一季度进出口贸易“双降”

　　请看《中国日报》的报道：

　　Total trade contracted 9 percent to $332.5 billion, the Customs Administration said on Thursday. Exports tumbled 6.6 percent year-on-year to $170.1 billion after dropping 18.1 percent in February. It's the first time since 2009 that exports declined for two consecutive months.

　　海关总署周四表示，贸易总额缩减9%至3325亿美元。出口在2月份下跌18.1%之后，又同比下降6.6%至1701亿美元。这是自2009年以来，出口首次连续两个月下降。

　　在表述贸易额“下降”时上文先后使用了contract、tumble、drop和decline四个词。Contract指(经济或市场)萎缩、紧缩，如：The manufacturing economy contracted in October for the sixth consecutive month. (10月，制造业经济已经连续第6个月出现萎缩状况。)Tumble多指(物价等经济指数)暴跌，如：Share prices continued to tumble today on the Tokyo stock market.(东京股市的股价今天继续暴跌。)Drop和decline平时比较常用，均指下降或减少，如：Temperature dropped dramatically at night(夜间温度急剧下降)，the number of staff has declined in the past years(过去几年，员工数量有所下降)。

　　与之相关的“经济下行压力”可用downward pressure on the economy表示，“经济增速下滑”则用economic slowdown表达。因为一系列的经济减速迹象，国际上唱衰新兴经济体的声音再起(Pessimistic views about the prospects of emerging economies have resurfaced)。