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这是周四的作业~~有福利文章哦~~ 大家要好好练习，加油！！！
【Speed】
Time 1:
Report: $2 Billion in Diamonds Stolen From Zimbabwe Fields
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A rights group says nearly $2 billion worth of diamonds have been stolen from Zimbabwe's Marange diamond fields since 2008, with the money going to cronies of President Robert Mugabe.
Partnership Africa Canada says Zimbabwe's minister of mines, Obert Mpofu, has allowed military and security officials to plunder the fields for personal gain instead of using the diamonds to help turn around Zimbabwe's ailing economy.
The Canada-based non-profit says "hundreds of millions of dollars owed to Zimbabwe's treasury have been lost in both illegal and legal trades."
The group stated its findings in a 36-page report released Monday. Zimbabwean officials have not responded to the accusations.
However, a state-run newspaper [The Herald] reports that Zimbabwe Defense Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa has challenged fellow cabinet members to show any evidence they have that diamond revenue is being taken by the army.
Finance Minister Tendai Biti has repeatedly said that money from diamond sales is not reaching the treasury, fueling suspicions of corruption.
Zimbabwe's military seized control of the Marange fields in 2008, allegedly killing hundreds of small-scale miners.
The Kimberley Process, which monitors the international diamond trade, imposed an export embargo on Marange diamonds in November 2009, but lifted it two years later despite protests from human rights groups.
Obama, Congress Face 'Fiscal Cliff'
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Newly re-elected U.S. President Barack Obama and his political opponents in Congress are facing an end-of-the-year deadline to reach a deal on taxes and spending cuts that has proved both contentious and elusive for the last two years.
As it stands, $600 billion in spending cuts for key defense and domestic programs are set to take effect January 1, and tax cuts affecting all American workers would expire, with the government then taking more money out of their paychecks.
The country's presidential and congressional elections were held this week. Now Obama, the incumbent who won a new four-year term, and his Democratic allies in the Senate are set to negotiate with the Republican-controlled House of Representatives to see if they can reach a pact to avoid cascading over what Washington is calling a "fiscal cliff."
(356 words)
Time 2:
The independent Congressional Budget Office on Thursday laid out the importance of reaching a deal.
It said that failure to reach an agreement would be dire for the fragile U.S. economy, the world's largest. The financial analysts said that if no deal is reached by year's end, the country's already-sluggish economy would contract by five-tenths of a percent in 2013, and that the jobless rate would jump from 7.9 percent last month to 9.1 percent by the end of next year.
But reaching a deal will not be easy, with Obama calling for the end to tax cuts for households earning more than $250,000 a year and Republicans adamantly against raising tax rates. The Republican House leader, John Boehner, says that Republicans would be open to some form of increasing government revenues, possibly through elimination of various tax deductions, as long as Democrats agree to reform spending for government pension and health care programs for the elderly.
President Obama and Boehner came close to reaching a long-term deal debt and spending deal in 2011, but it fell apart, leading to the pact calling for the mandated spending cuts and the tax changes that would take effect in January.
Neither the president nor his political opponents want the mandates to take effect, but put the possibility of them in place as a way to force an agreement by a certain deadline.
As the cumulative U.S. government debt total continues to mount, Obama and the lawmakers will also face a decision early in 2013 on whether to increase the amount the country can borrow beyond the current $16 trillion level. Obama has pledged to work for a plan that would reduce the debt level over a period of years, but also has been unable to reach an agreement on that issue with his Republican opponents.
(303 words)
Time 3:
Asian economies
Asia’s great moderation
Some of the world’s stablest economies are Asian. Time to worry?
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LAOS, a poor country of 6m people wedged between Vietnam and Thailand, has no openings to the sea and few routes to world attention. But it is now enjoying a rare moment in the sun. Last month it won approval to join the World Trade Organisation. This week it hosted the ninth Asia-Europe meeting, which brings together leaders from the world’s most and least dynamic regions. Its small economy, which exports gold, copper and hydropower, is distinguishing itself. Its growth rate is not only one of the fastest in the world but also one of the steadiest.
From 2002 to 2011 growth fluctuated within a remarkably narrow range, never falling below 6.2% and never rising above 8.7%. Only three countries have recorded a steadier growth rate (as measured by its standard deviation) over that period. Two of them are also Asian: Indonesia and Bangladesh. Growth in developing Asia is now steadier, as well as faster, than growth in the “mature” economies of the G7 (see chart 1). It was more stable in 2002-11 than over any other ten-year span since 1988-97.
