English Quiz 121

(English Quiz 121)

1. Many dangers to the world economy are still lurking, of course. Oil prices have dropped back recently from $70 to the low $50s, but they are still far higher than just a few years ago, and other commodity prices have soared, fueling inflation. Business leaders across the world are also watching nervously for signs of a protectionist blast from the new Democratic-majority Congress in Washington. Isolated cases of protectionism abound on both sides of the Atlantic: in December, the U.S. Department of Transportation turned down an application by Virgin America, a start-up airline partly owned by British billionaire Richard Branson, to begin domestic U.S. flights because of the carrier's foreign ownership. In Europe, meanwhile, the French government proudly touts its doctrine of "economic patriotism" and has tried, with mixed success, to engineer domestic mergers in the drugs and energy sectors to ward off foreign takeovers.
Q: 試翻 "In Europe, ... ward off foreign takeovers."

2. What economists are struggling to predict is how extensive the impact of this housing slowdown will be. Many other real estate markets around the globe rose in tandem with the U.S. in recent years, but so far none have come back down to earth with the same force. Perhaps most surprisingly, American consumers are continuing to spend, regardless: automobile purchases are sluggish, but monthly retail sales rose by a higher-than-forecast 0.9% from November to December. "I'm not prepared to bet against the American consumer. That's a highly dangerous proposition," says Jesper Koll, chief Japan economist for Merrill Lynch.
Q: 試翻 "any other real estate markets ... with the same force."

3. There are still big questions about how sustainable Germany's upturn is, and whether it will be able to pull the rest of Europe with it. Growth in the 13 nations that have adopted the euro is expected to be 2.6% in 2006, an unusually strong showing for the continent. The European recovery is uneven, though, with Italy and France faring less well. And Germany has only begun to tackle some of the politically unpopular reforms of its health, pension and labor systems that economists say are needed to boost long-term growth. Still, "Europe is going to have a great year," reckons Harvard's Rogoff.
Q: 試翻 "And Germany has ... long-term growth."