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  3. It is becoming increasingly clear that the story of the global economy is a

It is becoming increasingly clear that the story of the global economy is a

游客2023-09-03  70
问题     It is becoming increasingly clear that the story of the global economy is a tale of two worlds. In one, there is only gloom and doom, and in the other there is light and hope. In the traditional centers of wealth and power -- America, Europe and Japan -- it is difficult to find much good news. But there is a new world out there -- China, India, Indonesia, Brazil -- in which economic growth continues to power ahead, in which governments are not buried under a mountain of debt and in which citizens remain remarkably optimistic about their future.
    Compare the two worlds. On the one side is the West (plus Japan), with banks that are over- utilized and thus dysfunctional (无法正常工作的), governments groaning under debt, and consumers who are rebuilding their broken balance sheets. America is having trouble selling its IOUs at attractive prices (the last three Treasury auctions have gone badly); its largest state, California, is heading toward total fiscal collapse; and its budget deficit is going to surpass 13 percent of GDP -- a level last seen during World War Ⅱ. With all these burdens, even if there is a recovery, the United States might not return to fast-paced growth for a while. And it’s probably more dynamic than Europe or Japan.
    Meanwhile, emerging-market banks are largely healthy and profitable. (Every Indian bank, government-owned and private, posted profits in the last quarter of 2008!) The governments are in good fiscal shape. China’s strengths are well known -- $2 trillion in reserves, a budget deficit that is less than 3 percent of GDP -- but consider Brazil, which is now posting a current account surplus. Or Indonesia, which has reduced its debt from 100 percent of GDP nine years ago to 30 percent today. And unlike in the West -- where governments have run out of ammunition (弹药) and are now praying that their medicine will work -- these countries still have options. Only a year ago, their chief concern was an overheated economy and inflation. Brazil has cut its interest rate substantially, but only to 10.25 percent, which means it can drop it further if things deteriorate even more.
    The mood in many of these countries remains surprisingly optimistic. Their currencies are appreciating against the dollar because the markets see them as having better fiscal discipline as well as better long-term growth prospects than the United States. Their bonds are rising. This combination of indicators, all pointing in the same direction, is unprecedented.
    The United States remains the richest and most powerful country in the world. Its military spans the globe. But from the Spanish Empire of the 16th century to the British Empire in the 20th century, great global powers have always found that their fortunes begin to turn when they get overburdened with debt and stuck in a path of slow growth. These are early warnings. Unless the United States gets its act together, and fast, the ground will continue to shift beneath its feet, slowly but surely. [br] Spain and UK are mentioned in the passage to indicate that ______.
选项 A、traditional powerful countries are doomed to fade
B、too much debt will surely slow the economic growth
C、The US will survive and maintain its global presence
D、America might follow suit if it failed to react quickly
答案 D
解析 根据题干中的Spain和UK将本题出处定位到末段。该段以西班牙王国和大英王国为例，说明世界的经济大国一旦背负过重的债务且经济发展缓慢时，必然会失去其在经济上的统治地位。因此，本段提到Spain和UK是来警告美国及时作出反应，以免重蹈覆辙，[D]中的。follow suit意为“如法炮制，重蹈覆辙”，故答案为[D]。
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