商务英语中级考试阅读材料全新

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商务英语中级考试阅读材料：污染严重

一项全球污染研究昨日发现，中国、印度和俄罗斯名列全球污染严重地区之首。

China, India and Russia top the list of the world’s most polluted places, a study of global pollution yesterday found.

在全球十大污染严重的地区中，上述三个国家各占两个，而另外四个地区分别位于秘鲁、乌克兰、赞比亚和阿塞拜疆。

The three countries are each home to two of the world’s top 10 polluted sites, while the others are in Peru, Ukraine, Zambia and Azerbaijan.

临汾和天津分别因空气质量糟糕和金属工业，成为中国污染严重的城市。Sukinda和Vapi由于采矿业和一般工业，名列印度污染严重地区榜首。金属冶炼中心诺里尔斯克和武器制造基地捷尔任斯克，是俄罗斯污染严重的地区。

Linfen and Tianjin are the worst polluted places in China because of poor air quality and the metal industry respectively. Sukinda and Vapi are the worst in India, the former because of mining and the latter from general industry. Norilsk, where metals are extracted, and Dzerzhinsk, home to weapons manufacture, are Russia’s most polluted locations.

铁匠研究所(Blacksmith Institute)发布了有关全球30个污染严重地区的报告。该组织表示，不太可能将十大污染地区进行排序，因为每个地区的污染形式不同，而且在其地理和人口方面也存在很大差别。

The Blacksmith Institute, which produced the report on the “dirty 30” most polluted places on the planet, said it was not possible to rank the top 10 in order because of the different forms of pollution in each place and because they differed widely in their geography and population.

铁匠研究所全球业务主管大卫?汉拉汉(David Hanrahan)表示：“这30个污染城市都对人类健康造成很大毒害。”

“All sites in the dirty 30 are very toxic and dangerous to human health,” said David Hanrahan, director of global operations at Blacksmith.

该研究所所长理查德?富勒(Richard Fuller)称：“事实上，这些污染地区的儿童正罹患疾病，(有些人)生命垂危，而目前还没有解决这些问题的先进科学。”

Richard Fuller, director of the institute, said: “The fact of the matter is that children are sick and dying in these polluted places and it’s not rocket science to fix them.”

报告发现，在30个污染严重地区中，采矿业是污染主要的原因，而金属冶炼、石化及其它工业也是污染的原因。

Mining was found to be the most frequent cause of pollution in the dirty 30 but metals extraction, petrochemicals and other industries were also to blame.

空气污染严重地区分别是中国的临汾、兰州和乌鲁木齐，俄罗斯的马格尼托哥尔斯克，以及墨西哥城。

The worst places for air pollution were Linfen, Lanzhou and Urumqi in China, Magnitogorsk in Russia and Mexico City.

肯尼亚的丹罗拉垃圾场也榜上有名，成为城市垃圾污染严重的地区。

The Dandora dump in Kenya made it on to the list for being the worst site polluted by urban waste.

乌克兰切尔诺贝利的核污染残留物使该地区进入十大污染城市之列，吉尔吉斯斯坦的梅鲁苏地区也因其核场所而上榜。

Chernobyl’s legacy of nuclear contamination put the region in the top 10, and Mailuu-Suu in Kyrgyzstan was also judged one of the worst polluted for its nuclear site

商务英语中级考试阅读材料：中国航空货运业

中国制造业的显著增长，促使航空货运公司争相发展其在华业务。然而，这可能成为一个业务规模扩张过大、速度过快的案例。

China’s spectacular manufacturing growth has left air freight carriers scrambling to develop their activities in the country. But it could be a case of too much, too soon.

两年前，从南京或上海空运货物至欧洲，每公斤运费高达4美元;如今的价格约为2.50美元。南京禄口机场副总经理徐勇表示：“在此项业务上仍有钱赚的航空公司非常少见。”

Two years ago, flying goods from Nanjing or Shanghai to Europe cost up to $4 a kilogramme; today it the price is about $2.50. “Very few carriers are still making money here,’’ says Xu Yong, vice-president of Nanjing airport.

由于机队扩张速度继续超出需求，航空公司正加剧中国一些机场的拥堵问题。徐勇警告称：“我们现在的飞机数量实在是太多了。”

As fleet expansion continues to outpace demand, carriers are adding to congestion problems at some Chinese airports. “We have just far too many planes now”Mr Xu warns.

