Текст книги "Английский разговорный язык. Практическое пособие по развитию устной речи"

Argentine Beef Farmers Warn of More Strikes

When President Nйstor Kirchner implored the Argentines to eat less beef soon after imposing a surprise ban on beef exports in March, it was not because he was concerned about their health.

Argentines eat more beef than anyone else in the world – more than 60 kilos per head a year – but this move was another attempt by the government to tackle broader problems of ensuring adequate supply in the domestic market and curbing inflation, already aggravated by high international prices of agricultural goods.

Persistent government interventions in the sector – including export bans and restrictions on beef, wheat, corn and milk products, rising export duties and price controls – provoked farmers to go on strike this month for the second time this year. The strike, which involved withholding produce from the market, ended on Monday but no agreement was reached with the government, and leaders of farming associations are already threatening more and longer strikes in 2007.

«We are stuck with this interventionist system, where any day of the week short-term measures can be introduced, so that one day something is profitable and the next it isn't. Who can invest or think ahead in such an unpredictable country?» said Luciano Miguens, the president of the most traditional farming group, the Argentine Rural Society, which did not join the earlier strike.

Eduardo Buzzi, the leader of the Argentine Agrarian Federation, which protects the interests of smaller farmers, worries that government policy is damaging competitiveness abroad. «The government needs to ensure that national production is stable and predictable. At the moment they are not doing the right thing to be a trust – worthy supplier of a country like Germany, for example,» he says.

While farmers acknowledge that high international commodity prices should be a boon to agriculture, a cornerstone of the Argentine economy, they complain that the government is preventing them from taking advantage.

Furthermore, they say, measures such as the ban on beef exports have been ineffectual in preventing inflation. Although the price of livestock fell by about 30 per cent following the ban, prices in supermarkets fell by only 8 per cent. Such policies have merely resulted in a transfer of wealth away from producers of over $260m (Ј197m, i132m) this year, according to Mr Miguens. «I don't know if it's just that they don't want to under-stand the issues or that they really don't understand,» he says.

Farmers say the basic solution is to increase production, which has stagnated in recent years despite rising demand both at home and abroad. «Ever since it was elected, this government has completely failed to establish a plan for something as fundamental to our economy as beef or grains,» says Mr Buzzi.

Until production increases, farmers say there will continue to be pressure on prices. As agricultural produce has such a heavy weighting in the basket of goods used to track prices, this complicates the government's task of controlling inflation, one of its highest priorities. Thanks to its determined but controversial implementation of price controls this year, inflation looks set to fall to about 10 per cent for 2006, down from 12.3 per cent in 2005.

One representative of the farming sector involved in negotiations fears that differences in the government are complicating matters, with the economy minister, Felisa Miceli, pitted against the powerful secretary for internal commerce, Guillermo Moreno, who is responsible for enforcing price controls.

«Moreno is a fundamentalist. Bin Laden would be easier to negotiate with,» said the negotiator, who preferred to remain anonymous.

«Miceli understands that if there's no investment, inflation won't go away, but Moreno doesn't – the problem is who will win the tug of war. Moreno seems to think he can change the law of gravity.»

By Benedict Mander in Buenos Aires

Слова и выражения:

acknowledge – признавать, подтверждать

advantage – преимущество

aggravate – ухудшать, отягчать

agreement – соглашение

anonymous – анонимный

Argentine – Аргентина

attempt – попытка; пытаться

ban – запрет; запрещать

beef – говядина

boon – благо, благодеяние

competitiveness – конкурентоспособность

complain – жаловаться

complicate – усложнять

controversial – спорный, противоречивый

cornerstone – краеугольный камень

curb – обуздывать

elect – выбирать, избирать

enforce – вводить силой

fundamental – фундаментальный

fundamentalist – фундаменталист

furthermore – далее

implementation – внедрение, введение

implore – умолять

impose – налагать, навязывать

ineffectual – неэффективный

interventionist – интервенционистский

involve – вовлекать

issue – пункт, проблема, вопрос

kilo – килограмм

livestock – поголовье скота

merely – просто, едва

minister – министр

move – шаг, движение; двигаться

negotiator – переговорщик

persistent – настойчивый, настоятельный

pit – противостоять, выставлять в качестве противника

powerful – мощный, сильный, властный

prevent – предотвращать

priority – приоритет

provoke – провоцировать

restriction – ограничение

rural – сельский

stagnate – стагнировать, находиться в застое

stick (stuck) with – терпеть, выносить (что-либо)

