改革開放的深入,改變了人們對(duì)英語和英語教學(xué)的認(rèn)識(shí)。在中國逐步向世界全面開放的過程中,英語作為一種通用語,在人們眼里已不再神秘,它只是中國與世界交流必不可少的語言工具。英語的教學(xué)目標(biāo)也不再像幾十年前那樣,旨在培養(yǎng)少數(shù)英語語言精英,而是要培養(yǎng)各行各業(yè)急需的、能直接進(jìn)行跨文化交際和雙向語言溝通的千千萬萬普通勞動(dòng)者。
改革開放的深入,改變了人們對(duì)英語和英語教學(xué)的認(rèn)識(shí)。在中國逐步向世界全面開放的過程中,英語作為一種通用語,在人們眼里已不再神秘,它只是中國與世界交流必不可少的語言工具。英語的教學(xué)目標(biāo)也不再像幾十年前那樣,旨在培養(yǎng)少數(shù)英語語言精英,而是要培養(yǎng)各行各業(yè)急需的、能直接進(jìn)行跨文化交際和雙向語言溝通的千千萬萬普通勞動(dòng)者。在這種新認(rèn)識(shí)的驅(qū)動(dòng)下,從20世紀(jì)后期起,各大學(xué)在繼續(xù)傳統(tǒng)英語專業(yè)教學(xué)的同時(shí),都積極探索著新的英語教學(xué)模式,以培養(yǎng)中國社會(huì)飛速發(fā)展所需要的大量復(fù)合型應(yīng)用英語人才——既能用英語同世界直接交流又懂一些專門知識(shí)與實(shí)務(wù)操作技能的現(xiàn)代化社會(huì)勞動(dòng)者。
近10年來中國涌現(xiàn)出來的300多所民辦獨(dú)立學(xué)院,即源于上述這種認(rèn)識(shí)。作為獨(dú)立學(xué)院的英語專業(yè),也明確提出了培養(yǎng)復(fù)合型應(yīng)用英語人才的目標(biāo),所采用的教學(xué)模式是“英語+專業(yè)”,抑或“專業(yè)+英語”,即新型英語專業(yè)。
新型英語專業(yè)的培養(yǎng)目標(biāo)符合當(dāng)今中國社會(huì)發(fā)展的需要。因?yàn)榕c傳統(tǒng)英語專業(yè)學(xué)生相比,新型英語專業(yè)的學(xué)生擁有前者所欠缺的專門化學(xué)科知識(shí);而與其他學(xué)科的學(xué)生相比,他們又擁有后者所不具備的英語接收與表達(dá)能力。這些瞳專業(yè)、會(huì)英語、能直接與世界交流與溝通的畢業(yè)生,是有著極大提高潛力和完善空間的復(fù)合型應(yīng)用英語人才,為國家和社會(huì)所需要,因此就業(yè)面廣,很受社會(huì)歡迎。
Part One Globa I and National Economic Situation /1
Unit One
Text A Another Bush, Another Jobless Recovery /3
Text B The Hard Road Ahead /14
Unit Two
Text A Finally, Some Good News /21
Text B Steaming /35
Unit Three
Text A Too Much Money: Inflation Goes Global /42
Text B The New "New Economy" /55
Unit Four
Text A Indias Economy Hits the Wall /66
Text B A Yawning Trade Gap Could Swallow the Recovery /79
Unit Five
Text A Can Europes Recovery Last? /86
Text B Climb on, Honey: This Could Be Wild /98
Part Two World Trade /109
Unit One
Text A The Doha Squabble /111
Text B Drops on Parched Soil /128
Unit Two
Text A China and Europe /133
Text B The Folly of Slapping Out as on China /149
Unit Three
Text A 2005s Global Trade Hot Spots /155
Text B Sparks Fly over Steel /171
Unit Four
Text A Slouching toward a Trade War? /177
Text B The GM Gamble /187
Unit Five
Text A Two Cheers for Free Trade /192
Text B Engaging the U.S. with Trade /207
Part Three Finance /215
Unit One
Text A Time to Go Up /217
Text B The Joy of Inflation /228
Unit Two
Text A Looking Up /232
Text B Still in Gear /245
Unit Three
Text A Searching for Plan B /251
Text B Drowning in Dollars /266
Unit Four
Text A Oceans Apart /273
Text B Super-euro /285
Part Four Management /291
Unit One
Text A Make Way for Madame Director /293
Text B Earnings Guidance: Silence Is Golden /307
Unit Two
Text A Finally, Coke Gets It Right /314
Text B The Live Wire in Indian High Tech /324
Unit Three
Text A Microsoft without Gates /334
Text B Gates without Microsoft /353
Unit Four
Text A Audi, Volvo, Acura ... Chrysler? /363
Text B Volkswagen Needs a Jump /376
Another deterrent to hiring people is the price of benefits. The growth in the cost of things like health-care insurance accelerated to 6.1% in the first three months of 2003, the highest rate since 1992, when costs were actually decelerating.
The result is not just that more people are losing jobs; they are staying out of work for longer. People who become unemployed now stay out of work on average for almost 20 weeks, the longest since early 1984. The proportion of workers who exhaust their unemployment benefits before they find work is the highest since record began in the early 1970s.
What will turn this gloomy picture around? Optimists reckon that many ingredients for an economic rebound are already in place. With the Iraq war over, the geopolitical uncertainty that hobbled business investment has fallen. Oil prices have fallen back, consumer confidence
has shot up, share prices are well off their mid-March lows and spreads on corporate bonds have narrowed.
In testimony to Congress on April 30th, the best-known optimist, Alan Greenspan, argued that the economy was "positioned to expand at a noticeably better pace than it has during the past year". At its meeting on May 6th, the Federal Reserves policy-making committee decided to keep short-term interest rates on hold.