时事英语短文

Obama: Economy May Be a Job for More than One President Problems with the economy have been building for decades, President Barack Obama told CBS program "60 Minutes" in an interview set to air Sunday, Dec.11."I've always believed that this was a long-term project," the president said. "Reversing structural problems in our economy that had been building up for two decades, that was going to take time."Obama was asked whether he understood the difficulties of improving the economy when he took office in 2009."It was going to take more than a year. It was going to take more than two years. It was going to take more than one term. Probably takes more than one president," Obama told his interviewer.Obama said he understood the frustrations of Americans struggling in today's economy, but compared himself to a captain of a ship in a bad storm."No matter how well we're steering the ship, if the boat's rocking back and forth and people are getting sick and...they're being buffeted by the winds and the rain," Obama said."People are going to say, 'You know what? A good captain would have had us in some smooth waters and sunny skies, at this point.' And I don't control the weather," the president added.Chinese sovereign debt bonds that tie：Japan wants to buy Chinese government bondsIN THE autumn of 2010, when he was Japan‘s finance minister, Yoshihiko Noda decried it as ―strange‖ that China had bought up as much as ¥2.3 trillion (then $25.5 billion) in Japanese government bonds while its own debt was off-limits to outsiders. Now prime minister, Mr Noda is redressing the balance. At a summit in Beijing on December 25th the two countries announced an agreement to let Japan buy Chinese sovereign debt. No sum or timetable was disclosed, though Japanese news media reported the amount will reach $10 billion once China approves Japan‘s application.Both countries say the agreement symbolises the growing importance of their economic ties, which have long been warmer than their diplomatic ones. China is Japan‘s largest trading partner; Japan counts as China‘s biggest after America. But the deal may also be a signal. Officials in Tokyo fret that China‘s purchases of Japanese bonds fuel the yen‘s appreciation. By negotiating for app roval to own Chinese debt, Japan can register its discomfort with China‘sactions and gain some influence of its own.Japan will not simply be able to buy whatever it likes, however. China seems happy for foreign central banks to hold limited amounts of its bonds as another step in the internationalisation of the yuan. Malaysia reportedly already enjoys the privilege, among others; Japan is set to be the first G7 country to do so. But China will not do anything to compromise its control of the exchange rate. Fred Bergsten at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, a think-tank in Washington, DC, once argued that America should dispense with the niceties and exert upward pressure on the Chinese currency via the offshore market instead. He advised America to buy instruments such as the yuan-denominated ―dim sum‖ bonds now on offer in Hong Kong. Quite what effect that would have on the exchange rate is unclear, but the message would be unmistakable.The Great Wall of Debt?That's the word out of China this morning, according to ratings agency Moody's.Local government debt could be 3.5 trillion renminbi ($540 billion) larger than first thought, a troubling number that could expose Chinese banks to deeper losses that could eventually threaten their credit ratings, Moody's says.It points to Bank of China and China Citic Bank as two banks that pursued particularly aggressive lending strategies in 2009, when Chinese banks went on a lending tear.―Banks‘ exposure to local government borrowers is grea ter than we anticipated,‖ Yvonne Zhang, a Moody‘s analyst, said in a statement published by Reuters.The biggest worry?Slower economic growth in the world‘s second-largest economy could trigger a round of loan defaults, hobbling China's banking system and unnerving global markets and, of course, adding more problems to the fragile global economy. Moody's is urging Beijing to come up with a "clear master plan" to fix the problem.This isn't the first warning about China's banking system.As reported by GlobalPost's David Case back in January, Fitch Ratings late last year issued a troubling report on the sector.Here's how Case put it:Experts are warning that China‘s red-hot economy is catching a contagion of its own. The country is increasingly awash in runaway loans, a development that could have serious implications for China and the global economy.The situation has become so precarious that Fitch Ratings, a global creditanalysis firm, issued a report last month revealing a litany of messy banking practices associated with aggressive Chinese loan making. The report stated that these practices —involving transferring loans off of banks‘ books —constitute ―the most disconcerting trend Fitch has observed in China‘s banking sector in recent years.