The “Great Moderation” is the name given to the era of economic tranquillity that prevailed in America and elsewhere in the rich world before the financial crisis. Should the label now be applied to Asia?
Asia’s economies are better known for their speed than their stability. From 1996 to 1998, for example, growth in five big South-East Asian countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam) swung from 7.5% to minus 8.3% as the Asian financial crisis struck. Even now some highly open economies, such as Thailand, Singapore and Taiwan, remain more volatile than the global average. Exposed to international trade flows, their industrial output fluctuates like a twirling ribbon with every twitch of demand.
(312 words)
Time 4:
But developing Asia (which excludes rich economies like Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan) is dominated by populous countries that rely increasingly on domestic demand to drive their economies. Household consumption contributed half of the growth of just over 6% Indonesia enjoyed in the year to the third quarter (its eighth consecutive quarter of growth at that pace). Exports have fallen from about 35% of GDP ten years ago to less than a quarter in 2011. Developing Asia’s combined current-account surplus, which reflects its dependence on foreign demand, more than halved from 2008 to 2011 and is expected to fall further this year.
Asia’s stability also owes something to demand management. During the Asian financial crisis policymakers faced a dilemma. They could defend their exchange rates by raising interest rates. But that would cripple borrowers. Or they could let their currencies fall and ease rates. But that would inflate the burden of foreign-currency debt, crippling borrowers too.
In the aftermath of the crisis the region worked its way out of this trap. Most countries accumulated an impressive stock of hard-currency reserves and weaned themselves off foreign-bank loans in favour of foreign equity and local-currency bonds. Because these liabilities were denominated in their own currency, they did not rise in value when the currency fell.
That has freed policymakers to cut interest rates when the economy slows. Indonesia’s central bank, for example, slashed rates by three percentage points from December 2008 to August 2009. It cut rates by another point from October 2011 to February 2012. Thanks in part to its responsive central bank, Indonesia’s year-on-year growth rates over the past 20 quarters have been the most stable in the world.
Wise monetary policy was also one of the reasons cited for the Great Moderation enjoyed by the G7 economies. Another was the supposed depth and sophistication of the rich world’s financial systems, which, it was said, allowed households to smooth their spending, firms to diversify their borrowing and banks to unburden their balance-sheets. Both of these pillars of stability proved false comforts. Economists had not quite settled on an explanation for the Great Moderation before it inconveniently ceased to exist.
(361 words)
Time 5:
Worryingly, Asia’s great moderation has also been accompanied by sharply rising credit. According to Fred Neumann of HSBC, leverage is now higher than at any time since the Asian financial crisis (see chart 2). This credit expansion may represent healthy “financial deepening”, which many economists believe is a cause of growth and stability. But rising leverage can also be a threat to stability. The late Hyman Minsky, among others, argued that drops in volatility allow firms and households to borrow more of the money they invest. Stability, in Minsky’s formulation, eventually becomes destabilising. Overleverage does not require excessive optimism, merely excessive certitude; not fast growth, merely steady growth.
Fortunately, Asia’s policymakers never shared the West’s faith in self-correcting financial systems. The region has pioneered “macroprudential” regulations, designed to curb excessive credit and capital flows even without raising interest rates. In March, for example, Indonesia tightened loan-to-value ratios on mortgages and imposed minimum downpayments on car and motorbike loans.
Mr Neumann is, however, sceptical that regulatory tightening can substitute for the monetary kind. Macroprudential controls are not watertight, he notes. As long as capital remains cheap, money will leak. If the regulator lowers mortgage loan-to-value ratios, for example, banks may simply raise the appraised value of a home. If regulators impede foreign purchases of property, as Hong Kong just did, foreigners will seek inventive ways around the rules.
Hong Kong’s freedom to raise rates is constrained by its currency’s fixed link to the dollar, one of the few pegs to survive the Asian financial crisis. Other central banks do not have that excuse. Currency flexibility has given them the freedom to cut rates when growth slows. It should also allow them to raise rates when financial excess threatens—even if rates remain near zero in America, Europe and Japan. If stable growth allows lenders or borrowers to become overstretched, it can “sow the seeds of its own destruction”, Mr Neumann argues. Nothing great about that.
(324words)
【Obstacle】
Workplace bullying: a global overview
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Think about sexual harassment. It's not done. And yet until not that long ago it was something that was done flagrantly – and constantly - with a wink and a nod. It still happens, but less, and public perception has changed.
Yet in the United States, workplace bullying has been found to be four times more prevalent than sexual harassment.
