Passage 1

The global economy is set for a year of recession and then low growth until 2012, economists at the World Economic Forum in Davos have said. They also warned that the downturn could persuade politicians to introduce trade barriers and steer investments only into their own economies. This would harm developing countries mostly. Meanwhile, there are growing calls for better financial sector regulation. Speaking at a panel taking stock on the slate of the economy, Stephen Roach, Chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia and long-time prophet of the economic downturn, said one could not “overestimate the dangers the world economy faces in 2009”.The global economy was likely to shrink this year for the first time since World War Ⅱ, he said, and nobody on the panel or in the audience was prepared to contradict him. The general gloom was echoed by the IMF, which has predicted that world economic growth will fall to just 0. 5% this year, its lowest rate for 60 years. Justin Yifu Lin, senior vice president at the World Bank, said there were “lots of downside risks; the current projection is a protracted recession and we have not reached the bottom yet”.Demand from U. S. consumers, for many years the main driver of global growth, was in steep decline, and while on the supply-side China had seen its economy shrink during the last quarter of 2008. Indeed, wherever one goes in the congress centre in Davos, pessimism pervades all conversation一although one participant counseled that “irrational exuberance has been replaced by irrational despair”.The biggest concern of all panelists, however, was the risk that the downturn could herald a return to protectionism. This being Davos, the majority of participants are proponents of free trade, but it was striking that the representatives from developing and emerging economics were particularly worried about rising trade barriers. Panelists warned not just about the threat to free trade, but also the danger that Western governments could steer their nationalized or recapitalized banks towards investing only at home.However, government spending alone was not enough to solve the problem.Monetary policy and a coordinated global regulatory framework were keys to getting the global economy back on track.

It is probably that the economic recession could result in trade protectionism and barriers among different countries.

Passage 1

Oil prices were flat Wednesday, ahead of a weekly report expected to show a rise in crude supplies over the past week.At 9545 a. m. , U. S. light crude for March delivery rose 3 cents to $ 41. 61 a barrel. It touched a session high of $ 42. 45 a barrel and a session low of S 41. 02. Concerns about oversupply helped push oil lower Tuesday. Oil tumbled $ 4. 15 to $ 41. 58 a barrel. The oil market was likely bouncing off a stock market rebound and a weaker U. S. dollar Wednesday. U. S. crude oil price has rebounded from below $ 33 a barrel over the past week as an economic stimulus package makes it way through Congress. The Energy Information Administration releases its weekly inventory data at 10:30 a. m. Analysts surveyed by Platts expect an increase of 3. 4 million barrels in U. S. crude stockpiles for the week ended Jan. 23.Oil’s supply-demand picture remains weak, with a large stock build in the United States and extremely weak demand in China, the world,s second-largest energy consumer. Oil supplies in the U. S. have gone up significantly in the past several weeks. Last week* the Energy Department reported supplies of crude increased by 6. 1 million barrels in the week ended Jan. 16, when analysts had been expecting an increase of only 1. 9 million barrels. Crude prices have dropped more than $ 100 from a record peak above $ 147 a barrel in July last year, sunk by plummeting demand amid the recession.Demand is dependent on the ongoing economic uncertainty and whether the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, which produces about 40% of the worlds oil, will meet its pledge to cut output by 2. 2 million barrels a day this month.

46、Why is the oil’s supply-demand picture still weak?

47、What helped to prevent the price of oil increase on Tuesday?

48、What has been the highest oil price in the United States last year?

Passage 2

American hopes that pressure from the U. S. will force Japan to suddenly dismantle its trade barriers are almost certain to evaporate in disappointment.The fact is that Washington faces an obstacle far more formidable than a few power brokers in Tokyo’s government offices. It must buck centuries-old, deeply ingrained Japanese customs. To move the Japanese government, Washington must move an entire nation.So far, the U. S. has had only limited success despite congressional threats to retaliate. In an April 9 nationwide broadcast, Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone urged the Japanese to buy more imported goods and unveiled a long-awaited three-year plan to ease import restrictions. But this program was far short of what Washington hoped to see. White House Chief of Staff Donald Regan said the Japanese offered “few new or immediate measures.” While the plan did promise fewer curbs on imports of telecommunications gear, medicine and medical equipment, it offered no relief for American forest products —which are among the most contentious trade issues.Nakasone gives every sign of being secure in his desire to reduce a Japanese surplus in trade with the U. S. that hit 36. 8 billion dollars in 1984 and could soon top 50 billion. Yet to rely on any one Japanese political leader, no matter how popular he is at home, to reverse trade policies is to underestimate the culture and traditions that weigh heavily against a breakthrough.Big business and dozens of anonymous bureaucrats have as much power as Japan’s top elected leaders.“The whole concept that we can turn this around right now is patently ridiculous,” says an American trader who has lived and worked here since 1952. “The vested interests are being shaken and slowly moved, but at a pace too slow for the eye to follow.”

49、What of the Japanese government is meant to be “moved”?50、Does the underlined word “top” in the fourth paragraph mean “increase by as much as”

50 billion?

51、Please paraphrase “a pace too slow for the eye to follow” in the last paragraph.

Women make better business leaders than men in all but two areas of management, according to an Australian survey released on Monday. But men have the upper hand when it comes to focusing on the bottom line. Data collected from 1, 800 Australian female and male chief executive officers and managers found women exhibit more strategic drive, risk taking, people skills and innovation, and equaled men in the area of emotional stability. But men came out on top when it came to command and control of management operations and focusing on financial returns. The survey found women were more likely to take a chance with their ideas and challenge the status quo.

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