【Native Speaker每日综合训练—33系列】【33-07】经管

AceJ

Official Weibo: http://weibo.com/u/3476904471

我们始终坚信，每一次阅读，都应是一次美妙的旅程
而工作组的使命就是带领大家领略阅读中的极致美景
感谢大家对Ace的上一个帖子提出的各种意见，本期除了在选择文章的内容上继续严格筛选之外，还重点改进了帖子的字体，颜色和大小，希望大家在锻炼阅读能力的同时，也能在视觉上得到略微的满足，enjoy~

Part I: Speaker

Article 1

Types of Humor

[Rephrase 1]

[Speech, 18:47]



Kyle:  Are you watching that sitcom again?   It’s so stupid.  There’s nothing  witty or original about the humor.
Paulina:  I don’t need highbrow jokes.  I enjoy all kinds of comedy.
Kyle:  You mean you like screwball and slapstick humor.
Paulina:  Yes, so?
Kyle:  So?  It’s so juvenile.
Paulina:  I know that it’s hard for people like you who like satire to appreciate the more  wacky kinds of humor, but you might try getting off your high horse once in a  while.
Kyle:  I’m not snooty.  I’m just discriminating.  I like comedians with a dry  sense of humor like that self-deprecating guy on that show I watch.
Paulina:  That show is a snoozefest.  That guy bores me to death.
Kyle:  And this show does it for you?
Paulina:  You bet.
Kyle:  There’s no accounting for taste!

Script by Dr. Lucy Tse             

Source: ESLPOD
http://www.eslpod.com/website/show_podcast.php?issue_id=14825215  

AceJ

Part II: Speed

Article 2

Afghanistan’s Economy Hostage to Aftermath of U.S. Combat

By Gopal Ratnam

[Time 2]
Afghanistan’s economy remains hostage to the country’s politics and security after more than a dozen years of American intervention.

Mahmood Hanifi sees it every day in his tile shop in Kandahar city. Sales, he said, have fallen by half in two years because customers are postponing home remodeling projects until after Afghanistan’s April 5 presidential election and the departure of most international troops by the end of next year.

“People are waiting because they don’t know what will happen after the elections,” Hanifi said through an interpreter, looking out from a glass-enclosed cubicle onto his showroom of marble and ceramic tiles decorated with designs and Islamic inscriptions. “They’re keeping the money. Even if some projects are completed 50 percent, they’ve stopped work.”

The World Bank predicts that Afghanistan’s economic growth will decline to 3.1 percent this year from 14 percent last year as consumers, entrepreneurs and investors can only guess what’s ahead for a nation long dependent on foreign troops and aid, with mineral resources that have never been tapped and agriculture still dominated by opium exports.

“The upside in Afghanistan is very unclear, but the downside is very clear,” said Ahmad Bassam, managing director of Kabul-based Afghan Holdings Ltd., an investment advisory firm. “If the Taliban take over, we’ll all leave,” he said of Afghan investors, many of whom already have second homes in Dubai and regularly move much of their money there.

The outflow of capital from Afghanistan since 2009, including the proceeds of illegal drug trafficking, has roughly equaled American financial assistance in the same period, according to two U.S. officials who asked not to be identified discussing a classified estimate.

[275 words]

Source: Bloomberg
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-12-17/afghanistan-s-economy-hostage-to-aftermath-of-u-s-combat.html?alcmpid=markets

Article 3

Mt. Gox Seeks Bankruptcy after $480 Million Bitcoin Loss

Carter Dougherty and Grace Huang

[Time 3]
Mt. Gox, once the world’s largest Bitcoin exchange, filed for bankruptcy in Japan saying about $480 million in Bitcoins belonging to its customers and the firm were missing.

“The company believes there is a high possibility that the Bitcoins were stolen,” Mt. Gox said in a statement.

The filing follows three weeks of speculation about the fate of the Tokyo-based exchange, which suspended withdrawals on Feb. 7. Since Bitcoins exist as bits of software, they can be stolen if a hacker gains access to the computers and servers used to run online exchanges, where the virtual currency can be traded for dollars, euros and other currencies.

