在线英语听力室

VOA慢速英语2014 Some Asian Countries Gain from Low Oil Prices

时间:2014-12-10 14:36:44

搜索关注在线英语听力室公众号:tingroom,领取免费英语资料大礼包。

(单词翻译)

 

AS IT IS 2014-12-07 Some Asian Countries Gain from Low Oil Prices

From VOA Learning English, this is the Economics Report.

Today we tell you more about the effects of falling oil prices. Lower demand for oil and too much supply have sent prices to their lowest levels in five years.

Last week, the Organization of Petroleum1 Exporting Countries decided2 to keep production at current levels. Representatives of the 12-nation group met in Vienna, Austria. They were unable to reach agreement on changing OPEC’s production targets.

Lower oil prices are causing economic hardship in some OPEC members. Officials there are exploring ways to cut government spending.

The president of Venezuela announced last week that he and other government officials should take pay cuts as part of budget reductions. The Reuters news service says the reductions are meant to answer the lower oil prices. It says Venezuela gets 96 percent of its export earnings3 from oil sales. The nation has among the highest inflation rates in Latin America.

Russia is a major oil exporter, but does not belong to OPEC. This week, Russia’s economic development ministry4 predicted that the Russian economy will shrink by eight-tenths of a percent in 2015. Oil exports are important to Russia. The value of Russian money has lost about 40 percent of its value this year compared to the American dollar. Observers have blamed the drop on falling profits from oil exports, and Western sanctions to punish Russian actions in Ukraine.

But economists5 say the fall in oil prices is helping6 economies in Asia. Andrew Colquhoun is with Hong Kong-based Fitch Ratings.

"Most Asia-Pacific economies are oil importers and therefore the decline in oil prices is equivalent to a kind of income gain for them and the impact depends on whether they save or spend the income gain."

In a recent report, Fitch Ratings said China and most major Asian economies would effectively earn more money from sustained lower oil prices. Thailand spends 15 percent of national income on oil, the largest percentage in the area.

Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia all are moving to reduce oil price supports, or subsidies7, which are often a major part in government spending.

Last month Indonesian President Joko Widodo raised subsidized fuel prices by over 30 percent. Trade unions and opposition8 parties criticized the move. The Indonesian government says it is providing social assistance to over 15 million people to ease the effect of higher fuel costs.

But some experts say it is a matter of time before prices recover. Jack9 Gerard is president of the American Petroleum Institute. He says demand for oil will rise, and prices will find an equilibrium10.

Words in This Story

Targets - n. a goal or object that is aimed at

Influence - v. to have an effect on someone or something; to cause change

Assistance - n. help, aid or support

Sustained - adj. continued, being able to hold in place or carry forward

Equilibrium - n. a state in which opposing forces or actions are balanced so that one is not stronger or greater than the other


分享到:


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 petroleum WiUyi     
n.原油,石油
参考例句:
  • The Government of Iran advanced the price of petroleum last week.上星期伊朗政府提高了石油价格。
  • The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。
2 decided lvqzZd     
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。
3 earnings rrWxJ     
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%。
4 ministry kD5x2     
n.(政府的)部;牧师
参考例句:
  • They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
  • We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。
5 economists 2ba0a36f92d9c37ef31cc751bca1a748     
n.经济学家,经济专家( economist的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
  • Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》
6 helping 2rGzDc     
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的
参考例句:
  • The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
  • By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。
7 subsidies 84c7dc8329c19e43d3437248757e572c     
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》
8 opposition eIUxU     
n.反对,敌对
参考例句:
  • The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
  • The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。
9 jack 53Hxp     
n.插座,千斤顶,男人;v.抬起,提醒,扛举;n.(Jake)杰克
参考例句:
  • I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
  • He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。
10 equilibrium jiazs     
n.平衡,均衡,相称,均势,平静
参考例句:
  • Change in the world around us disturbs our inner equilibrium.我们周围世界的变化扰乱了我们内心的平静。
  • This is best expressed in the form of an equilibrium constant.这最好用平衡常数的形式来表示。

本文本内容来源于互联网抓取和网友提交,仅供参考,部分栏目没有内容,如果您有更合适的内容,欢迎 点击提交 分享给大家。