2022年十月河南自学考试《外刊经贸常识选读》考试真题·5

2022年十月河南自学考试《外刊经贸常识选读》考试真题·5

5、简答卷:本大题共 6 小题,每小题 3 分,共 18 分。

Passage 1

Disputes over farm trade have bedevilled the current round of GATT talks from the start. That is unsurprising. For decades governments everywhere have suppressed market forces in agriculture with subsidies, tariffs, quotas, monopoly purchasing boards and all the other paraphernalia of mule - headed intervention. On one plausible estimate, consumers in industrial countries pay $ 300 billion a year in taxes and higher prices to support farming. Even allowing for the income transferred to farmers, the net welfare loss caused by the industrial countries farm policies is $ 100 billion a year. What exactly are those reforms of the common agricultural policythat Europes govern ments agreed to? On cereals, where Europe and America have squabbled most fiercely, the GATTs director-general suggested cuts of 20% in the value of the CAP is production subsidies. America said it would settle for nothing else. The EC then came up with a new plan to reform the CAP. Its main idea is to replace some production subsidies with direct payments to farmers.

46. In what way could “ subsidies冶 suppress marked forces in the farm trade?

47. What does “ squabble冶mean here?

48. From the sentence underlined, do you think what attitude America took towards the reform sug gested by the GATT director-general?

Passage 2

A notable development in 1991 was a narrowing of current account imbalances of most major in dustrial countries: The U. S. current account deficit moved to near balance. The trade component of the deficit narrowed as lower inflation and earlier dollar depreciation improved competitiveness, while the transfers component moved into substantial surplus because of war-related payments. Mo reover, there was a remarkable swing in the German current account—from a surplus equivalent to

3. 2% of GDP in 1990 to a deficit of 1. 3% . A continuation of the surge of imports that followed uni fication, as well as the earlier appreciation of the deutsche mark,contributed to the swing. Several important developments in monetary conditions also took place in 1991. Reflecting more accommoda tive monetary policy, nominal short-term interest rates fell in the United States. In contrast, the in crease in German nominal short-term interest rates to postwar highs narrowed the potential of some European Monetary System partners to reduce their rates.

49. Whats the meaning of “ the trade component of the deficit冶?

50. Why does the appreciation of the deutsche mark cause the German current account to swift from a surplus to a deficit?

51. Whats your paraphrase of “ accommodative冶 in the sentence?