The turmoil left investors and entrepreneurs asking how the insolvency could happen and how the fledgling Bitcoin industry might bounce back.

Akio Shinomiya, a lawyer for Mt. Gox, said the court will notify creditors identified by the exchange in its bankruptcy filing. Other creditors will have to make a claim themselves, and then the court would decide who gets repaid. The company also set up a call center to answer customers’ questions about the bankruptcy.

Since Bitcoins exist as software, any computer or server connected to the Internet that stores those files is vulnerable to unauthorized access. Similar to a hacker copying e-mail, a thief can steal the virtual currency by duplicating the digital security key that lets a user spend it.

A standard method of keeping Bitcoins safe is to move the digital money off a Web-connected computer, according to Andreas Antonopoulos, chief security officer for Blockchain.info, a company that hosts online wallets for Bitcoin storage. An exchange or any other company handling large quantities of Bitcoins could store the bulk of them on a computer or hard drive that isn’t connected to the Internet, an arrangement known as “cold storage.”

“Mt. Gox is the only exchange that wasn’t backed by venture funds or institutional investors,” Micky Malka, the founder of Palo Alto, California-based Ribbit Capital and a Bitcoin investor, said in an interview. “It will take time for the rest of the Bitcoin ecosystem to prove that this is a bad apple and not a problem of the entire ecosystem.”

Bitcoin was down more than 2 percent to $563.70 at 2:29 p.m. New York time, according to the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index.

[380 Words]

Source: Bloomberg
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-28/mt-gox-exchange-files-for-bankruptcy.html?alcmpid=markets

Article 4

China's parliament -- Opening day

[Time 4]
CHINA has opened the annual full session of its parliament, the National People's Congress, in Beijing. If the past is any guide, the proceedings will be tightly controlled and will not feature any dramatic legislative votes during the ten-day session. But the March 5th opening day included announcements of several important planning targets and budgeting decisions, and a promise from the prime minister, Li Keqiang, to do more to solve the nation’s pressing air pollution problems.

In a lengthy speech at the opening session, Mr Li (pictured) said China would aim to maintain an economic growth rate of “around 7.5%” this year. Growth in the past two years was slightly higher than that, but far below the double-digit levels that China achieved so often in recent decades. This year’s target, Mr Li said, was set “on the basis of careful comparison and repeatedly weighing various factors as well as considering what is needed and what is possible.” He also said China would “keep inflation at around 3.5%”.

These unchanged targets were overshadowed by the increase in China’s planned military expenditure. The government’s proposed budget for 2014 would increase defence spending by 12.2% to 808 billion yuan ($132 billion), although the real increase will be smaller once inflation is taken into account. The state-run Xinhua news agency promptly sought to assure Japan and other countries that any concerns about this increase are “unfounded and misplaced” and that China has a “peace-oriented defence posture”.

Some of Mr Li’s strongest language came in the section of his speech about improving the dreadful air quality that so often afflicts Beijing and other Chinese cities. The smog, Mr Li said, is “nature’s red-light warning” that China’s blind rush toward development is unsustainable, and that is time to “declare war” against pollution. His challenge, of course, will be to ensure that his economic growth target is not the first casualty.

[314 words]

Source: Economist
http://www.economist.com/blogs/analects/2014/03/chinas-parliament

Article 5

4 ways to become a worker companies will fight over

By Rick Newman

[Time5]
At some rarefied level of the workforce, there’s apparently a “war for talent” in which companies beg workers to sign on, throw money at them and ply them with perks to lure them from competitors.

You might assume this type of offer applies only to a few Mark Zuckerberg types in Silicon Valley. But companies increasingly struggle to fill certain jobs, and a recent survey by Payscale, a compensation-research firm, found 57% of firms say retaining workers will be a top concern in 2014 — up from just 20% saying that in 2010.

“The war for talent is heating up,” says Cathy Shepard, a principal in the talent practice at Mercer. “I see it in specific functions or job categories, where there’s just enough labor and you have to pick off folks from your competitors.”

