2007年VOA标准英语-Africa's Economy Growing But Still Trails World

By Terry Fitzpatrick
Cape¹ Town
13 June 2007

The World Economic Forum² for Africa has opened its annual meeting to mixed news about the state of business on the continent. Africa is experiencing its greatest growth since the 1970s, but it isn't growing fast enough to eliminate poverty, and Africa continues to trail other regions in the global marketplace. For VOA, Terry FitzPatrick reports from Cape Town.

More than 800 business and political leaders have gathered in Cape Town to take stock of Africa's business climate and develop strategies to improve the continent's performance.

South African President Thabo Mbeki gives his remarks during the opening plenary session of the World Economic forum on Africa in Cape Town, 13 Jun 2007

After decades of stagnation³, Africa's economy is poised⁴ to grow by an estimated 6.2 percent this year. South Africa's president Thabo Mbeki opened the forum on an optimistic note.

"In many ways it's not a poor continent," he said. "It's a continent that is catching⁵ up with the world."

Economists⁷ say powerhouse countries, such as South Africa, Algeria, and Nigeria, are able to compete in the global marketplace. But 25 other countries that were analyzed⁸ for the forum's Africa Competitiveness Report lag behind the rest of the world. Economist⁶ Jennifer Blanke co-authored the study.

"Although improvements are being made in Africa, and there's no doubt that the macroeconomic environment is looking better and better, the problem is that the rest of the world is moving faster," she said. "Asian countries are just flying by, developing Asia. "

Experts at the forum note that Africa's current growth spurt⁹ is fueled largely by external factors, such as the high price of natural resources like minerals and petroleum¹⁰ and international debt relief.

They say sustainable growth will depend on internal factors like better infrastructure¹¹, improved governance, better schools, streamlined business laws and lower levels of corruption¹².

Delegates from India and China are attending the forum to offer advice about how to reach the higher levels of growth their countries enjoy.

"One of the important aspects that has fueled the growth in India has been a large domestic market," said Malvinder Singh, the Chief Executive Officer of Ranbaxy Laboratories in India. "And if you look at Africa as one marketplace and create a harmonized marketplace, I certainly believe it's large enough to have a lot of competitive growth in terms of products and services."

Not all business leaders believe Africa can copy the successful strategies of India and China. Among the skeptics is one of South Africa's leading business figures, Tokyo Sexwale.

"There is nothing for Africa to replicate¹³ or duplicate. Africa will have to find its own way," said Sexwale.

Sexwale notes that Africa contains more than 50 countries that must learn to work together to compete in the global economy. The Economic Forum continues through Friday.

1 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

2 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。

3 stagnation   

n. 停滞

参考例句：

• Poor economic policies led to a long period of stagnation and decline. 糟糕的经济政策道致了长时间的经济萧条和下滑。
• Motion is absolute while stagnation is relative. 运动是绝对的，而静止是相对的。

4 poised   

a.摆好姿势不动的

参考例句：

• The hawk poised in mid-air ready to swoop. 老鹰在半空中盘旋，准备俯冲。
• Tina was tense, her hand poised over the telephone. 蒂娜心情紧张，手悬在电话机上。

5 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

6 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。

7 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 analyzed   

v.分析( analyze的过去式和过去分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析

参考例句：

• The doctors analyzed the blood sample for anemia. 医生们分析了贫血的血样。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The young man did not analyze the process of his captivation and enrapturement, for love to him was a mystery and could not be analyzed. 这年轻人没有分析自己蛊惑著迷的过程，因为对他来说，爱是个不可分析的迷。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 spurt   

v.喷出；突然进发；突然兴隆

参考例句：

• He put in a spurt at the beginning of the eighth lap.他进入第八圈时便开始冲刺。
• After a silence, Molly let her anger spurt out.沉默了一会儿，莫莉的怒气便迸发了出来。

10 petroleum   

n.原油，石油

参考例句：

• The Government of Iran advanced the price of petroleum last week.上星期伊朗政府提高了石油价格。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

11 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。

12 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

13 replicate   

v.折叠，复制，模写；n.同样的样品；adj.转折的

参考例句：

• The DNA of chromatin must replicate before cell division.染色质DNA在细胞分裂之前必须复制。
• It is also easy to replicate,as the next subsection explains.就像下一个小节详细说明的那样，它还可以被轻易的复制。