- UID
- 641643
- 在线时间
- 小时
- 注册时间
- 2011-6-19
- 最后登录
- 1970-1-1
- 主题
- 帖子
- 性别
- 保密
|
各位晚上好，今天是偶生日，提前发上个作业来庆祝一下~ （作业是周四的昂） 生日一边感冒一边复习gmat , 太欢乐了有木有~？
因为学习了Elen , 所以我的文章莫有标题了昂~~ 标题设置在了最底下回复可见~ 嘿嘿 如果大家阅读完后想看标题，看自己想的main Idea准不准的话，那就可以看看作参考~
大家保持队形，阅读加油昂！！！
[Speed]
Time 1:
[attachimg=640,360]113059[/attachimg]
A major credit rating agency is warning Washington that delays in resolving a dispute over government borrowing will prompt a "review" of the nation's credit rating.
The Fitch rating agency said it expects Congress will eventually raise the "debt ceiling," making the risk of a default on U.S. debts "extremely low."
Back in August 2011, political squabbling in Congress over raising the legal borrowing limit prompted the rival S& agency to downgrade the U.S. credit rating one notch from its previous top level.
Fitch is making it clear it could consider a downgrade if Congressional action is stalled by renewed bickering. Fitch called the debt ceiling an "ineffective and potentially dangerous" mechanism for controlling government spending.
Investment advisor Frank Reilly of Reilly Financial Advisors said the political fight is likely to go "down to the last minute" which has damaged consumer and investor confidence. He said the political uncertainties means businesses are reluctant to make investments and hire people.
However, once the political squabbling is over, Reilly thinks the U.S. economy is poised to grow more quickly, an outlook that is in line with economic reports published Tuesday.
The Commerce Department said U.S. retail sales rose half-a-percent in December, which is more than first estimated. Economists watch retail sales closely because consumer demand drives most U.S. economic activity.
A survey by the Gallup organization showed Americans grew a bit less pessimistic about the economy last week, but remain concerned about financial issues.
A separate measure of inflation at the wholesale level shows prices declining slightly for the third month in a row. Relatively tame inflation means the U.S. central bank can continue its efforts to stimulate the economy by keeping interest rates at ultra-low levels. If inflation were to rise sharply, the Federal Reserve would likely raise interest rates to cool the economy.
(303words)
Time 2:
[attachimg=640,360]113060[/attachimg]
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA — At an age when most Americans begin thinking about retirement, Lauren Walters founded a company aimed at feeding the world's hungry children.
The idea came to the lifelong political activist and entrepreneur after a visit to Rwanda. He'd made a significant donation to an international health care organization and wanted to see first-hand where his contributions were going.
“What I learned was that, for malnutrition in children, we know exactly what to do," Walters says. "We know how to bring them back from the brink.”
What it takes, he learned, is a nutrient-rich protein packet.
“These are packets, little sachets, that are 500 calories, that are medically formulated," Walters says. "It’s basically sweet peanut butter with vitamins. Those sachets, given over four to six weeks, several a day, can bring a kid back from the edge and can give them the chance, if they get adequate nutrition going forward, of developing in a normal way.”
However, relief agencies and humanitarian groups were unable to distribute enough packets to satisfy the growing need. So Walters came up with a concept to help meet the demand: a food company based on a one-to-one model.
For every item sold, a nutritious meal would be donated to a malnourished child.
“This one-to-one idea is a unique way to engage millions of Americans, Europeans, and others who will be buyers one day with the notion that they could do something for themselves and something good for another person," Walters says. "If we can give people easy ways of helping other people, I think that really changes the world.”
At around the time Walters came up with that business concept, Will Hauser was also getting ready to change the world.
His parents were old friends with Walters, and Hauser often called Walters for business advice.
(302words)
Time 3:
Now a Harvard graduate working in finance in New York, Hauser told Walters he was unhappy and looking for another path. When Walters explained what he wanted to do, Hauser jumped at the chance to be part of what was to become the Two Degrees Food Bar Company.
“Two Degrees for me is this perfect marriage between my love of entrepreneurship and my long desire to do something good,” Hauser says.
The company name reflects the two steps involved in helping a malnourished child. For every Two Degrees energy bar sold, the company donates a prepared food packet in poor communities around the world.
The packets, given out by the United Nations and other relief agencies, are produced in Europe and the United States, but Walters wanted to be able to buy packets that were produced in the areas where they are needed.
“We wanted to do it locally, because we think that it’s a better development model," Walters says. "eople need jobs. And, even in our small way, if we can contribute to demand locally, we can help break the cycle which often leads to malnourished children.”
They contracted with a Malawi-based company, Valid Nutrition, to make the packets.
In February, 2011, one year after Two Degrees was launched, Will Hauser visited Malawi to witness the 11,000 nutrition packets his company donated being distributed to hungry children.
He says the trip transformed him.
“It’s a really sobering experience to see a severely malnourished child," Hauser says. "It’s just really a shocking experience to see that first-hand. You wonder how this could possibly happen.”
