VOA标准英语2009年-Global Unemployment Concerns Rise

Concern about the tough earnings¹ season lying ahead for corporations has depressed² markets in Asia and Europe. The gloomy outlook has come as many countries face rising unemployment. In London, Britain's prime minister has outlined a new, wide-ranging job creation program.
　

Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown speaks at an Employment Summit in London, 12 Jan 2009

As the latest U.S. corporate³ earnings reports start to come out, overseas markets are bracing⁴ for some difficult numbers.

Overall weak economic indicators⁵ coupled with depressed corporate data are seen as the main obstacles blocking a sustained rally in shares over the coming weeks and months.

Asian markets down

In Asia, Japan's market was closed Monday for a national holiday but elsewhere, there was not much to be optimistic about.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was down for a fifth straight day, dropping nearly three percent. The South Korean market lost two percent, dragged down by an announcement by carmaker Hyundai that it would cut production by at least 25 percent at its domestic plants.

Here in Europe, similar worries kept most shares on the downside with large energy stocks taking the biggest hits as crude oil fell below the $40-a-barrel mark.

US unemployment rate also troublesome

Meanwhile, rising unemployment in the U.S. and elsewhere around the world is forcing some governments to act now. Here in Britain, Prime Minister Gordon Brown has pledged to spend at least $750 million to try to stem growing unemployment caused by the world financial crisis.

"It is our determination that Britain can lead the world in showing what we can do to help those who become unemployed⁶ and what we can also do to create the jobs of the future," Brown said. "And I believe we can do it working in partnership⁷. Britain works best when Britain works together and I believe that we can show this in the partnership to create jobs."

Brown determined⁸ to keep British jobless rate under control

Speaking at a meeting of British business and union leaders, Brown said he was determined to not let unemployment spiral out of control.

"We will be able to help 500,000 people into work or work-focused training over the next two years," he said. "Now, I believe that by acting⁹ together and working together, we can help families and businesses through the downturn and at the same time and by the same measures, we can also secure our future competitiveness as a global economy."

He reiterated¹⁰ that providing training now for the jobs of the digital future when the downturn is over is the correct way to proceed.

But not everyone here agrees with his spending plans. Opposition¹¹ leader David Cameron says rapidly-rising government debt will unduly¹² burden the next generation of taxpayers¹³.

1 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%。

2 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

3 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

4 bracing   

adj.令人振奋的

参考例句：

• The country is bracing itself for the threatened enemy invasion. 这个国家正准备奋起抵抗敌人的入侵威胁。
• The atmosphere in the new government was bracing. 新政府的气氛是令人振奋的。

5 indicators   

（仪器上显示温度、压力、耗油量等的）指针( indicator的名词复数 )； 指示物； （车辆上的）转弯指示灯； 指示信号

参考例句：

• The economic indicators are better than expected. 经济指标比预期的好。
• It is still difficult to develop indicators for many concepts used in social science. 为社会科学领域的许多概念确立一个指标仍然很难。

6 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

7 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

8 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

9 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

10 reiterated   

反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• "Well, I want to know about it,'she reiterated. “嗯，我一定要知道你的休假日期，"她重复说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Some twenty-two years later President Polk reiterated and elaborated upon these principles. 大约二十二年之后，波尔克总统重申这些原则并且刻意阐释一番。

11 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

12 unduly   

adv.过度地，不适当地

参考例句：

• He did not sound unduly worried at the prospect.他的口气听上去对前景并不十分担忧。
• He argued that the law was unduly restrictive.他辩称法律的约束性有些过分了。

13 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。