VOA标准英语2008年-OECD Predicts Stormy Economic Times Ahead for E

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development says the British economy will likely fall into recession this year and the largest economies on continental¹ Europe will not fare much better. Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown unveiled plans to spend nearly $2 billion reinvigorating the country's ailing² housing market, which is suffering its worst slump³ since the early 1990s. For VOA, Tom Rivers reports from London.
　
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown (file photo)

Economists⁴ define a recession as two quarters of negative growth and that is exactly what the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development forecasts for Britain. The Paris-based organization predicts the British economy will actually shrink at an annual rate of three-tenths of one percent in the third quarter and two-fifths of a percent in the fourth quarter.

And the rest of Europe does not look much better. The OECD forecasts that the region's three other big economic powerhouses - Germany, France and Italy - will barely grow at all this year.

In Britain, the assessment⁵ is being countered with a handful of government incentive⁶ programs aimed at trying to stimulate⁷ the economy.

The biggest drag on the British economy is the housing market where mortgage approvals are down by more than 70 percent compared to just one year ago. Given the difficult market, Prime Minister Gordon Brown's government is eliminating the home-buyer tax - known as the stamp duty - on residential⁸ home purchases of less than $312,000. That rate would affect just less than half of all homes on the market in Britain.

"Homeowners need to know that we will do everything we can to keep the housing market moving forward - help with stamp duty, help for first time buyers, help to build more social housing, help to take unsold properties off the housing market and help with people who get into difficulties - these are the things that a government should do to help people as we come through a difficult situation and then show that our economy is resilient and will come these problems," he said.

Britain's Treasury⁹ Secretary Alistair Darling says the fact that tough economic times are being felt around the world does not make it any easier to cope.

"We are facing difficult times, you know we are in a situation where you have the combination of the credit crunch¹⁰ together with high oil and food prices and we have not seen that coming together. It is unique, which the IMF itself has said we have not seen this since the 1930s in fact," said Darling.

In addition to the elimination¹¹ of the home-buyer tax on the lower half of the market, Darling says the government will also introduce a measure to help out first-time buyers on lower incomes and provide them with a free five-year loan worth up to nearly a third of the home's value.

Also, to combat the rising number of foreclosures, the government is unveiling a plan to protect vulnerable families who are at risk of having their homes repossessed. In some cases, the government would give money to such families to help with mortgage payments in exchange for an equity¹² stake in the homes.

1 continental   

adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的

参考例句：

• A continental climate is different from an insular one.大陆性气候不同于岛屿气候。
• The most ancient parts of the continental crust are 4000 million years old.大陆地壳最古老的部分有40亿年历史。

2 ailing   

v.生病

参考例句：

• They discussed the problems ailing the steel industry. 他们讨论了困扰钢铁工业的问题。
• She looked after her ailing father. 她照顾有病的父亲。

3 slump   

n.暴跌，意气消沉，（土地）下沉；vi.猛然掉落，坍塌，大幅度下跌

参考例句：

• She is in a slump in her career.她处在事业的低谷。
• Economists are forecasting a slump.经济学家们预言将发生经济衰退。

4 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

6 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

7 stimulate   

vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋

参考例句：

• Your encouragement will stimulate me to further efforts.你的鼓励会激发我进一步努力。
• Success will stimulate the people for fresh efforts.成功能鼓舞人们去作新的努力。

8 residential   

adj.提供住宿的；居住的；住宅的

参考例句：

• The mayor inspected the residential section of the city.市长视察了该市的住宅区。
• The residential blocks were integrated with the rest of the college.住宿区与学院其他部分结合在了一起。

9 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

10 crunch   

n.关键时刻；艰难局面；v.发出碎裂声

参考例句：

• If it comes to the crunch they'll support us.关键时刻他们是会支持我们的。
• People who crunch nuts at the movies can be very annoying.看电影时嘎吱作声地嚼干果的人会使人十分讨厌。

11 elimination   

n.排除，消除，消灭

参考例句：

• Their elimination from the competition was a great surprise.他们在比赛中遭到淘汰是个很大的意外。
• I was eliminated from the 400 metres in the semi-finals.我在400米半决赛中被淘汰。

12 equity   

n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票

参考例句：

• They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
• To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值，墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。