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Business
Words in the News
Friday 14 March 2003
Vocabulary from the business news. Listen to and read the report
then find explanations of difficult words below.
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China Growth
Summary: China has announced a very large increase in industrial production during the months of January and February of this year. But because exports play an important role in China's economic performance, a possible war in Iraq makes China's economic future less certain. This report from Francis Markus:
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The
News 
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China's vast industrial machine is churning out mobile phones, television sets, computers and cars at a phenomenally growing rate. And whatever doubts there may be about the quality of economic data, the figures contribute to overall economic growth that is the envy of just about everywhere else in the world - eight per cent last year. This year Beijing has predicted slower growth, possibly down to seven per cent. The uncertain economic outlook, as a possible war looms, is an important unknown. The incomes of urban Chinese are increasing rapidly. But the country's domestic market is still too small to absorb the roaring growth in industrial output. So if the country's main export markets such as the United States are plunged into gloom over the next few months, the Chinese economy could be slowed down. On the bright side, that might help ease some of the international pressure on Beijing to revalue its currency and stop cheap exports flooding other countries' markets. But it could also make it harder to create the millions of jobs China needs to absorb laid off state sector workers and farmers seeking to escape a life of rural poverty. Francis Markus, BBC News, Shanghai
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The
Words
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vast industrial machine
very large manufacturing industry
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churning out
producing quickly and in large quantity
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at a phenomenally growing rate
more and more quickly
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the envy of
if something is the envy of someone, they really want it
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the uncertain economic outlook
uncertainty about what is likely to happen in the economy
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looms
if something looms, it seems to be about to happen
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roaring growth in industrial output
extremely fast increase in industrial production
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are plunged into gloom
enter an extremely bad period
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absorb laid off state sector workers
find employment for people who have lost jobs in the state industries
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a life of rural poverty
from the countryside where they are poor and have little opportunity for wealth
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Read
more about this story |
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