The Economist 是怎样的一本杂志？

l         《经济学人》(The Economist)是一份由伦敦经济学人报纸有限公司出版的杂志，在全球发行。

l         《经济学人》主要关注政治和商业方面的新闻，但是每期也有一两篇针对科技和艺术的报导，以及一些书评。除了常规的新闻之外，每两周《经济学人》还会就一个特定地区或领域进行深入报道。

l         《经济学人》的文章一般没有署名，而且往往带有鲜明的立场。杂志的写作风格十分有特色，注重于如何在最小的篇幅内告诉读者最多的信息。该杂志无论是在经济还是政治上的立场都是倾自由主义的，反对政府在经济和政治方面过度的介入。

l         《经济学人》有意识地将自己看作是一份国际性杂志，因此报道不仅仅局限于或偏重于英国或欧洲，因此其80%以上的读者是在英国以外地区。

 节目内容：每期1-2分钟新闻听写 + 不定期文章阅读(附词汇练习)

Part I Short News Dictation

1．             About Afghanistan:

An army parade in Kabul attended by Afghanistan's president, Hamid Karzai, and foreign ambassadors was disrupted by Taliban gunmen. Three people were killed. After a long gun-battle two days later the government claimed that the Taliban network involved had been wiped out.

2．             About Tibet

Despite continuing vilification in China's official press of the Dalai Lama, the Chinese government announced it would reopen talks with representatives of Tibet's exiled spiritual leader.

3．             About China

More than 70 people were killed in China's deadliest train crash in more than a decade. The accident happened on the line linking Beijing with the coastal city of Qingdao, which will host the sailing competition during the forthcoming Olympics.

4．             About Pakistan

Talks were held in Dubai between Nawaz Sharif and Asif Zardari, leaders of the two largest parties in Pakistan's ruling coalition. The coalition is under strain because of disagreement about the future of judges sacked by President Pervez Musharraf.

5．             About Timor-Leste

The rebel soldiers who attacked Timor-Leste's prime minister and president in February surrendered.The government denied that it had given them any promise of lenient treatment.

6．             About Japan

In Japan, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party was defeated in an important by-election, which the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan won. Nevertheless, the prime minister, Yasuo Fukuda, carried out his promise to reinstate an unpopular petrol tax.

Part II Article Reading

Angry China

May 1st 2008

From The Economist print edition

The recent glimpses of a snarling China should scare the country's government as much as the world CHINA is in a frightening mood. The sight of thousands of Chinese people waving xenophobic fists suggests that a country on its way to becoming a superpower may turn out to be a more dangerous force than optimists had hoped. But it isn't just foreigners who should be worried by these scenes: the Chinese government, which has encouraged this outburst of nationalism, should also be afraid.

For three decades, having shed communism in all but the name of its ruling party, China's government has justified its monopolistic hold on power through economic advance. Many Chinese enjoy a prosperity undreamt of by their forefathers. For them, though, it is no longer enough to be reminded of the grim austerity of their parents' childhoods. They need new aspirations.

The government's solution is to promise them that China will be restored to its rightful place at the centre of world affairs. Hence the pride at winning the Olympics, and the fury at the embarrassing protests during the torch relay. But the appeal to nationalism is a double-edged sword: while it provides a useful outlet for domestic discontents (see article), it could easily turn on the government itself.

A million mutinies

The torch relay has galvanised protests about all manner of alleged Chinese crimes: in Tibet, in China's broader human-rights record, in its cosy relations with repellent regimes. And these in turn have drawn counter-protests from thousands of expatriate Chinese, from Chinese within the country and on the internet.

Chinese rage has focused on the alleged “anti-China” bias of the Western press, which is accused of ignoring violence by Tibetans in the unrest in March. From this starting-point China's defenders have gone on to denounce the entire edifice of Western liberal democracy as a sham. Using its tenets to criticise China is, they claim, sheer hypocrisy. They cite further evidence of double standards: having exported its dirtiest industries to China, the West wants the country to curb its carbon emissions, potentially impeding its growth and depriving newly well-off Chinese of their right to a motor car. And as the presidential election campaign in America progresses, more China-bashing can be expected, with protectionism disguised as noble fury at “coddling dictators”.

Words:
snarl  vi.咆哮, 怒骂
xenophobic   adj. 恐惧(或憎恨)外国人的,恐外的
undreamt     adj.梦想不到的,意外的
mutiny   n. 兵变, 反抗
galvanise   vt. 通电流于, (用电疗)刺激, 使兴奋, 激励
repellent   adj.排斥的
expatriate   v逐出国外, 脱离国籍, 放逐 移居国外 n.亡命国外者
edifice  n.大厦, 大建筑物
sham   n.伪品 佯装
tenet   n. 原则
sheer  adj.全然的, 纯粹的, 绝对的, 彻底的
hypocrisy   n.伪善
impede   v.阻止
coddle    v. 溺爱 娇养
dictator   n.独裁者, 独裁政权执政者

posted on 2008-05-09 09:26 Blythe. 阅读(50) 评论(0)  编辑  收藏 所属分类: The Economist 网摘收藏