社会热点英语话题 02

　　1.The price of pork
While many China-watchers fret¹ about the consequences of a collapse² of China’s stockmarket, Wen Jiabao, the prime minister, seems more worried about the risk of social unrest as a result of the rocketing price of pork. A 50% rise in the average nationwide price over the past year is causing squeals³ of alarm. Last week Mr Wen went so far as to visit a farm to show he is taking the issue seriously.
Mr Wen promised that the government would act to ensure adequate supplies of pork; if necessary, to stabilise prices it can release stocks from its strategic reserves of both frozen pork and live pigs. Pork is China’s staple⁴ meat. The average person eats more pork than in any country other than Germany. But it accounts for almost 4% of China’s consumer-price basket, against less than 1% in Germany. Rising pork prices could therefore push up China’s inflation rate over coming months. Jiming Ha, chief economist⁵ at China International Capital Corporation, estimates that inflation will rise to 3.4% in May, from 3% in April.
2.Inflation
"China faces the potential risk of drastic economic fluctuation⁶, while tackling the biggest challenges of soaring prices amounting inflationary pressure",Premier⁷ Wen jiabao said on Tuesday.
"We need to blaze a trail in between", he said at the Press Conference after the closing meeting of the first session of the Eleventh national People's Congress. Wen, who is reappointed premier on Sunday, said "this government will ensure rapid and stable economic development and at the same time to effictively hold down inflation and address problems of unstable⁸, uncoordinated and unsustainable development".
Secondly⁹, he said that the Chinese Government need the courage and determination to further free people's mind in order to make new breakthroughs in the form of economic and political systems.
Thirdly, he said it is important for the government to strengthen social justice and equity¹⁰, which means to respect everyone, protect the lawful¹¹ rights and interests of all and ensure everyone enjoys equal opportunities for development. "If the development of economy and the improvement of people's livelihood¹² are the bounding duties of the government, then the promotion¹³ of social justice and equity is the conscience of the goverment".
The premier also stressed cultural advancement¹⁴ and higher ethical¹⁵ standards in China, including higher credibility, integrity, tolerance¹⁶, fraternity and morality."To ensure this country will become stronger and more prosperous, to build a society of equity and justice, to ensure the people live a happy life, our children can go to school and our nation is duly respected in the international community, I'm willing to dedicate myself wholeheartedly to this cause," he said.
In his government work report to the NPC session, Wen said the country was facing "increasing inflationary pressures" and the task of holding down inflation was "difficult".
"The current price hikes and increasing inflationary pressures are the biggest concern of the people," he said.
Last year, China's consumer price index (CPI), a barometer¹⁷ of inflation, rose by 4.8 percent year-on-year, the highest since 1997 and well above the government target of 3 percent.
A week after Wen announced the country's goals to keep inflation at around 4.8 percent, the National Bureau of Statistics said last week inflation climbed to a nearly 12-year high of 8.7 percent in February, driven by a 23.3 percent jump in food prices.
The year 2008 may be the most difficult year for China's economy, Wen said. "It will be harder to make decisions."

1 fret   

v.(使)烦恼；(使)焦急；(使)腐蚀，(使)磨损

参考例句：

• Don't fret.We'll get there on time.别着急，我们能准时到那里。
• She'll fret herself to death one of these days.她总有一天会愁死的.

2 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

3 squeals   

n.长而尖锐的叫声( squeal的名词复数 )v.长声尖叫，用长而尖锐的声音说( squeal的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• There was an outburst of squeals from the cage. 铁笼子里传来一阵吱吱的叫声。 来自英汉文学
• There were squeals of excitement from the children. 孩子们兴奋得大声尖叫。 来自辞典例句

4 staple   

n.主要产物，常用品，主要要素，原料，订书钉，钩环；adj.主要的，重要的；vt.分类

参考例句：

• Tea is the staple crop here.本地产品以茶叶为大宗。
• Potatoes are the staple of their diet.土豆是他们的主要食品。

5 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。

6 fluctuation   

n.(物价的)波动，涨落；周期性变动；脉动

参考例句：

• The erratic fluctuation of market prices are in consequence of unstable economy.经济波动致使市场物价忽起忽落。
• Early and adequate drainage is essential if fluctuation occurs.有波动感时，应及早地充分引流。

7 premier   

adj.首要的；n.总理，首相

参考例句：

• The Irish Premier is paying an official visit to Britain.爱尔兰总理正在对英国进行正式访问。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。

8 unstable   

adj.不稳定的，易变的

参考例句：

• This bookcase is too unstable to hold so many books.这书橱很不结实，装不了这么多书。
• The patient's condition was unstable.那患者的病情不稳定。

9 secondly   

adv.第二，其次

参考例句：

• Secondly,use your own head and present your point of view.第二，动脑筋提出自己的见解。
• Secondly it is necessary to define the applied load.其次，需要确定所作用的载荷。

10 equity   

n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票

参考例句：

• They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
• To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值，墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。

11 lawful   

adj.法律许可的，守法的，合法的

参考例句：

• It is not lawful to park in front of a hydrant.在消火栓前停车是不合法的。
• We don't recognised him to be the lawful heir.我们不承认他为合法继承人。

12 livelihood   

n.生计，谋生之道

参考例句：

• Appropriate arrangements will be made for their work and livelihood.他们的工作和生活会得到妥善安排。
• My father gained a bare livelihood of family by his own hands.父亲靠自己的双手勉强维持家计。

13 promotion   

n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传

参考例句：

• The teacher conferred with the principal about Dick's promotion.教师与校长商谈了迪克的升级问题。
• The clerk was given a promotion and an increase in salary.那个职员升了级，加了薪。

14 advancement   

n.前进，促进，提升

参考例句：

• His new contribution to the advancement of physiology was well appreciated.他对生理学发展的新贡献获得高度赞赏。
• The aim of a university should be the advancement of learning.大学的目标应是促进学术。

15 ethical   

adj.伦理的，道德的，合乎道德的

参考例句：

• It is necessary to get the youth to have a high ethical concept.必须使青年具有高度的道德观念。
• It was a debate which aroused fervent ethical arguments.那是一场引发强烈的伦理道德争论的辩论。

16 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。

17 barometer   

n.气压表，睛雨表，反应指标

参考例句：

• The barometer marked a continuing fall in atmospheric pressure.气压表表明气压在继续下降。
• The arrow on the barometer was pointing to"stormy".气压计上的箭头指向“有暴风雨”。