2024年2月28日发(作者：练朝旭)
Passage 1
Anglo-Dutch publishing giant Reed Elsevier announced a plan today to
invest $1.2 billion to bring its traditional operations online and boost earnings
growth. The company, which also reported an 8.2 percent drop in pretax
2016 profit, said it would pump a $400 million into online activities every year
over the next three years. “Capitalizing on the potential of the Internet will
be a key driver of our strategy,” the company said in a statement. The
Internet plans come hot in the tracks of a similar announcement from British
financial information provider Reuters Group, which said three weeks ago it
would spend $800 million on its digital operations over the next four years.
Reed Elsevier hopes a combination of higher technology spending and cost-cutting will lead to stronger earnings later this year. The company will cut
also 1,500 jobs, or about 6 percent of its workforce, as part of its belt-tightening efforts.
Reed Elsevier, which specializes in legal, scientific, and business
publications, is known for its entertainment business magazine Variety,
electronic news database Lexus-Nexus and scientific publication. It generates
65 percent of its sales in the United States. The latest investment is geared
towards achieving earnings growth of at least 10 percent. Internet sales was
$1.6 billion last year. Reed Elsevier’s new strategy comes against the
backdrop of what the company admitted were disappointing 2016 results,
largely caused by a weak market and stronger competition.
Revenues last year inched ahead to $5.54 billion, up from $5.23 billion
the year before. The company trimmed its 2017 dividend by about one-third
to support the growth plans. The company’s stock, which trades in London
and Amsterdam, rose more than 10 percent in early dealing, but fell back
sharply in the afternoon, possibly because of a U.S. lawsuit also announced
Thursday. In Amsterdam, Elsevier’s shares were down 8 percent and Reed’s
stock also traded down in London. The company said it will face a $6 billion
lawsuit in the United States over subscription agreements.
Passage 2
Greece, economically, is in the black. With very little to export other
than such farm products as tobacco, cotton, and fruit, the country earns
enough from “invisible earnings” to pay for its needed, growing imports.
From the sending out of things the Greeks earn only $285 million; from
tourism, shipping and the remittances of Greeks abroad, the country takes in
an additional $375 million and this washes out the almost $400 million by
which imports exceed exports. It has a balanced budget. Although more
than one drachma（德拉克马，希腊货币名） out of four goes for defense, the
government ended a recent year with a slight surplus of $66 million. Greece
has a decent reserve of almost a third of a billion dollars in gold and foreign
exchange. It has a government not dependent on coalescing incompatible
parties to obtain parliamentary majorities.
In summarizing a few happy highlights, I don’t mean to minimize the
vast extent of Greece’s problems. It is the poorest country by a wide margin
in Free Europe, and poverty is widespread. At best an annual income of $60
to $70 is the lot of many a peasant, and substantial unemployment plagues
the countryside, cities, and towns of Greece. There are few natural resources
on which to build any substantial industrial base. Some years ago I wrote
here:
“Greek statesmanship will have to create an atmosphere in which home
and foreign savings will willingly seek investment opportunities in the
backward economy of Greece. So far, most American and other foreign
attempts have bogged down in the Greek government’s red tape and
“shrewdness” about small points.”
Great strides have been made. As far back as 1979, expanding tourism
seemed a logical way to bring needed foreign currencies and additional jobs
to Greece. At that time I talked with the Hilton Hotel people who had been
examining hotel possibilities, and to the Greek government division
responsible for this area of the economy. They were hopelessly deadlocked in
almost total differences of opinion and outlook. Today most of the incredibly
varied, beautiful, historical sights of Greece have new, if in many cases
modest, tourist facilities. Tourism itself has jumped from approximately $31
million to over $90 million. There is both a magnificent new Hilton Hotel in
Athens and a completely modernized, greatly expanded Grande Bretagne, as
well as other first-rate new hotels. And the advent of jets has made Athens
as accessible as Paris or Rome — without the sky-high prices or traffic-choked streets of either.
Passage 3
Desperately short of living space and dangerously prone to flooding, the
Netherlands plans to start building homes, businesses and even roads on
water.
With nearly a third of the country already covered by water and half of its
land mass below sea level and constantly under threat from rising waters, the
authorities believe that floating communities may well be the future.
Six prototype wooden and aluminum floating houses are already attached
to something off Amsterdam, and at least a further 100 are planned on the
same estate, called Ijburg.
“Everybody asks why didn’t we do this kind of thing before,” said Gijsbert
Van der Woerdt, director of the firm responsible for promoting the concept.
“After Bangladesh we’re the most densely populated country in the world.
Building space is scarce and government studies show that we’ll need to
double the space available to us in the coming years to meet all our needs.”
