新概念美音版第四冊 Lesson 8 Trading standards 貿易標準

Lesson 8 Trading standards 貿易標準

First listen and then answer the following question.

聽錄音，然後回答以下問題。

What makes trading between rich countries difficult?

Chickens slaughtered in the United States, claim officials in Brussels, are not fit to grace European tables. No, say the American: our fowl are fine, we simply clean them in a different way. These days, it is differences in national regulations, far more than tariffs, that put sand in the wheels of trade between rich countries. It is not just farmers who are complaining. An electric razor that meets the European Union's safety standards must be approved by American testers before it can be sold in the United States, and an American-made dialysis machine needs the EU's okay before is hits the market in Europe.

As it happens, a razor that is safe in Europe is unlikely to electrocute Americans. So, ask businesses on both sides of the Atlantic, why have two lots of tests where one would do? Politicians agree, in principle, so America and the EU have been trying to reach a deal which would eliminate the need to double-test many products. They hope to finish in time for a trade summit between America and the EU on May 28TH. Although negotiators are optimistic, the details are complex enough that they may be hard-pressed to get a deal at all.

Why? One difficulty is to construct the agreements. The Americans would happily reach one accord on standards for medical devices and them hammer out different pacts covering, say, electronic goods and drug manufacturing. The EU -- following fine continental traditions -- wants agreement on general principles, which could be applied to many types of products and perhaps extended to other countries.

From: The Economist, May 24th, 1997

New words and expressions 生詞和短語

slaughter v. 屠宰 fit adj. 適合 grace v. 給 … 增光 tariff n. 關稅 standard n. 標準 dialysis n. 分離，分解；透析，滲析

electrocute v. 使觸電身亡 eliminate v. 消滅 accord n. 協議 device n. 儀器，器械 hammer out v. 推敲 pact n. 合同，條約，公約

參考譯文

布魯塞爾的官員說，在美國屠宰的雞不適於用來裝點歐洲的餐桌。不，美國人說，我們的家禽很好，隻是我們使用了另一種清洗方式。當前，是各國管理條例上的差異，而不是關稅阻礙了發達國家之間的貿易。並不僅僅是農民在抱怨。一把符合歐洲聯盟安全標準的電動剃須刀必須得到美國檢測人員的認可，方可在美國市場上銷售；而美國製造的透析儀也要得到歐盟的首肯才能進入歐洲市場。

碰巧在歐洲使用安全的剃須刀不大可能使美國人觸電身亡，因此，大西洋兩岸的企業都在問，當一套測試可以解決問題時，為什麽需要兩套呢？政治家在原則上同意了， 因此，美國和歐洲一直在尋求達成協議，以便為許多產品取消雙重檢查。他們希望盡早達成協議，為 5 月 28 日 舉行的美國和歐洲貿易的最高通級會議作準備。然談判代表持樂觀態度，但協議細節如此複雜，他們所麵臨的困難很可能使他們無法取得一致。

為什麽呢？困難之一是起草這些協議。美國人很願意就醫療器械的標準達成一個協議，然後推敲出不同的合同，用以涵蓋 -- 比如說 -- 電子產品和藥品的生產。歐洲人遵循優良的大陸傳統，則希望就普遍的原則取得一致，而這些原則適用於許多不同產品，同時可能延伸到其它國家。