AS IT IS 2016-08-15 As World Follows Rio Olympics, Brazil’s Economy Struggles

AS IT IS 2016-08-15 As World Follows Rio Olympics, Brazil’s Economy Struggles

Pictures from the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro have been beautiful. But underlying¹ the beauty, there is unrest in Rio and many other parts of Brazil.

The country is in the middle of a political and economic crisis². Many Brazilians are feeling the pinch, and hurting economically. That is especially true for those who live in Rio’s poorest neighborhoods, called “favelas.”

Huberto Sousa spent most of his life renting beach chairs to people visiting Copacabana beach. In October 2010, he decided³ to open a bar in the favela of Cantagalo, where he was born and raised.

Sousa said he always wanted to work for himself, instead of having to depend on others. He said he enjoyed choosing his own hours.

In Cantagalo, Sousa is known as “the King.” So, he called his bar “King’s Castle.” The business was successful.

Times were good for many businesses in Brazil in 2010. The economy was growing and many Brazilians entered the middle class for the first time. The median household income grew 87 percent between 2003 and 2013.

Sousa said, during the best times, middle class people would come and socialize with people in the favela. He said this created an interesting mix of people.

“That was the best time, but it started to drop off about (in) about 2014,” he said.

Since that time, Brazil’s economy has struggled. Some blame increasing debt and cuts in government spending and investments. The sharp drop in oil prices also might have hurt the economy.

Brazilian economist⁴ Rodrigo Magalhaes said people who recently moved up into the middle class were hurt most by the economic slowdown.

“When the recession⁵ began, it broke the expectation of these people because in the last 10 years they had seen the situation getting steadily⁶ better and then it all collapsed,” he said.

Hospitals, schools and other public services also have been hurt.

This year, there have been teachers’ strikes in Brazil. Students also have “occupied” schools for weeks, in some cases, to protest problems in the education system.

Fabiola Camargo is a teacher. She told VOA teachers have not received a pay raise since 2014.

Camargo says the strikes and student occupations have helped each other.

“The occupations are supporting the strikes just as much as the strikes are supporting the occupations because they both were wanting improvements in education,” she said.

Brazil’s political crisis is another consideration. Early Wednesday, the Senate voted 59 to 21 to move forward with the impeachment⁷ trial of President Dilma Rousseff.

Lawmakers suspended Rousseff in May over accusations⁸ of hiding budget deficits⁹ before her reelection in 2014. Her trial is expected to take place late this month.

Holding the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro has lifted the spirits of many Brazilians. The beautiful images of Rio’s bay and Olympic facilities have given many a much-needed lift. But the economic situation remains¹⁰ difficult.

Preparations for the games have cost the city billions of dollars.

Unemployment in Brazilian cities has reached eight percent and the jobless rate for the whole country is higher. The economy is predicted to shrink by more than two percent in 2016.

Words in This Story

feeling the pinch – idiom, to feel pain because of something unpleasant

median – n. the middle value among a series of values or numbers, the value right in the middle

adjust – v. to make a change or a correction that accounts for something

factors – n. things that influence results

impeachment – n. to charge a high official with a crime while in office

1 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

2 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

5 recession   

n.（工商业的）衷退（期），萧条（期）

参考例句：

• Manufacturing fell sharply under the impact of the recession.受到经济萧条的影响，制造业急剧衰退。
• A rise in interest rates plunged Britain deeper into recession.利率的提高导致英国经济更加萧条。

6 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

7 impeachment   

n.弹劾；控告；怀疑

参考例句：

• Impeachment is considered a drastic measure in the United States.在美国，弹劾被视为一种非常激烈的措施。
• The verdict resulting from his impeachment destroyed his political career.他遭弹劾后得到的判决毁了他的政治生涯。

8 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

9 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

10 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。