VOA常速英语2018--贸易改革压力增加，中国经济处于十字路口

As 2018 draws to a close, the Chinese economy is at a crossroads.As some see it, the choice is simple.Do some heavy lifting and further liberalize or face an even sharper slowdown in economic growth.

随着2018年即将结束，中国经济正处于十字路口。有些人认为，做出选择十分容易。做一些繁重的工作，进一步放开或面临愈加放缓的经济增长。

China says it once reformed, but on its own terms.A message the country’s powerful leader Xi Jinping drove home at a recent meeting marking 40 years of reform and openness.He also had this ominous¹ warning.Every step in our reform and opening-up is not easy.In the future, we will inevitably² face all sorts of risks and challenges even unimaginable tempestuous³ storms.

中国表示其进行过改革，但是是依照着自己的方式。中国出色的领导人习近平在最近的一次会议上讲话，纪念中国改革开放四十周年。他同时也发出不详的警告。改革开放走的每一步都不容易。在未来，我们会不可避免地面临各种风险和挑战，有些甚至是难以想象的暴风雨。

No one knows for sure if 90 days will be enough for the United States and China to make a deal and the uncertainty⁴ is having an impact on companies’ willingness to invest at home or abroad.Over the past year, real estate, retail⁵ and car sales have started to falter⁶.The stock market has dropped more than 20 percent and the government is taking measures to control unemployment.China has started to lean on stimulus⁷ to help prop⁸ up the economy,but China analyst⁹ Scott Kennedy says unlocking opportunities doesn’t necessarily require subsidies¹⁰, high-tech¹¹ gadgets¹² or wizardry.

没有人确切知道美国和中国是否能在90天内达成协议，而且这种不确定性影响公司在国内外投资的意愿。在过去的一年里，房地产、零售和汽车销售形势开始低迷。股市下跌超过百分之二十，政府正在采取措施控制失业率。中国已经开始依靠刺激措施来帮助推动经济发展，但中国分析师斯科特·肯尼迪表示，增加机会并不一定需要补贴、高科技产品或巫术。

I think the question is not how much they’re gonna step on the gas,but whether they are gonna try and make this a more efficient machine by liberalizing the economy,by reducing market barriers to private companies to foreign companies to investment sectors¹³ that they are that are apparently¹⁴ off-limits.The arrest of high tech giant Huawei’s chief financial officer has added to the complexity¹⁵ of the trade tussle¹⁶.For now, Washington and Beijing are trying to keep the two issues separate, but clearly the trade war is about much more than trade.It’s also about assumptions that have long been the foundation of US-China relations and the question of whether China wants to become an open market, says Kennedy.I think that’s the U.S. goal is still to try right the ship to find a place where we can interact with each other peacefully on the commercial side while also protecting our national security.I don’t think the US has decided¹⁷ to give up and say forget it, we can’t interact with these folks.We have to have a divorce.It’s going to be cold work number two.For now, that depends really on how the Chinese respond he adds.Going forward however deep uncertainty at the commercial and government level will continue.

我认为问题不在于他们会如何加足马力，而是他们是否尝试通过经济自由化、减少私营公司和外国公司对投资领域的市场壁垒来让经济运行更有效率，而这显然是禁区。高科技巨头华为首席财务官的被捕加剧了贸易争斗的复杂性。目前，中美两国正试图将这两个问题分开，但很明显贸易战不仅仅关于贸易。肯尼迪说，这也是长期以来美中关系的基础以及中国是否想要成为一个开放市场的问题。我认为，美国的目标仍然是在保障国家安全的同时，试图找到双方可以在商业方面和平共处之处。我认为美国没有决定放弃，说我们别想这事儿了，我们就是不会和这些人交往。 我们要分道扬镳了。这会成为第二号冷处理的事儿。目前，这实际上取决于中国人如何回应。展望未来，商业和政府层面的不确定性将继续存在。

1 ominous   

adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的

参考例句：

• Those black clouds look ominous for our picnic.那些乌云对我们的野餐来说是个不祥之兆。
• There was an ominous silence at the other end of the phone.电话那头出现了不祥的沉默。

2 inevitably   

adv.不可避免地；必然发生地

参考例句：

• In the way you go on,you are inevitably coming apart.照你们这样下去，毫无疑问是会散伙的。
• Technological changes will inevitably lead to unemployment.技术变革必然会导致失业。

3 tempestuous   

adj.狂暴的

参考例句：

• She burst into a tempestuous fit of anger.她勃然大怒。
• Dark and tempestuous was night.夜色深沉，狂风肆虐，暴雨倾盆。

4 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

5 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

6 falter   

vi.(嗓音)颤抖，结巴地说；犹豫；蹒跚

参考例句：

• His voice began to falter.他的声音开始发颤。
• As he neared the house his steps faltered.当他走近房子时，脚步迟疑了起来。

7 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

8 prop   

vt.支撑；n.支柱，支撑物；支持者，靠山

参考例句：

• A worker put a prop against the wall of the tunnel to keep it from falling.一名工人用东西支撑住隧道壁好使它不会倒塌。
• The government does not intend to prop up declining industries.政府无意扶持不景气的企业。

9 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

10 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。

12 gadgets   

n.小机械，小器具（ gadget的名词复数 ）

参考例句：

• Certainly. The idea is not to have a house full of gadgets. 当然。设想是房屋不再充满小配件。 来自超越目标英语 第4册
• This meant more gadgets and more experiments. 这意味着要设计出更多的装置，做更多的实验。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史

13 sectors   

n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形

参考例句：

• Berlin was divided into four sectors after the war. 战后柏林分成了4 个区。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Industry and agriculture are the two important sectors of the national economy. 工业和农业是国民经济的两个重要部门。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

14 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

15 complexity   

n.复杂(性)，复杂的事物

参考例句：

• Only now did he understand the full complexity of the problem.直到现在他才明白这一问题的全部复杂性。
• The complexity of the road map puzzled me.错综复杂的公路图把我搞糊涂了。

16 tussle   

n.&v.扭打，搏斗，争辩

参考例句：

• They began to tussle with each other for the handgun.他们互相扭打起来，抢夺那支手枪。
• We are engaged in a legal tussle with a large pharmaceutical company.我们正同一家大制药公司闹法律纠纷。

17 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。