BEC高級閱讀資料：Business News Reading

One of the most important features of Western business news writing is the usage of simple and lively English. Since of most these writings cover not stories but trends of the market or development of policies, it is essential to make the writing right to the point and accessible to reader of various education levels. Therefore, conciseness and clarity are the keys (語言簡練通俗):

“The company expects to incur a loss, excluding special items, of between (11) cents and (14) cents per share in the first quarter.”

除特殊項目，公司第一季度預計會出現(xiàn)每股11至14分的虧損。

“Capital Spending by industry just pokes along. Ditto residential building.”

工業(yè)資本開支緩慢增加，住房建筑亦如此。

The collapse of copper price has come just as demand for it from the industrialized world has dropped 8% on last year and as production, after two years of high prices, is starting to increase.

銅價的猛跌正好是在工業(yè)國家的對銅的需求比去年下降8%和經(jīng)過兩年的高價后銅生產(chǎn)量正開始上升的時候發(fā)生的。

Much information has been covered, yet using only one sentence.

A long and boring day at work tires your eyes and mind. Wouldn’t it be even worse if you have to read on to some drab writings in news? So don’t be surprised to see such lively expressions (用詞生動形象):

“Italy is one country where it is really good-bye to the boom, at least until the chronic weakness in the balance of payments is cured, and the 17%inflation is reduced.”

意大利是一個真正與經(jīng)濟繁榮告別了的國家，至少在國際收支方面的長期困境得以改善， 以及每年17%的通貨膨脹有所一直之前，情況難以好轉(zhuǎn)。

“When it came to a perennial Clinton bugaboo-personnel-things began on a promising note. Prodded by the White House, Seven Cabinet Chiefs announced their departures soon after Nov.5. The shakeup gave Clinton a chance to revitalize his weary team. So have any of those jobs been filled? Nope.”

克林頓剛剛看到即將擺脫困擾他多時的私人瑣事的希望。在白宮的催促下，7位內(nèi)閣要員宣布將于11月5日后卸任。此次內(nèi)閣改組給克林頓以機會使其疲憊的內(nèi)閣恢復活力。內(nèi)閣成員的人選是否已經(jīng)確定了呢?沒有。

The usage of ellipsises makes eye-catching titles and subtitles: (巧用省略)

“Who is afraid of global markets? Not U.S. investors.”

“Time for a reality check in Asia. Time for a fire brigade.”

“Hubris? Perhaps. But Dobson isn’t the only putting up his chest these days.”

傲慢嗎?也許。但DOBSON可不是近來唯一一位趾高氣昂的人。

The frequent use of quotes, parentheses and hyperbaton: (引語，插入語及倒裝)

“I am afraid the US banks are going to have to get used to seeing Doutsche Morgan Grenfell more often, “ says Chief Executive Michael W.R. Dobson.

總裁Dobson說：“恐怕美國銀行將不得不習慣于經(jīng)常與Doutsche Morgan Grenfell打交道了。”

“Any international company that’s not planning to do something in China is probably missing a bet”, says J. Tracy O’ Rourke, CEO of Varian Associates Inc., a California manufacturer of medical equipment. “it’s like the frontier of days past.”

“任何一家不打算在中國作些事情的國際公司都可能失去一次機會”，。。。“她猶如往日的西部處女地。”