Before being placed on the water and moved into position by tugboats, the
houses are built on land atop concrete flat-bottomed boats, which encase
giant lumps of polystyrene (聚苯乙烯) reinforced with steel. The flat-bottomed boats are said to be unsinkable and are anchored by underwater
cables. The floating roads apply the same technology.
The concept is proving popular with the Dutch. The waiting list for such
homes, which will cost between 200, 000 — 500, 000 euros to buy, runs to 5,
000 names, claims Van der Woerdt. With much of the country given over to
market gardening and the intensive cultivation of flowers, planners have also
come up with designs for floating greenhouses so that the water beneath
them irrigates the plants and controls the temperature inside. A pilot project,
covering 50 hectares of flooded land near Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport, is
planned for 2017.
The opportunities for innovative developers look promising. “We have 10
projects in the pipeline — floating villages and cities complete with offices,
shops and restaurants,” Van Woerd said.
Passage 4
Nowadays, we hear a lot about the growing threat of globalization,
accompanied by those warnings that the rich pattern of local life is being
undermined, and many dialects and traditions are becoming extinct. But stop
and think for a moment about the many positive aspects that globalization is
bringing. Read on and you are bound to feel comforted, ready to face the
global future, which is surely inevitable now.
Consider the Internet, that prime example of our shrinking world. Leaving
aside the all-too-familiar worries about pornography and political extremism,
even the most narrow-minded must admit that the net offers immeasurable
benefits, not just in terms of education, the sector for which it was originally
designed, but more importantly on a global level, the spread of news and
comment. It will be increasingly difficult for politicians to maintain their
regimes of misinformation, as the oppressed will not only find support and
comfort, but also be able to organize themselves more effectively.
MTV is another global provider that is often criticized for imposing popular
culture on the unsuspecting millions around the world. Yet the viewers’
judgment on MTV is undoubtedly positive; it is regarded as indispensable by
most of the global teenage generation who watch it, a vital part of growing
up. And in the final analysis, what harm can a few songs and videos cause?
Is the world dominance of brands like Nike and Coca-Cola so bad for us,
when all is said and done? Sportswear and soft drinks are harmless products
when compared to the many other things that have been globally available
for a longer period of time — heroin and cocaine, for example. In any case,
just because Nike shoes and Coke cans are for sale, it doesn’t mean you have
to buy them — even globalization cannot deprive the individual of his free will.
Critics of globalization can stop issuing their doom and gloom statements.
Life goes on, and has more to offer for many citizens of the world than it did
for their parents’ generation.
2024年2月28日发(作者：练朝旭)
Passage 1
Anglo-Dutch publishing giant Reed Elsevier announced a plan today to
invest $1.2 billion to bring its traditional operations online and boost earnings
growth. The company, which also reported an 8.2 percent drop in pretax
2016 profit, said it would pump a $400 million into online activities every year
over the next three years. “Capitalizing on the potential of the Internet will
be a key driver of our strategy,” the company said in a statement. The
Internet plans come hot in the tracks of a similar announcement from British
financial information provider Reuters Group, which said three weeks ago it
would spend $800 million on its digital operations over the next four years.
Reed Elsevier hopes a combination of higher technology spending and cost-cutting will lead to stronger earnings later this year. The company will cut
also 1,500 jobs, or about 6 percent of its workforce, as part of its belt-tightening efforts.
Reed Elsevier, which specializes in legal, scientific, and business
publications, is known for its entertainment business magazine Variety,
electronic news database Lexus-Nexus and scientific publication. It generates
65 percent of its sales in the United States. The latest investment is geared
towards achieving earnings growth of at least 10 percent. Internet sales was
$1.6 billion last year. Reed Elsevier’s new strategy comes against the
backdrop of what the company admitted were disappointing 2016 results,
largely caused by a weak market and stronger competition.
Revenues last year inched ahead to $5.54 billion, up from $5.23 billion
the year before. The company trimmed its 2017 dividend by about one-third
to support the growth plans. The company’s stock, which trades in London
and Amsterdam, rose more than 10 percent in early dealing, but fell back
sharply in the afternoon, possibly because of a U.S. lawsuit also announced
Thursday. In Amsterdam, Elsevier’s shares were down 8 percent and Reed’s
stock also traded down in London. The company said it will face a $6 billion
lawsuit in the United States over subscription agreements.
Passage 2
Greece, economically, is in the black. With very little to export other
than such farm products as tobacco, cotton, and fruit, the country earns
enough from “invisible earnings” to pay for its needed, growing imports.
From the sending out of things the Greeks earn only $285 million; from
tourism, shipping and the remittances of Greeks abroad, the country takes in
an additional $375 million and this washes out the almost $400 million by
which imports exceed exports. It has a balanced budget. Although more
than one drachma（德拉克马，希腊货币名） out of four goes for defense, the
government ended a recent year with a slight surplus of $66 million. Greece
has a decent reserve of almost a third of a billion dollars in gold and foreign
exchange. It has a government not dependent on coalescing incompatible
parties to obtain parliamentary majorities.