There are a few familiar storylines about the shortage of skilled workers in certain fields and the mismatch caused by an economy rapidly shifting from traditional fields to digital everything. STEM workers — those with science, technology, engineering and math expertise — are clearly in high demand, for instance. Healthcare is supposedly recession-proof. Data is the next big growth industry. Programmers rule the world.

There’s some truth to all that, but these oversimplified storylines exclude important caveats and nuances that help explain why some workers ought to be thriving but aren’t, while others are getting ahead with relative ease. Digging deeper into job trends reveals a few myths that lead some workers astray, while highlighting some of the real advantages desired workers have — and others can develop. Here are four overlooked factors that can help turn mediocre workers into indispensable ones:

Location, location, location. Most job advice focuses on skills you need rather than where you put them to use. But where you live has a huge impact on your job prospects. Payscale crunched some numbers at our request, and found, for example, that the need for workers in a given industry varies widely from place to place. In New York state, for instance, 46% of healthcare firms report having a job open for more than six months, a sign of scarce labor and good job prospects. But in California, only 18% of healthcare firms report the same thing. There are similar state-by-state variations in other fields such as manufacturing, finance, insurance and professional services.

For job seekers or people hoping to make a career change, it’s important to keep in mind the job opportunities near you in a given field could be considerably better or worse than they are someplace else. And what you hear about national trends may not apply where you live. Like real estate and politics, job opportunities are local, so do your research accordingly.

[452 words]

[Time 6]
Size matters.  In most fields, a larger proportion of big companies than small ones seems to have job openings. And big companies are more worried about losing workers than small firms, which suggests there’s more turnover and more job opportunities at the top of the corporate food chain. But not everybody lives near big-company operations, putting far-flung workers at a disadvantage. For somebody willing to relocate, it might be worth scouting out cities with a variety of big employers.

Changing fields may generate better opportunities.  With the economy growing again, more companies are thinking strategically and hiring beyond their narrow area of expertise. Healthcare firms need technology experts, for instance, to manage a mushrooming flow of digitized health records. Tech firms may need sociologists or anthropologists to help understand their consumers better. While many jobs are based on a discrete set of skills, Shepard says, others require behavioral skills, such as negotiating savvy or management finesse, that are hard to demonstrate on a resume. Combining such soft skills with harder technical capabilities is one way to get employers’ attention. If you can develop a reputation for effectiveness at something in particular, even better.

Get out your spreadsheet.  Put all these factors together, and finding the right job suddenly involves a matrix of decisions involving skills and other qualifications along with where you work, what size firm you work for, and what industry you work in. That might complicate the whole process of finding a new job or transitioning into a new career, but it might also help you target the right kinds of employers offering real jobs. The war for talent will never be a nationwide campaign. It will be a series of tactical skirmishes, with shrewd workers seeking the battlefield instead of waiting for it to find them.
[299 Words]

Source: Yahoo Finance
http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/the-exchange/how-to-become-an-indispensable-worker-184410303.html

AceJ

Part III: Obstacle

Article 6

Why is Ukraine’s economy in such a mess?

[Paraphrase 7]
UKRAINE’S problems are not just political. In recent weeks its economy has taken a hammering. Until mid-January its currency, the hryvnia, was fixed at 8:1 with the dollar; it now trades at about 10:1. The government has recently issued short-term debt at interest rates as high as 15%; this year its bonds have done about as badly as Venezuela's. Many analysts are worried that the country will soon default on its debt.

The economic turmoil reflects recent political instability. But Ukraine’s economic problems were long in the making. Dodgy economic policy, distaste for reform and endemic corruption have brought the country to its knees.

In the immediate post-Soviet era Ukraine was a massively unproductive economy. Like most former Soviet republics it suffered huge output declines and soaring inflation. But Ukraine was among the hardest hit of the lot. Hyperinflation in the early 1990s resulted from lack of access to financial markets and massive monetary expansion to finance government spending, in the face of sharply declining output. The Ukrainian population was scarred by the experience of hyperinflation. In response, in 1996 the Ukrainian central bank replaced the old currency, the karbovanets, with the hryvnia and pledged to keep it stable in relation to the dollar. The currency continued to wobble through the late 1990s, however, and particularly amid the Russian rouble crisis of 1998.



