Unit 3 Text A Is Trade Good for America? 摘自 The Choice Fable of Free Trade and Protectionism 中另外两个国际贸易方面的启发性片断 : "Even if you worry about trade deficits, most of the obvious ways to get rid of them are very bad for a country. A recession would 'improve' America's trade balance because it lowers demand for foreign products. A bad investment climate would lower foreign investment in the United States and that would push America's trade deficit toward zero. And then there's banning imports which gives you balanced trade: balanced trade at close to zero. If you don't import anything, as we discussed before, it is very hard to export. The net result is higher prices, less innovation, and Americans trying to make everything for themselves. The most important thing to remember about trade balances, positive or negative, is that they are the result of economic factors and not the cause. The next time America has a recession and America's trade balance improves, pundits will say that the 'improvement' in America's trade balance is the silver lining to the recession. But it is nothing of the sort. It is the flip side of the recession, nothing more and nothing less. "(Chapter 10 Do Trade Deficits Hurt America? "Ask yourself if it is wise. If a group of Americans do not compete well in the global marketplace because their skills are readily available around the globe, how should America respond? By protecting them and insulating them from the competition they face, or by encouraging them and their children to improve their skills? I hope you have learned tonight that the choice America faces is not between more jobs or fewer jobs. The real choice is between a dynamic world and a static world-a world of encouraging people to dream and acquire the skills to make those dreams come true and a world of encouraging people to be content with what they have and to dream less. " (Chapter 14 The Choice) 2. (P1L1) So how did the gap narrow so much between the United States and Japan? 3. (P4L1) Only if there was a fixed amount of wealth in the world and the nations of the world tussled over it. tussle ( with sb.)about/for/over sth.: 为得到某物而 ( 与某人 ) 争斗扭打。 4. (P4L4) In fact, Japan's expertise and success frees up resources for America to specialize in other areas. 5. (P4L5) Both countries are then better off. 6. (P18L7) If you think of your household as a nation, you import corn. You produce it in the roundabout way just like America produces televisions. 7. (P24L10) The proportion of the workforce in farming plummeted. But the jobs didn't disappear. 8. (P26L2) Can you imagine how poor America would be in 1960 or 2000 if America had made a decision back in 1900 to preserve the size of the farming industry in the name of saving jobs? in the name of 在 ... 的名下 ; 以 ... 的名义。 9. (P38L1) Would a doctor have a right to force a person to stay sick so the doctor could continue earning the living the doctor was accustomed to? living 在此是名词 , 意为 “ 生计 ” 。 10. (P38L3) Does a television manufacturer have the right to force a consumer of televisions to pay higher price to sustain high wages for his workers?