VOA标准英语2009年-New Report Finds Asia-Pacific Region Faces

A new report finds the Asia-Pacific region is facing a triple threat, as a consequence of the present global economic situation. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development has just unveiled its annual Economic and Social Survey for Asia and the Pacific.
　
UNCTAD Secretary-General Supachai Panitchpakdi, talks to reporters about new report during press conference in Geneva, 26 Mar¹ 2009

The world is faced with difficult economic times. The U.N. Conference on Trade and Development says the Asia-Pacific region also has two additional crises to face. These are the food-fuel price volatility² and climate change.

The UNCTAD survey says, together, they add up to triple threats to development, which have to be tackled with vigor³.

This is the second time in a decade Asia and the Pacific have been hit by a financial crisis. The survey finds reforms undertaken since 1997 in improved fiscal⁴ balances, banking⁵ reforms and foreign-exchange reserve accumulation made the region more resilient, at the beginning of the current crisis.

But, the report says that resilience started to erode⁶ in the fourth quarter of 2008. UNCTAD Economist⁷ Cape⁸ Kasahara says trade - the region's engine of growth - moved from double-digit growth to double-digit declines.

"So, the greater the external reliance the country's economy is to trade, particularly export, it tends to make that national economy rather vulnerable to the external shock," Kasahara said.

The survey says the Asia-Pacific region is more economically integrated with the rest of the world then with itself. It calls for more intra-regional trade and investment by implementing⁹ regional economic-cooperation agreements.

Almost two-thirds of the world's poor people and half of its natural disasters are found in Asia and the Pacific. UNCTAD says the number of poor people in the region is likely to increase, as a result of the economy and rising unemployment.

Kasahara says last year's record high oil prices of $147 a barrel caused food prices to skyrocket. He says this hit the poor particularly hard.

"Much of the food-price increase has a greater affect on the poor households, because they tend to have a high propensity¹⁰ to consume. They spend a large amount of the household budget on food items. Therefore, the major victims of the food-price shock to the national economy tends to be poor."

The survey says the triple crises are interlinked. Studies show natural disasters disproportionately affect the poor and the most vulnerable. The report says climate change threatens to worsen this situation by increasing the frequency and severity of natural disasters and crop failures in the region.

The U.N. report says government stimulus¹¹ packages can reinvigorate the economy, in the short term. They also can address long-term issues by investing in food and energy security, social safety nets, disaster risk reduction and green technology.

1 mar   

vt.破坏，毁坏，弄糟

参考例句：

• It was not the custom for elderly people to mar the picnics with their presence.大人们照例不参加这样的野餐以免扫兴。
• Such a marriage might mar your career.这样的婚姻说不定会毁了你的一生。

2 volatility   

n.挥发性，挥发度，轻快，（性格）反复无常

参考例句：

• That was one reason why volatility was so low last year.这也是去年波动性如此低的原因之一。
• Yet because volatility remained low for so long,disaster myopia prevailed.然而，由于相当长的时间里波动性小，灾难短视就获胜了。

3 vigor   

n.活力，精力，元气

参考例句：

• The choir sang the words out with great vigor.合唱团以极大的热情唱出了歌词。
• She didn't want to be reminded of her beauty or her former vigor.现在，她不愿人们提起她昔日的美丽和以前的精力充沛。

4 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

5 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

6 erode   

v.侵蚀，腐蚀，使...减少、减弱或消失

参考例句：

• Once exposed,soil is quickly eroded by wind and rain.一旦暴露在外，土壤很快就会被风雨侵蚀。
• Competition in the financial marketplace has eroded profits.金融市场的竞争降低了利润。

7 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

8 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

9 implementing   

v.实现( implement的现在分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• -- Implementing a comprehensive drug control strategy. ――实行综合治理的禁毒战略。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• He was in no hurry about implementing his unshakable principle. 他并不急于实行他那不可动摇的原则。 来自辞典例句

10 propensity   

n.倾向；习性

参考例句：

• He has a propensity for drinking too much alcohol.他有酗酒的倾向。
• She hasn't reckoned on his propensity for violence.她不曾料到他有暴力倾向。

11 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。