研究生英语听力及教材答案

1.我不相信幸运这一类事情.我认为大多数时候事情发展地顺利或不顺利主要因为人们自
己的行为.我相信大多数的情况下你可以通过努力工作,自我约束,坚持不懈,把个人的发展作为每天必考虑的事情等方面创造自己的幸运.
2.许多的职业都包含其他人(的参与). 你可能具有超强的学术能力,然而缺少社交能力,即
有能力倾听别人,对其他人(的反应)敏感,甚至游刃有余地给出或吸纳批评.
3.如果你周边的环境经常让你意志消沉,也许你的确该改变一下了,可能不是改变你的位置,
但至少是你的态度.如果你能学会很好地利用任何情况,你就能消除掉挡在你和你梦想之间的可怕的障碍.
4.任何人在忙忙碌碌的时候都会犯错误.但是注意力不集中的人经常遇到麻烦不是因为他
们太忙了,而是因为他们缺乏优先考虑的事情.这样,不仅浪费了他们的实践,也浪费了资源.
5.如果你拒绝变化,你就是拒绝成功.学会灵活,否则就得学会习惯忍受失败.
6.你的天分越大,你就有可能越倚赖于天分,甚至忽视日复一日完善它的工作.如果你有了这
样消极的倾向,给自己定一个进步计划,这样你就能充分利用好上帝给你的天赋.
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第二单元翻译
1．老师、教授常被描述成生活在象牙塔中的理想主义者，他们脱离实际。

