时间:2019-01-07 作者:英语课 分类:2007年VOA常速英语(十月)


英语课
By Mil Arcega
Washington
02 October 2007
 


Oil prices retreated Monday following record-breaking surges last month that saw the price of crude soar above $84 a barrel.  Despite prices dipping to more seasonal 1 levels on Monday, the high cost of energy continues to be a boon 2 to oil-producing countries. 
Gulf 3 State countries especially, are awash in cash.  Instead of channeling the money into larger bank accounts, many oil-exporting countries have been busy accumulating foreign assets, much of it, in the United States.  It is an investment trend that has some people worried.  VOA's Mil Arcega reports.


Record high oil prices are generating what some analysts 5 say may be the biggest shopping spree in history.  The government of Dubai recently announced plans to buy 20 percent of the Nasdaq stock exchange.  And last month, Dubai completed a deal to buy American luxury retailer 6 Barneys.


Clyde Prestowitz is founder 7 of the Economic Strategy Institute in Washington, D.C. "The oil producers are drowning in dollars.  And so it's natural that they would want to invest them," he says.


Indeed, Gulf State countries have been investing at a furious pace this year, spending more than $60 billion to acquire foreign assets -- more than twice what they spent last year.   Despite the political outcry in 2006 when a Dubai firm announced it wanted to buy the operating rights to some U.S. ports, the government of Dubai has been quietly amassing 8 major stakes in U.S.-owned companies. 


Energy security analyst 4 Sarah Emerson says the list includes large private U.S. equity 9 firms and Las Vegas casinos.  "We don't want them to go elsewhere, we need the investment here in our own assets and our own securities."


But there is growing concern about foreign ownership of iconic American businesses.  Prestowitz says some of those countries may not be democratic or even friendly to the United States. "The question here is, are you in a situation in which you have very influential 10 governments becoming very influential in your economy who are pursuing policies that are at odds 11 with your own policies."


But some analysts say the investments will increase economic ties between the U.S. and Persian Gulf countries at a time when relations are strained.  Some lawmakers on Capitol Hill are strongly opposed to foreign ownership of strategic American businesses such as stock markets.  President Bush promises a careful review of the Nasdaq deal.




adj.季节的,季节性的
  • The town relies on the seasonal tourist industry for jobs.这个城镇依靠季节性旅游业提供就业机会。
  • The hors d'oeuvre is seasonal vegetables.餐前小吃是应时蔬菜。
n.恩赐,恩物,恩惠
  • A car is a real boon when you live in the country.在郊外居住,有辆汽车确实极为方便。
  • These machines have proved a real boon to disabled people.事实证明这些机器让残疾人受益匪浅。
n.海湾;深渊,鸿沟;分歧,隔阂
  • The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
  • There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。
n.分析家,化验员;心理分析学家
  • What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务?
  • The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。
分析家,化验员( analyst的名词复数 )
  • City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
  • I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。
n.零售商(人)
  • What are the retailer requirements?零售商会有哪些要求呢?
  • The retailer has assembled a team in Shanghai to examine the question.这家零售商在上海组建了一支团队研究这个问题。
n.创始者,缔造者
  • He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
  • According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说,罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。
v.积累,积聚( amass的现在分词 )
  • The study of taxonomy must necessarily involve the amassing of an encyclopaedic knowledge of plants. 分类学研究一定要积累广博的植物知识。 来自辞典例句
  • Build your trophy room while amassing awards and accolades. 建立您的奖杯积累奖项和荣誉。 来自互联网
n.公正,公平,(无固定利息的)股票
  • 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。
adj.有影响的,有权势的
  • He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
  • He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。
n.让步,机率,可能性,比率;胜败优劣之别
  • The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
  • Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗?
学英语单词
Aconitum spicatum
advantageouser
Agrostis sibirica
al-ashari
ASLH
auricular cartilage (or conchal cartilage)
average information content
benzopyranium salt
bfv
branches of tuber cinereum
brushing primer
butt trumpets
castable refractories
centrailzed lubrication
chucked
couch hop
cross-section profile
cure activating agent
cycloisomerization
Delivery and Taking Delivery of Tally
deliveryperson
detrimental impurity
Diuretobis
doctrine of incorporaton
dunking sonar
episodicity
feeder head
flesh blond
furcal arm
grazing entrance
gyro horizon
Hamburg, Flughafen
high frequency motor generator
home-away-from-home
hydromarchite
hypercalcipexy
indirect comparison
intentional tremor
internal integration
jenny scaffold
jubon
karst phenomena
language information processing science
Luvarus
maginot-minded
main tapping
management and general expenses
marrison
Meerwein's salt
meeting of the minds
metal saw blade
Météren
narrow cut petroleum fractions
nonarguments
nuclear power stations
open style
operating window
osmium(iv) fluoride
particle in cell computing method (picm)
pathological findings
pentaerythritol chloral
perridiculous
primary reflection
proptometer
pseudocalamobius niisatoi
purple-topped
reactor poison skirt
relocatable subroutine
request queue
resorcin monoacetate
rieck
rolled oatss
Salvia farinacea
sancha
sauvignon blancs
scales of cheirolepis
schedule control system criteria
serve ... term
shear plan
showboater
Sibolga
solid film lubricant
space acceleration
starve the beast
strain gauge indicator
systemwide
temporins
tender for sth
then-and-now
tightcoil
trinquet
Umm Hītān
undecalcified
undraping
upper-level high
uterine seizing forceps
valvula sinus coronarii
visual test film
w?n shu nu
yellow trumpetbush
yellow-fevers
yobbo