GRE周末精選閱讀Business in Africa Making Africa work

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    同學(xué)們在備考GRE閱讀時,并不缺乏各類練習(xí)資料,但是原版專業(yè)讀物的閱讀量往往不達(dá)標(biāo)。下面是出國留學(xué)網(wǎng)GRE欄目小編給大家?guī)淼腉RE周末精選閱讀Business in Africa Making Africa work,希望對大家有所幫助哦!
    GRE周末精選閱讀Business in Africa Making Africa work
    Leaders——Business in Africa Making Africa work
    社論精粹:非洲商業(yè)讓非洲發(fā)展起來
    The continent's future depends on people, not commodities
    非洲的前途依賴人,而非大宗商品
    “IS ANYONE here actually hoping to make any money, or are you all just trying to minimize your losses?”
    “在座的有沒有任何人希望能賺到錢,還是大家都只是想把損失降到最低?”
    The question, asked at a dinner in London for investors who specialize in Africa, showed how the mood has changed in the past year.
    這個問題在倫敦一個為專事非洲投資的投資者舉辦的晚餐會上提出來,體現(xiàn)出過去一年的情緒變化。
    The financiers around the table—mostly holders of African bonds—all said they were simply trying not to lose money.
    在座的各位金融家大部分手中都持有非洲債券,他們都說自己只是想不要虧錢。
    Only a few years ago people were queuing up to invest in Africa.
    然而僅僅在幾年前,大家都還擠破頭要在非洲投資。
    As recently as 2012 Zambia paid less than Spain to borrow dollars.
    就在2012年,贊比亞美元貸款的利息比西班牙還低。
    Private-equity funds dedicated to Africa raised record sums to invest in shopping malls and firms making everything from nappies to fruit juice.
    專注投資非洲的私募股權(quán)基金籌得破紀(jì)錄的資金用于投資購物中心和企業(yè),這些公司生產(chǎn)的產(chǎn)品從尿片到果汁一應(yīng)俱全。
    Business folk salivated at the prospect of selling to the fast-growing African middle class, which by one measure numbered 350m people.
    非洲的中產(chǎn)階級正在快速成長,一項數(shù)據(jù)顯示其人數(shù)可達(dá)3.5億,商界人士一想到這些人是他們未來的銷售對象便垂涎三尺。
    Miners sank billions into African soil to feed China's appetite for minerals.
    礦產(chǎn)公司也向非洲的土地中砸入數(shù)十億美元以滿足中國對礦產(chǎn)資源的需求。
    Now investors are glum. In the short run, they are right to worry.
    但現(xiàn)在投資者們個個愁容滿面。
    In the long run, as our special report on African business shows this week, the potential rewards from a market of 1.2 billion people are too juicy to ignore, despite the risks.
    短期來看,他們確實有理由擔(dān)心。長期來說,我們本周對非洲經(jīng)濟(jì)的特別報道顯示,這個有著12億人口的市場潛在回報巨大不容忽視,盡管風(fēng)險也不小。
    From oil in the gears to sand in the wheels
    從一路順風(fēng)到磕磕絆絆
    For decades, sentiment about Africa has followed commodity prices, rising and falling like a bungee-jumper at Victoria Falls.
    數(shù)十年來,對非洲的投資情緒一直隨大宗商品價格波動,如同在維多利亞瀑布蹦極跳一樣忽上忽下。
    The recent plunge has caused a 16% drop in sub-Saharan Africa's terms of trade (the ratio of the price of its exports to that of its imports).
    最近大宗商品價格大跌已令撒哈拉以南非洲的貿(mào)易比率(出口商品與進(jìn)口商品價格的相對價格比率)下降了16%。
    Growth across the region will slow to about 3% this year, predicts the World Bank, down from7-8% a decade ago. That is barely ahead of population growth of 2.7%.
    世界銀行估計整個地區(qū)今年的經(jīng)濟(jì)增長將會從十年前的7%到8%放緩至3%,勉強(qiáng)高于2.7%的人口增幅。
    Nigeria and Angola, two big oil exporters, will probably need bail-outs from the IMF within a year.
    石油出口大國尼日利亞和安哥拉恐怕年內(nèi)就會需要IMF的緊急救助。
    Yet Afro-pessimists should remember two things about commodity busts.
    然而對非洲持悲觀情緒的人們就大宗商品價格大跌的問題需要記住兩點:
    They don't last forever. And they don't hurt everyone:
    第一,價格不會永遠(yuǎn)下跌;第二,不是所有人都從中受害。
    17 African countries with a quarter of the region's population will show a net benefit from the current one, thanks to cheaper energy.
    由于能源價格低廉,非洲有17個國家(占非洲總?cè)丝谒姆种?將會在這一輪大跌的情況下獲得凈收益。
    More important, by focusing on the minerals markets it is easy to miss some big trends that are happening above ground—and these are mostly positive.
    更為重要的是,過于關(guān)注礦產(chǎn)品市場會容易忽略礦產(chǎn)行業(yè)以外的一些大趨勢—而這些趨勢多數(shù)都令人樂觀。
    The first is that Africa is far more peaceful than it was even a decade ago.
    首先,非洲要比十年前太平多了。
    The wars that ripped apart the Democratic Republic of Congo and sucked in its neighbors, causing millions of deaths, have largely been quelled. A few states, such as Somalia, South Sudan and the Central African Republic, are in chaos.
    內(nèi)戰(zhàn)曾一度令剛果民主共和國四分五裂,且波及多個鄰國,令數(shù)百萬人喪生。如今,戰(zhàn)火已基本平息。
    But overall the risk of dying violently in Africa has tumbled.
    還有一些國家,如索馬里、南蘇丹和中非共和國,仍然處于混亂之中。
    The latest ranking of the world's most violent countries by the Geneva Declaration includes just two African states (tiny Lesotho and Swaziland) among its top ten.
    但總體來說在非洲死于暴亂的危險已大為降低?!度諆?nèi)瓦宣言》最近列出的十個暴力情況最為嚴(yán)重的國家中,只有兩個是非洲國家(小國萊索托和斯威士蘭)。
    Africa is also far more democratic than it was.
    其二,非洲如今也更為民主了。
    In the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, only one sub-Saharan government was peacefully voted out of office.
    在上世紀(jì)六十、七十和八十年代,在撒哈拉以南非洲只有一個政府通過投票和平下臺。
    Now nearly all face regular elections, which are harder to rig thanks to social media. Voters have real choices—one reason why policies have improved.
    現(xiàn)在幾乎各國都會定期選舉,而且在社交媒體的監(jiān)督下,操縱選舉愈發(fā)困難。選民們有了真正的選擇—這也是政策有所改善的一個重要原因。
    Old-style governments favored nationalization, printing money and (in some cases) rounding peasants up at gunpoint and forcing them onto collective farms.
    老派的政府喜歡國有化、印制鈔票和(在有些情況下)用槍桿逼著農(nóng)民加入集體農(nóng)場。
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