新西兰英语 474 Kiwi dollar still high

 　　The Kiwi dollar was 88.3 cents against the US dollar a few days ago but by 5pm today it had dropped to 83.7 cents. This is still too high for exporters. New Zealand exports dairy¹ products, meat, wool, timber², fruit, wine and many other products which grow on the land. Apple growers say they will lose money from selling their apples in Europe if the kiwi dollar stays high.

　　A high Kiwi dollar means that imports are cheaper. We import cars, clothes and electronic goods. New Zealanders who are travelling overseas are happy because their money will buy more in another country.

　　However, our Minister of Finance³, Bill English believes the Kiwi dollar is too high but the government will not do anything to bring it down.

　　Questions

　　Why is the kiwi dollar high at the moment? Is it because of the weak US dollar and problems with Greece and some other countries in the EU? Or is it a sign that our economy is doing well?

1 dairy   

n.牛奶场，乳品店；adj.乳制品的

参考例句：

• The yogurt sold by this dairy is delicious.这家乳品店出售的酸奶非常好喝。
• He kept a few dairy cows.他养了几头奶牛。

2 timber   

n.木材，原木，大木料，栋木

参考例句：

• These trees need more time to grow into useful timber.这些树不够年头，还没成材呢。
• The timber is graded according to its thickness.木材按厚度分级。

3 finance   

n.财务管理，财政，金融，财源，资金

参考例句：

• She is an expert in finance.她是一名财政专家。
• A finance house made a bid to buy up the entire company.一家信贷公司出价买下了整个公司。