It's not just the United States that has a problem. At the Work, Stress, and Health 2011 conference, bullying expert Staale Einarsen of Norway described the workplace bullying field as "exploding." And in Denmark, an article in the Copenhagen Post online in March 2010 quoted the Minister of Employment as stating that workplace bullying had become such a huge problem across the country that a special system needed to be set up to tackle it.
In general terms, bullying describes a wide variety of negative workplace behaviors including verbal threats, personal attacks, humiliation, innuendo, and deliberate isolation of a colleague. Separate incidents may be relatively innocuous but are often sustained or persistent in character, with a cumulative negative effect.
Workplace bullying has been identified as one of the major contemporary challenges for occupational health and safety and linked to other emerging risks such as work-related stress and violence. These hazards are often termed psychosocial risks.
Psychosocial factors such as bullying are now being generally acknowledged as global issues, affecting all countries, professions, and workers. A recent Monster Global Poll bears this out. The poll, run from May 1-14, 2011, surveyed workers worldwide, and posed the question, "Have you ever been bullied at work?"
The 16, 517 responses received indicated the following: 64% answered that they had been bullied, either physically hurt, driven to tears, or had their work performance affected; 36% replied that this had never happened to them; and 16% answered that they had seen it happen to others. An astounding 83% of European respondents reported that they had been physically or emotionally bullied, while the percentages were 65% in the Americas, and 55% in Asia.
In many countries, new legislation has been coming into force or new provisions have been incorporated into existing legislation to protect workers from bullying. Canada, Australia, and nine European countries have enacted anti-bullying laws, including Sweden, France, and Denmark. Recently, a new Serbian law prohibiting workplace bullying became effective and, according to the Federation of European Employers, gave rise to over 400 court applications – in only the first month of its coming into force.
Other countries have opted for non-regulatory instruments, such as codes of practice and provisions in collective bargaining agreements.
Research worldwide has also found that bullying, an internal occurrence undertaken by manager and/or co-workers, leads to more workers leaving their job than violence, which is typically inflicted by sources external to a company.
Laws in Effect
Under workplace health and safety legislation, employers have a duty of care to provide a safe work environment for employees, visitors, and contractors. This requirement is often interpreted to require ensuring persons in the workplace are both mentally and physically safe at work and that their health is not adversely affected by work, and has been also interpreted to require a workplace free from bullying.
EU-OSHA's Europe wide establishment survey on new and emerging risks (ESENER) stated that management of work-related stress, violence, bullying, and harassment fits clearly within the EU framework of OSH management as set out in Directive 89/391/EEC.
In Germany, the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs website, on its page "Bullying at work" states, "Employers are obliged to protect their employees' right of privacy and health. They must therefore prevent mobbing, act against employees who mob others and take all possible measures to prevent mobbing in their companies."
Early European countries to enact workplace bullying laws were Sweden and France, with Sweden enacting a 1993 statutory provision against bullying entitled "Victimization at work". France subsequently introduced an obligation on employers to prevent psychological harassment, and countries including Norway, Denmark, and the Netherlands, have followed suit. The United Kingdom does not have a specific law against bullying in the workplace, but claims may be brought under a variety of other laws.
Countries outside of Europe have also recently joined in prohibition of workplace bullying, also known as psychological harassment or psychological abuse. In 2011, the Canadian province of Manitoba imposed new obligations on employers to protect workers from psychological harassment in the workplace as well as new employer requirements under an amendment covering workplace violence and harassment.
Queensland is one of two States in Australia with a Code of Practice specifically for workplace bullying. For the first time in Turkey, pursuant to an amendment to the Debts law in 2011, an employer must protect all employees from psychological abuse in the workplace.
Belgium, in a 2007 decree concerning the " revention of Psychosocial Load Caused by Work, including Violence, Harassment, and Sexual Harassment at Work", addresses the prevention of detrimental effects of work on the physical or mental health of a person by requiring the employer to perform a risk analysis, taking into account situations causing stress, conflict, violence, harassment, or sexual harassment at work; determine prevention measures on the basis of the analysis; take all necessary measures to ensure that employees have all necessary information available with regard to the results of the risk analysis, applicable prevention measures and procedures; and ensure that all workers receive all necessary training to enable them to adequately apply prevention measures and procedures. A new subject matter, psychosocial risks, but addressed by familiar- sounding occupational health and safety requirements.
