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UNIT 2
Text A
PRE-READING TASK
Exercise 1
Before reading the passage, try to answer the questions.
1. What is a tariff（关税）？
2. Do you know the difference between a revenue tariff （财政关税）and a protective tariff （保护性关税）?
Now compare you answers with what is stated in the passage.
Unique Problems
in International Trade
1 There are some unique problems in international trade and companies doing business overseas must be aware of them. In particular, there include (a) cultural problems, (b) monetary conversion, and (c) trade barriers.
2 When companies do business overseas, they come in contact with people from different cultures. These individuals often speak a different language and have their own particular custom and manners. These differences can create problems.
3 For example, in France, business meetings begin promptly at the designated time and everyone is expected to be there. Foreign business people who are late are often left outside to cool their heels as a means of letting them know the importance of promptness. Unless one is aware of such expected behaviors he may end up insulting the people with whom he hopes to establish trade relations.
4 A second traditional problem is that of monetary conversion. For example, if a transaction is conducted with Russia, payment may be made in rubles. Of course, this currency is of little value to the American firm. It is, therefore, necessary to convert the foreign currency to American dollars. How much are these Russian rubles worth in terms of dollars? This conversion rate is determined by every market, where the currencies of countries are bought and sold. Thus there is an established rate, although it will often fluctuate from day to day. For example, the ruble may be worth $0.75 on Monday and $0.72 on Tuesday because of an announced wheat shortage in Russia. In addition, there is the dilemma associated with converting at $0.72. Some financial institutions may be unwilling to pay this price, feeling that the ruble will sink much lower over the next week. As a result, conversion may finally come at $0.69. These "losses" must be accepted by the company as one of the costs of doing business overseas.
5 A third unique problem is trade barriers. For one reason or another, all countries impose trade barriers on certain goods crossing their borders. Some trade barriers are directly related to exports. For example, the United States permits strategic military material to be shipped abroad only after government permission has been obtained. Most trade barriers, however, are designed to restrict imports. Two of the most common import barriers are quotas and tariffs.
6 A quota is a quantitative restriction that is expressed in terms of either physical quantity or value. For example, a quota that states that no more than 50 000 Class A widgets may be imported from Europe each year is a restriction stated in terms of physical quantity. Meanwhile, a quota that restricts the importation of a certain type of Japanese glassware to no more than $ 1 million worth a year is stated in terms of value.
7 A tariff is a duty or fee levied on goods being imported into the country. These tariffs can be of two types: revenue or protective. A revenue tariff is designed to raise money for the government. These tariffs are usually low, often amounting to less than twenty-five cents per item or pound. A protective tariff is designed to discourage foreign businesses from shipping certain goods into the country. The basic reason for a protective tariff is to keep out goods that will undersell products made in the home country. For this reason, protective tariffs are often very high, thus forcing the foreign business to raise its prices to cover the tariff.
8 Tariff duties are of three types: specific, ad valorem, and compound. Specific duties are levied at the rate of so much per unit or pound. For example, the specific duty on one product might be $10 per unit, while on another it might be 25c per pound.
9 Ad valorem duties are levied on the basis of the product's value. For example, an ad valorem duty of 7 percent on a particular product valued at $100 would result in a $7 tariff.
10 Compound duties are a combination of specific and ad valorem duties. One example is suits. In the past the duty on them has been 371/2 c per pound and 21 percent ad valorem.
