一
The world's third largest producer of electronics China is already the world's third largest producer of electronics， and becoming a player in the global appliance market. Twenty years ago， U.S.， European and Japanese companies started moving into China to supply the local market with household goods. Now those same companies are getting whipped by Chinese competitors. Over te past six years， the market share of foreign TV makers in China has dropped from 70 percent to less than 20 percent. Matsushita opened the first microwave-oven plant in China in 1995. Two years later the Chinese company Galanz started making microwaves and selling them for half Matsushita's price. Chinese companies now make more than 43 million TVs yearly. Konka， one of China's largest TV makers， sells its branded TVs in the United States， and has set up factories in Mexico to service the American market； While TCL， another major TV maker， exported 11 million units from its Chinese factories last year. It has more Southeast Asian factories than any other Chinese company. （164 words）
中国已经是世界第三大电器生产国，并且正在成为全球电器市场上的主角。20年前，美国、欧洲和日本公司开始进入中国，向当地市场提供了家用电器。如今这些公司却被中国竞争对手搞得焦头烂额。在过去六年中，外国电视生产厂家在中国市场上所占的份额已经从70％下降到不足20％。松下公司1995年在中国开办第一家生产微波炉的工厂。两年之后，中国格兰仕公司开始生产微波炉，其销售价格仅为松下微波炉的一半。
中国公司现在每年可以生产4300多万台电视机。深圳康佳电子（集团）股份有限公司是中国生产电视机的最大厂家之一，其产品已经远销美国，并且在墨西哥建立了几家工厂，以便向美国市场提供产品。TCL是中国又一家生产电视机的大型公司。去年，它出口了1100万台电视机。它在东南亚设立的工厂要比中国内地的还要多。
二
The China boom is by now a well-documented phenomenon. Who hasn't heard of the Middle Kingdom's astounding economic growth （8 percent annually）， its mesmerizing consumer market （1.2 billion people）， the investment ardor of foreign suitors （$40 billion in foreign direct investment last year alone）？ China is an economic juggernaut. According to Nicholas Lardy of the Brookings Institution， a Washington D.C.-based think tank， "No country has expanded its foreign trade as fast as China over the last 20 years. Japan doubled its foreign trade over a 20-year period； China's foreign trade as quintupled. They've become the pre-eminent producer of labor-intensive manufacturing goods in the world." But there's been something missing from the dazzling China growth story-namely， the Chinese multinational. No major Chinese companies have yet established themselves， or their brands， on the global stage. But as Haier shows， that is starting to change. After 100 years of poverty and chaos， of being overshadowed by foreign countries and multinationals， Chinese industrial companies are starting to make a mark on the world. （170 words）
如今中同的经济繁荣已经批一种得到充分证实的现象了。难道还有谁还没有听说过中国令人目眩的经济发展（年增长率高达8％）、颇具魅力的消费市场（拥有12亿消费者）和外国投资者的投资热情（仅去年一年的外国直接投资就高达400亿美元）吗？中国的经济力量已经势不可挡。华盛顿一家智囊机构布鲁金斯学会的尼占拉斯？拉迪说："在过去20年中，世界上没有任何一个国家的外贸发展速度像中国那么快。日本用了20多年时间才将其外贸总额翻了一番，而中国却翻了两番。他们已经成为世界上劳动密集型产品的主要生产商了。"不过，在这个令人目眩的中国发展故事中似乎缺少了一种什么东西，即中国跨国公司所扮演的角色。中国还没有一家大型公司在全球舞台上确立了自己的地位或品牌。但是，正如海尔公司所显示的那样，这种情况正在开始发生变化。经受了长达100年的贫穷、动乱以及长期笼罩在外国及其跨国公司的阴影下之后，中国工业公司开始对世界产生影响了。
三
Terror works like a musical composition， so many instruments， all in tune， playing perfectly together to create their desired effect. It was ， of course， a perfect day 70 deg and flawless skies， perfect for a nervous pilot who has stolen a huge jet and intends to turn it into a missile. It was a Boeing 767 from Boston， American Airlines Flight 11 bound for Los Angeles with 81 passengers， that first got the attention of air traffic controllers. The plane took off at 7：59 a.m. and headed west， over the Adirondacks， before taking a sudden turn south and diving down toward the heart of New York City. Meanwhile American Flight 757 had left Dulles； United Flight 175 left Boston at 7：58， and United Flight 93 left Newark three minutes later， bound for San Francisco. All climbed into beautiful clear skies， all four planes on transcontinental flights， plump with fuel， ripe to explode. "They couldn't carry anything-other than an atom bomb-that could be as bad as what they were flying，" observed a veteran investigator.（174 words）
