新视野大学英语视听说教程 4 Unit 9-4

Task3: Doha Round
Script
Rich and poor nations struck an historic deal on Sunday to cut billions of dollars in farm subsidies¹, create more open industrial markets, and resume world trade talks that could boost global growth.
After five days of negotiations³, the World Trade Organization’s 147 member states formally agreed on a framework that lays down the guidelines for its Doha Round, which has been in trouble since the collapse⁴ of talks almost a year ago in Cancun, Mexico. Failure in the negotiations could have delayed further trade liberalization for years.
After an all-night negotiation², key WTO members, including the United States, the EU, Brazil, and Japan, on Saturday had agreed to the elimination⁵ of export subsidies at a date yet to be set, which has long been a key developing-country demand, to limit other subsidies, and to lower tariff⁶ barriers.
Rich nations welcomed the new deal, which commits them to a plan to cut back on the huge subsidies they spend on farmers and give developing nations better access to world markets. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick called the agreement a “crucial step for global trade”. He said, “Tonight, 147 economies have ensured that 2004 will go down as a productive year for the Doha trade negotiation. There’s a lot of work yet to be done. But today’s framework is a milestone⁷.”
A delegate from Mauritius, which has taken a leading part in the WTO talks on behalf of African nations, said the so-called Group of 90 developing countries could live with the text even if it did not get everything it wanted. The agreement makes it clear that the poorest countries will not be forced to contribute to market opening in any area, including services.

1. Why of the following would be the best title for the passage?
2. How many countries participated in the WTO negotiations and how long did the negotiations last?
3. What will happen to export subsidies after the negotiations?
4. Who are supposed to reduce their agricultural subsidies?
5. What are poor countries supposed to do?
Keys: 1.D   2.B   3.C   4.A   5.D

1 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

3 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

4 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

5 elimination   

n.排除，消除，消灭

参考例句：

• Their elimination from the competition was a great surprise.他们在比赛中遭到淘汰是个很大的意外。
• I was eliminated from the 400 metres in the semi-finals.我在400米半决赛中被淘汰。

6 tariff   

n.关税，税率；(旅馆、饭店等)价目表，收费表

参考例句：

• There is a very high tariff on jewelry.宝石类的关税率很高。
• The government is going to lower the tariff on importing cars.政府打算降低进口汽车的关税。

7 milestone   

n.里程碑；划时代的事件

参考例句：

• The film proved to be a milestone in the history of cinema.事实证明这部影片是电影史上的一个里程碑。
• I think this is a very important milestone in the relations between our two countries.我认为这是我们两国关系中一个十分重要的里程碑。