(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
From VOA Learning English, this is the Economics Report.
The economies of India and China could be larger than many people have thought. A new study from the World Bank now has some experts predicting that China will become the world's largest economy by one measure this year. The same study says that India's economy could pass Japan's as the world's third-largest.
To get their results, the researchers used a different way to measure the size of a nation's economy. Usually economists measure by a country's Gross Domestic Product - the value of all goods and services it produces. But some say, a different method, called Purchasing Power Parities, or PPP is a better measure. It examines differences in the cost of living among nations.
The report is from the International Comparison Program, which was established by the United Nations. The results are based on prices in 2011.
Kamel Mellahi is a professor at the University of Warwick in Britain. He says PPP provides economists with a way to compare the costs of ordinary things that people need in different countries.
"You take a basket of goods that we all buy, including milk, butter, sugar, [going] to the movies, prices of haircuts in different countries, and they look at the cost of that in different countries," Mellahi said.
Experts then establish a base exchange rate and use it to compare economies. The Gross Domestic Product measure uses market-based exchange rates to compare economies. They are exchange rates paid by travelers and exporters. So the main differences between GDP and PPP is how exchange rates are computed.
Greg McBride is Chief Financial Analyst at Bankrate.com. He says PPP avoids some problems, but it is more like an estimate than a measurement.
"There is a huge margin of error there that I think can really throw the validity of the whole thing into question," said McBride.
World Bank information shows that China's GDP was about $8 trillion in 2012, that was half the size of the $16 trillion US economy. However, Professor Mellahi says the GDP measurement underestimates developing economies.
"People always said it underestimated the size of economies in developing countries, and some of the emerging economies," Mellahi said.
The economies of China and India continue to grow at rates higher than most developed economies. However, China and India rate far below other large economies when their economies are compared with their populations.
And that's the Economics Report from VOA Learning English. I'm Mario Ritter.
文本来自51voa，译文属可可原创，仅供学习交流使用，未经许可请勿转载
词汇解释
1.margin n. 边缘；利润，余裕；页边的空白 vt. 加边于；加旁注于
They could end up with a 50-point winning margin.
他们最后可能会以50点的优势获胜。
2.underestimate vt. 低估；看轻 n. 低估
None of us should ever underestimate the degree of difficulty women face in career advancement.
我们谁都不应低估妇女在职业发展中所面临的困难程度。
3.emerging adj. 新兴的；出现的；形成的 v. 形成；浮现；显露（emerge的ing形式）；由…中脱出
There is growing evidence that the economy is at last emerging from recession.
有越来越多的迹象表明经济将最终摆脱萧条。
内容解析
1.However, China and India rate far below other large economies when their economies are compared with their populations.
compared with 与...相比较
He's a pygmy when compared with great musicians.
他和伟大的音乐家相比就成了侏儒。
In the first half of this year the total coal output rose by eighty per cent as compared with that of last year.
今年前半年煤炭总产量比去年增加了百分之八十。
参考译文
这里是美国之音慢速英语经济报道。
印度和中国的经济比很多人所想得要大，世界银行的一项调查中，专家预测根据一项指标中国将在今年成为全世界最大经济体，该研究还称印度超过日本成为全世界第三大经济体。
为得到这一结果，研究者使用各种方法来衡量一国经济的规模。通常经济学家用一个国家的GDP来衡量，也就是该国生产的全部商品和服务的价值。但有人说购买力平价(PPP)是更好的衡量标准，PPP衡量各国生活成本的差异。
这份报告来自联合国成立的国际对比项目，其结果是基于2011年的价格。
卡梅尔·梅拉伊是英国华威大学的教授，他说PPP给经济学家提供了不同国家人们购买一般物品价格的手段。
“我们以一篮子商品来研究，包括牛奶、黄油、糖，去电影院，在不同城市剪发的价格，研究研究在各个国家的价格。”
专家们然后建立一种基础汇率，用它来比较各国经济。GDP用以市场为基础的汇率来衡量经济，是由旅行者和出口商提供的汇率。因此GDP和PPP的主要区别在于如何计算汇率。
格雷格·麦克布赖德是Bankrate.com网站的首席财经分析师，他说PPP能避免一些问题，但它更像是一种估计而不是衡量手段。
“PPP存在很大的误差，所以会引起对其有效性的质疑。”
世界银行的信息表明中国2012年的GDP大约8万亿美元，是美国16万亿美元经济总量的一半。然而梅拉伊教授说GDP衡量办法低估了发展中国家的水平。
“人们通常说GDP低估了发展中国家和一些新兴经济体的规模。”
中国和印度经济将继续以超过大多数发达国家的速度增长，然而，在将经济与其人口做比较时，中国和印度的发展速度就远低于其他大的经济体。
这就是美国之音慢速英语经济报道，我是马里奥·利特。