‖The problem is complicated by China's socialist-market approach to tweaking its economy.Instead of using interest rates as the brake and gas pedal of economic growth, Beijing regulates its economy by upping or decreasing the amount of loans that banks can issue.That's fine when it works. But it's also a risky strategy, particularly when transparency is difficult to come by, as is often the case in China.So, clearly, the situation bears close watching as both Moody's and Fitch indicate.Top Ten Best-Selling BiographiesSome of the best recent biographies are listed on this page. These were found on the top biographies list at Amazon. Their list is mixed with autobiographies and a few histories. I have separated those out and list only the best biographies.Biographies tell the intimate, personal life story of someone - most often a famous person, but not always. Biographies are usually written by a non-involved third person. On this list you'll find biographies about George Washington, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, and Karen Carpenter, as well as the owner of the New York Yankees. There's a lot of variety. 1. Three Cups of Teaby Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin1. Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School ata Timeby: Greg Mortenson, David Oliver RelinGreg Mortenson, ill after a failed mountain climbing attempt in the Karakoram Mountains, rested and recovered in a small Pakistani village. So moved was he by the kindness of villagers there, he vowed to return to build a school. This is the paperback version. Also available in hardcover, Kindle, and audiobook versions, and as an Audible download. [#22 in Books at Amazon in July 2010.] Amazon Price: $10.88 (as of 10/24/2011)2. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacksby Rebecca SklootThis amazing biography teaches us about Henrietta Lacks, who died at the age of 31 of cervical cancer in 1951. Her cancer cells were harvested, unknown to her or her family, and used in important scientific and medical research projects to this day. This book details Henrietta's life, and those lives of her progeny. This is the hardcover version. Also available in paperback, Kindle, audiobook format and as an Audible download. [#44 in Books at Amazon in July 2010.]Amazon Price: $15.54 (as of 10/24/2011)3. Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spyby Eric MetaxasInspired by the light of God to return to Germany and defeat Hitler, Dietrich Bonhoeffer was imprisoned and executed in a concentration camp at the age of 39. His inspiring example of steadfast faith and resolute action against evil make this a riveting and beloved biography. This is the hardcover edition; also available in Kindle and audiobook versions. [#150 in Books at Amazon in July 2010.]Amazon Price: $16.62 (as of 10/24/2011)4. Zeitounby Dave EggarsAbdulrahman Zeitoun, a Syrian immigrant, stayed in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina to help rescue people, using a canoe. Despite his humanitarian effort he's accused of being a member of Al Qaeda and arrested, leading to a bureaucratic nightmare. This lends credence to the saying that 'no good deed will go unpunished.' This is the paperback edition; also available in hardcover, Kindle, audiobook, and Audible download versions. [#187 in Books at Amazon in July 2010.]Amazon Price: $10.85 (as of 10/24/2011)5. George Washington's Sacred Fireby Peter A. LillbackGeorge Washington was not just a great politician; he was a man of ethical inspiration, and a true Christian, not just a Deist. The rumors about Washington's beliefs are rampant, but this in-depth examination of his life and writings brings the truth of his philosophies to light. This is the paperback edition; also available in hardcover and Kindle versions. [#297 in Books at Amazon in July 2010.]Amazon Price: $13.60 (as of 10/24/2011)6. Into The Wildby Jon KrakauerThis has been in the top 100 best-selling biographies list at Amazon for more than 1000 days! (Much longer than most!) It tells the heart-wrenching story ofChristopher McCandless, who graduated with honors from Emory University in Atlanta in 1992. He renounced the world and hitchhiked to Alaska to live in the wilderness. Perhaps you've seen the movie? Great biography! This is the paperback edition; also available in hardcover, Kindle, audiobook, and Audible download versions. [#260 in Books at Amazon in July 2010.]Amazon Price: $10.17 (as of 10/24/2011)7. Furious Love: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, and the Marriage of the Centuryby Sam Kashner and Nancy SchoenbergerFame, movies, and marriage. These celebrities were known during the sixties and seventies for their breakups as much as for their marriages and reunions. They couldn't make a move without everyone knowing, but this book bares all with inside information from Elizabeth Taylor and the Burton family. This is the hardcover edition; also available in Kindle and Audible download versions. [#305 in Books at Amazon in July 2010.]Amazon Price: $17.46 (as of 10/24/2011)9. Blind Descent: The Quest to Discover the Deepest Place on Earthby: James M. TaborThose of us who are satisfied living out life on the surface of the planet may wonder why some people are dedicated to exploring deep inside the deepest caves in the world. This biographical account of deep descent by cavers Bill Stone and Alexander Klimchouk will let us understand the experience without actually having to do it ourselves. This is the Kindle edition; also available in hardcover, audiobook, and Audible download versions. [#521 in Kindle at Amazon in