经济学人单词注释(共6页).doc

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1、精选优质文档-倾情为你奉上Every silver lining has a cloudThe sealing of a Pacific trade deal is welcome. But spare the cheersOct 10th 2015 |UNTIL this week, the world had not seen a big multilateral multilateral: involving several different countries or groups trade pact pact: a formal agreement between two grou

2、ps, countries, or people, especially to help each other or to stop fighting: for over 20 years. The deal that has broken the droughtthe Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which comprises comprise: to consist of particular parts, groups etc: 12 countries in Asia and the Americas, including the United S

3、tates and Japanis welcome. But those who believe in free trade, and the benefits it brings, ought not to miss the bigger picture. The backdrop backdrop: the conditions or situation in which something happensagainst a backdrop of somethinga love story set against a backdrop of war and despair to this

4、 weeks deal is a bleak bleak: without anything to make you feel happy or hopefula bleak future/prospectThe company still hopes to find a buyer, but the future looks bleak. one.First, the pact itself. It has flaws flaw: a mistake, mark, or weakness that makes something imperfect=defectwhat compromise

5、 compromise: to reach an agreement in which everyone involved accepts less that what they wanted at first doesnt?but the advantages are greater. The negotiators who brokered broker: broker a deal/settlement/treaty etc: to arrange the details of a deal etc so that everyone can agree to it:a ceasefire

6、 agreement brokered by the UN the agreement in Atlanta did not just lower tariffs tariff: a tax on goods coming into a country or going out of a country in coddled coddle: to treat someone in a way that is too kind and gentle and that protects them from pain or difficulty: sectors sector: a part of

7、an area of activity, especially of business, trade etc such as agriculture, but also drew up draw up:draw something up to prepare a written document, such as a list or contract: shared rules on everything from visas visa: an official mark put on your passport that gives you permission to temporarily

8、 enter or leave a foreign country: for business travellers to competition policy. The deal limits veiled veiled: a veiled threat, warning, attack, reference etc is expressed so that its exact meaning is hidden or unclearA fine rain was beginning to veil the hills. forms of protectionism, such as spe

9、cial treatment of state-owned firms and arbitrary arbitrary: decided or arranged without any reason or plan, often unfairly: import bans after safety scares. The benefits of such steps step: one of a series of things that you do in order to deal with a problem or to succeed are hard to quantify, esp

10、ecially as the fine print The Fine Print (写在文件底部的)保留条款(为该协议的附件，注明保留或限制性的条件) of the deal has not yet been released, but the most comprehensive comprehensive: including all the necessary facts, details, or problems that need to be dealt with=thorough: assessment thus far thus far:迄今; 迄今为止; 到目前为止; 到这点为

11、止 reckons they could boost the GDP of its members by 1% by 2025. The impact on emerging-market signatories signatory: one of the people, organizations, or countries that signs an official agreement to the deal is likely to be by far the biggest.Away from the bright spotViewed from a different angle,

12、 however, the tale tale: a story about exciting imaginary events of TPP tells a different story. First, there is the fact that the agreement has been so hard to sell in America. It took months, and several legislative legislative：concerned with making laws: setbacks setback：a problem that delays or

13、prevents progress, or makes things worse than they were, before Barack Obama won the authority authority：official permission to do something to fast-track fast-track：happening or making progress more quickly than is usual: a congressional vote on TPP. The deal may still be voted down vote something

14、down：to defeat a plan, law etc by votingIn 1999 the town had voted down a petition to close the school., in America or elsewhere. Those who would succeed Mr Obama as president know that TPP holds few votes. This week Hillary Clinton, the Democratic front-runner and once a promoter of TPP, came out a

15、gainst it. The beneficiaries beneficiary：someone who gets advantages from an action or change of TPPconsumers, as well as exportersare numerous, but their potential gains diffuse diffuse（adjective）：spread over a large area. By contrast, inefficient inefficient：not using time, money, energy etc in th

16、e best way firms and farms, about to be exposed to greater foreign competition, are obvious and vocal vocal：expressing strong opinions publicly, especially about things that you disagree with. Canada, for example, limited the threat to its dairy farmers dairy farm：a farm that has cows and produces a

17、nd sells milk and doled out dole something outto give something such as money, food, advice etc to more than one person a big new subsidy subsidy：money that is paid by a government or organization to make prices lower, reduce the cost of producing goods. The saga saga：a long and complicated series o

18、f events, or a description of this is a reminder of how hard free trade is to champion champion：to publicly fight for and defend an aim or principle, such as the rights of a group of people:She championed the cause of religious freedom.Second, the TPP deal underscores underscore：to emphasize the fac

19、t that something is important or true the shift shift：a change in the way people think about something, in the way something is done away from global agreements. The World Trade Organisation, which is responsible for global deals, has been trying, and largely failing, to negotiate one since 2001. Re

20、aching agreement among its 161 members, especially now that average tariffs around the world are relatively low and talks are focused on more contentious contentious：causing a lot of argument and disagreement between people obstacles to trade, has proved almost impossible. Regional deals are the nex

