新视野大学英语视听说教程 4 Unit 9-13

 

Script
Petrol, up. Eating out, up. School fees, up. Everyone in Britain seems to be talking about price rises, but why then is inflation¹ still so low?
Professor Brown gave the seemingly² difficult economic issue a simply answer: It is the low-priced “Made-in-China” products that help keep inflation under control.
In his presentation at an economic forum³, Brown reminded the price-sensitive Britons that Chinese-made commodities⁴ have not only helped bring down the inflation figures, but also made the already rich countries like Britain richer.
Consider the following figures. Over the past 10 years, the total cost of living in Britain, as measured by the official consumer price index, has risen by just 14 percent. But that very modest average increase has included high inflation in some categories: school fees, for example, are up 62 percent, hairdressing up 58 percent, holidays up 52 percent, and eating out up 33 percent on average, with top London restaurant prices showing much faster growth. Why then has the total cost of living remained so stable?
The answer to the question, the professor said, is not just interesting in its own right, but tells Britons a surprising amount about what is happening today not only in Britain but in the world economy as a whole.
Because the prices of mass-produced goods have been plunging⁵: clothes prices down by 42 percent in a decade, shoes by 31 percent and consumer electronics⁶ by 63 percent.
Professor Brown said that this relates to China’s entry into the global economy. By becoming the workshop of the world, China has pushed down the prices of all mass-produced goods.
Keys: 1.F   2.T   3.F   4.T   5.T

1 inflation   

n.胀大，夸张，通货膨胀

参考例句：

• Gold prices are often seen as an indicator of inflation.黃金价格常常被看作是通货膨胀的指标。
• The inflation of the airbed took several minutes.给空气床垫充气花了几分钟时间。

2 seemingly   

adv.从表面上看起来，似乎是

参考例句：

• Seemingly,we can do nothing to prevent this from happening.我们似乎没有什么办法阻止这件事发生。
• For several seemingly interminable seconds no one spoke.有几秒钟没有人讲话，这几秒钟似乎十分漫长。

3 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

4 commodities   

商品( commodity的名词复数 )； 农产品； 有价值的物品； 有用的东西

参考例句：

• rice, flour and other basic commodities 稻米、面粉和其他基本商品
• The manufacturers in some countries dumped their surplus commodities abroad. 一些国家的制造商向国外倾销过剩产品。

5 plunging   

adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• War broke out again, plunging the people into misery and suffering. 战祸复发，生灵涂炭。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He is plunging into an abyss of despair. 他陷入了绝望的深渊。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 electronics   

n.电子器件，电子学，电子技术

参考例句：

• About 45000 people worked in electronics in Scotland.苏格兰约有4.5万人在电子行业工作。
• He wants to brush up his knowledge of electronics.他想温习他的电子学知识。