Both Russia and Ukraine stabilised by the early 2000s. Capital flowed back, attracted in part by relatively high interest rates (the early 2000s, when the Fed pushed its main interest rate down to 1% for an extended period, were a rehearsal of sorts for the post-crisis environment). As foreign cash flooded in the money supply grew rapidly: from 2001 to 2010 broad money increased at an annual rate of 35%. In 2006 and 2007 credit growth averaged 73%. Assets began to look extraordinarily bubbly and high inflation damaged Ukraine's export competitiveness.

After the global crisis, and as the euro crisis intensified, Ukraine suffered from a drought in capital flows (along with much of central and eastern Europe) which placed strong downward pressure on the hryvnia. Protecting the currency drained the central bank’s reserves, which tumbled from a high of $40 billion in 2011 to about $12 billion today. Last month the central bank admitted defeat and let the currency go. Currency depreciation, while necessary, will be an economic headache for Ukraine in the short term. About half of its public debt is in foreign currencies: as the hrvynia loses value, Ukraine’s debt burden rises. Debt financing has also become more difficult as a result of the Federal Reserve's "taper", which has wrong-footed many emerging markets by stanching the previously steady flow of capital in their direction.

Ukraine has proven reluctant to engage in reform. For a while it felt as if it didn't need to: high commodity prices during the 2000s supported growth. Many of Ukraine's exports went to Russia, a country that was also doing well on the back of high oil prices. But Ukraine was badly hit by the financial crisis and plummeting steel prices. GDP fell by 15% in 2009. That made it a prime candidate for economic streamlining. In 2010 the IMF agreed to loan Ukraine $15 billion—with conditions attached. A major target for reform were Ukraine’s cushy energy subsidies. The state gas company, Naftogaz, only charges consumers a quarter of the cost of importing the gas. Cheap gas discourages investment: Ukraine is one of the most energy-intensive economies in the world and domestic production has slumped by two-thirds since the 1970s. The IMF ended up freezing the deal in 2011 after Kiev failed to touch the costly subsidies.

In other areas reform has been half-hearted. The government did meet its public deficit target of 2.8% of GDP in 2011. Yet this was achieved by skimping on capital expenditures while overspending on wages and pensions: hardly the recipe for sustainable economic growth. Progressively lowering the rate of corporation tax has also weakened the state’s finances.

Corruption and poor governance are other major problems. The Ukrainian shadow economy is one of the biggest in the world—at around 50% of GDP, according to IMF research. Businesses operating underground tend not to pay taxes, further depriving the government of funds. And last week Ukraine’s new prime minister estimated that $37 billion had gone missing during Viktor Yanukovych’s rule.

Right now Ukraine is not too worried about improving economic management. But big bills are imminent: Ukraine needs to find about $25 billion this year to finance its large current-account deficit and to meet foreign creditors. Foreign-exchange reserves are only $12 billion. Default is certainly on the cards. When the crisis does end, addressing its economic backwardness must be a major objective.

[786 words]

Source: Economist
http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2014/03/ukraine-and-russia

AceJ

我忍着热泪，自抢了一个沙发

Types of humor
Witty: funny, but in an intelligent way
Highbrow joke: joke that is more intelligent than average
Screwball: = goofy, means a silly comedy
Slapstick humor: humor caused by physical actions, like falling down
Satire: a type of humor that copies or exaggerates something else to make fun of it, in a mean way
Wacky, similar to screwball comedy
Get off your high horse, stop thinking you are better than other people
Be snooty: mean others because you think you are better than others
Be discriminating, positive: to be selective, don't like everything, only like certain things; negative: refers to treat someone based on color of skin or sex orientation
Dry sense of humor, someone tells you a joke in a serious way, you need to figure out what fun it is
Self-deprecating, say bad things about yourself, but doing it in such a way that you are being funny, it is a good quality

Afghanistan’s Economy Hostage to Aftermath of U.S. Combat
Time2: 1'49" before election, unstable political situation make people wait, stop work and remove capital