July 2010.]Amazon Price: (as of 10/24/2011)10. Steinbrenner: The Last Lion of Baseballby Bill MaddenA controversial and conflicted man, owner of the New York Yankees, is exposed as what most knew him to be, an angry, impulsive bully... but there are more positive aspects to his life and personality. The biographer makes Steinbrenner three dimensional as he opens a more intimate side of his life to scrutiny. This is the hardcover edition; also available in paperback, Kindle, and Audible download versions. [#798 in Books at Amazon in July 2010.] Amazon Price: $17.81 (as of 10/24/2011)Steve Jobs biography to be released on 24 OctoberBook publisher brings forward official biography of Apple co-founder, who told author: 'I want my kids to know me'The official Steve Jobs biography will be released on 24 October after being rushed forward because of the Apple co-founder's death.The authorised biography Steve Jobs is written by Walter Isaacson, the former managing editor of Time magazine. Customer pre-purchases have already made it the number one bestseller at Amazon. Publishing house Simon & Schuster had originally planned to release it on 21 November.Isaacson has told how Jobs, in pain and too weak to climb stairs a few weeks before his death, wanted his children to understand why he wasn't always there for them. "I wanted my kids to know me," Isaacson quoted Jobs as saying in their final interview at Jobs' home in Palo Alto, California. "I wasn't always there for them and I wanted them to know why and to understand what I did."Isaacson said he visited Jobs for the last time a few weeks ago and found him curled up in some pain in a downstairs bedroom. Jobs had moved there because he was too weak to go up and down stairs "but his mind was still sharp and his humour vibrant", Isaacson writes in an essay that will be published in Time magazine's 17 October edition.Jobs died on Wednesday at the age of 56 after suffering a rare form of pancreatic cancer.Simon & Schuster's synopsis says the book is based on more than 40 interviews with Jobs conducted over two years –as well as interviews with more than a hundred family members, friends, adversaries, competitors, and colleagues. "Although Jobs co-operated with this book, he asked for no control over what was written nor even the right to read it before it was published. He put nothing off-limits. He encouraged the people he knew to speak honestly. And Jobs speaks candidly, sometimes brutally so, about the people he worked with and competed against."Jobs could drive those around him to fury and despair. But his personality and products were interrelated, just as Apple's hardware and software tended to be, as if part of an integrated system. His tale is instructive and cautionary, filled with lessons about innovation, character, leadership and values."Another publisher, Bluewater Productions, has said it is rushing out a special edition e-book of its forthcoming comic book on Jobs.The 32-page comic titled Steve Jobs: Founder of Apple is initially being sold on the NOOK and Kindle readers. The print edition is due for release at the end of October, with a portion of the profits from both issues going to the American Cancer Society.'1Q84': Murakami's Orwellian Best-Seller Now In U.S.Do you miss the girl with the dragon tattoo? Do you long for the thrill of following her adventures again through three volumes of exciting, intelligent fiction? If so, I have good news for you. She's got a sort of soul sister in one of the two main characters in Haruki Murakami's wonderful novel 1Q84.Picking up the new book may strain your arms. 1Q84 (more about the title in a moment) checks in at more than 900 pages. But unlike a number of other novels that embrace both what we think of as the real world and the world of the fantastic, it will not strain your credulity. With more than enough narrative and intellectual heft to make it enjoyable for anyone with a taste for moving representations of modern consciousness in the magical realist mode, this story may easily carry you away to a new world and keep you there for a long time.You may even fall in love with one of the two main characters, an attractive 30-something Tokyo physical trainer named Aomame (pronounced "Ah-oh-ma-meh," which in Japanese means "green peas") with a murderous avocation. In the fabled year of 1984, Aomame finds herself on the way by taxi to carry out an assassination (not her first) of a businessman singled out as a profligate wife-abuser and torturer, and when she gets stuck in a traffic jam on an elevated roadway, she exits the cab, scoots among the stalled cars, and climbs down to street level by means of a construction-site stairway that might as well be a rabbit hole.Even as she goes about her dangerous business, she suddenly notices that the sky and cityscape have turned slightly odd and out of kilter. By climbing down those exit stairs, she seems to have put the world of 1984 behind her and entered the realm that she comes to identify as 1Q84, an alternate realm — and thus the Q — "that bears a question ..." The deep and resonant plot that serves as the anchor for her actions, and for those of Tengo Kawana, the young writer whose movements and thoughts we observe in alternating chapters, takes place under a sky with two moons, and unfolds at a leisurely