New Words
unique
a. 1. having no like or equal 独特的
2. being the only one of its kind 唯一的
overseas
ad. to, at or in somewhere across the sea 在国外
a. foreign （来自）外国的，海外的
means
n. way; something which helps us to do what we want to do 方法，手段
conversion
n. the act of changing into another type of money of equal value 兑换（货币等）
prompt
a. done or given quickly, at once 迅速的，及时的
promptly
ad. 迅速地，及时地
promptness
n. readiness to act; quickness 迅速，及时
designate
v. 指定，标出
heel
n. the back part of the foot （足）跟
transaction
n. a piece of business; affair （一笔）交易，业务
conduct
v. to direct the course of (a business, activity, etc.)进行
ruble
n. 卢布（俄罗斯货币单位）
fluctuate
v. to rise and fall 波动，涨落
shortage
n. a condition of having less than needed 不足，缺少
dilemma
n. a difficult choice between two courses of action （进退两难的）窘境，困境
financial
a. connected with money 金融的
impose
v. 1. 把……（强）加于
2. to establish (an additional payment) officially 征（税）
border
n. the dividing line between two countries 国界，边界
strategic
a. 战略上（用）的
permission
n. agreement 许可，允许
restrict
v. to keep with in limits 限制，限定
restriction
n. the act of restricting or the state of being restricted 限制，限定
quota
n. a limited number or quantity of something 限额，定量
tariff
n. 关税
quantitative
a. of or about quantity 数量的
widget
n. 1. （某公司的）典型小产品
2. （美俚）（汽车或衣服上的）装饰品
meanwhile
ad. in the meantime 同时
importation
n. the act of bringing in something, esp. from abroad 进口
glassware
n. articles made of glass （总称）玻璃制品，玻璃器皿
levy
v. to demand and collect officially 征收
revenue
n. the income, esp. that which the government receives as tax （国家的）税收，收入
protective
a. 1. 保护贸易的
2. 保护的, 防护的
discourage
v. to try to prevent or put difficulties in the way of 阻止，阻拦
undersell
v. to sell goods at a lower price than a competitor 以低于（他人或同类产品的）价格出售
ad valorem
a. (Latin) according to the value （拉）（对商品征税而言）按照价格的
compound
a. 1. consisting of two or more separable parts 混合的，复合的
2. (of a word or sentence) consisting of two or more main parts （词、句的）复合的
basis
n. that from which something is started, built or calculated, etc. 基础，根据
combination
n. 组合，混合
Phrases and Expressions
in particular
特别，尤其
come in contact with
与…接触（或联系
cool one's heels
久等，空等
impose … on
把…强加于
amount to
总计，等于
discourage…from
阻拦
keep out
（使）不进入，保留
at the rate of
以…的汇率、税率、速率等
on the basis of
根据
result in
导致
Proper Name
Russia
俄罗斯
Text B
PRE-READING TASK
Exercise 1
Before reading the passage, try to answer the questions.
1. Have you ever heard of the World Bank? If yes, say something about its function.
2. Do you know what the International Monetary Fund is? When was it set up?
Now read the passage to learn more about the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund
The World Bank and
the International Monetary Fund
1 As its name implies, the World Bank was formed to provide sound long-term loans for reconstruction and development. The International Monetary Fund is concerned, as we shall see shortly, with short-term credit and the cooperative management of foreign exchange rates.
2 The World Bank is easy to understand. The lending nations subscribe toward its capital stock in proportion to their economic importance. The Bank can use its capital to make international loans to people or countries whose projects seem economically sound but who cannot get private loans at reasonably low interest rates.
3 The World Bank's true importance arises from something greater than the loans that it can make out of its own capital. More important is the fact that it can float bonds and use the proceeds to make loans. The bonds are safe because they are backed by the credit of all the nations. Also, the Bank can insure loans in return for a small premium; private parties can then put up the money, knowing the Bank's credit is squarely behind the loan.
4 As a result of such long-term credits, we have seen goods and services flowing out of the advanced nations aimed at international development. If sound, these loans will be repaid in full. If some go sour, the loss will be paid out of the Bank's interest or premium earnings. If still more go sour, the loss will be spread over all the member nations.
5 Has the Bank been a financial success? Decidedly. Especially after Robert McNamara (formerly of Ford Motor and the Pentagon) became its head in the late 1960s, the Bank has stepped up the scale of its activities sharply. An increasing proportion of its financing now goes through the International Development Agency, set up by the Bank to make "soft loans" to nations for education, roads, hospitals, etc.; and through its International Finance Corporation, established to make loans to foreign development banks for financing private investment projects.
6 For the 1980s, McNamara has shifted the Bank's focus toward a concern for the very poorest in the developing countries. The best private commercial banks, by their nature, cannot have such a concern for human hunger and disease, for minimum life standards and the mitigation of inequality of opportunity and position.
7 The IMF, like the World Bank, grew out of the 1944 Bretton Woods conferences. It hoped to secure the advantages of the gold standard without its disadvantages. Exchange rates were in the beginning envisaged to be relatively stable. But there were to be orderly ways to unpeg parities that represented clear undervaluation or overvaluation. International cooperation was to replace the previous automatic mechanism. Also, countries were to be spared the need to make adjustments by painfully deflating themselves into drastic unemployment. And the IMF still hopes to lessen the need for import controls. How do IMF operations work? Here's one case.
8 Ordinarily, a country pays for its imports by means of its exports or long-term borrowing. Suppose a country, say, the United Kingdom, is in need of short-term credit from the IMF. How exactly does the IMF enable such a debtor country to get hold of dollars? It does this by extending "purchasing rights". It simply lets the British buy with British currency some of the Fund's own holdings of dollars. After the British balance of payments has improved, Britain is expected to buy back with gold or dollars (or, as we'll see, with SDRs or "paper gold") the pounds it has sold to the Fund.