Mt. Gox Seeks Bankruptcy after $480 Million Bitcoin Loss
Time3: 1'56" Even Mt. GOX seeks bankruptcy,  some people still thinks this case is only a bad apple, and "cold storage" can make Bitcoin safe

China's parliament -- Opening day
Time4: 2'15" The focuses in speech of Mr. Li are estimated 7.5% increase, increased expenditures in defense and war against environment pollution

4 ways to become a worker companies will fight over
Time5: 3'15" war for talents is heating up, we found some good advises that can help you make a good job respective or career change
Time6: 2'08" Location, size matters, changing fields and get out of spreadsheet

Why is Ukraine’s economy in such a mess?
Time7: 7'10"
Ukraine's economic problems were long in the making
In the immediate post-Soviet era Ukraine was a massively unproductive economy, among the hardest hit of the lot. Then hyperinflation damaged Ukraine's economy heavily. After global financial crisis and as euro crisis intensified, Ukraine suffered from the drought in capital flows
Ukraine has proven reluctant to engage in reform, other areas reform has also been half-hearted
Corruption and poor governance are other major problems

jenniferlyy125

Day 31

---speaker

This is a conversation between Kyle and Paulina, talking about different types of humors. Paulina likes kind of silly comedies and sitcoms, and she thinks highbrow jokes are too boring. While Kyle discriminated the humors P likes as stupid and juvenile, and he expressed his favor of more intelligent and dry sense of humor.

---speed

1.      1’12

The economy of A is declining and stopped because of military and security uncertainties. Huge amount of capital outflow from local markets.

2.      2’06

Mt. Gox went bankrupt and people suspect that bitcoin was stolen by hackers. Actually there is a safe way to store bitcoin by cold storage. However, Mt. Gox is the only exchange that is not backed by venture funds and investors, therefore it might be a bad case and not reflect problems of the entire system.

3.      2’18

In the national people’s congress, prime minister Li announced national plans and targets in maintaining stable economic growth, expanding military expanses and improving the air pollution problem that is the sign for unsustainable development

4. 2’50

The war for talent is heating up, and there are four factors people ignored that can make a normal job a significant one. The first concern is the location, as the job demand varies from state to state.

5.2’06

For those who want to relocate, seek for cities where more big companies are located as big firms always provide more opportunities. And change field can also boost you chances. Then, using a matrix to help to decide the ideal job and go for the application.

----obstacle

6’15

Recently, U faced huge debts and depreciation, and the economic difficulties reflect the political uncertainty. The reasons behind are its dislike of reform and corruption.

The economic depression had its long history. After SU collapse, U’s currency inflated swiftly during 1990s, and it was not until the 2000 that U’s economy rebound. However, the global crisis again dragged U to debt burden and depreciation.

The reasons for economy are U’s reluctant to reform, corruption and its poor governance.

Currently, U is going to pay back huge debts and economic recovery should be the major issue of the nation.

(intro: economic downturn---historical development--reasons)

xiaofan0205

你们……好吧！

Speaker：
sitcom: situation comedy
highbrow jokes: intelligent in nature
screwball: silly, goofy
juvenile: immuture
wacky: wired, creepy
get off your high horse: stop thinking you are better, not act so superior
discriminating: selective
dry sense of humor: act seriously, but still funny
self-deprecating: say bad thing about yourself, but act as your are funny
snoozefest: something that's so boring it puts everyone to sleep

Time2: 2'16"
Afghanistan's economy remains hostage to the country's politics. People are keeping money because they don't know what will happen.

Time3: 2'30"
Mt.Gox seeks bankruptcy after millions of bitcoin loss. Since bitcoin exist as software, it is possible that some hacker steal it.

Time4: 2'13"
March 5th is the opening day of the annual full session of China' parliament. Mr Li talk about the aim of economic growth and the determination to solve the air pollution problems.

Time5: 3'37"
Companies increasingly struggle to fill certain job, but how to turn mediocre workers into indispensable ones? The author provide four overlooked factors.

