2011年bec中级阅读模拟题（3）

　　国家统计局昨天发布了2010中国GDP增速，今天商务链接为大家准备了这一方面的最新文章。商务英语考试虽然不会涉及宏观的经济题目，但是为了能听懂经济类的新闻，了解国家经济动态和外媒评价，我们还是要一起学习其中地道的表达。读文章时，注意增长和降低的不同表达方式，为以后BEC作文考试的图表描述打好基础。
　　Fears that the Chinese economy is overheating mounted after official figures revealed that it grew faster than expected at the end of last year and inflation remained above target.
　　Southern Guangdong province, home to China’s biggest regional economy, added to concerns by announcing a 26 per cent rise in its minimum wage.
　　The national economy grew at an annual rate of 9.8 per cent in the final quarter of 2010, and by 10.3 per cent for the entire year.
　　Consumer price inflation fell to 4.6 per cent in December, after reaching a more than two-year high of 5.1 per cent the previous month.
　　But analysts said prices would accelerate strongly in the first quarter of this year, complicating efforts to cool the economy without triggering a sharp slowdown. For the whole year, consumer prices rose 3.3 per cent, above Beijing’s target of 3 per cent. Food prices were the main culprit, increasing 7.2 per cent.
　　“The growth figures will encourage Beijing to act more decisively on taming inflation, which means more interest rate hikes are just around the corner,” said Qu Hongbin, an economist at HSBC. The Shanghai Composite, China’s benchmark stock market index, dropped 2.9 per cent on Thursday amid fears of monetary tightening.
　　Inflation, labour shortages and a series of strikes in major industrial areas last year have led to minimum wage increases across China. This month the Beijing municipal government increased minimum wages by 21 per cent. Officials hope higher wages will increase domestic consumption and help China become less reliant on low-cost manufacturing, exports and investment for growth.
　　Geoffrey Crothall of the China Labour Bulletin, a Hong Kong-based advocacy group, said the wage hike might not be enough to ease the labour shortages in Guangdong province, which accounts for much of the global production of everything from mobile phones to sports shoes.
　　Faced with rising inflation, Beijing has raised the amount banks must hold on reserve seven times over the past year, and increased interest rates twice in the fourth quarter. These attempts to rein-in loose monetary conditions have only been partially successful.
　　To get around tighter lending quotas, Chinese banks moved trillions of renminbi in loans off their balance sheets last year, repackaging them as wealth management products.
　　On Thursday, the Chinese banking regulator ordered banks to bring an estimated Rmb1,660bn ($252bn) of off- balance sheet lending back on to their books this year. Government attempts to manage liquidity have been further complicated by non-bank lending, which authorities have great difficulty quantifying.
　　According to a central bank survey, total non-bank lending amounted to about Rmb240bn last year, equivalent to 5.6 per cent of total lending. But central bank officials told the Financial Times that the true scale of informal and underground lending was likely much larger.
　　Learning to learn:
　　第一段开篇点题，只用了一句话，就说明了下文要涉及的话题。见到这样的长句我们要学来为我所用哦，分析一下这句话的主干，请用Fears that…开头早一句话。
　　Language Points:
　　1. inflation 通货膨胀 2. culprit 主要原因，罪魁祸首
　　Oral Topic:
　　What are the advantages and disadvantages of raising wages for your employees？
　　此题为BEC考试口试task2部分模拟

　　Keys:
　　(1) C
　　(2) D

　　参考译文：
　　过去两年，我认识的每家企业都历尽了磨难。遗憾的是，好时光不会很快就回来。因此，我编制了一份较有创意和价值的企业省钱途径列表，帮助企业家在面对挑战时仍能生存。
　　● 随机审计费用支出
　　费用滥用属于地方病，但如果员工知道，就连他们的手机账单偶尔也会受到检查，那么他们占公司便宜的可能性就会降低。企业应该制定非常明确的费用政策，这样弄虚作假的人就无法浑水摸鱼逍遥法外
　　● 购买二手货
　　我们经常为餐馆购买二手厨房设备。如果能省钱，就不要犹豫选择二手货，而非全新商品。
　　● 带头控制成本
　　作为老板，你应该经常对成本提出质疑，并努力让人们认为你很节俭，而不是奢侈浪费——至少是对公司资产。如果你大手大脚，就会为别人树立一个效仿的坏榜样——用公司的钱。
　　● 要求提前付款折扣
　　如果你握有现金，这或许是提高利润率一个好办法。如果供应商面临资金压力，他们很可能会答应对快速结款支付5%的折扣。如果你把钱存在银行，以目前的低利率，挣到这笔钱需要差不多两年的时间。
　　● 了解每个员工在干什么
　　至少每年对所有员工的职责进行一次彻底分析，努力计算出他们的真实生产率——如有必要，就对岗位进行合理化改革。记住：没有人会告诉你他们的工作负荷不够，或者他们的贡献不重要。