ECONOMICS REPORT - Wal-Mart

ECONOMICS¹ REPORT - Wal-Mart
By Mario Ritter

Broadcast: Friday, February 27, 2004

This is Bob Doughty² with the VOA Special English Economics Report.

 
Wal-Mart Supercenter in Reno, Nevada.
Discount stores sell goods at low prices. They succeed only if they sell a lot of goods and keep their costs low. One company has succeeded beyond imagination.

Wal-Mart is bigger than any competitor. It has more than four-thousand stores in the United States and nine other countries. It has more than one-million workers. It is America's largest private employer.

Wal-Mart reported sales of almost two-hundred-sixty-thousand-million dollars last year. And profits? The company reported earnings³ of nine-thousand-million dollars last year.

Sam Walton recognized the power of low prices. He owned fifteen stores in Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma before he began Wal-Mart.

Sam Walton opened the first Wal-Mart store in nineteen-sixty-two. He began to use computers to control the flow of goods. He reduced prices to levels no one thought possible.

By nineteen-eighty-five, Sam Walton was the richest man in America. He added businesses like Sam's Club membership⁴ stores. And he opened more Wal-Mart stores.

Wal-Marts are big stores. They sell just about anything. Wal-Mart Supercenters are even bigger. They include a market full of food. Other food stores are worried. So are labor⁵ unions in that industry.

To keep labor costs low, Wal-Mart has worked hard to prevent its employees from joining a union. The company has faced legal actions over some of its employment activities.

And, last October, federal immigration agents raided⁶ sixty Wal-Mart stores. They arrested more than two-hundred night cleaning workers who were in the country illegally. Wal-Mart noted⁷ that an independent company employed them. But labor is not the only issue.

Recently, the Los Angeles City Council began to consider a possible ban on huge stores like Wal-Mart Supercenters. Critics say Wal-Marts ruin small businesses and replace them with low-paying jobs. Wal-Mart denies this happens. It says people save money which they can spend on other things.

Sam Walton died in nineteen-ninety-two. He urged people to buy American products to save jobs and to control the trade deficit⁸. Today many goods are made in China. Wal-Mart says it believes in buying American goods and is willing to pay more to offer them. But, it says, it cannot tell people what to buy.

This VOA Special English Economics Report was written by Mario Ritter. This is Bob Doughty.

1 economics   

n.经济学，经济情况

参考例句：

• He is studying economics,which subject is very important.他正在学习经济学，该学科是很重要的。
• One can't separate politics from economics.不能把政治与经济割裂开来。

2 doughty   

adj.勇猛的，坚强的

参考例句：

• Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质：脾气倔强，性格刚强。
• The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。

3 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%。

4 membership   

n.成员资格，会员全体，从属关系

参考例句：

• I must renew my membership of the sailing club.我必须延续我的航海俱乐部会员的资格。
• He made up his mind to apply for membership in the Party.他决心申请入党。

5 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

6 raided   

对…进行突然袭击（raid的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The enemy raided the docks. 敌人突然袭击了码头。
• Enemy troops raided our border areas. 敌军对我边境地区进行袭击。

7 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

8 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。