pace but in compelling fashion by luring us along with scenes of homicidal intrigue, literary intrigue, religious fanaticism, physical sex, metaphysical sex and asexual sex. And music.Tengo, a big guy with a big writing talent, has, as the novel begins, been roped into a somewhat fraudulent publishing scheme that can only make trouble for his career. His ties to a beautiful, young, odd teenage girl named Fuka-Eri, the putative author of a strange but compelling fiction contest entry, grow tighter and tighter even as they pull him closer to his own origins, and to the early life of Aomame who, like him, had quite an unhappy childhood. His ties to this idiosyncratic and terrifically engaging heroine emerge as the novel unfolds, blossoming into a romance motif as bold and as baldly created as any in recent fiction.Murakami's main characters find themselves drawn toward each other as irresistibly, magnetically, hypnotically, soulfully and physically as anycharacters in Western fiction. Given the plain-spoken but appealing nature of the prose (translated by Jay Rubin and Philip Gabriel), most of you will feel that same power as an insinuating compulsion to read on, despite the enormous length, hoping against hope for a happy ending under a sky with either two moons or one.Two moons — two worlds — a girl with — 900 pages — 1Q84 is a gorgeous festival of words arranged for maximum comprehension and delicious satisfaction.From Angry Birds to Fruit Ninja, the NFC-Enabled Future of Mobile Games is StartingOf all of the potential applications of near field communications (NFC) technology, the one we hear the most excitement about these days is mobile payments. And while everybody from tech giants to analysts is predicting that we'll soon be paying for things by waving our phones, this is far from the only current use of the technology.Mobile gaming is another space that is seeing the effects of NFC. In June, Rovio announced the launch of Angry Birds Magic, which connects the company's popular mobile game to the physical world using NFC and GPS. Players using supported devices can tap their phones together or wave them in front of Angry Birds NFC stickers to unlock new levels and birds in the game. The latest game to get the NFC treatment is Fruit Ninja, another very hot game for iOS and other mobile platforms. A new NFC-enhanced version of the game will come preloaded onto some of Nokia's new handsets, according to NFC World. The Nokia 701, Nokia 700 and Nokia 600 will run an updated version of the Symbian operating system that includes deep integration with NFC.Like Angry Birds, this new version of Fruit Ninja will enable players to unlock features - in this case, shiny new blades with which to massacre fruit.For now, this feature will only be available on a handful new Nokia devices, so its impact won't be huge. But as more devices roll out NFC integration, we can safely expect to see more support for the technology within mobile games. NFC has found its way onto the newest fleet of Blackberry Curve devices as well as a few new Bada-based phones from Samsung. Android got its first NFC-enabled device last year with the Samsung Nexus S and others have followed. Rumors about an NFC-friendly iPhone still circulate, although there's no hard evidence that the technology will be included in the iPhone 5, which is widely rumored to be launching as soon as next month.It's still early in the game in terms of smartphone support for NFC, but we're getting there. Once the technology is baked into handsets running iOS and Android, unlocking new fruit swords will merely be the tip of the iceberg.Kodak Files for Bankruptcy ProtectionEastman Kodak Co. (EK), the photography pioneer that introduced its $1 Brownie Camera more than a century ago, filed for bankruptcy court protection from creditors after consumers worldwide transitioned from film to digital technology.The Rochester, New York-based company, which traces its roots to 1880, listed assets of $5.1 billion and debt of $6.8 billion in Chapter 11 documents filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan.―They were a company stuck in time,‖ said Robert Burley, an associate professor at Toronto‘s Ryerson University who has photographed shuttered Kodak facilities in the U.S., Canada and France since 2005. ―Their history was so important to them, this rich century-old history when they made a lot of amazing things and a lot of money along the way. Now their history has become a liability.‖The company‘s credit deteriorated as revenue tumbled from traditional film, and the inventor of the Instamatic cameras was slow during the past decade to compete with Canon Inc. (7751) and Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) in digital cameras and printers.Moody‘s Investors Service on Jan. 5 cut ratings on about $1 billion of Kodak debt with a negative outlook, and cited ―a heighten ed probability of a bankruptcy over the near-term‖ as liquidity deteriorates.Transformation―Kodak is taking a significant step toward enabling our enterprise to complete its transformation,‖ Antonio M. Perez, chief executive officer, said today in a statement.Kodak, headed for its sixth annual loss in the past seven years, tried to sell more than 1,100 digital-imaging patents and pursued royalties to fund a shift to modern