荷兰航空公司Martinair副总裁弗兰克?德容(Frank de Jong)表示，中国空运货物出口量正以每年约10%的速度增长，而飞机货物运力的增幅约为25%。

Frank de Jong, vice-president at Martinair, the Dutch carrier, says the volume of Chinese exports by air is growing by about 10 per cent a year but aircraft cargo capacity is rising by about 25 per cent.

在亚洲，约半数货物在运输时都是放在定期客运航班的腹舱内。例如，在客运航空公司中，大韩航空(Korean Airlines)拥有全球规模的货运业务，其28%的收入来自航空货运业务。

In Asia, about half of cargo transported is carried in the belly of regular passenger flights. Korean Airlines, for example, has the world’s largest cargo business among passenger airlines, with 28 per cent of its revenue coming from air freight.

在美国，大部分航空货运业务由以UPS和联邦快递(FedEx)为首的专业货运公司负责。中国政府近已进一步放宽了对上述两家公司的准入限制。

In the US, the bulk of air cargo is handled by the specialist freight industry, led by UPS and FedEx. The Chinese government has recently granted greater access to the two companies.

瑞士信贷(Credit Suisse)分析师彼得?希尔顿(Peter Hilton)表示：“美国公司可以向中国体系内注入更多运力，并承接向来由亚洲航空公司包揽的货运业务。”

Peter Hilton, analyst at Credit Suisse, says: “The Americans are being allowed to inject more capacity into the Chinese system and moving goods that would have traditionally gone to Asian carriers.”

中国政府已加大其发展国内航空货运业的努力，鼓励国内航空公司与经验更为丰富的西方货运公司合作。而就在不久前，中国政府的重点还几乎全放在航空客运业的改革和扩张方面。

Beijing has stepped up its efforts to develop a domestic air freight industry, encouraging its airlines to team up with more experienced Western cargo operators. Until recently, the Chinese government had instead focused almost exclusively on overhauling and expanding the passenger airline industry.

一位香港银行家表示：“从政治角度来看，运送旅客比运输货物更能建立声望，但政府已意识到，货运对出口驱动型的制造业领域至关重要。”

A Hong Kong banker says: “Politically, there’s a lot more prestige in helping move people rather than goods, but the government has woken up to how crucial freight is for an export-led 

由于波动的股市仍在继续影响并购交易，摩根士丹利(Morgan Stanley)已暂停出售所持中国券商中金公司(CICC)的股份。它告诉贝恩资本(Bain Capital)和TPG等参与竞购的私人股本公司，它们的出价过低。

Morgan Stanley has put the sale of its stake in mainland brokerage China International Capital Corp on hold, telling private equity bidders including Bain Capital and TPG that their offers are too low as jittery equity markets continue to take a toll on deals.

中金公司的交易表明，潜在买家与卖家之间的预期通常会相差何其之远。

The CICC deal provides evidence of just how far apart the expectations of potential buyers and sellers generally remain.

由于可以获得的借贷资金数额大幅减少，收购公司不愿为新交易支付高价，而卖方仍然希望得到6个月之前可能拿到的金额。

With their access to vast sums of borrowed money curtailed, buy-out firms are reluctant to pay top price for new deals while sellers are still hoping to get as much as they would have received six months ago.

从中金公司交易程序启动伊始，相关私人股本公司的高管就表示担心，自己也许会买在点。

From the beginning of the CICC process, executives from the private equity firms involved expressed concern that they might be buying at a peak.

摩根士丹利暂停拍卖所持中金公司34.3%股份，将使问题复杂化，因为这家投行已计划与上海的华鑫证券(Fortune Securities)达成新的伙伴关系。

Putting the auction for Morgan Stanley’s 34.3 per cent stake in the brokerage on hold will complicate matters as the bank had planned to seal a new partnership with Fortune Securities in Shanghai.

中国政府已经告诉摩根士丹利，它在中国不能同时拥有两家投行业务合资企业。摩根士丹利曾希望，所持中金公司股份可以为自己带来至少10亿美元资金。

Morgan Stanley, which hoped to get at least $1bn for its CICC stake, has been told by the government that it cannot simultaneously be in two separate investment banking ventures in China.

摩根士丹利在中金公司的主要合作伙伴中国建设银行(CCB)已经将所持股份转让给中投公司(CIC)。

China Construction Bank, Morgan Stanley’s principal partner in CICC, has transferred its stake to China Investment Corp.

去年12月，中投公司斥资50亿美元收购了摩根士丹利少数股权。这笔交易更多地被描述为对摩根士丹利的战略投资，而不是救援融资。

CIC bought a $5bn minority stake in Morgan Stanley in December in a deal that was described more as a strategic investment for Morgan Stanley than as rescue finance.

