英语听力小短文走遍全世界38: 美元低迷也有好处
英语听力原文：
The once all-powerful dollar isn't doing a Titanic against just the pound. It is sitting at a record low against the euro and at a 30-year low against the Canadian dollar. Even the Argentine peso and Brazilian real are thriving against the dollar.
无所不能的美元在兑换英镑时，不再是庞然大物。美元兑换欧元的汇率创下新低，并在与加元的兑换中处于30年来的最低值。就连阿根廷比索和巴西雷亚尔都比美元有活力。
The weak dollar is a source of bumiliation (屈辱), for a nation's sell-esteem rests in part on the strength of its currency. It's also a potential economic problem, since a declining dollar makes imported food more expensive and exerts upward pressure on interest rates. And yet there are substantial sectors of the vast U.S. economy - from giant companies like Coca-Cola to mom-and-pop restaurant operators in Miami-for which the weak dollar is most excellent news.
疲软的美元带来了屈辱，因为一个国家的尊严部分来源于本国货币的强度。这也是一个潜在的经济问题，因为贬值的美元使得进口食品价格上扬，并施加加息的压力。但对于庞大美国经济中大量的产业部门——从可口可乐这样的大公司到迈阿密的夫妻餐厅经营者——美元疲软的消息对他们来说可是再好不过了。
Many Europeans may view the U.S. as an arrogant superpower that has become hostile to foreigners. But nothing makes people think more warmly of the U.S. than a weak dollar. Through April, the total number of visitors from abroad was up 6.8 percent from last year. Should the trend continue, the number of tourists this year will finally top the 2000 peak?
一些欧洲人视美国为一个傲慢的超级大国，并且认为美国对外国人怀有敌意。但当人们想起美国时，没有什么比疲软的美元更带劲的了。整个4月的游客总数比去年同期增加了6.8%。如果这种趋势延续下去，今年游客的人数将最终比2000年的峰值还多。
The money tourists spend helps decrease our chronic trade deficit. So do exports, which thanks in part to the weak dollar, soared 11 percent between May 2006 and May 2007. For the first five months of 2007, the trade deficit actually fell 7 percent from 2006.
游客的消费帮助减缓了我们长期以来的贸易赤字。出口也是如此，部分由于疲软的美元，2006年5月到2007年5月的出口额飙升了11%。与2006年相比，2007年前5个月的贸易赤字居然下降了7%。
If you own shares in large American corporations, you're a winner in the weak-dollar gamble. Last week Coca-Cola's stick bubbled to a five-year high after it reported a fantastic quarter. Foreign sales accounted for 65 percent of Coke's beverage(饮料) business. Other American companies profiting from this trend include McDonald's and IBM.
如果你持有美国大公司的股票，那么你会是疲软美元投机中的赢家。上周可口可乐发布了令人振奋的一季度数据后，其股价攀升至五年来的新高。海外销售占据可口可乐65%的饮料业务。其他美国企业，包括麦当劳和IBM在这种趋势下也赢得了利润。
英语词汇整理：
1. self-esteem n.自尊;自大;自负
eg: Poor self-esteem is at the centre of many of the difficulties we experience in our relationships.
缺乏自尊心是我们在社交中所经历的许多困难的核心所在。
短语：
self-esteem needs自尊需要
2. substantial adj. 大量的;实质的
eg: The article is devoid of substantial matter.
这篇文章缺乏实质性的内容。
短语：
substantial evidence 确实证据
substantial shareholder 大股东;主要股东
substantial connection 密切关系
substantial step 实质措施
3. mom-and-pop adj.小型的
eg: We began selling rice cookers from one small shop in Taipei. At that time, we were strictly a mom-and-pop operation.
公司最早在台北以贩卖电饭锅起家，当时只是小成本的家庭电器行。
短语：
mom-and-pop-business 小型商店;小型商铺
mom-and-pop grocery 传统杂货店
4. arrogant adj. 傲慢的
eg: One should never be arrogant even when he is at his best.
一个人在最得意时也不应傲慢。
短语：
arrogant toward sb 对(某人)傲慢无礼
arrogant to a person 对人傲慢
5. hostile adj. 敌对的，敌方的;怀敌意的
eg: I don't know why she is hostile to me.
我不知道她为什么对我抱有敌意。
短语：
be hostile to 反对;对......怀有敌意的
go hostile 发怒，生气
hostile takeover 恶性接收;敌意接管
hostile to one's suggestions 反对某人的建议
6. chronic adj. 长期的，慢性的
eg: We finally won in this chronic war.
我们终于打赢了这场长期战争。
短语：
chronic alcoholic 酒鬼
chronic case 慢性病
chronic unemployment 长期失业
7. fantastic adj.极好的，难以相信的
eg: It is so fantastic that a child of 5 can speak so good English.
真难以置信,一个五岁的孩子英语竟然说得这么好。
短语：
fantastic job 干的太好了;好样的
佳句采摘：
And yet there are substantial sectors of the vast U.S. economy - from giant companies like Coca-Cola to mom-and-pop restaurant operators in Miami-for which the weak dollar is most excellent news.
但对于庞大美国经济中大量的产业部门——从可口可乐这样的大公司到迈阿密的夫妻餐厅经营者——美元疲软的消息对他们来说可是再好不过了。
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