44 七国聚焦世界经济的衰退
G-7 Focus on Slumping World Economy
Douglas Bakshian
Luxembourg
7 Jul 2001 13:16 UTC
1)Finance ministers of the Group of Seven major 2)industrial nations are holding a one-day meeting in Rome, focusing in large part on how to get the 3)slumping world economy back on the track towards growth.
Before leaving for the Rome meeting, Britain's finance minister Gordon Brown told British radio that all the member nations must work together to avoid 4)recession. "The 5)downturn in the world economy has not reached its bottom," he said. "It is in many ways far more severe than we expected a few months ago because it has spread from America in particular to Germany and of course we have no growth at all in Japan. But what we must do then is 6)recognize that this is a global problem, that every 7)continent must play its part."
There are differing views on how best to get the global economy going again.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill has indicated that U.S. tax and interest rate cuts, aimed at 8)averting recession, have not been 9)matched by other G-7 nations.
The European Central Bank has refused to make large interest rate cuts, saying they are not necessary. The bank is known for its 10)fiercely guarded independence.
Japan has drawn up a reform package to keep its economy, the world's second largest, from 11)shrinking. Other G-7 nations are expected to urge Japan to move ahead with the reforms as quickly as possible.
Some European leaders blame the current world slowdown on the faltering American economy, as well as the rise in oil prices.
The finance ministers are also expected to address a number of other topics from multilateral lending and 12)antitrust regulations, including the European Commission's decision to block the proposed merger between General Electric and Honeywell.
The gathering is also making preparations for the summit of their heads of government later this month in Genoa.
注释：
(1) finance [5faInAns]n.财政, 金融, 财政学
(2) industrial [In5dQstrIEl] adj.工业的, 产业的, 实业的, 从事工业的
(3) slump [slQmp] n.消沉, 衰退, (物价)暴跌 v.失败, 消沉, (物价)暴跌, 跌落
(4) recession [rI5seF(E)n] n.撤回, 退回, 退后, 工商业之衰退, 不景气
(5) downturn [`daJnt:n] n.低迷时期
(6) recognize [5rekE^naIz] vt.认可, 承认, 公认, 赏识
(7) continent [5kRntInEnt] n.大陆, 陆地
(8) avert [E5v:t] v.转移
(9) match [mAtF] v.相配, 相称, 比赛, 相比, 匹配
(10) fiercely [`fIEslI] adv.猛烈地, 厉害地
(11) shrink [FrINk] v.收缩, (使)皱缩, 缩短
(12) antitrust [9AntI`trQst] adj.反托拉斯的