Business Channel 2006-09-04&07

Investors¹ that did cheer the August jobs report, they saw it, it's not too hot, not too cold. Employers added about 128, 000 jobs in August, which is in line with expectations. And ah, the jobs numbers for the two previous months were revised higher so that's, that's some positive numbers we're gonna start with. At the same time the unemployment rate dipped to 4.7% last month. That is down from July's 4. 8% rate, not a big number crunch³ there. All right, trading volume, very light, ahead of the 3-day holiday weekend. But the Dow Industrials did rally 83 points, closing at its highest level since mid-May, the NASDAQ adding four-tenths of one percent. The market gonna be closed on Monday.

All right, the employment picture may be showing signs of strength, but the news from the auto⁴ sector⁵ mixed last month, Ford⁶ says its vehicle sales dropped 11. 6% from the same period a year ago. The company cited poor sales of its SUVs and trucks, which Ford had depended on for most of its revenue. Daimler Chrysler's US auto sales fell 4. 2%. Starting today, Chrysler offering 0% financing until the end of September. The GM, still the world's largest automaker, bucked⁷ the downtrend; its vehicle sales grew almost 4%. The upbeat results marked just the second time this year that the automaker has posted an increase in sales. GM also said that it would cut its North American production target by 12% or 150, 000 units. Toyota, meanwhile, continued taking market share away from US car companies. Its sales jumped 17% last month.

All right, in other business news, a US court has ordered tobacco companies to stop promoting their low tar² and light cigarettes as healthier than other brands. But now five of the largest cigarette makers⁸ have asked the courts, "Do we have to do that everywhere?" I mean, they want actually to continue advertising⁹ cigarettes on the low tar, the light brands outside of the US. Even though the judge says that those labels are misleading. Of course they wanna keep selling overseas.

And anywhere they can, of course, eh, now this request, despite there may be some justification¹⁰ based on markets and then all that sorts of things. But how they justify¹¹ this request in the end?

You sound like one of their lawyers actually. (Er..), ha ha

Now, I tell you the cigarette companies, of course, their lawyers, I mean, are arguing that prohibiting this kind of marketing¹² would put them at a disadvantage overseas since the rule won't be applied¹³ to its non-US competition. So, anyway, let's look at some more topics here.

If you are a parent of a teenager, you are not gonna like this story. Now that you probably don't have a teenager, Richard, but a new study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that about half of alcohol advertising on the radio is aired during programming aimed at young people. Now this is the first major study of radio advertising since 2003. That is when the alcohol industry vowed¹⁴ to self-regulate itself and stop running ads on programs in which a third or more of the audience is under 21. So another industry that's really enjoying marketing to those that they shouldn't be marketing to, really.

Yeah, a lot of big industry news today, what, what's the, wine industry saying about this?

Well, you know, officials there, are, they are criticizing the study, you know shocker, of course, they say that it was conducted before some of the long-standing advertising contracts had actually expired. All right, that's the latest from here.

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Vocabulary

Buck—verb. 1) to resist or oppose obstinately¹⁵; 2) to force a way through or proceed against (an obstacle): The plane bucked a strong headwind.

1 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

2 tar   

n.柏油，焦油；vt.涂或浇柏油/焦油于

参考例句：

• The roof was covered with tar.屋顶涂抹了一层沥青。
• We use tar to make roads.我们用沥青铺路。

3 crunch   

n.关键时刻；艰难局面；v.发出碎裂声

参考例句：

• If it comes to the crunch they'll support us.关键时刻他们是会支持我们的。
• People who crunch nuts at the movies can be very annoying.看电影时嘎吱作声地嚼干果的人会使人十分讨厌。

4 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

5 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

6 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

7 bucked   

adj.快v.（马等）猛然弓背跃起( buck的过去式和过去分词 )；抵制；猛然震荡；马等尥起后蹄跳跃

参考例句：

• When he tried to ride the horse, it bucked wildly. 当他试图骑上这匹马时，它突然狂暴地跃了起来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The plane bucked a strong head wind. 飞机顶着强烈的逆风飞行。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

8 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

10 justification   

n.正当的理由；辩解的理由

参考例句：

• There's no justification for dividing the company into smaller units. 没有理由把公司划分成小单位。
• In the young there is a justification for this feeling. 在年轻人中有这种感觉是有理由的。

11 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？

12 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

13 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

14 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

15 obstinately   

ad.固执地，顽固地

参考例句：

• He obstinately asserted that he had done the right thing. 他硬说他做得对。
• Unemployment figures are remaining obstinately high. 失业数字仍然顽固地居高不下。