Two years later, Walters and Hauser have even bigger plans for their company.
They hope to donate millions of nutritional meal packets each year by expanding their offerings.
They're working on producing other healthy snack products including cereal, coffee and possibly yogurt, all packaged under the Two Degrees brand.
(313words)
Time 4:
The World Economic Forum says the most likely risk facing the world over the next 10 years is the severe disparity in income between rich and poor. The estimate was made in a new report called the World Economic Forum's Global Risks 2013. Many of the issues discussed in the report are familiar. Food availability and the spread of extremism and terrorism are noted every year. But new risks, especially technological and financial ones, are becoming more important than ever.
The World Economic Forum is based in Geneva, Switzerland. The non-profit group says its risk report is based on surveys of more than 1,000 experts from around the world. They include industry leaders and specialists in government, academics and civil society.
The experts considered the likelihood that risks could become serious problems in the future. They also studied the impact, or influence, that these risks would have if they became reality.
The experts judged the likelihood that a risk would become a problem over the next 10 years. Sharp income differences between rich and poor were the risk considered most likely. This is the second time in two years that the disparity in wealth was identified as the most likely problem. It was followed by what the report calls "chronic fiscal imbalances," or the failure of governments to deal with heavy debt over time.
The risk said to have the biggest possible impact was a major failure in the world financial system, like the collapse of a top institution or currency. But experts rated a water supply crisis as second on the list of high-impact risks. The report's organizers say this issue has generally received little attention.
How the experts change their opinions is also something to note. This year, the mismanagement of the aging population moved from the 18th to the fifth most likely threat. The failure to deal with the costs and social issues involved with an aging population is now considered a risk with greater possible impact.
The experts also were asked about extreme possibilities. The report calls these "X Factors." They include the likelihood of climate change going out of control, and even the results of discovering alien life forms.
The World Economic Forum is an international group whose members represent industry, charitable organizations and other partners. Its stated goal is to improve the state of the world.
(392 words)
Time 5:
NAIROBI — Kenyans are venting their anger over a late-night decision by the country's parliament to grant lawmakers lavish retirement benefits including a $100,000 bonus and other perks. An online campaign is underway to stop the president from signing the bill.
In one of their last sessions of the year, members of the Kenyan parliament passed a retirement bill that would give each member a hefty bonus, bodyguards for life, private chauffeurs and a state funeral.
Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki rejected a previous iteration of the bill a month ago. But this time, lawmakers have tacked it onto another order that would also award the president a $300,000 bonus on his retirement next year.
The new amendments were introduced late Wednesday night and made public on Thursday. Kenya's Nation Newspaper reports some of the changes were handwritten on a piece of paper signed by the finance minister.
The public fallout of the bill took to Twitter on Friday, as angry citizens voiced their outrage on the popular social media site - deriding members of parliament as “MPigs.”
A popular Kenyan blogger Robert Alai has been leading the online charge against the lawmakers who he says are already overpaid.
“I don't feel that the country needs to give the MPs such amount of money after serving just five years. And very few of us in employment or running our businesses can get to decide to go out with such a pay package after just five years," he said. "You know, it's kind of ridiculous.”
Alai orchestrated a street protest the last time the parliament tried to pass the benefits bill, and says he is planning similar action for next week, which may include a mock state funeral.
The online campaign drew the attention of Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who denounced the retirement package on his Twitter account, saying the two bills “border on criminality.”
Alai says social media has been able to succeed in empowering citizens where the country's traditional media have fallen short.
“If it were not for social media, I think some of us would not be as much vocal because the problem is that the mainstream media is still majorly owned by the leaders or the politicians themselves," Alai noted. "So social media has been a great godsend to us.”
As the country waits for President Kibaki to make his decision on whether to approve or veto the bills, Kenyans online are joking that they hope members of parliament get those state funerals they have asked for.
(418words)
[Obstacle]
Although it has been nearly 30 years since I came to the United States to attend graduate school, it was only a decade ago that I decided to become an American citizen. I hadn’t thought “becoming American” would be meaningful or emotional, but it was. I had to turn in my Indian passport and pledge allegiance to the United States, and I worried about losing a piece of my identity. Midway through the process, I was ambivalent. But like generations of immigrants before me, I went through the interview, took the citizenship exam, and entered a majestic room—in my case, Boston’s Faneuil Hall—to take the oath. Standing there, I realized that I was proud to be an American—and that, despite my new commitment to the United States, I was never going to lose my Indian heritage. This opportunity for newcomers to hold on to a piece of their past while embracing the promise of a better future as an American is, I’ve come to believe, just one important attribute of the set of values we know as the American Dream.
As anyone who paid attention to the 2012 U.S. presidential race can attest, it’s a dream that seems to be in great peril. “The American Dream is slipping away,” the historian Jon Meacham wrote before last summer’s political conventions, calling this issue “the crisis of our time.” We’re right to be deeply concerned. The American Dream is the country’s most important asset—more valuable than its extraordinary natural resources, deep financial capacity, or unparalleled workforce. It’s so valuable because it is a narrative that continues to draw people here from other countries, and it inspires those of us who are already here to work hard every day to better ourselves and our children. To watch this powerful force deteriorate is troubling—and understanding what might be done to stop the deterioration is imperative.