9 From 1945 until 1971 when the Bretton Woods system broke down forever, the IMF nurtured the illusion that it could keep exchange rates pegged most of the time. Only under the extreme pressure of fundamental disequilibria persisting in a country's balance of payments would the IMF expect that country to depreciate its exchange rate.
10 The IMF and its leading members put up a gallant but hopeless fight to make stable exchange rates work.
11 As will be seen, after 1971 the Bretton Woods system of pegged exchange rates broke down permanently and was replaced by a system of "managed floating-exchange rates."
New Words
imply
v. to suggest 暗示，意味着
construction
n. the business or work of building 建设，建造
reconstruction
n. 重新建设，重新建造
cooperative
a. done, worked by people acting together 合作的，协作的
subscribe
v. to pay money regularly 赞助，捐赠
economic
a. connected with trade, industry and wealth 经济上的，经济学的
economical
a. using money, time, etc. carefully 节约的
economically
ad. 1. in a way which is connected with economics 在经济上
2. not wastefully 节约地
reasonable
a. fair; not too much 合理的
reasonably
ad. fairly; quite 十分，相当
float
v. 1. 发行（债券）
2. 漂浮
proceeds
n. money obtained from an event （从事某种活动等的）收入，收益
insure
v. 给…投保，保险
premium
n. 1. 保险费
2.（票据、货币的）贴息
squarely
ad. 坚定地，坚实不动地
flow
v. 1. to be plentiful 盛产，过多
2. (of liquid) to run 流动
advanced
a. far on in development 先进的，发达的
sour
a. 1. turning out to be bad 不行的
2. 酸的
scale
n. the size in relation to other things 范围，规模
finance
v. to provide money for 提供经费，资助
n. (science of) the management of money 财政，金融
corporation
n. 公司，法人
shift
v. to change position or direction 转移，改变
hunger
n. the need, desire for food 饥饿
minimum
a. (of) least possible or recorded amount, degree, etc. 最小量的，最低程度的
mitigation
n. the act of making less severe 缓和，减轻
inequality
n. a difference in social status, wealth, etc. （地位、财富等的）差别，不平等
opportunity
n. favourable time or chance 机会，时机
secure
v. 1. to succeed in getting 获得
2. to make certain or safe 使安全，使可靠
envisage
v. to picture in the mind 想象，设想
unpeg
v. 使（证卷、通货等）解冻
parity
n. 平价（指价格、汇率等方面的相等，也指两种不同货币的法定汇率）
undervaluation
n. 过低的估价
overvaluation
n. 过高的估价
cooperation
n. the act of working together 合作，配合
previous
a. coming earlier in time or order 早先的，以前的
painful
a. causing pain 使痛苦的
painfully
ad. in a painful manner 痛苦地
deflate
v. to reduce the supply of money or lower the level of prices 紧缩（通货等）
drastic
a. strong, sudden, and often violent and severe 迅猛的，严厉的
employment
n. the act of employing or the state of being employed 雇佣，受雇
unemployment
n. the state of being unemployed 失业
lessen
v. to make or become less 使减少
debtor
n. a person, group or organization who is in debt to another 负债人（方），债务人（方）
nurture
v. to cause or encourage to develop 培养，教养
illusion
n. a false idea or belief 错误的观念
peg
v. to fix prices, rates, etc. at a certain level 钉住汇率，限制价格在一定幅度内浮动
extreme
a. reaching the highest degree 极度的
fundamental
a. of great importance; of a foundation 基本的，十分重要的
disequilibria
n. (disequilibrium的复数形式)不稳定，不平衡
persist
v. to continue to exist 持续，存留
depreciate
v. to make less in value 降低…的价值（或价格），贬值
leading
a. chief; most important 主要的，最重要的
gallant
a. courageous 英勇的
permanent
a. lasting for a long time or for ever 长久的，永恒的
permanently
ad. 长久地，永恒地
Phrases and Expressions
in return for
作为（与…的）交换
put up
提供（资金），储蓄，进行（抵抗、斗争等）
aim at
以…为目标，旨在
in full
全部地，全数地
go sour
出毛病，不受欢迎
spread over
分摊，分布
step up
加速，促进
set up
建立，设立，树立
by (one's) nature
出于本性地
by means of
用，以，依靠
in need of
需要
bread down
崩溃，破裂
Proper Names
the World Bank
世界银行
the International Monetary Fund
（联合国）国际货币基金组织（简称IMF）
Robert McNamara
罗伯特.麦克纳马拉
Ford Motor
福特汽车公司
the Pentagon
五角大楼（常用作美国国防部的代称）
the International Development Agency
国际开发署
International Finance Corporation
(联合国）国际金融公司
Bretton Woods conferences
布雷顿森林会议
SDRs
特别提款权(Special Drawing Rights)
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