VOA标准英语2008年-Leaders Discuss Current Financial Turmoil at Wo

By Barry Wood
Davos
23 January 2008

The annual gathering¹ of political, economic and government leaders comprising the World Economic Forum² has opened in Davos, Switzerland.  VOA's Barry Wood reports from the Swiss ski resort that participants are buzzing about the fear of recession and the dramatic falls in world equity³ markets.

At an opening press conference, the co-chairmen of this year's meeting expressed disparate views about the economic outlook and financial market volatility⁴.  David O'Reilly, the head of the Chevron⁵ Oil Company, said fears of global recession are unwarranted.

"The United State economy will correct itself, and perhaps even more quickly than people realize," he said.  "It is a pretty big, and a resilient economy.  I also subscribe⁶ to the view that it is not going to impact the rest of the globe, maybe as much as it has in the past."

O'Reilly suggested that the news media is making too much of the current turmoil⁷.

KV Kamath is the head of ICICI Bank in India.  He says the market declines that began in the United States two weeks ago have had little impact in India.

"I think to some extent, at least from the Indian context, as of now we are not seeing any significant impact, but it is [too] early to say," he said.

The U.S. banker co-chairing this year's forum is James Dimon, the chief executive officer of JPMorgan Chase in New York.

"We have had financial crises every five years for the past 100 years.  And they all come from a different nature and a different source.  And they have all been resolved," he noted⁸.

Fred Bergsten, the head of an economic research agency in Washington, says because fast-growing China and India are not excessively reliant on exports to the U.S. market, it is inconceivable that a global recession will occur this year.

Former British prime minister Tony Blair said he expects this meeting to focus on ways of further integrating dynamic East and South Asia into the world economy.

"There is a whole dimension to the Davos debate now that is very much centered around the role of China and the role of India, and also the other emerging economies," he explained.

Blair said global power is shifting to East and South Asia.

1 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。

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 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。

4 volatility   

n.挥发性，挥发度，轻快，（性格）反复无常

参考例句：

• That was one reason why volatility was so low last year.这也是去年波动性如此低的原因之一。
• Yet because volatility remained low for so long,disaster myopia prevailed.然而，由于相当长的时间里波动性小，灾难短视就获胜了。

5 chevron   

n.V形臂章；V形图案

参考例句：

• He wore shoulderstrap rank slides with sergeant's chevrons.他佩戴标示级别的肩章，上面有中士的V形标志。
• The chevron or arrow road sign indicates a sharp bend to the left or right.V形或箭头路标表示有向左或向右的急转弯。

6 subscribe   

vi.(to)订阅，订购；同意；vt.捐助，赞助

参考例句：

• I heartily subscribe to that sentiment.我十分赞同那个观点。
• The magazine is trying to get more readers to subscribe.该杂志正大力发展新订户。

7 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。

8 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。