2007年VOA标准英语-60 Years After Independence, Many in India Pros

New Delhi
21 August 2007

A man dressed as a Santa Claus distributes food to poor people, in Gauhati, India (File)

India this month celebrates 60 years of independence, and many have paid tribute to a growing economy that has begun to make a mark around the world. But as Anjana Pasricha reports, others expressed concern about the need to spread the benefits of the economic boom to millions of people still mired¹ in poverty.

Two years after graduating from business school in 2005, Mansi Chadha is on her second job. She is taking advantage of a thriving job market, where salaries are rising quickly.

"A lot of opportunities, the growth is tremendous, you have more options now than you ever did," she said. "And you also want to try different things, and people want to keep jumping levels."

Mansi's father, Vinod Chadha recalls a dramatically different situation 30 years ago, when he began his career as an accountant.

"There were no options to join the corporates," he said. "The opportunities were very, very scarce. To get a good job probably one needed a good contact, a good referral."

He grew up when India's founding fathers were building a socialist³ economy, hoping to lift the newly independent country out of poverty.

The goal was self-sufficiency. The symbol was the spinning wheel. India wanted to manufacture its own goods, and to keep foreign investors⁴ out.

The result: the country produced an uncompetitive private industry, an inefficient⁵ public sector⁶, and low growth rates.

India took a U-turn in 1991, when it was on the verge⁷ of defaulting on its international debt. It began opening its economy and unleashed⁸ a revolution that is transforming the country.

D.H. Pai Panindiker heads an economic research group, the RPG Goenka Foundation, in New Delhi. He says liberalization gave free play to the energies of Indian entrepreneurs, businessmen, and educated middle class.

"There was no imposition by the government about what to produce, where to produce, what price to charge," he said. "With that choice they were free to compete. In a short period of about seven or eight years, the Indian industry really matured and is now in a position to compete in the international market."

Today, increasingly confident Indian businesses are scouting⁹ from East Asia to Europe for opportunities, buying everything from steel plants to hotels.

The flourishing economy, growing at around eight percent a year, has produced a huge middle class.

With ample opportunities at home, youngsters such as Mansi Chadha no longer yearn¹⁰ to work in the United States or Europe - the dream for the middle class until the 1990s.

"The urge is not there, I think there is a lot more learning in India," she added. "A lot of exciting things are happening in India right now."

Young professionals now shop for cars, televisions and luxury goods much sooner that their parents could dream of doing. They are no longer restricted to local products, they can opt² for global brands such as Sony, Ford¹¹, LG or Nokia, which have all arrived in the past decade.

These multinationals¹² are expanding furiously in India, not only to tap the growing consumer market, but also to use it as a manufacturing base and to harness the skills of its engineers and technocrats¹³.

But the economic boom has not trickled¹⁵ down to the poorest communities, and tens of millions of people still live on less than $1 a day.

So when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh gave a speech on Independence Day (August 15), he stressed the need to reach out to the India left behind, saying "We will have freedom and independence only when we get rid of poverty."

The prime minister said employment is crucial to end poverty, and pledged to press ahead with policies that create jobs and spread the benefits of industrialization.

Indeed the poverty that India's founding fathers wanted to end is never far away. Hunger stalks the countryside, more than one quarter of Indian children are malnourished. Health care is poor, millions are out of school, huge slums fester in the cities.

As a result, since independence, little has changed for families like that 40-year-old Babu Singh, a street hawker.

He says his parents struggled for a lifetime in a village to ensure that there was enough food to go around.

He migrated to the city, but things are not much better. Like them, he has no savings¹⁶, no social security, and no hope that his children will have a better future.

Economist¹⁷ Pai Panindiker says the fruits of development must be more equitably¹⁸ shared.

"It is important to bring these into the mainstream," he said. "It [the boom] cannot be sustained unless it is shared by all sections of society."

Most Indians recognize that the next big challenge will be to bridge the widening divide between the country's middle class and the poor.