人们指责他们只强调学力或学业，而这些对帮助学生将来求职或就业并无直接关系。

2．大学之所以存在，是因为它在人们富于想象力的学习中成为老少两代人之间的纽带，因而保持了知识和生活热情之间的联系。

3．我们必须使每个学生开始明白：他/ 她在人类连绵不断的链条上只是其中的一环，这一环虽小，却至关重要。

这链条的前面有数千年的历史，并向无限的未来延伸。

4．人生不是支离破碎地学习一些课程，充实的人生应该是发现艰巨的任务并运用我们掌握的智慧和能量工具来完成这些任务。

我们准备放手让你们来完成一些艰巨的任务。

让我们拭目以待——看看你们如何来完成。

5．让我们为学生营造环境，使他们成长为有创造性、有思想的人，成为一群懂历史、哲学、宗教、文学等等的个体。

毕竟，这些都是“人性化的学科”（或：“人文研究学科”），这些学科可以解放思想，有助于学生对陌生、神秘事物的探求。

6．如果我们可以接受乌帕姆所讲的话，我们就有义务帮助学生面对他们毕业后所接触的真实的世界。

那么在这个技术日益发展的时代，文科才可能有光明的未来。

Unit 3
1. 的确，全球化成为克林顿政府的“大战略”，视美国精英为能建立新的良性世界秩序的全球联盟中的首席—同等者之首。

2. “贸易自由化陷入停顿，援助也未按计划贯穿始终，扑救下次金融大火的将是一位自身负伤的消防员。

”
3.全球化和自由贸易许诺的美好前景与新自由主义贸易政策的实际结果有着太多的不一致，新自由主义贸易政策带来的是加倍的贫困、更高程度的不平等和更严重的经济萧条。

4. 这些协议常要求就市场准入做出更大的让步、对知识产权实施更严格的保护，因此在许多方面比世贸组织的多边谈判更加危险。

5. 自从全球化被鼓吹为大势所趋以来，时间已经过去了十五个年头。

全球化似乎并不是资本家探索开拓的“大胆的新阶段”，更多的倒是全球资本为摆脱上世纪七八十年代席卷全球经济的经济发展的停滞和不均衡所做的孤注一掷的努力。

二十世纪九十年代早期中东欧中央集权的社会主义国家的解体把人们的注意力从这一事实上转移开去。

6. 迫切的任务并非将受公司驱动的全球化转为“社会民主”方向，而是要妥善应付它的衰退趋势，使其不再引起与其早期消亡标志相同的混乱和失控的冲突。

Unit 4
1、我们该担心。

但如果政府、美联储和国会采取负责任的行动，美元应已接近价格谷底且
对大多数外币开始升值。

2、许多人相信——部分人显然希望——美元作为国际货币会逐步退出历史舞台。

人们从美
元近期的下跌和半个世纪前英镑作为储备货币的走弱之间看到了同样令人担忧的事情。

3、货币价格的涨落、摸高探底并非罕见。

给美元走弱添加危机氛围的原因是数额庞大的全
球货币储备中充斥着正在贬值的美元资产。

4、美元安然渡过了这三次风暴。

然而，它现在面临的是周期性气流与结构性气流结合在一
起形成的强大风暴。

过去5年之中，美元的下跌令全球外汇储备遭受了巨大的资本损失。

如果这种损失过于严重，各国央行可能会考虑降低损失、抛售美元，这势必会导致美元暴跌。

5、国家持有外汇储备是为了加强对本币的信心，而非作为外贸支付手段。

作为应急预防措
施，储备货币应易于兑换（以便在紧急情况下提供流动资金），并应具备良好的保值能力。

6、尽管人们焦虑担忧，仍有迹象表明，美元的下跌会很快减缓。

过去几周，美元在对包括
英镑和澳元在内的几种主要货币的兑换中已重新取得优势地位。

一战爆发前夜，英国是头号贸易强国，英镑在官方外汇储备中的份额与法国法郎、德国马克的份额之和大致相当。

战后维持了三分天下的局面，只是美元取代了马克。

第五单元翻译
1．回想起来，他对二十世纪政治、经济发展方面的评价是很准确的，而且直到现在，他有关技术发展将会影响下一个世纪的看法是具有先见之明的。

2．在过去的两年里，英语世界网络使用方面的发展速度要比其它多数语言社会快，英语国家里的联网主机数量增加了450%，而在日本增加了420%，在法语国家里增加了375%，在德语国家里增加了250%，仅仅是出于这个原因，可以肯定的是，在接下来的一段时间里，英语的使用率依然会极高。

3．这并不是说互联网对语言使用没有重要影响。

它最终将可以与出版业相媲美。

出版业首先创造出了标准的民族语言，然后又帮助创造出了围绕这些语言的民族社会感。

错误在于认为语言的这种影响可以以其在全球被使用的粗略百分比来衡量。

4．你也许会感觉到这种策略不会缓解其它语言使用者的焦虑，他们担心网络将被英语所主宰，这并不奇怪。

5．由于互联网将每一个文件变成可能的“国际性”出版物，这一点常常吸引网页用英文发表那些没有出版发行的、通常不在国界以外传播文件。

而且，反过来，这也使得网络上使用英语在很多国家成为身份的象征，因为这意味着你说的内容可能会引起国际上的关注。

6．的确，我们也许对空想家们这些互动式论坛的描述持怀疑态度，他们认为这样的论坛是新的“电子平民”的核心。

论坛最终会以直接的民主取代传统的政治体制—传统政治体制从来就是因为过于混乱、过于片面、过于不可靠而无法承担所有的重担。

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1.There is today, quite rightly, a growing concern for our environment and a genuine fear that,
if we do not change our ways right now, the damage we will inflict on our planet will render it incapable of sustaining-for future generations-the economy we have grown accustomed to over the better part of the past two centuries.
今天，人们越来越关心环境，而且真正担忧，如果我们现在不改变我们的方式，我们对这颗行星造成的破坏，将会使它无法为我们的后代持续发展经济，而这种经济是我们在过去的二百年里发展更好年份中已经习惯了的。

2.That the earth and its resources do not belong to us and are not ours to squander without
thought for the future is not proving an easy lesson for us to learn, but we are gradually succeeding — or, at least, waking up to the enormity of the task that confront us.
地球及其资源不属于我们，也不是我们可以不考虑将来就能任意挥霍的东西，这一点并没有被证明是我们可以容易接受的教训，但是我们正在逐渐走向成功——或者说，至少我们正在明白我们所面临的任务的艰巨性。