Time6: 2'04"
Where you work, what size firm you work for, and what industry you work in might complicate the whole process of finding a new job or transitioning into a new career.

Obstacle: 6'18"
Ukraine's economic turmoil reflects recent political instability, but it's economic problems were long in the making. Dodgy economic policy, distaste for reform and endemic corruption have brought the country to its knees.

疏离无罪

现在抢座位的真是凶残

Speaker:today's dialog is about the several kinds of humor.People have different attitude and taste toward the form of humor.

01:16
The economy of Afghanistan is declining for many reasons:the leave of foreign troop,the new president election,the unclear politica situation adn the outflow of capital.

01:33
Mt. Gox,once the biggest bitcoin exchange,went bankruptcy because of the missing of its customers' bitcoin.And Mt. Gox is the only exchange that do not backed by venture funds.The bitcoin ecosystem need to prove that Mt. Gox is just a bad apple,not a problem of whole system.

01:27
Li Keqiang annnounced several planing targets and budgeting decisions in the National People's Congress:set the growth rate of economy aroud 7.5%,increase the military expenditure and solve the poor air quality problem.

02:14
Companies are paying more attention on retaining talented workers.For job seekers,they need to know 4 things that can make you be than kind of worker.1 location different regions have different requirement of workers.

01:18
2 the size of the firms,bigger firms have more opportunities 3 changing fireds many firms are expanding their business area 3 get out of your spreadsheet seeking jobs instead of waiting

05:00
Main Idea:the problems in Ukraine's economy
The economy in Unraine is more serious than its politics.The country may default on its debt soon.
The economic turmoil reflects political instability.The output is declining and the inflation rate is raising.Ukraine has suffered hyperinflation during 1990s but the country stabilised since early 2000s by its high interest rate.But the 2008 world economy crisis hit the economy again.The capital flow became dry while the currency of Ukraine depreciated.
The reform becomes necessary when the steel price slash nd the cheap gas discourage investment.And some reforms are not successful.And the corruption and poor governmance also two major problems of Ukraine.
Moreover,Ukraine need to pay a big bill recently or it will default immediately.

TaoRs92

首页~~~~~~~~~~~~~



time:1:43.59
A's economy remians hostage after America intervention.
People wait for the election.They don't want to use their money,because they don't know what will happen after the election.
The economy of A in this year will still decline.
Investers will leave if Taliban take over again.
Upside unclear,downside clear.Unable to exactly estimate.
_____________
time:2:12.20
Mt.Gox seeks bankruptcy in Japan becasue of $480 Bitcoin loss.
These Bitcoin has a very big chance to have been stolen by hackers.
The introduction of Bitcoin and its running rules.
The solution:court to judge who will get repaid,open a call center to answer questions.
The safe way to store Bitcoin--cold storage--store it in a computer that doesn't connect to Internet.
Mt.Gox isn't backed by VC funds or institutional investors.So it will not influence the ecosystem of Bitcoin market.
_______________
time:1:57.24
The paraliament.What will be discussed.
China's plan in economy--the growth rate.the inflation rate.
Planned military expendure.Its aim.
Deal with air pollution.
______________
time:2:49.07
Remaining talented workers become a big concern of many companies.
STEM workers become popular.Programmers are more and more important.
But sometimes,some workers should thrive,but they don't.
Four factors:
1 location.Different works in different places have different requests and situation.
_______________
time:1:46.57
2 size.Big employers always have more work opennings.
3 chage fiels.Companies need many types of workers.Combine tech with soft skills.Having some effectiveness in a particular part is even better.
4 combine the points.
_____________
time:5:33.46
Ukraine's economy has big problems.The depreciation of its currency and its possibility to default.
Lack of reform and corruption are some of the reasons.
The beginning--Ukraine's unproductive economy after it departed from Russia.Replaced its old currency,used H.
After stabilized--foreigh capital was attracted by high interest rates in Ukraine.Foreigh cash flooded.Inflation high.
After global crisis and euro crisis--drought of capital flows.government wanted to stable H,dried its foreigh reserve,then admitted defeat and let currency go.Depreciation,H lost value,national burden rised.The poor management of Fed.
Don't want to reform--GDF fell.IMF provided subsidies,but Ukraine to touch.
Inblance in different parts--skimp capital expendures,but waste in wages and pension.Lower companies' tax,weakened finance.
Corruption and poor gevernrance--shadow GDP 50%.
Not only political problems,but economical problems.

