VOA慢速英语 2007 0420a

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

Last week, the United States asked the World Trade Organization to help settle two trade disputes with China.

 
Pirated materials from China, including movies and books
One of these involves the issue of intellectual property.

Books, magazines, movies, computer software -- intellectual property is all around us. Any property that can be legally protected against copying without permission can be considered intellectual property.

Copyright protects things like written materials and images and music. Forms of intellectual property like ideas, plans and designs can be protected by patents.

American officials say China is not doing enough to punish those who illegally copy American movies, music and software. United States Trade Representative Susan Schwab said "piracy¹ and counterfeiting² levels remain unacceptably high." She says this costs American companies and workers billions of dollars.

The motion picture industry estimates that movie piracy in China cost more than two and one-half billion dollars in lost sales in two thousand five alone.

The second dispute deals with barriers to trade in American books, music and movies in China. The United States says China limits imports of these products by requiring that they pass through state-owned or state-approved companies.

The Chinese government expressed what it called "great regret" at the American decision to go to the World Trade Organization. It says the action could harm trade relations between the two countries.

The first step now is a sixty-day period of negotiations³ to try to reach a settlement. 

The United States has growing trade deficits⁵ with China. Last year the deficit⁴ reached a record two hundred thirty-three billion dollars.

But China says its monthly trade surplus with the world fell in March by more than seventy percent, to less than seven billion dollars. Experts, though, say the big drop may have been the result of one-time events.

Many American businesses say China fails to enforce laws against illegal copying of intellectual property. But not all businesses are expected to support the United States action at the World Trade Organization.

Groups representing the drug and software industries, for example, have entered into their own negotiations with Chinese officials. These groups are concerned that the cases now before the W.T.O. could interfere⁶ with their efforts.

And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. Transcripts⁷ and archives of our reports are at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.

1 piracy   

n.海盗行为，剽窃，著作权侵害

参考例句：

• The government has already adopted effective measures against piracy.政府已采取有效措施惩治盗版行为。
• They made the place a notorious centre of piracy.他们把这地方变成了臭名昭著的海盗中心。

2 counterfeiting   

n.伪造v.仿制，造假( counterfeit的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He was sent to prison for counterfeiting five-dollar bills. 他因伪造5美元的钞票被捕入狱。 来自辞典例句
• National bureau released securities, certificates with security anti-counterfeiting paper technical standards. 国家质量技术监督局发布了证券、证件用安全性防伪纸张技术标准。 来自互联网

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 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

5 deficits   

n.不足额( deficit的名词复数 )；赤字；亏空；亏损

参考例句：

• The Ministry of Finance consistently overestimated its budget deficits. 财政部一贯高估预算赤字。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Many of the world's farmers are also incurring economic deficits. 世界上许多农民还在遭受经济上的亏损。 来自辞典例句

6 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

7 transcripts   

n.抄本（ transcript的名词复数 ）；转写本；文字本；副本

参考例句：

• Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样，都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
• You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书，你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句