That task has been embraced in several recent books. The Betrayal of the American Dream, by the veteran investigative reporters Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele, illustrates the two primary difficulties of writing about this topic, particularly after a drawn-out campaign. First, the basic facts and forces at work—globalization, outsourcing, the decline of labor unions, less progressive tax policies, and deregulation—have been described in countless newspaper articles, political stump speeches, and attack ads, which leads to a wearying I’ve-heard-this-all-before feeling. Second, the subject has become so wrapped up in partisanship that it’s difficult to explore in a thoughtful and fair-minded manner. Barlett and Steele seem uninterested in even appearing fair-minded: Their one-sided analysis reads like a liberal manifesto, and ultimately it offers little fresh thinking.
The writer and PBS correspondent Hedrick Smith examines the same forces but offers deeper, more-thoughtful analysis in Who Stole the American Dream? In particular, he examines how the “virtuous circle” of prosperous workers that created the consumer demand that drove the postwar U.S. economy has now been broken. I agree with him that restoring confidence in the link between business success and social prosperity will be vital to sustaining the American Dream.
To get the dream back on track, Smith offers prescriptions similar to those espoused by Barlett and Steele: “fairer” trade, a more progressive tax code, investments in infrastructure and education, and a shift toward a more responsive and pragmatic politics. All seem tall orders in an era when bipartisan cooperation is so rare. That’s also true of the fixes suggested by the Rutgers professor Carl E. Van Horn in Working Scared (or Not at All): The Lost Decade, Great Recession, and Restoring the Shattered American Dream, one of the most recent books on this topic. Van Horn draws on voluminous survey research to examine the problem, and the results are insightful. He does a particularly good job of capturing the anxiety and vulnerability of working-class Americans in a global economy, especially those with low skills and educational levels. Van Horn suggests more direct government employment and broader workforce training initiatives as possible solutions, but it requires imagination to envision such measures passing the 113th U.S. Congress, which begins this month.
Taken together, these books offer a dispiriting picture, but it’s important not to succumb to pessimism. While the American Dream rests on a broad set of virtues—including a strong work ethic, a belief in meritocracy that enables mobility, and a welcoming attitude toward immigrants—its foundation is a spirit of optimism. The United States has always had what I think of as an “ambition economy,” fueled by Horatio Alger tales and reinforced by modern stories of self-made men and women who’ve become role models in business and politics. In America it’s natural to tell our children that they can achieve anything they want. In contrast, many other countries have an “envy economy,” in which parents suppress their children’s ambition and condition them to accept that they can’t have the things that more-fortunate citizens possess.
Lately there are signs that America is shifting from an orientation of ambition toward one of envy. Whether it is the 99% who envy the 1% or the 53% who resent the 47% who are receiving government distributions, we are beginning to show signs of focusing more on others than on ourselves. That’s a shift we want to avoid. Over time envy has a corrosive, pernicious effect on an economy. It reduces agency and encourages people to attribute outcomes to forces beyond their control. It shifts people’s gaze toward others in a negative way and takes their focus off their own goals. In an ambition economy, people generally enjoy watching others get ahead, because it reinforces their sense that they, too, can succeed. In an envy economy, in contrast, people often feel like they’re playing in a zero-sum game and that if someone else gets ahead, it comes at their own expense.
When I was growing up in India, I heard an aphorism that illustrated this dynamic. It was based on the way fishermen keep the crabs they catch in a tin pail without a top. “You don’t need a top, because if any crab tries to escape, the other crabs will pull it back down,” people said. I have no idea whether crabs really behave this way, but the saying implied that the same was true of Indian society: If one person tried to rise above his class, the rest would pull him back down. Other cultures have similar sensibilities. In New Zealand, Australia, the UK, and Canada, they call it the “tall poppy syndrome,” which refers to how anyone whose achievements set him apart from the crowd is urged to underachieve and blend in. America is fortunate to have avoided these envy-driven sentiments, and it’s imperative that we keep it that way.
(1126 words)
这里是标题啦，回复可见~~ 读完了需要的话可以看一下~
标题：
【Speed】
Time 1: Credit Rating Agency Warns Washington
Time 2、Time 3: Snack Maker's Business Model Aids Hunger Relief
Time 4：World Economic Forum Rates Global Risks for 2013
Time 5：Kenyans Outraged Over MP Pay Package
【Obstacle】
Envy and the American Dream
|
本帖子中包含更多资源
您需要 登录 才可以下载或查看，没有帐号？立即注册
x
|
京公网安备11010202008513号 京ICP证101109号 京ICP备12012021号
发表于 2013-1-16 17:09:21
收藏
收藏
新的一年要好好加油呀~~！
风格多变也好~ 让大家都体验体验