In summarizing a few happy highlights, I don’t mean to minimize the
vast extent of Greece’s problems. It is the poorest country by a wide margin
in Free Europe, and poverty is widespread. At best an annual income of $60
to $70 is the lot of many a peasant, and substantial unemployment plagues
the countryside, cities, and towns of Greece. There are few natural resources
on which to build any substantial industrial base. Some years ago I wrote
here:
“Greek statesmanship will have to create an atmosphere in which home
and foreign savings will willingly seek investment opportunities in the
backward economy of Greece. So far, most American and other foreign
attempts have bogged down in the Greek government’s red tape and
“shrewdness” about small points.”
Great strides have been made. As far back as 1979, expanding tourism
seemed a logical way to bring needed foreign currencies and additional jobs
to Greece. At that time I talked with the Hilton Hotel people who had been
examining hotel possibilities, and to the Greek government division
responsible for this area of the economy. They were hopelessly deadlocked in
almost total differences of opinion and outlook. Today most of the incredibly
varied, beautiful, historical sights of Greece have new, if in many cases
modest, tourist facilities. Tourism itself has jumped from approximately $31
million to over $90 million. There is both a magnificent new Hilton Hotel in
Athens and a completely modernized, greatly expanded Grande Bretagne, as
well as other first-rate new hotels. And the advent of jets has made Athens
as accessible as Paris or Rome — without the sky-high prices or traffic-choked streets of either.
Passage 3
Desperately short of living space and dangerously prone to flooding, the
Netherlands plans to start building homes, businesses and even roads on
water.
With nearly a third of the country already covered by water and half of its
land mass below sea level and constantly under threat from rising waters, the
authorities believe that floating communities may well be the future.
Six prototype wooden and aluminum floating houses are already attached
to something off Amsterdam, and at least a further 100 are planned on the
same estate, called Ijburg.
“Everybody asks why didn’t we do this kind of thing before,” said Gijsbert
Van der Woerdt, director of the firm responsible for promoting the concept.
“After Bangladesh we’re the most densely populated country in the world.
Building space is scarce and government studies show that we’ll need to
double the space available to us in the coming years to meet all our needs.”
Before being placed on the water and moved into position by tugboats, the
houses are built on land atop concrete flat-bottomed boats, which encase
giant lumps of polystyrene (聚苯乙烯) reinforced with steel. The flat-bottomed boats are said to be unsinkable and are anchored by underwater
cables. The floating roads apply the same technology.
The concept is proving popular with the Dutch. The waiting list for such
homes, which will cost between 200, 000 — 500, 000 euros to buy, runs to 5,
000 names, claims Van der Woerdt. With much of the country given over to
market gardening and the intensive cultivation of flowers, planners have also
come up with designs for floating greenhouses so that the water beneath
them irrigates the plants and controls the temperature inside. A pilot project,
covering 50 hectares of flooded land near Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport, is
planned for 2017.
The opportunities for innovative developers look promising. “We have 10
projects in the pipeline — floating villages and cities complete with offices,
shops and restaurants,” Van Woerd said.
Passage 4
Nowadays, we hear a lot about the growing threat of globalization,
accompanied by those warnings that the rich pattern of local life is being
undermined, and many dialects and traditions are becoming extinct. But stop
and think for a moment about the many positive aspects that globalization is
bringing. Read on and you are bound to feel comforted, ready to face the
global future, which is surely inevitable now.
Consider the Internet, that prime example of our shrinking world. Leaving
aside the all-too-familiar worries about pornography and political extremism,
even the most narrow-minded must admit that the net offers immeasurable
benefits, not just in terms of education, the sector for which it was originally
designed, but more importantly on a global level, the spread of news and
comment. It will be increasingly difficult for politicians to maintain their
regimes of misinformation, as the oppressed will not only find support and
comfort, but also be able to organize themselves more effectively.
MTV is another global provider that is often criticized for imposing popular
culture on the unsuspecting millions around the world. Yet the viewers’
judgment on MTV is undoubtedly positive; it is regarded as indispensable by
most of the global teenage generation who watch it, a vital part of growing
up. And in the final analysis, what harm can a few songs and videos cause?
Is the world dominance of brands like Nike and Coca-Cola so bad for us,
when all is said and done? Sportswear and soft drinks are harmless products
when compared to the many other things that have been globally available
for a longer period of time — heroin and cocaine, for example. In any case,
just because Nike shoes and Coke cans are for sale, it doesn’t mean you have
to buy them — even globalization cannot deprive the individual of his free will.
Critics of globalization can stop issuing their doom and gloom statements.
Life goes on, and has more to offer for many citizens of the world than it did
for their parents’ generation.