MAGGIEHE1993

首页！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！谢谢楼主~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

---

Speaker: Types of Humor
         sitcom: television show of single group of people do something in order to be funny; short-for-situation comedy
         witty: funny in an intelligent way
         highbrow joke: more intelligent/sofisticated joke
         comedy: a catagory of movies or TV shows that make you laugh
         screwball: old fashion term; comedies that are silly; goofy
         slapstick humor: humor that involves physical action
         So? You don't think there is anything wrong about it.
         juvenile: immature
         satire: a type of humor that copies something else to make fun of it; in a mean way; to cause people to think
         about why; usually negative commentaries; meant to be funny
         wacky: similar to screwball comedy
         get off your high horse: stop acting superior or that you are more intelligent and better than others
         snooty: be mean to others because you think you are better than others; snooby; stuck up
         discriminating: positive:  be selective
                         negative: treatment of someone based on skin color
         dry sense of humor: considered a bit more intellectual
         self-deprecating: say bad things about yourself but do things funny
         snoozefest: something boring and that make you fall asleep
         bore someone to death: make somebody feel very bored
         do it for you: satisfy you; give you something that you are looking for
         You bet: Yes
         There's no accounting for taste: Another person has different likes and dislikes from you and you don't think
         anyone should like. You do not want to continue to criticize. A bit of insulting.


time2: 1min 49"
       Afganistan's economy remains hostage to the country's politics and security after more than a dozen years of American
       intervention.


time3: 2min 25"
       Mt. Gox, once the world's largest Bitcoin exchange, filed for bankruptcy in Japan saying about $480 million in Bitcoins
       belonging to its customers and the firm were missing. But the passage suggested that the Bitcoin could be safely stored
       in computers that are not connected to the Internet. It will take time for the rest of the Bitcoin ecosystem to prove that
       this is a bad apple and not a problem of the entire ecosystem.


time4: 2min 11"
       China has opened the annual full session of its parliament, the National People's Congress in Beijing. Prime Minister Li
       Keqiang stated the national economic target of the year and it is time to declare war on the smog among a lot of Chinese
       cities.


time5: 3min 19"
time6: 1min 56"
       The war for talent between companies is heating up. Although workers skilled in some specific areas are in high demand than
       other workers and are easier to find jobs, the writer suggested that there are four overlooked factors that can turn mediocre
       workers into indispensable ones. The first factor is location. For job seekers it's important to keep in mind the job opportunities
       near you in a given field could be considerably better or worse than they are someplace else. The second factor is size matters.
       The third one is changing fields may generate better opportunities. The last one is to get our your spreadsheet and put all the
       factors together.


Obstacle: 6min 04"
          An introduction of Ukraine's bad economic situation.
          The writer believes dodgy economic policy, dastaste for reform and endemic corruption have brought the country to its knees.
          In the immediate post-Soviet era Ukraine was a massively unproductive economy.
          Both Russia and Ukraine stabilised by the early 2000s but the rapid inflow of foreigh cash damaged Ukraine's export competitiveness.
          After the global crisis, and as the euro crisis intensified, Ukraine sufferen from a drought in capital flows which placed strong downward
          pressure on the hryvnia.
          Ukraine has proven reluctant to engage in reform. In other areas reform has been half-hearted.
          Corruption and poor goverance are other major problems.
          Right now Ukraine is not too worried about improving economic management but big bills are imminent.
        
         
      

cherry6891

占座        

Obstacle  6:15  U’s economic has taken a hammering--reflect the political instability,plus,distaste for reform and corruption--post-Soviet era,unproductive economy--capital flow back when political stabilised ,then suffered extraordinarily bubbly and high inflation cuz foreign cash flooded in the country--reform is half-hearted