2006年VOA标准英语-German Businesses Await Economic Effects of Wor

By Catherine Drew
Berlin
08 June 2006
 
watch World Cup Economics

The 2006 World Cup will see millions of soccer fans descend¹ on Germany for four weeks of football madness. In that time each visitor is expected to spend around $400 (U.S.) a day. In the run-up to the games, stadiums have been improved and roads built, giving another boost to a German economy that has seen five years of stagnation².

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World Cup mascot³ 'Goleo the Sixth'   
  

The German company Nici paid $33 million (U.S.) to FIFA, world football's governing body, for the exclusive rights to manufacture toys of the official World Cup mascot, "Goleo the Sixth.”

Goleo has remained unloved and largely on the shelf. Nici has declared bankruptcy⁴ amid reports that sales were not strong enough to compensate⁵ for cost of the rights. The former head of the company has been arrested for fraud.

Other German businesses are hoping to do better. Some shops in the center of Berlin have turned over 10 percent of their stores to hold World Cup merchandise. 

 
Lan Lu
  
Shop owner Lan Lu says she is being cautious because she doesn't know how the World Cup will impact sales.

German authorities are upbeat about the economic effects of the tournament. After five years of stagnation, the country expects a 1.6 percent increase in its gross domestic product this year, with analysts⁶ saying a half-percent of that will be because of the World Cup.

The government has spent around $7.7 trillion on improving stadiums and transportation infrastructure⁷.

That includes the new multi-level central train station in Berlin that took 11 years to build and is being called the largest in Europe. It cost more than $900 million.

Berlin, as with the other German cities hosting matches, is hoping the money, exposure, and prestige of the World Cup will translate into earnings⁸ and boost the existing signs of an economic recovery even further.

The hotel and catering⁹ industry anticipate additional earnings of about $650 million.

It is estimated the World Cup created 60,000 jobs nationwide, with 20,000 of those remaining after the tournament ends. However, the new jobs will only make a small dent¹⁰ in the country's 11 percent unemployment figure. 

Kerstin Riedel  
  
Some businesses, such as the five-star Grand Hyatt hotel, anticipate the benefits will come later. Spokeswoman Kerstin Riedel says the hotel will be looking for long-term gains.

"On the whole, we don't see that many bookings, compared to usual May or June. I would say that World Cup will have impact on 2007 and 2006,"Riedel said. "I think it's more business for the future that we can expect." 

 
Ulrike Regele 
  
Ulrike Regele, of a leading German business group, says economic analysts must look at the big picture. "It's difficult to measure, what's normal growth, growth from World Cup,"Regele said. "The real economic numbers, not that important, the important thing is the image we get. Loads of reports, showing German pictures, that will be big profit for Germany."

A clearer picture of the economic benefits of hosting the World Cup is likely to emerge in a few years. Certainly, Germans are hoping they fare better than the mascot

1 descend   

vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降

参考例句：

• I hope the grace of God would descend on me.我期望上帝的恩惠。
• We're not going to descend to such methods.我们不会沦落到使用这种手段。

2 stagnation   

n. 停滞

参考例句：

• Poor economic policies led to a long period of stagnation and decline. 糟糕的经济政策道致了长时间的经济萧条和下滑。
• Motion is absolute while stagnation is relative. 运动是绝对的，而静止是相对的。

3 mascot   

n.福神，吉祥的东西

参考例句：

• The football team's mascot is a goat.足球队的吉祥物是山羊。
• We had a panda as our mascot.我们把熊猫作为吉详物。

4 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

5 compensate   

vt.补偿，赔偿；酬报 vi.弥补；补偿；抵消

参考例句：

• She used her good looks to compensate her lack of intelligence. 她利用她漂亮的外表来弥补智力的不足。
• Nothing can compensate for the loss of one's health. 一个人失去了键康是不可弥补的。

6 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

7 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

8 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

9 catering   

n. 给养

参考例句：

• Most of our work now involves catering for weddings. 我们现在的工作多半是承办婚宴。
• Who did the catering for your son's wedding? 你儿子的婚宴是由谁承办的？

10 dent   

n.凹痕，凹坑；初步进展

参考例句：

• I don't know how it came about but I've got a dent in the rear of my car.我不知道是怎么回事，但我的汽车后部有了一个凹痕。
• That dent is not big enough to be worth hammering out.那个凹陷不大，用不着把它锤平。