3.The pressure is mounting for every potential polluter, every user of energy and every
conspicuous contributor to climate change and global warming to clean up their act and adopt greener practices. The transport industry is no exception to such scrutiny and pressure; indeed, it seems to attract more than its fair share of attention in this regard-certainly enough to ensure that environmental concerns are now high on the agenda in all of its sectors.
每一个可能带来污染的企业（行业），每一个能源使用者，每一个显而易见的导致气候变化和全球变暖的企业所承受的环保压力在增加。

这个压力需要他们使自己行为变得清洁，采取更加绿色（环保）的行业实践做法。

对于这样的检查和压力，运输行业也不例外。

在这一点上，运输行业似乎受到了格外关注，这些关注足以确保环境问题被提到各个部门的最高日
程上。

4.IMO‟s environmental work in recent years has covered a remarkably broad canvas,
embracing everything, from the quality of our atmosphere to the microscopic aquatic life-forms that can be transported around the world in ships‟ ballast water and deposited in alien local ecosystems where, by disrupting their delicate balance, they can cause immense damage.
近年来，国际海事组织的环保工作已经涵盖了从大气层的质量到水生微生物相当大的领域（范围）。

水生微生物可以在压载水中被带到世界各地，并且排放到异样的当地生态系统中，在此生态系统中，通过打破其脆弱的生态平衡，可以造成极大的破坏。

5.IMO‟s work in this respect must be part of a broad-based effort in which everyone has a
responsibility and everyone has a role to play, a concept precisely reflected in the well-known environmental call to action “think globally —act locally”.
在这方面，国际海事组织的工作是无限努力的一部分。

其中，每个人都有其责任，又都发挥其作用。

这是一个在呼吁人们行动起来的口号中确切反映出来的概念：从全球考虑，从本地做起。

6.And in the long term, society will need to address its own priorities and understand that
nothing comes for nothing and that there will be prices and sacrifices that we must be prepared to pay and make, for the greater good of all.
在长远考虑，社会将需要解决孰先孰后的问题，并且要明白没有白给的东西，还要明白，我们必须准备好支付和付出，以便为所有人获得更大的利益。

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Unit 8 translation exercise
1.黄昏降临时，我该感受到双倍的愉快，因为能看到人造的光芒，这是人类的天才创造出
来的，当大自然黑暗降临之时，以延展他的视力。

2.去听悦耳的乐声，鸟儿的鸣唱，乐队的强劲旋律，就好像你明天就遭致失聪一样。

去触
摸你想摸的每个物体，就像你明天会推动触觉意识一样。

去闻花朵的芳香，津津有味地去尝美味佳肴，就好像你明天会再也不能闻到，尝到一样。

3.第一天我献给了我的朋友们，有生命的和无生命的。

第二天向我展示了人类和自然的历
史。

今天我将在当今的平凡世界里度过，在为生活事务忙碌的人们常去的地方度过。

4.然而，那些能看见的人明显地看得很少，充满世间的色彩和动作的景象被当成理所当然，
或许，这是人性共有的特点；对我们具有的不怎么欣赏，而对我们不具有的却渴望得到。

然而，这是一个极大的遗憾，在光明的世界里，视力的天赋仅仅作为一种方便之用，而没有作为增添生活美满的手段。

5.法庭记录每天都显露出“见证人”看得多不准确。

一个特定的事件，要被尽可能多的人从
几个不同的方面去“看到”，有些人看得比另一些人要多些，而没有几个人看到了在他们的视线范围内的所有事情。

有些景象是愉快的，让心里充满快乐，而有些是悲惨的，对这些事，我并不闭上我的眼睛，因为这也是生活的一部分，对此闭起双目就是关闭起心灵与头脑。

第9课
Translation
Translate the following sentences into Chinese.
1.Acquaintances recount his uncanny ability to calculate columns of numbers off the top of his
head — a feat Warren still amazes business colleagues with today.
数人们叙述他张口就来计算一组组数字的时候我能起能力—他的这个能力至今仍然使生意上的同事惊叹不已。

