Step by Step 3000 第1册 Unit8:Trends in Economics(1)

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　　Part 1. Warming up.

　　A. Keywords. buy, meeting, trend, sell, release oil,aid, common import tax, market drops, stock prices, interest rates.

　　Vocabulary. aerospace¹, interest rate, loan, Rangoon, Burma,

　　the Gulf² Cooperation Council, the New York Stock Exchange.

　　You are going to hear some simple news items which include numbers ranging from 0.25 to 37,000,000,000.

　　Listen carefully, write down the numbers rapidly.

　　British Aerospace plans to buy the part of General electric Company of Britain that makes defence electronics.

　　The deal is worth 25 thousand million (25,000,000,000) dollars.

　　Canada will hold a meeting of American leaders in April to discuss trade and economic issues.

　　Canada now has a trade surplus of 161 million (161,000,000) dollars a year with Central America.

　　Owners of MCI Communications have agreed to sell the company to the American Communications Company WorldCom.

　　The price is 37 thousand million (37,000,000,000) dollars in stock.

　　WorldCom defeated a 28 thousand million dollar offer by GGE.

　　MCI also refused the British Company Telecom's offer to unite the two companies by an agreement worth about 24 thousand million (24,000,000,000) dollars.

　　President Clinton will release 30 million barrels of oil from the United States' emergency supply,

　　The move is designed to ease heated oil shortage expected this year.

　　Rangoon, the United Nations and the World Bank have offered Burma one thousand million (1000,000,000) dollars in aid.

　　An UN special diplomat³ made the offer to Burmese leaders last month.

　　Representatives of the six nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council have agreed to common import taxes.

　　Official at the meeting in Riyad said representatives agreed to set the common tax on some goods at 5.5%.

　　The tax on other goods will be 7.5%.

　　The New York Stock Exchange halted trading early after suffering one of the worst market drops in history.

　　Stock prices fell more than 550 points, that is a lose of more than 7%.

　　United States' Central Bank officials are reducing interest rates for the third time this year.

　　The bank officials cut by 0.25%, the rate the banks charge each other for short-turn loans, that rate now will be 4.75%.

　　The Central Bank made the same reduction in the rate it charges members banks for overnight loans, the rate now will be 4.5%.

　　B. Keywords. protests, meeting, EU members, low prizes,cut taxes, trade, peace and security, policies, inflation, Japanese ports. economy.

　　Vocabulary. demonstrator, senate, inflation, Dutch, Manila, the Federal Reserve Board.

　　Now, listen to some simple news items, focus your attention on who, what, when, where, why and how in each lead and write down what you hear in the given spaces.

　　Angry demonstrators are increasing their protests against rising fuel prices.

　　World oil prices have reached a ten year high of about 135 dollars a barrel.

　　China has opened a meeting of African nations, representatives of more than 40 African nations are attending the three-day meeting in Beijing.

　　Dutch Prime Minister says the Czech Republic could become a member of the European Union by early 2003.

　　The prime Minister told reporters that the final date would be decided⁴ by a conference of EU members.

　　Financial administrators⁵ and Central Bank governors of 7 leading industrial nations are meeting in Washington.

　　Officials from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and the United States are attending the meeting.

　　Iran and Saudi Arabia say they will try to reduce the amount of oil now on the world market in an attempt to increase the loan prices that are harming their economies.

　　Leaders of the Organization of Petrolem Exporting Countries have urged rich countries to lower oil prices by cutting taxes on oil products.

　　Leaders of the ten-number Association of Southeastern Asian Nations have promised to speed efforts to increase trade and to bring peace and security to the area.

　　They made the statement at the end of their yearly meeting in the Manila.

　　The chairman of the Federal Reserve Board has told a senate committee that he will support policies that keeping inflation low.

　　The United States and Japan have signed an agreement that will open Japanese ports to foreign companies.

　　And in Singapore, Prime Minister says his country's economy has increased almost 4% for the first half in 1998.

　　Experts say the country has became a leading manufactory and financial center.

　　C. Keywords. shares, trading, reduced, rate, loan, budget plan, limiting production,index, rose, unemployment, owes, wholesale⁶ prices, increased.

　　Vocabulary. prime rate, cabinet, budget, barrel, indicator⁷, work force.

　　You are going to hear some simple news items, which include numbers ranging from 0.1 to 27,000,000,000.

　　Listen carefully, write down the numbers rapidly.

　　A record number of shares, almost 93 million were traded Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange.

　　Trading was heavy again Friday on the New York Stock Exchange, about 97 million shares were traded, a number second only to the record 133 million shares traded Wednesday.

　　Manufacturers' Hanover Trust Company of New York and the First National Bank of Chicago both reduce their prime rate 1.5% to 16%.

　　The World Bank has approved a 100 million dollar loan to the Ivory Coast.

　　Japan's cabinet has approved a proposed budget plan for next year, the 210 thousand million dollar budget will reduce total spending, military spending will be increased 5.1%.

　　Oil ministers of the Organization of Petroleum⁸ Exporting Countries have agreed to continue limiting production to 17,500,000 barrels of oil a day.

　　The Commerce Department said its index of leading economic indicators⁹ rose 1.3% in July, the fourth mouth it has increased.

　　Unemployment in the United States rose last mouth to 9.5% of the American work force, the highest rate since World War Ⅱ.

　　The Labor¹⁰ Department said that unemployment rose in May by 0.1%.e

　　It's said 10,500,000 Americans were out of work.

　　Poland owes foreign countries about 27 thousand million dollars.

　　A Labor Department reports the wholesale prices increased by 0.6% in August.

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