commercial and consumer digital printers.Kodak‘s cash and equivalents fell to $862 million at the end of its third quarter from $1.4 billion a year earlier. The company is scheduled to report fourth-quarter results Jan. 26.Kodak‘s revenue has fallen by half since 2005 to $7.2 billion last year, with further declines predicted this year and next after film and photofinishing unit sales sank by 14 percent in the second quarter. The company‘s losses since 2008 exceeded $1.76 billion.Perez, a former Hewlett-Packard executive who took charge at Kodak in 2005, tried to rescue the brand by slashing costs and winning shelf space for inkjet printers at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) and Staples Inc. (SPLS) He pushed its commercial digital printers into publishing and packaging, touting theirflexibility over old-school printing plates.‗Too Late‘Kodak was five years too late to accelerate its shift to the Digital Age, Perez, 65, said in an interview in August.Kodak hasn‘t sold enough printers and presses to create sufficient demand for replacement ink and supplies and service contracts to end losses in those units. In February, it projected operating profits in consumer and commercial inkjet printing by the end of 2013.―Essentially they‘re moving away from a very profitable model that generated multiple sales -- most everyone got double prints -- to one that‘s awfully difficult to make a profit in,‖ said John Ward, a 20-year Kodak veteran who is now a lecturer in Rochester Institute of Technology‘s college of business.―Perez had a clear understanding that change had to happen and it had to happen quickly,‖ said Ward, 49, who met Perez shortly after he joined Kodak as president and chief operating officer in 2003. ―Clearly they could have made some changes faster, but there just weren‘t a lot of options to replace the film business.‖George EastmanKodak was founded by George Eastman, who developed a method for dry-plate photography before introducing the Kodak camera in 1888, according to the company‘s website. It went on to invent film, enabling Thomas Edison to develop the motion picture camera, Brownie cameras selling for $1 and Kodachrome film.Paul Simon immortalized the film in his 1973 song ―Kodachrome.‖ The single, which praised Kodachrome‘s ―nice bright colors,‖ peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Kodak stopped producing the film in 2009.―Everyone in the 20th century has been familiar with the Kodak name and its products,‖ said Burley of Ryerson‘s School of Image Arts. ―We‘ve not only used them to memorialize our families and their histories, but also for diagnostics in hospitals, producing books and newspapers and police investigative work. And then the whole world of Hollywood is based around Kodak products.‖First Digital CameraThe company also invented the first digital camera in 1975, which it shelved because it would threaten its lucrative film business, Perez said in an interview in March.―Like many other companies on the East Coast, Kodak has been phenomenal in research and patents and not so good commercializing things, actually terrible commercializing things,‖ Perez sa id.The company said Jan. 10 it had adjusted its management structure and created a chief operating office to reduce costs. The new commercial and consumer segments replace a previous business structure of three divisions: graphic communications; consumer digital imaging; and film, photofinishing and entertainment.ChangesThe chief operating office will be led by Philip Faraci and Laura Quatela. Faraci, president and chief operating officer since 2007, will focus on the commercial segment and sales and reg ional operations, and Quatela, the company‘s former general counsel who was named as a second president in December, will focus on the consumer segment and certain corporate functions, Kodak said.Three directors resigned from Kodak‘s board in December, tw o of them from KKR (KKR) & Co., two years after the private-equity firm helped the company refinance debt.Adam H. Clammer and Herald Y. Chen quit Dec. 21. Both were elected in September 2009 after a refinancing deal that included KKR investing in $300 million of senior bonds and warrants for 40 million shares with an exercise price of $5.50. Kodak refinanced KKR‘s bonds in March 2010 via a private placement to other investors.By agreeing to hold the warrants for at least two years, among other conditions, the private-equity firm run by Henry Kravis and George Roberts was entitled to nominate the two board members.Directors LeaveLaura D. Tyson was the third director to leave. Tyson, 64, a director since 1997, notified the board of her resignation Dec. 29, according to a Dec. 30 regulatory filing. Tyson is a professor at University of California, Berkeley‘s Haas School of Business, has been an adviser to the Obama and Clinton administrations and sits on the boards of at least five companies, including Morgan Stanley (MS) and AT&T Inc. (T) used in every digital camera and phone with a camera. The bankruptcy case is In re Eastman Kodak Co., 12-10202, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan). The ITC case is In the Matter of Certain Mobile Telephones and Wireless Communication Devices Featuring Digital Cameras, and Components Thereof, 337-703, U.S. International Trade Commission.。