strike – забастовка

transfer – переводить

trustworthy – достойный доверия

unpredictable – непредсказуемый

wheat – пшеница

withhold – удерживать

worry – беспокойство; беспокоиться

surprise ban – неожиданный запрет

per head – на душу населения (букв. на голову)

go on strike – бастовать

farming association – ассоциация фермеров

short-term – краткосрочный

think ahead – думать заранее (о чем-либо)

basket of goods – товарная корзина

track prices – отслеживать цены

internal commerce – внутренняя торговля

price controls – контроль за ценами, регулирование цен

win the tug of war – победить в перетягивании каната

law of gravity – закон всемирного тяготения

Bush Urged to Break US Oil Dependence

The Bush administration should act decisively to break America's dependence on oil, said a group of leading US business executives and senior military officers in a report presented on Wednesday to the White House and Congress.

The bipartisan group, which includes the chief executives of Fedex, UPS, Dow Chemicals and some of America's best known retired generals, urged Washington to recognise that «pure market economics will never solve the problem» of US oil dependency.

The report poured cold water on the Bush administration's goal of reducing America's dependence on foreign oil, rather than on oil in general. It urged Mr Bush and the new Democrat-controlled Congress to set up a plan to halve the American economy's oil-intensity by 2030.

George W. Bush has repeatedly identified «energy independence» and immigration reform as two of the issues most likely to attract bipartisan support following the Republican loss of control of Capitol Hill in mid-term elections last month.

«Events affecting supply or demand anywhere will affect consumers everywhere,» said the report, brought out by the Energy Security Leadership Council, a think tank. "Exposure to price shocks is a function of how much oil a nation consumes and is not significantly affected by the ratio of «domestic oil» to so-called «foreign oil.»

The report also warned Mr Bush, who is expected to announce new energy independence measures in his annual State of the Union address to Congress next month, that America's oil dependence makes it acutely vulnerable to terrorist attacks.

America's transport system is 97 per cent dependent on oil. More than 90 per cent of world oil supply is controlled by foreign governments. «America must address this critical weakness,» said P.X. Kelley, a retired Marine Corps general. «An oil supply interruption cannot be reasonably dismissed as improbable.»

However, there is deep-seated scepticism about the willingness of the Bush administration, which has yet to endorse the theory of global warming, to take the tough steps most energy experts say are necessary to reduce America's dependence on oil.

Last January Mr Bush declared that America was «addicted to oil». But Mr Bush's announcement was not followed by any significant change in energy strategy. «There is very little reason to believe that the White House will take the tough measures necessary to make this happen,» said a Washington-based energy lobbyist. «There is no appetite, say, to impose a carbon tax or for putting a floor under the price of oil that would incentivise investors to put their money into alternative energy.»

However, the US administration wants to step up cooperation with China on energy efficiency and the use of alternative fuels. Energy and the environment will be among the topics addressed in Friday's final session of the US – China strategic economic dialogue involving top officials meeting in Beijing.

The dialogue is the brainchild of Hank Paulson, US Treasury Secretary, who has a strong track record as an environmentalist and is treated with suspicion by some US conservatives as a result. Lack of binding targets for China and other big emerging market countries such as India to limit their greenhouse gas emissions was one of America's principal reasons for refusing to ratify the Kyoto accord.

By Carola Hoyos in London, Edward Luce in Washington and Krishna Guha in Beijing

Слова и выражения:

acutely – остро, критически

addict – пристраститься

alternative – альтернатива; альтернативный

announcement – объявление, заявление

annual – ежегодный

bipartisan – двухпартийный

brainchild – мысль (букв. ребенок мозга)