2.Warren Buffett approached graduate studies with the same resistance he displayed a few years
earlier.
巴菲特以几年以前表现出来的反抗力进行研究生学习。

3.One of his best known calls was the Northern Pipe Line, an oil transportation company
managed by the Rockefellers.
他最著名的是对北方管道公司的拜访，这是洛克菲勒经营的石油运输公司。

4. Shortly thereafter, he waged a proxy war and secured a spot on the Board of Directors.
此后不久，他进行了一场获得代理权的战争，并且在董事会得到了一席之地。

5. Absolutely determined, Buffett offered to work for the Graham partnership for free. Ben turned him down. He preferred to hold his spots for Jews who were not hired at Gentile firms at the time. Warren was crushed.
巴菲特下定了决心，要求免费为格洛汉姆合股公司效力。

6. Small, to say the least, but he had much bigger plans for that pool of money.
尽管这笔合作资金很小，但是至少可以说，巴菲特对这笔资金有着更大的计划。

7. A somewhat-celebrity in his hometown, Warren never gave stock tips despite constant requests from friends and strangers alike.
尽管沃伦在家乡小有名气，除了朋友们和陌生人不断要求之外，他从不给人以股市上的建议。

8. Warren said he "must have been in the bathroom when the dividend was declared".
沃伦说宣布红利的时候他一定是在浴室里。

Unit One Life of Aspiration
Part One
Warm-up Listening
Choose Optimism
If you expect something to turn out badly, it probably will. Pessimism is seldom disappointed. But the same principle also works in reverse. If you expect good things to happen, they usually do! There seems to be a natural cause-and-effect relationship between optimism and success.
Optimism and pessimism are both powerful forces, and each of us must choose which we want to shape our outlook and our expectations. There is enough good and bad in everyone‟s life—ample sorrow and happiness, sufficient joy and pain—to find a rational basis for either optim ism or pessimism. We can choose to laugh or cry, bless or curse, and it‟s our decision.
I choose to highlight the positive and slip right over the negative. I am an optimist by choice as much as by nature. Sure, I know that sorrow exists. I am in my 70s no w, and I‟ve lived through
more than one crisis. But when all is said and done, I find that the good in life far outweighs the bad.
An optimistic attitude is not a luxury; it‟s a necessity. The way you look at life will determine how you feel, how you perform, and how well you will get along with other people. Conversely, negative thoughts, attitudes, and expectations feed on themselves; they become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Pessimism creates a dismal place where no one wants to live.
Optimism doesn‟t need to be naive. We can be an optimist and still recognize that problems exist and that some of them are not dealt with easily. But what a difference optimism makes is the attitude of the problem solver! When you‟re an optimist, you‟re more concerned with problem-solving than with useless carping about issues. It‟s your choice. (Words: 287)
Part Two
Focus-Listening
A Great Communicator in All Circumstances
Many American presidents have made an impact on our country as great communicators. John F. Kennedy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln come to mind as outstanding examples. But only one president in our lifetime was called the Great Communicator, and that was Ronald Reagan.
Flashes of Reagan‟s talent for communication revealed themsel ves early in his career. He started out in radio. In his early twenties, Reagan quickly became one of the best-known announcers in the Midwest. Throughout his career, Reagan displayed an uncommon ability to connect and communicate with people. Nowhere was that more evident than during his time leading up to and in the White House. While announcing his run for the presidency in 1980, he cast the vision for his campaign clearly and simply, saying, “At the heart of our message should be five simple familiar words. No big economic theories. No sermons on political philosophy. Just five short words: family, work, neighborhood, freedom, peace.”
During his campaign, Reagan successfully debated incumbent Jimmy Carter. The former California governor came across as a relaxed, likable, competent middle American. He won easily. Afterward when asked if he had been nervous debating the president, Reagan answered, “No, not at all. I‟ve been on the same stage with John Wayne.”
Whether he was speaking to a group, looking into a camera, or connecting with someone one-on-one, Reagan was able to communicate with maximum effectiveness. Even when he was being wheeled into the operating room, his goal was to put others at ease. His comment to the surgeons was, “Please assure m e that you are all Republican s.”
Reagan was a good executive because he possessed a clear vision, made decisions easily, and delegated very effectively. But he was a great leader because of his uncanny ability to communicate. When it came to leading the country, people knew who he was, where he stood, and what he wanted, and they couldn‟t wait to get on board with him. Communication made him the kind of leader that people wanted to follow. (Words: 337)
Part Three
Home Listening
Dream vs. Goal