Laws Yet to Come
In August, 2010 the Workplace Bullying Institute (WBI) commissioned Zogby International to conduct a survey of adult Americans. The results showed that 35% of Americans report personally being bullied. By including those who only witness it, 50% of have experienced bullying, directly or vicariously, at work. Another 50% say that have neither experienced nor seen it.
This study was a follow-up to a 2007 WBI-Zogby survey, the comparable prevalence was then 37%. The poll defined workplace bullying as "repeated mistreatment: sabotage by others that prevented work from getting done, verbal abuse, threatening conduct, intimidation or humiliation." Of the WBI-Zogby respondents, 64% supported having laws to protect workers from "malicious, health-harming abusive conduct" committed by bosses and co-workers (the specific language contained in the introduced bills). 23.8% opposed laws.
Despite these findings, an employee can still be a target of bullying in the workplace in the United States and have no legal recourse. Workers who are abused based on their membership in a protected class, including gender, race nationality or religion, among others, can sue under state and federal laws, but the law generally does not cover acts of bullying.
Healthy workplace legislation appears to be gaining traction in the US, however, with bills introduced in 21 States, and 16 bills presently active in 11 states. States which have introduced anti-bullying legislation since 2003 include California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and Maryland. Minnesota became the 21st state to introduce a version of the anti-bullying Healthy Workplace Bill when it did so on April 29, 2011.
The proposed laws state that it is unlawful to subject an employee to an abusive work environment, or permit an abusive work environment. Terms defined include adverse conduct, abusive work environment, adverse employment action, malice, constructive discharge, and physical, psychological, and tangible harm. Wrongful conduct primarily must be shown to have been done with malice, and in most cases that has to have been repeated.
None of the bills have been enacted. Yet. However, an online insurance industry newsletter published by PropertyCasualty360.com noted a growing trend in the number of employers requesting that insurance carriers include workplace bullying in their employment practice liability insurance (EPLI) policies.
Management, Prevention, and Costs
Workplaces in which bullying is allowed to occur undermine the pursuit of a business' growth and profitability and may lead to a detrimental impact on the corporate image with the public at large.
Specifically, the costs of workplace bullying include time and production lost due to factors which include employees' preoccupation with negative circumstances, and resulting costs to the company's overhead, loss of skill and experience when a worker leaves due to being bullied, and time spent training his/her replacement, lowered employee morale, medical and insurance costs, provision of counseling services, and harm to a company's reputation.
Occupational health and safety laws have long dealt with physical risks, and now psychological risks are beginning to be treated similarly. Undertaking risk assessments, implementation of a policy statement against bullying which includes definitions and examples, information dissemination and training to both supervisors and employees, institution of complaint and investigation processes, and follow-up are quickly moving from recommended to required steps for addressing bullying in the workplace.
In today's workplaces, the approach by management to OHS should emphasize both physical and psychological health.
Human resources professionals, attorneys, and safety mangers, as well as high level management, must be aware of workplace bullying developments. Workplace bullying has been made illegal outside of the United States, in countries where many multinational corporations may do business. Whether or not legislation has been enacted in a country, State, territory, or province, these emerging workplace risks and liabilities should be proactively managed for the best interests of employers and employees.
(1559 words)
随意阅读：希望对大家有帮助~~ 
Inspire yourself: craft a work-life vision
Have you dreamed (maybe more than once) about having a full, rich life – one that includes a different kind of working life? A dream where you are living where you want, doing the kind of work that fulfills you most, and you are surrounded by people you love.
I can't think of anything better. But, the truth is that most of you will go on dreaming because you can't fathom how to make it all real.
So may I share a little secret? Bringing your dream into focus is well within your control. It starts with a well-crafted vision – that can inspire you to action, time and again.
The Value of A Work-Life Vision
Deep in your heart, you know that life is what you make it. You have a choice to accept what comes your way or to approach life consciously – being clear about your values, aspirations, goals and priorities. Without question, the conscious path dramatically improves your odds of getting what you want out of life. And it brings about deep satisfaction as a result of taking charge of how your life unfolds each day.
At the heart of "being clear" is your life vision – a document that spells out your intentions and ambitions – in all their glory. The very process of developing your vision helps you gain clarity about what you want. And, by putting it in writing, you take a giant step closer to having it become your reality. Once your dreams are codified, they become more concrete, and you become more committed to achieving them.
Craft It – From Your Heart
You can use any format to write your vision – your journal, a letter to a friend or simply write it down on a lined pad. There is no set length, but if you aim for a page, or possibly a bit more, you will be able to capture the important elements of your vision without getting lost in tiny details.