conservatives – консерваторы

decisively – решительно

dependence – зависимость

dialogue – диалог

dismiss – отпускать, увольнять, распускать

elections – выборы

emerge – появляться, возникать

emission – выброс, эмиссия

endorse – подтверждать, заверять, индоссировать

environment – окружающая среда

exposure – демонстрация, выставка

fuel – горючее

general – генерал

goal – цель

greenhouse – парник; парниковый

halve – сокращать наполовину

identify – признавать, отождествлять

immigration – иммиграция

improbable – невероятный

incentivise – мотивировать

interruption – прерывание

lobbyist – лоббист

loss – потеря, утрата

pour – лить, проливать

pure – чистый

ratify – ратифицировать

ratio – соотношение, коэффициент

reasonably – разумно

recognise – признавать, узнавать

repeatedly – многократно

retire – увольняться с работы, со службы

scepticism – скептицизм

session – сессия

significant – значительный

support – поддержка; поддерживать

suspicion – подозрение

tough – крепкий, крутой

urge – побуждать, торопить

vulnerable – ранимый, уязвимый

warn – предупреждать

weakness – слабость

willingness – желание

Democrat-controlled Congress – контролируемый демократами Конгресс

oil-intensity – здесь интенсивная зависимость от нефти

Capitol Hill – Капитолийский холм

mid-term – промежуточные

Energy Security Leadership Council – Совет энергетической безопасности

think tank – мозговой центр

price shocks – ценовой шок

terrorist attacks – атаки террористов

transport system – транспортная система

Marine Corps – морская пехота

deep-seated – глубоко сидящий

theory of global warming – теория глобального потепления

Washington-based – базирующийся в Вашингтоне

no appetite – нет желания

carbon tax – налог на выброс углерода и углеродосодержащих соединений

put a floor under the price – искусственно стабилизировать цены (букв. положить пол под ценами)

step up – сделать шаг вперед

top officials – высшие официальные лица

strong track record – прочная репутация, послужной список

binding target – общая цель

Kyoto accord – Киотский протокол

UK Earnings Rise More than Expected

The number of people claiming unemployment benefit fell unexpectedly last month and average earnings rose by more than forecast, an official report showed on Wednesday.

The data lend support to the majority view held within the Bank of England's monetary policy committee that despite net immigration, the labour market remains reason – ably tight and this could lead to burgeoning wage inflation.

The Office for National Statistics said the claimant count dropped by 5,700 in November, the biggest fall since January 2005. The reading for October, which had originally shown a rise of 1,200, was revised to a decline of 3,600.

Average earnings including bonuses climbed by 4.1 per cent in the three months to October, up 0.2 per cent on the previous reading. Excluding bonuses, average earnings were up by 3.8 per cent.

Unemployment in the three months to October, as calculated by the International Labour Organisation, fell by 7,000 to 1.695m, leaving an unemployment rate of 5.5 per cent.

The number of people in employment over the same period climbed by 41,000 to 29m.

The claimant count and wage data painted the picture of a labour market in somewhat ruder health than many analysts had expected, and sterling perked up on the news.

Richard Snook at the Centre for Economics and Business Research said: «These signs point to a tighter UK labour market than analysts had expected; the effect of which will be to reinforce the upward pressures on prices that has seen inflation rise to the highest level in nearly a decade.»

By Jamie Chisholm, Economics Reporter

Слова и выражения:

analyst – аналитик

burgeon – расти, распускаться

calculate – считать

claimant – обратившийся с требованием, просьбой

climb – взбираться, карабкаться, подниматься

decade – десятилетие

decline – падение, снижение

exclude – исключать

fall – падение

lead – вести

originally – изначально

perk up– ожить, воспрять духом

pressure – давление

reading – показатели

reinforce – укреплять, подкреплять, усиливать

revise – пересмотреть

sterling – стерлинг

tight – крепкий, тесный, узкий

unexpectedly – неожиданно

upward – по направлению вверх

unemployment benefit – пособие по безработице

average earnings – средняя заработная плата

by more than forecast – на более высокий уровень, чем было спрогнозировано

lend support – оказывать поддержку

majority view – точка зрения большинства

monetary policy committee – комитет по монетарной политике

net immigration – чистая иммиграция

wage inflation – инфляция, вызванная ростом заработной платы

Office for National Statistics – Национальное статистическое бюро

claimant count – здесь: подсчитанное количество обращений за пособиями

up by … per cent – на … процентов

International Labour Organisation – Международная организация труда

unemployment rate – уровень безработицы

wage data – данные по уровню заработной платы

paint the picture – написать картину

rude health – крепкое здоровье

Bank's Inflation Measure at Record High

The Bank of England's target measure of inflation jumped to a record high last month as the decline in transport costs slowed and the cost of running a home rose.

The pound gained ground against other significant currencies as the City reasoned that stronger-than-expected prices data increased the likelihood of a rise in interest rates early next year.