The pessimists¹⁹ worry that social unrest will rise if that does not happen; the optimists²⁰ say the process may be slow, but growth will trickle¹⁴ down.

1 mired   

abbr.microreciprocal degree 迈尔德（色温单位）v.深陷( mire的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The country was mired in recession. 这个国家陷入了经济衰退的困境。
• The most brilliant leadership can be mired in detail. 最有才干的领导也会陷于拘泥琐事的困境中。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 opt   

vi.选择，决定做某事

参考例句：

• They opt for more holiday instead of more pay.他们选择了延长假期而不是增加工资。
• Will individual schools be given the right to opt out of the local school authority?各个学校可能有权选择退出地方教育局吗？

3 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。

4 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

5 inefficient   

adj.效率低的，无效的

参考例句：

• The inefficient operation cost the firm a lot of money.低效率的运作使该公司损失了许多钱。
• Their communication systems are inefficient in the extreme.他们的通讯系统效率非常差。

6 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

7 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

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。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

8 unleashed   

v.把（感情、力量等）释放出来，发泄( unleash的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The government's proposals unleashed a storm of protest in the press. 政府的提案引发了新闻界的抗议浪潮。
• The full force of his rage was unleashed against me. 他把所有的怒气都发泄在我身上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 scouting   

守候活动，童子军的活动

参考例句：

• I have people scouting the hills already. 我已经让人搜过那些山了。
• Perhaps also from the Gospel it passed into the tradition of scouting. 也许又从《福音书》传入守望的传统。 来自演讲部分

10 yearn   

v.想念；怀念；渴望

参考例句：

• We yearn to surrender our entire being.我们渴望着放纵我们整个的生命。
• Many people living in big cities yearn for an idyllic country life.现在的很多都市人向往那种田园化的生活。

11 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

12 multinationals   

跨国公司( multinational的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• These local companies are only small fry compared with the huge multinationals. 同那些跨国公司比，这些当地的公司不过是小鱼小虾。
• Some people believe that the multinationals have too much power. 有人认为跨国公司的权力太大了。

13 technocrats   

n.技术专家，专家政治论者( technocrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Few business barons remained. They were replaced by "technocrats," who became the heads of corporations. 企业巨头所剩无几，大多已被“技术专家”所代替，这些人成了公司的领导。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• However, bankers called the technocrats' bluff and proceeded to lend with gusto. 但是，银行家们称技术专家官员不过在虚张声势，并且还会乐观的继续借贷业务。 来自互联网

14 trickle   

vi.淌，滴，流出，慢慢移动，逐渐消散

参考例句：

• The stream has thinned down to a mere trickle.这条小河变成细流了。
• The flood of cars has now slowed to a trickle.汹涌的车流现在已经变得稀稀拉拉。

15 trickled   

v.滴( trickle的过去式和过去分词 )；淌；使)慢慢走；缓慢移动

参考例句：

• Blood trickled down his face. 血从他脸上一滴滴流下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The tears trickled down her cheeks. 热泪一滴滴从她脸颊上滚下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

17 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。

18 equitably   

公平地

参考例句：

• We should equitably assess historical figures. 我们应该公正地评价历史人物。
• Land was more equitably distributed. 土地得到更公平合理的分配。

19 pessimists   

n.悲观主义者( pessimist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Pessimists tell us that the family as we know it is doomed. 悲观主义者告诉我们说，我们现在的这种家庭注定要崩溃。 来自辞典例句
• Experts on the future are divided into pessimists and optimists. 对未来发展进行预测的专家可分为悲观主义者和乐观主义者两类。 来自互联网

20 optimists   

n.乐观主义者( optimist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Even optimists admit the outlook to be poor. 甚至乐观的人都认为前景不好。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Optimists reckon house prices will move up with inflation this year. 乐观人士认为今年的房价将会随通货膨胀而上涨。 来自辞典例句