的业务现在发展很迅速。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• These efforts were insufficient to contain the burgeoning crisis. 这些努力不足以抑制迅速扩散的危机。 来自辞典例句

6 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。

7 inaugural   

adj.就职的；n.就职典礼

参考例句：

• We listened to the President's inaugural speech on the radio yesterday.昨天我们通过无线电听了总统的就职演说。
• Professor Pearson gave the inaugural lecture in the new lecture theatre.皮尔逊教授在新的阶梯讲堂发表了启用演说。

8 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。

9 deter   

vt.阻止，使不敢，吓住

参考例句：

• Failure did not deter us from trying it again.失败并没有能阻挡我们再次进行试验。
• Dogs can deter unwelcome intruders.狗能够阻拦不受欢迎的闯入者。

10 yen   

n. 日元；热望

参考例句：

• He wanted to convert his dollars into Japanese yen.他想将美元换成日币。
• He has a yen to be alone in a boat.他渴望独自呆在一条船上。

11 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

12 downwards   

adj./adv.向下的（地），下行的（地）

参考例句：

• He lay face downwards on his bed.他脸向下伏在床上。
• As the river flows downwards,it widens.这条河愈到下游愈宽。

13 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

14 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

15 propping   

支撑

参考例句：

• You can usually find Jack propping up the bar at his local. 你常常可以看见杰克频繁出没于他居住的那家酒店。
• The government was accused of propping up declining industries. 政府被指责支持日益衰败的产业。

16 interventions   

n.介入，干涉，干预( intervention的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Economic analysis of government interventions deserves detailed discussion. 政府对经济的干预应该给予充分的论述。 来自辞典例句
• The judge's frequent interventions made a mockery of justice. 法官的屡屡干预是对正义的践踏。 来自互联网

17 avert   

v.防止，避免；转移(目光、注意力等)

参考例句：

• He managed to avert suspicion.他设法避嫌。
• I would do what I could to avert it.我会尽力去避免发生这种情况。

18 auditor   

n.审计员，旁听着

参考例句：

• The auditor was required to produce his working papers.那个审计员被要求提供其工作底稿。
• The auditor examines the accounts of all county officers and departments.审计员查对所有县官员及各部门的帐目。

19 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

20 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

21 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

22 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

23 evade   

vt.逃避，回避；避开，躲避

参考例句：

• He tried to evade the embarrassing question.他企图回避这令人难堪的问题。
• You are in charge of the job.How could you evade the issue?你是负责人，你怎么能对这个问题不置可否？

24 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

25 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

26 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

27 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。

28 butt   

n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶

参考例句：

• The water butt catches the overflow from this pipe.大水桶盛接管子里流出的东西。
• He was the butt of their jokes.他是他们的笑柄。

29 overhauled   

v.彻底检查( overhaul的过去式和过去分词 )；大修；赶上；超越

参考例句：

• Within a year the party had drastically overhauled its structure. 一年内这个政党已大刀阔斧地整顿了结构。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A mechanic overhauled the car's motor with some new parts. 一个修理工对那辆汽车的发动机进行了彻底的检修，换了一些新部件。 来自《简明英汉词典》

30 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。