The Office for National Statistics said that in the year to November, the consumer price index climbed by 2.7 per cent, up from a 2.4 per cent rise the previous month, the fastest pace of increase since January 1997. This is the seventh successive month that the CPI has been above the Bank's target of 2 per cent.

Although the measure had been projected to climb higher towards the end of 2006, Paul Dales at Capital Economics warned that, despite recent softer news on economic activity, the inflation report could «ensure that the MPC remains in tightening mode going into the new year.»

Mervyn King, Bank governor, has made it clear that with judgments about economic prospects difficult, greater importance will be placed on «developments in costs, pay and prices.»

The concerns that higher headline price rises could bolster consumers' inflation expectations were also touched upon this week by Paul Tucker, the Bank's director for markets.

In a speech, Mr Tucker said he voted for an increase in interest rates at the MPC's November meeting because he wanted to head off inflationary wage demands and send a message that the Bank was willing to act to contain prices.

However, according to a survey by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation and KPMG, the professional services group, the rate of pay inflation for permanent jobs is running at the highest level for almost six years and at a 22-month high for temporary work.

The study said competition for talent against a background of rising demand for staff was pushing up wage bills. A series of recent high-profile private sector pay settlements, such as the annual rises of at least 4 per cent won by thousands of workers at Ford, Rolls-Royce and National Air Traffic Services, have suggested that annual wage demands increasingly are linked to the increase in the retail price index.

The RPI, which includes interest payments on mortgages, climbed in the 12 months to November by 3.9 per cent, up from 3.7 per cent in October and the highest reading since May 1998, said the ONS.

The main cause of acceleration in the CPI was the cost of transport, particularly petrol, where prices fell more slowly than for the comparable period last year.

Upward momentum was provided by increases in utility bills, particularly gas prices, and slower falls in the prices of electronic equipment.

Core inflation, a measure that excludes volatile items such as alcohol, tobacco, food and energy, climbed from 1.4 per cent in October to 1.6 per cent in November.

By Jamie Chisholm and Andrew Taylor

Слова и выражения:

acceleration – ускорение

alcohol – алкогольные напитки

bolster – поддерживать

comparable – сравнимый, сопоставимый

governor – управляющий

likelihood – вероятность

link – связь; связывать

momentum – движение

mortgage – ипотека, ипотечный кредит

petrol – бензин

project – планировать, проектировать

reason – аргументировать, говорить аргументированно

slow – замедлять(ся)

successive – следующие друг за другом

survey – исследование

target – цель

the City – Сити, деловой район Лондона

tobacco – табачные изделия

volatile – изменчивые, изменяющиеся, гибкие

target measure – целевые показатели

transport costs – транспортные издержки

running a home – обслуживание жилища

gain ground – укрепляться (о валюте)

CPI (consumer price index) – индекс потребительских цен Capital Economics

Capital Economics Ltd – независимое консультационное агентство в Лондоне, основанное в 1999

softer news – «мягкие» прогнозы, новости

MPC (marginal propensity to consume) – предельная склонность к потреблению (показатель, которым характеризуется функциональная зависимость текущих потребительских расходов от величины доходов)

tightening mode – напряженность, жесткость

with judgments about economic prospects difficult – в условиях, когда трудно судить об экономических перспективах

headline price – цены на ведущие товары и продукты

inflation expectations – инфляционные ожидания

touch upon – коснуться (чего-либо)

head off – предвосхитить

inflationary wage demands – требования повышения заработной платы, вызванные инфляционными ожиданиями

contain prices – сдерживать цены

The Recruitment and Employment Confederation(REC) – профессиональный союз, представляющий интересы работников службы занятости

KPMG – международная аудиторская и налоговая компания

pay inflation – инфляция, вызванная ростом заработной платы

permanent jobs – постоянные рабочие места

temporary work – временная работа

competition for talent – конкуренция среди работодателей, направленная на поиск и найм наиболее талантливых рабочих и служащих

against a background – на фоне

push up – толкать вверх

wage bills – чеки на заработную плату

high-profile private sector – крупные предприятия частного сектора

pay settlement – договоренность об уровне заработной платы между работодателями и работниками

wage demand – требования по повышению заработной платы

RPI (retail price index) – индекс розничных цен

interest payments – выплаты процентов

utility bills – счета за коммунальные услуги

gas prices – цены на газ

electronic equipment – электронное оборудование

core inflation – «чистая» инфляция