We all want to believe that we are capable of great feats, of reaching our fullest potential. We need dreams. They give us a vision of a better future. They nourish our spirit; they represent possibility even when we are dragged down by reality. They keep us going. Most successful people are dreamers, ordinary people who are not afraid to think big and dare to be great. Dreamers are not content with being merely mediocre, because no one ever dreams of going halfway.
In order to make real steps toward fulfilling our ultimate, big, splashy dreams, we have to start with concrete objectives. These are our goals.
Dreams are where we want to end up. Goals are how we get there. Dreams are our visions of where we are after our struggle, the prize at the end of the journey. Goals are the individual steps we take to ultimately deserve the prize.
Our dreams are our master plan. Goals are our day-by-day blueprints that provide achievable targets for incremental improvement, but dreams and goals are interrelated. Goals provide our daily routine. They show us where to start and they establish our priorities. They make us organized and create the discipline in our lives. Getting yourself to establish your goals is paramount, one of the key building blocks in achieving success.
Let‟s say you‟re trying to climb the corporate ladder in a large company, and you are not optimistic about your chances because there seems to be too many people competing for too few jobs at the top. Your dreams are that promotion.What you have to do is to break down the dream into components you can work on individually and then make a list. After studying the “dream” position, you determine that what they‟re looking for is a hardworking, driven person who can manage a team well and improve productivity. Perfecting each of these characteristics then becomes goals you can shoot for.
The first thing you do is show your boss that you are eager to work hard, begin to seek out more long-term projects to show you can maintain a certain energy level over a period of time. Then you have to show our boss that you‟re a team player, that you take the time to pitch in for the group and that you‟re the kind of person who makes the people around you perform better.
The point is that you must establish specific goals and clearly define them. Goals are not merely fuzzy wishes, or hastily made New Year‟s resolutions. They are tangible action items to be written down and followed. (Words: 434)
Unit Two Education
Part One
Warm-up Listening
Coming to America as a Fulbrighter
The Fulbright program gives an American a chance to study, teach or do research in other countries. And it gives people in other countries a chance to do the same in America. Fulbright grants are given to graduate students, scholars and professionals. There is also a Fulbright exchange program just for teachers and administrators.
Each year, about 6000 people receive Fulbright grants. The United States pays most of the costs. Foreign governments and schools help by sharing costs and providing other support.
The Fulbright program operates in about 150 countries. Around 270,000 Fulbrighters have taken part over the years.
Legislation by Senator William Fulbright established the program in 1946. He saw educational exchange as a way to help people understand other ideas and ways of life. Senator Fulbright also believed the program could educate future world leader.
In 1968, the Foreign Language Teaching Assistant Program began. This Fulbright program brings foreign teachers to the United States to work with high school or college students. Two other Fulbright programs that offer ways to come to the United States are the foreign student and visiting scholar programs. The Foreign Student Program brings graduate students to study and do research at a college or university. The Visiting Scholar Program brings foreign experts to speak and do research for up to a year.
The list of countries in the Fulbright program changes each year. And the requirements may differ from country to country. (Words: 238)
Part Two
Focus Listening
Developing Creativity
One of the most exciting findings about creativity is that it may be picked up at almost any stage of the life cycle and developed. Many programs that work with elderly or retired people have known this for a long time. Researchers are continually trying to understand what creativity is and how it can be nurtured throughout childhood and adulthood. It is thought that developmental characteristics of creative aspects vary to the extreme; some things may show up early, other aspects later on in life. Creative behaviors such as curiosity may actually be evident early during infancy and increase during the “magic years” of early childhood. Unfortunately, during middle and late childhood there may be a decrease in creativity as children become more conforming and inhibited as well as liable to fall into sex-role stereotypes. With care, creativity can be sustained throughout childhood and adulthood. Following are highlights of several characteristics of creative people and suggested ways to develop creativity.