恐怖运转起来犹如一部乐章，那么多的乐器演奏出一种完美和谐音调，共同创造出预期的效果。第一架飞机正好吸引了我们的注意力。
这当然是一个理想的日子，气温华氏 70度，晴空万里。这种天气对于一个偷窃巨型喷气式客机并打算将其转变成一枚导弹的神经紧张的飞行员来说，这简直太美妙了。这是一架美国航空公司11班机的波音767，从波士顿开往洛杉矶，机上有 8 1名乘客。首先引起空中交通管制员注意的就是这架飞机。该飞机上午7：59起飞。朝西飞行、在阿迪朗达克山上空，它没有调头南下，而是一头冲向纽约市的市心。与此同时，美国757航班已经离开了杜勒斯国际机场；联合班机175在7：58离开波士顿，并且三分钟以后联合班机93起飞离开纽瓦克开往旧金山。（5）所有这 4架飞机都爬高进入朗朗晴空全，全都上了洲际航线，机上装满了燃料，一触即炸。"他们飞机上所携带的东西，除了原子弹以外，没有什么可能会更糟的了。"一个老资格的调查人员说。
四
Lee Kuan Yew
In his latest book， Lee Kuan Yew fearlessly expresses his ideas， seeking "to be correct， not politically correct." Lee also recounts his impressions of nations， leaders and historic events. In acerbic Lee Kuan Yew style， he describes Margaret Thatcher， Ronald Reagan， China's poetry-quoting Jiang Zemin， the late Mao Zedong， the incorruptible Zhu Rongji to the bold reformer Deng Xiaoping （whom he remembers as "a five-footer but a giant among men"）。
Among the most interesting parts of the book were Lee Kuan Yew's references to the Philippines and his sadness that our talented nation could suffer so many socio-political and economic troubles. An anecdote recounts the 1985 official trip to Washington， DC where State Secretary George Shultz asked Lee to convince President Ronald Reagan that his old friend Ferdinand Marcos was then the problem of the Philippines， not the solution. During the uprising the following year 1986， when the U.S. government asked Lee's opinions， he said America should not accept a fraudulent election， and put pressure on Marcos to call new elections. （166 words）
在回忆录中，李光耀无畏地表达了他的想法，力争做到"凡事正确，但却不是政治上正确"。李光耀以他独特的方式，他描述了撒切尔夫人、里根、喜欢引用诗句的中国国家主席***、已故中共领袖毛泽东、正直廉洁的朱镕基和勇于改革的邓小平（在李光耀的记忆中，尽管 "邓只有五英尺高，却是人中之杰"）。
在李光耀的回忆录中，最令人感兴趣的章节是有关菲律宾的问题。菲律宾拥有许多人才，却总是社会、政治和经济问题不断，他对此感到十分惋惜。李光耀叙述他在1985年到华盛顿作正式访问时，当时的美国国务卿舒尔茨要求他说服里根总统，告诉后者他的老朋友马科斯是菲律宾问题的症结所在，而不是解决问题的关键。1986年人民起义发生后，美国政府征求李光耀的意见。李光耀认为美国不应该接受一个出现舞弊的选举，应该向马科斯施加压力，要他重新举行选举。
五
An actual recession in the euro area
earlier this year， when America first sneezed， the European Central Bank （along with most private-sector economists） argued that the euro area was insulated from America's slowdown and had little to worry about. This seems to have been wrong. In Germany there are fears about recession as business investment and retail sales tumble. Recent figures confirmed that Germany's GDP stagnated in the second quarter. Italy's GDP fell in the second quarter， and although growth has held up better in France and Spain， the growth in the euro area as a whole was close to zero in the quarter. Nobody is forecasting an actual recession in the euro area this year， but it is no longer expected to provide an engine for world growth. As for Japan， it is probably already in recession. Japan's GDP grew slightly in the first quarter. Persistent deflation continues to be a severe problem. A revised measure of Japan's consumer-price index， to be published soon， is likely to show that deflation is worse than had been thought. （170 words）
美国经济今年初伤风感冒时，欧洲央行（和大多数私营经济学家一道）宣称欧元区不会受美元的萎靡不振所影响，不必杞人忧天。如今证明大错特错。在德国，随着企业投资及零售额双双下滑，人们担心会出现经济衰退。日前公布的德国第二季度的GDP也证明经济停滞不前。意大利第二季度GDP负增长，法国及西班牙虽然稍强，但是欧元区大部分国家第二季度经济都接近零增长。谁也不会预言欧元区今年会有实质性衰退，但谁也再无法指望它来带动全球的经济增长了。
至于日本，可能已经陷入了经济衰退。第一季度GDP仅微幅增长。持续不衰的通货紧缩继续成为一个严重的问题。最近即将发表的日本消费物价指数的修订标准可能会显示，通货紧缩比预期的情况更为严重。