当摩根士丹利初于1995年夏达成入股中金公司的交易时，中国市场还很沉静，大部分利润来自中国政府债券的利息。

When the CICC deal was first sealed in the summer of 1995, Chinese markets were dormant and most of profits came from the interest earned on Chinese government bonds.

但是现在，中国企业正在全球四处并购，更多公司准备上市融资，国内股市投资者人数与日俱增，全球其它国家和地区争相寻找中国投资资金，价位合适的中国券商因此拥有极大的吸引力。

But now, Chinese firms are scouring the world for mergers and acquisitions, more companies are going public, the number of investors in the domestic stock market is growing by the day and the rest of the world is lining up in search of Chinese investment capital, making Chinese brokerages hugely attractive at the right price.

中金公司高管的薪酬，远远高于中信证券(Citic Securities)等其它大陆券商。

CICC executives are paid far more than their counterparts at other mainland brokerage firms such as Citic Securities.

商务英语中级考试阅读材料：美国2月成屋销售量

美国2月份成屋销售量7个月来首次出现增长，但销售价格却创下至少40年来的跌幅。

Sales of previously owned homes in the US rose for the first time in seven months in February, while sale prices fell by their most in at least 40 years.

全美房地产经纪人协会(National Association of Realtors)的数据显示，经季节因素调整后，美国上月成屋销售量增加2.9%，折合成年率为503万套，但较上年同期减少了23.8%。

Figures from the National Association of Realtors showed that existing home sales rose by 2.9 per cent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.03m units last month, still 23.8 per cent lower than a year ago.

此前，美国1月份成屋销售量折合成年率为489万套，创下自1999年有记录以来的水平。市场曾预计2月份的销售量将再次小幅下滑，至485万套。

The rise comes after sales fell in January to a level of 4.89m – the lowest since records began in 1999. Sales had been expected to fall modestly again this month to a level of 4.85m.

经济学家们表示，成屋销售量的增加，对住宅和金融市场是一个积极信号，但并非住宅市场即将好转的明证。

Economists said that the rise was a positive indication for housing and the financial markets but that it was not clear evidence that residential real estate was about to improve.

雷曼兄弟(Lehman Brothers)经济学家扎克?潘德尔(Zach Pandl)表示：“销售量的上升是重要的步，但我不会就此认为住宅市场的问题都已得到解决。”

“The rise in sales is an important first step,” said Zach Pandl, an economist at Lehman Brothers. “But I wouldn’t call it the end of the problems in housing.”

美国2月份成屋销售价格下滑8.2%，价格中值为19.59万美元，创下全美房地产经纪人协会自1968年开始记录房价以来的单月跌幅。

House prices fell 8.2 per cent – the biggest one-month drop since the NAR began keeping records in 1968 – to a median price of $195,900 (?127,000, ￡98,700).

成屋库存减少3%，从10.2个月供应量减少至9.6个月供应量，但仍处于非常高的水平，是2005年水平的两倍以上。

The inventory of homes for sale fell by 3 per cent from 10.2 to 9.6 months’ supply. The supply is still extre-mely elevated and more than twice as high as in 2005.

潘德尔表示：“只有看到房屋价格见底，人们才会对房地产或证券市场恢复信心。”

“Until you see a bottom in home prices, people are not going to be confident about the market in homes or in securities,” Mr Pandl said.

JP摩根(JPMorgan)的麦克尔?芮豪特(Michael Rehaut)表示：“考虑到总体需求疲软，而且目前看来春季销售疲软的趋势已经形成，我们相信……房屋销量的上升可能只是暂时的。”

“We believe this?.?.?.?pickup will likely prove temporary, given overall weak demand and the soft spring selling season that we believe has so far taken shape,” said Mi-chael Rehaut at JPMorgan.

在另一份数据中，芝加哥联邦储备银行(Chicago Federal Reserve Bank)的全国活动指数显示，美国的经济衰退可能已经开始。今年2月，该指数的3个月均值跌破-0.70的“关口”，至-0.87。芝加哥联邦储备银行表示：“经过一段时间的经济扩张后出现这种情况，说明衰退已经开始的可能性越来越大。”

In another data release, the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank’s National Activity index sent a signal that a recession had probably begun in the US. The three-month average score for the index fell below the -0.70 “threshold” to -0.87 for February. “Such an occurrence following a period of economic expansion indicates an increasing likelihood that a recession has begun,” the bank said.