Characteristics that signal creativity include intense absorption, curiosity, ability to put together seemingly unrelated things or ideas, sense of humor, unusual vocabulary, and eagerness to share new discoveries, spontaneity, and willingness to consider new ideas.
Creative people are often either interested in ongoing experiments and need time to pursue ideas in depth, or they may jump from idea to idea very quickly. They may show fluency and flexibility in their thinking. They may ask surprising questions. They may be more independent than others in their approach to doing things. They get excited about new solutions and ideas. Creative people need time to entertain ideas, prepare materials, and let their ideas simmer for a while. They need privacy and tolerance for ambiguity. They need to be allowed to try things out in different ways until they are satisfied with their own work. They also need to be able to select and discard efforts of their choosing—pressure to produce may stifle their creative efforts. Creativity thrives in an environment that allows questions, exploring, observing, skill-building, communicating, and self-expression. To develop creativity, the home or classroom environment should contain a variety of materials and encourage lots of different experiences.
Developing a childhood interest—being “in love” with somethin g and sticking with it for some time—is related significantly to adult creative achievement. Building anticipation before a trip or lesson, digging deeply into material during the lesson, and keeping the ideas alive for some time after the lesson are also ways to keep the creative processes going. Children and adults need to be introduced to examples of creative excellence. Their own work should be recognized and truly appreciated. If possible, creative efforts should be put to work and not simply acknowledged and then shelved.
Adults who experience creativity programs tend to experience dramatic improvements in the quality of their lives. Self-expression, the zest of discovery, the pleasure of creating something, and freedom to try new things are all aspects of the creative process. Children can be encouraged to grow creatively, and this does not interfere with other kinds of educational achievement. We can all grow with the further development of creativity. (Words: 521)
Part Three
Home Listening
The University of the Future
The American research university is a remarkable institution, long a source of admiration and wonder. The wooded campuses, the diversity and energy of the student populations, and, most of all, the sheer volume of public and private resources available to run them, have made them the envy of the world.
Seen from the inside, however, everything is not quite so encouraging. Setting aside the habitual complexity of medical schools, which have separate healthcare and finance issues, the structure of these institutions is straightforward and consistent. The bedrock of each university is a system of discipline-specific departments. The strength of these departments determines the success and prestige of the institution as a whole.
This structure raises a few obvious questions. One is the relevance of the department-based structure to the way scientific research is done. Many argue that in a host of areas—ranging from computational biology and materials science to pharmacology and climate science—much of the most important research is now interdisciplinary in nature. And there is a sense that, notwithstanding years of efforts to adapt to this change by encouraging interdisciplinary collaboration, the department-based structure of the university is essentially at odds with such collaboration.
A second set of issues surrounds the almost static nature of the departmental system. In a
country where most things are highly fluid, the fields covered by departments, as well as the pecking order between them, have remained largely unchanged for many years. As people and money have flowed, particularly over the past twenty years, to the south and the southwest, the strongest US universities and departments remain embedded in the northeast and in California. League tables drawn up by the National Academy of Sciences and others show little movement in this pecking order, even over several decades.
Another, perhaps more contentious issue concerns the relevance of the modern research university to the community it serves. The established model, whatever else its strengths and weaknesses, reflects the desire of the middle classes for undergraduate training that prepares their offspring for a stable career. But how does it serve a society in which people may have to retrain and recreate their careers throughout their adult lives? (Words: 363)
Unit Three Economy and Globalization
Part One
Warm-up Listening
The Great Depression
