ECONOMICS REPORT - Economic News in 2005

ECONOMICS REPORT - Economic News in 2005
By Mario Ritter

Broadcast: Friday, December 30, 2005

I'm Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Economic Report.

Today, we look back on some top stories of two thousand five. In January, we heard about the retirement¹ plans, or pensions, of several airline companies in the United States. The Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation has since taken control of the pensions of U.S. Airways² and United Airlines. Also, Delta³ Airlines and Northwest Airlines requested legal protection from their creditors⁴ in September.

 
United Airlines
The Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation protects the pensions of more than thirty-four million workers. The federal agency takes control of troubled pension plans. It says the pensions of Delta and Northwest have a total deficit⁵ of more than sixteen thousand million dollars.

But the agency has its own troubles. Its chief, Bradley Belt, said in November that the financial health of the agency was not improving. The Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation reported a deficit of almost twenty-three thousand million dollars this year. Last month, the United States Senate passed rules to strengthen pension plans. But the House of Representatives is not likely to vote on new rules soon.

In September, fuel prices hit new highs. American drivers paid an average of three dollars and seven cents a gallon, or almost four liters. Damaging storms and growing demand were blamed for much of the increase. Hurricane Katrina and Rita damaged about one-third of all oil and natural gas production in the Gulf⁶ of Mexico.

The Department of Energy says problems of supply will remain until next year. As a result, most Americans will pay more for heating during the winter. Natural gas prices could increase the most. But pressure on drivers appears to be easing. Gasoline prices dropped to about two dollars twenty centers a gallon by the middle of December.

This year also marked the tenth anniversary of e-commerce. To many Americans, it may seem much longer. Amazon-dot-com opened in July of nineteen ninety-five. The store has received credit for changing people's opinions about buying over the Internet.

How much has the Internet changed the way Americans buy things? On the final Monday in November, Americans bought nearly five hundred million dollars in goods over the Internet. That represents a twenty-six percent increase from the same day last year.

This VOA Special English Economics Report was written by Mario Ritter. I'm Steve Ember.

1 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

2 AIRWAYS   

航空公司

参考例句：

• The giant jets that increasingly dominate the world's airways. 越来越称雄于世界航线的巨型喷气机。
• At one point the company bought from Nippon Airways a 727 jet. 有一次公司从日本航空公司买了一架727型喷气机。

3 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

4 creditors   

n.债权人，债主( creditor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They agreed to repay their creditors over a period of three years. 他们同意3年内向债主还清欠款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Creditors could obtain a writ for the arrest of their debtors. 债权人可以获得逮捕债务人的令状。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

6 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。