VOA标准英语2010年-In Brazil, Economic Reforms, Social Pr

Brazil is experiencing its most sustained period of growth ever, with an expanding middle class and social and economic benefits for the poor.
Ruth Hins owns a grocery store and bakery in the Rio de Janeiro favela of Cantagalo, where she used to live. She is one of 35.5 million Brazilians who have moved from humble¹ beginnings into the middle class since 2003. Another 20 million have risen above the poverty level. "I never would have thought of this. I never would have dreamed of this happening," she said.
As most of the world struggles to climb out of a recession, Brazil's $1.3-trillion economy is booming, and now surpasses India and Russia. Its per-capita income is twice that of China, and creative entrepreneurs like Hins are reaping the benefitsHer father moved the family to Cantagalo from a small town in the northern state of Bahia when she was 12. He bought the property that now houses the store. "When I got the idea to open a shop, the only thing I had in the cabinet was salt. So, I started to sell salt," she said.
She quickly moved from selling salt by the kilo to baking bread. Her store grew to the full grocery store it is today. She has expanded and opened a produce market next door, where she used to sleep. And there is a full bakery upstairs that runs 24 hours a day.
Hins sells her baked goods to businesses and restaurants in neighboring Copacabana. Small business loans are difficult to come by in Brazil. Hins has expanded by leveraging² her savings³ and making smart business decisions.
"The machines to make bread are very expensive. So I bought old machines and renovated⁴ the old machines to bake bread. And now I am in the process of replacing the old machines with new ones," she said.
Brazilian economists⁶ say the country's success is simple to define. Policies put in place in the 90s to tame runaway⁷ inflation worked. A commodities boom has fueled growth and lowered poverty across Latin America. And aggressive social programs have educated more people and raised living standards.
"Brazil is becoming a normal country in the sense that what is normal is to have kids in school, not to have high inflation, and to have an open economy. So, it is not that we are becoming a developed country; we are just filling the gaps. And there is a long way to go still," said Marcelo Neri, the chief economist⁵ for the Center for Social Policy in Rio.
Brazil's economy has created 2.2 million formal jobs in the last nine months, a record for the country. More people with money to spend translates into a better quality of life for business owners like Ruth Hins. She now earns 10,000 reis, the equivalent of $5,800 per month. She is quickly moving out of the middle to the upper class.
She bought a penthouse apartment on a street bordering the favela and can afford luxury goods such as a refrigerator, cable television, and a washing machine. "It is a dream. It is a dream come true for me. Just to have my own house. You know a lot of people who rent houses don't even have an address. They are always moving from place to place. But I have a house here, I have an address, this is my place," she said.
Now she has new dreams. She wants to go back to school, travel outside of Brazil, and one day open a large grocery store in neighboring Copacabana.

1 humble   

adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低

参考例句：

• In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见，他将在选举中获胜。
• Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。

2 leveraging   

促使…改变( leverage的现在分词 )； [美国英语]杠杆式投机，（使）举债经营，（使）利用贷款进行投机

参考例句：

• De-leveraging is a painful process: it has barely begun. 去杠杆化是个痛苦的过程：它才刚刚开始。
• Archimedes said, saying: Give me a fulcrum, I can leveraging the Earth. 阿基米德说过一句话：给我一个支点，我可以撬动地球。

3 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。

4 renovated   

翻新，修复，整修( renovate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He renovated his house. 他翻修了房子。
• The house has been renovated three years earlier. 这所房子三年前就已翻新。

5 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。

6 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》

7 runaway   

n.逃走的人，逃亡，亡命者；adj.逃亡的，逃走的

参考例句：

• The police have not found the runaway to date.警察迄今没抓到逃犯。
• He was praised for bringing up the runaway horse.他勒住了脱缰之马受到了表扬。