The Great Depression was the longest and most severe period of economic depression ever experienced by the United States. It began with a collapse of prices on the New York Stock Exchange in October 1929, and did not end until the United States entered World War II in late 1941. At its worst point—in early 1933—the American economy seemed on the verge of total collapse. National income had declined by almost one-half in a little over 3 years; capital investment had dropped to the point where net investment was negative; and one out of three people in the labor force was out of work. The most protracted period of economic stagnation in American history was finally ended by the war mobilization efforts in 1942. Obviously, no single event or factor was responsible for the decline.
First, the stock-market crash which began on October 24, 1929, was not confined to a single day; the decline in asset prices was a process of continual erosion for almost 3 years. This enormous fall in the value of assets not only wiped out countless individual fortunes and savings, it also placed serious pressures on the stability of financial institutions, particularly banks. In addition, the interrelationship of income, consumption, and investment, together with the pessimistic expectations following the financial collapse, acted to discourage spending and thus to hinder the recovery of income. Finally, both the spending thesis and the monetarist thesis acknowledge the importance of serious flaws in the institutional framework of the American economy which contributed to the problems of 1929 to 1941. Even more significant was the absence of any institutional arrangements to cushion the effect that loss of income due to unemployment had on aggregate spending.
The Great Depression marked, in a sense, the coming of age of the United States as a mature industrial economy. The events of the1930s demonstrated the need for changes in the economic reform which was to continue for the next 40 years. Finally, the experience of the Great Depression serves as a continual reminder of the potential instability of our market economy, a memory which spurs a continued search for economic stability. (Words: 359)
Part Two
Focus Listening
What to Expect at Davos
For more than 35 years, the Swiss businessman, economist, and philanthropist Klaus Schwab has been the driving force behind the World Economic Forum in Davos, where thinkers gather to ponder the problems of the planet. And with the world beset by more ills than job, there is no shortage of iss ues for CEOs, prime ministers, and academics to wrestle at this year‟s “Annual Meeting” from Jan. 24-28. I talked with Schwab about what will be on the table.
What are the most important issues facing the world economy?
The World Economic Forum did some research, together with Citigroup and Marsh＆McLennan, to keep track of major global risks, and we have identified 23 different risks, such as global warming, terrorism, oil price shocks, a hard landing for China, and so on. All of those issues will be on the agenda. Davos has one special function: It looks at all the issues on the global agenda, trying to see priorities and find solutions. There will be 2,400 people—half business, half other stakeholders in the global society, including 25 heads of state. You have practically every major government represented.
Last year, India was a big focus, as was innovation. What will the hot topics be this year?
Priorities evolve during the meeting itself. But a general issue will be the changing power equation, which means that everywhere in society and business, the power is moving from the center to the periphery. Vertical command-and-control structures are being eroded and replaced by communities and different platforms. We are moving into the Web 2.0 world, and this has tremendous implications on the national level and on business models. Also, three countries could be in the limelight: Russia, because the whole issue of energy security is at the top of the agenda; Vietnam, which is a new preferred place of investment; and Mexico, with the new President coming. And even if we are moving more and more into a multi-country world, the U.S. is still the key actor. We will have a delegation of 12 senators, and issues will be the sustainability of U.S. economic growth and the risk of the falling dollar.
Your thoughts on Iraq and the Middle East today?
It‟s not just an American challenge. It‟s a challenge for the world, because if Iraq goes into chaos and tribalism, the repercussions for the Middle East, for the energy supply will be tremendous. We believe Davos is a platform for positive interaction between the different factions in Iraq.
How does the rest of the world view the U.S. today?
In my opinion, anti-Americanism has decreased. One reason is that in the U.S. there is a much more vibrant discussion about the future. Americans are asking themselves a lot of questions.
Is Davos a bit more of a celebrity fest than you originally intended?
Of course, Davos is a place for business and political celebrities, and we have invited Hollywood celebrities because they have been very associated with some social causes. We didn‟t invite them because they were famous. This has brought us more reports, in the popular media. This year we made the decision that with the exception of one or two people, we were not inviting any Hollywood celebrities. (Words: 538)
Part Three
Home Listening
Economic Conditions: Trying to Read the Future。