Before you begin, put yourself in a mellow space. Go for a walk or ride your bike. Let go of your day-to-day pressures and give yourself the luxury of some quiet, thoughtful time. Since it's rare for most us to be so reflective, don't be surprised if you have a little difficulty getting in the groove at first.
Be patient. Jot down random thoughts – even bullet points are fine – in no particular order. Don't feel you have to pour out a polished version right off the bat! Capture your thoughts and desires first – and, afterwards, spruce them up with the right structure and words.
Use these few guidelines to get started.
1. Your vision should look out about 3-5 years,
2. It is about where you want to be – not where you are at
3. It should be very big – the best visions give you something to grow into
4. It is directional in nature -- the essence of the new life you seek, not every detail. (Details come later as you establish goals and activities to move you toward your vision.)
5. Write it in the present tense – as if you have already achieved it
Most importantly, let it flow from your heart. It is what you want most for yourself in work and in life, not what you feel you should do…or what someone else wants you to do. Give yourself permission to capture the biggest, most glorious vision imaginable. Don't worry one whit that it's too big to achieve…the bigger, the better. If you aim very big and achieve a piece, what an amazing accomplishment that will be!
Include Some Or All These Points
1. What do you value most in life?
2. How would you like these values to be honored?
3. Have you accomplished something that reflects your values?
4. How will your "juice" (from Lesson 1) be honored in your vision?
5. Where are you living?
6. How do you spend your time?
7. Professionally, what kind of work excites you?
8. Is anyone else with you?
9. What is your relationship with God?
As you begin to write, use lively, colorful language that inspires and compels you to action. When complete, your vision will be your benchmark against which you will calibrate future choices, behaviors and activities.
A Personal Example
Here's the vision that I wrote in 1999 as I began my career-change journey. At the time I wrote it, I did not know that I would become a career counselor, but I did know that I loved to write and that I wanted to incorporate that into my new career.
I wrote my vision in the form of a letter to my niece, Jenna. Notice the date of the letter…I post-dated by five years. My overarching goal was to have more personal time for "everyday kinds of things". This vision clearly reflects that desire.
August 30, 2004
Dear Jenna,
What a glorious week this has been! The Berkshires never cease to amaze me with such beauty and grace. Even better, the city folk have departed, returning our sleepier pace -- and parking spots -- in the village!
You asked about visiting over your birthday next month. Absolutely! And now that I'm no longer working full time, let me share what our week might be like...
My days have taken on a softer rhythm – active, but not crazy; focused, but not intense. I'm up early and by 7am I've fed the creatures, gazed at the new day (it's always perfect regardless of the weather!) and completed my spiritual reading.
After breakfast, I'm ready for action: a brisk walk or a little house keeping, and then to my office by 9am. It's a colorful, happy place – light years from my corporate corner, and just right for the writing that I love so much. By 4pm, my creative energy is usually going downhill, so I call it quits and head for yoga.
While I'm occupied with work, you can bike, explore or even weed my garden. It truly has become a magical spot – initially out of dumb luck but now the result of thousands of questions about sprouts, pods, roots and soils asked of myriad gardeners and friends.
So, I look forward to seeing you and laughing over a Bloody Mary or two. You haven't lost your touch, have you?
With great affection,
Patricia
P.S. Hope you won't mind accompanying us to a social engagement or two. Gary and I have integrated well into this community. And maybe you can help me plan a wardrobe for our trip to Italy in October. We will be house-sharing in the Italian hills once again with our dearest friends, Ellie, JoEtta and Steven.
Let It Pull You Forward
Your vision can be a powerful and inspirational force for change. I read my vision every day for many, many months. It was a constant reminder of my commitment to myself about how I wanted my future to unfold.
And I can honestly share that my life now is pretty darn close to my vision – well, except for the 9 to 4 part. It's more like 8 to 5, plus a few evenings. But with lots more flexibility, a relaxed home-office environment and work that reflects my own special brand of purposeful work.
Your vision holds the same power for you. Give yourself lots of time and space and write from your heart. You may go through several drafts, in several different sittings, until it feels just right. Then, each time you read it, feel expanded, joyful, recharged and re-committed to a more meaningful life and career.
(1268 words)
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发表于 2012-11-14 19:58:05
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楼主
Thanks attractg for your discussion! I believe you are quite right!
我也看过那篇TPO的~~嘿嘿，yeah , the same feeling ~~~ Teddy以后要帮我揪语法错误昂~~ 我的英文表达还有很多问题~
