新视野大学英语视听说教程 4 Unit 9-4
时间：2018-12-17 作者：英语课 分类：新视野大学英语：视听说教程 4
Task3: Doha Round
Script
Rich and poor nations struck an historic deal on Sunday to cut billions of dollars in farm subsidies 1, create more open industrial markets, and resume world trade talks that could boost global growth.
After five days of negotiations 3, the World Trade Organization’s 147 member states formally agreed on a framework that lays down the guidelines for its Doha Round, which has been in trouble since the collapse 4 of talks almost a year ago in Cancun, Mexico. Failure in the negotiations could have delayed further trade liberalization for years.
After an all-night negotiation 2, key WTO members, including the United States, the EU, Brazil, and Japan, on Saturday had agreed to the elimination 5 of export subsidies at a date yet to be set, which has long been a key developing-country demand, to limit other subsidies, and to lower tariff 6 barriers.
Rich nations welcomed the new deal, which commits them to a plan to cut back on the huge subsidies they spend on farmers and give developing nations better access to world markets. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick called the agreement a “crucial step for global trade”. He said, “Tonight, 147 economies have ensured that 2004 will go down as a productive year for the Doha trade negotiation. There’s a lot of work yet to be done. But today’s framework is a milestone 7.”
A delegate from Mauritius, which has taken a leading part in the WTO talks on behalf of African nations, said the so-called Group of 90 developing countries could live with the text even if it did not get everything it wanted. The agreement makes it clear that the poorest countries will not be forced to contribute to market opening in any area, including services.
1. Why of the following would be the best title for the passage?
2. How many countries participated in the WTO negotiations and how long did the negotiations last?
3. What will happen to export subsidies after the negotiations?
4. Who are supposed to reduce their agricultural subsidies?
5. What are poor countries supposed to do?
Keys: 1.D 2.B 3.C 4.A 5.D
- European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
- Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
- The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。
- negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
- Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。
- The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
- The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。
- Their elimination from the competition was a great surprise.他们在比赛中遭到淘汰是个很大的意外。
- I was eliminated from the 400 metres in the semi-finals.我在400米半决赛中被淘汰。