21、t best thing, but, by definition, they exclude some countries, and so may steer steer：to guide someones behaviour or the way a situation develops custom away from the most efficient producer. In the case of TPP, the glaring glaring：very bad and very noticeable = obvious outcast outcast：someone who i

22、s not accepted by the people they live among, or who has been forced out of their home: is China, the linchpin linchpin：the linchpin of somethingthe person or thing in a group, system etc that is most important, because everything depends on them of most global supply chains.Third, good news on TPP

23、stands in contrast to in contrast to：a difference between people, ideas, situations, things etc that are being comparedThe stock lost 60 cents a share, in contrast to last year, when it gained 21 cents. bad news elsewhere. Cross-border Cross-border：跨境 trade today is as much about the exchange of dat

24、a as it is the flow of goods and services: this week saw the annulment annulment：to officially state that a marriage or legal agreement no longer exists by a European court of a deal that had enabled American firms to transfer customer data across the Atlantic. Conventional trade faces even stronger

25、 headwinds headwind：a wind that blows directly towards you when you are moving. The volume volume：the total amount of something, especially when it is large or increasing of goods shipped in the first half of this year was just 1.9% higher than in the same period of 2014, far below its long-term ave

26、rage growth of 5%. This reflects not only Chinas soggy soggy：unpleasantly wet and soft demand for importsa threat to the developing economies that supply itbut also the accumulation of minor measures that silt up silt up：if something silts up or is silted up, it becomes filled with silt global trade

27、.Deals like TPP are the most effective way to reverse this sorry trend, by reducing tariffs and other obstacles to trade. Optimists hope it can now be expanded, to include China and others. Sadly, experience suggests that will be hard.跨太平洋合作伙伴银边背后总有乌云缔结太平洋贸易协定值得欢迎，但莫急欢呼直至本周之前，全球已有20多年没有签订过大型多边贸易协定了。

28、打破这一困局的跨太平洋合作伙伴协定（TPP）值得欢迎，它涵盖了包括美国和日本在内的12个亚洲和美洲国家。但是，信奉自由贸易及其益处的人们不应忽略大环境：本周缔结这一协定的背景颇为惨淡。首先是协定本身。它有缺陷（哪个折衷方案会没有缺陷呢？），但好处更多。在亚特兰大谈判协定的各国代表并不只是降低了农业等备受保护产业的关税，还拟定了从商务签证到竞争政策等方方面面的共享规则。这一协议限制了隐性的贸易保护主义，例如国有公司享有特别待遇，以及在安全恐慌事件后做出任意武断的进口禁令。这些措施的效益难以量化，尤其协定的细节条款尚未披露。但迄今为止最全面的评定估计，到2025年，它们能够推动协议成员国的GDP增

29、长1%，这可能是到目前为止对新兴市场签署国最大的正面影响。亮点之外然而，从另一个角度看，TPP的传奇所讲述的却是一个不同的故事。首先，这一协议在美国历尽波折。奥巴马耗时数月、在国会屡次受挫后才获得“贸易促进授权”，将TPP直接提交国会表决。在美国或其他国家，该协议仍可能被否决。奥巴马可能的继任者知道TPP难以赢得很多支持。呼声很高的民主党候选人希拉里曾经支持TPP，本周也站出来反对。不计其数的消费者和出口商是TPP的受益者，但他们的潜在收益分散。相比之下，那些低效的公司和农场将面对更激烈的外国竞争，而它们更能引起关注并表示反对。例如，加拿大限制了对该国奶农的威胁，并发放了大量新补贴。这一事例提

30、示了要维护自由贸易殊为不易。第二，TPP突显了脱离全球协定的方向。负责全球协定的世界贸易组织自2001年起就曾试图达成一项全球贸易协定，但基本失败。事实证明，要在它的161个成员国间达成协议几无可能，尤其如今全球平均关税相对较低，而谈判侧重于更具争议的贸易壁垒。区域协定是仅次于全球协定的最佳选择，但是顾名思义，它们把一些国家排除在外，因而会使贸易远离最有效率的生产商。就TPP而言，最引人注目的局外人是中国，它是大多数全球供应链的枢纽。第三，TPP的达成是好消息，但其他领域却有诸多坏消息。今日的跨境贸易不仅仅是商品和服务的流通，也是数据的交换。本周，欧洲法院废除了之前的一项协议，该协议使得美国公司可以将客户数据送往大西洋彼岸储存。传统贸易面临更加强劲的顶头风。今年上半年货运量只比2014年同期高出1.4%，远低于5%的长期平均增长率。这不仅反映出中国进口需求的疲软这对提供出口的发展中国家是个威胁也反映出各种较小措施的叠加对全球贸易的阻碍。TPP这类协议的出台可以通过降低关税和消除贸易壁垒，最有效地扭转上述令人遗憾的趋势。乐观派希望现在TPP能够扩大范围，将中国和其他国家纳入进来。不幸的是，经验告诉我们，这将非常困难。专心-专注-专业