1、标题：voa慢速英语讲解附字幕:世界商品价格创两年新高对应音频：1203a.mp3听力内容：Commodity Prices Reach a Two-Year HighThis is the VOA Special English Economics Report.Commodities are basic materials that are used and traded worldwide. The price of commodities helps determine how much a business can charge for a product and the profi
2、t it can make. Commodity prices have reached a two-year high since falling sharply during the world financial crisis.Hard commodities are materials like iron ore, oil and gold. Agricultural products are soft commodities. These include wheat, cotton and rice.Economic measures show the world economy i
3、s recovering unevenly. China and India, for example, have reported strong growth in manufacturing. Developed nations have had slower growth.John James is a business professor at Pace University in New York State. He says demand in developing economies can push up prices for commodities like oil and
4、iron ore used for making steel. But, he says, changing currency values can also influence prices.JOHN JAMES: The spike in the price of commodities is a reflection of the instability of both the euro and the dollar and the best example of that, of course, is gold.Gold prices have reached record level
5、s in recent months. That means gold dealers must pay more for the commodity now than they did only a year ago. That affects current prices.Not surprisingly, manufacturers want some control over the prices they pay for commodities. Futures contracts are agreements between a buyer and a seller to exch
6、ange something at a set price at some time in the future. These contracts let buyers lock in a price for basic materials.But some traders in futures markets only want to make a profit. They buy or sell contracts depending on the direction they believe prices will go. These speculators get blamed whe
7、n prices rise, or fall, too quickly.The United States, Germany and France are looking into ways to limit this kind of trading.Some experts say exporting commodities is not a good path to long-term economic growth. The United Nations recently reported that the least developed countries must change th
8、eir economies to provide good incomes for their citizens.Supachai Panitchpakdi leads the UN development group UNCTAD. He says the least developed countries need to cut dependence on commodities and manufacture products for export. He says only this will let them gain from world trade.And thats the V
9、OA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and iTunes at VOA Learning English. Im Steve Ember.1.determine v.限定; 制定; 支配例句：Economic factors determine the progress which a society can make.经济因素是社会进步的决定因素。decide，determine，resolve，settledecide侧重指
10、经过思考、比较、讨论或询问之后做出的决定。这些动词都含“决定”之意。determine指经过深思熟虑，决心去做某事并坚持施行。resolve语气较强，强调以坚定不移的信念去做或不做某事，暗含有远大抱负和坚强决心。settle指排除犹豫、怀疑和争论之后作出明确的最终结论。2.charge v.索(价)；收(费)；要(人)支付(若干费用)例句：The hotel charged me $100 for a room for the night.我在饭店的一个房间里住了一夜，饭店要了我100美元。3.unevenly adv.不规则地;不平衡地例句：Fuel resources are very u
11、nevenly distributed.燃料资源分布很不均匀。4.spike v.(价格、数量等的)快速增长5.reflection n.反映, 表达例句：This is a reflection of their frailty.这是他们虚弱的反映。6.instability n.不稳定,不稳固例句：Instability may arise at times of change.变革时期可能会出现动乱。7.speculator n.投机倒把者, 投机商例句：These houses were built by property speculators.这些房屋是由地产投机商建造的。1.He
12、 says demand in developing economies can push up prices for commodities like oil and iron ore used for making steel.push up推上去; 增高, 提高例句：If you cant ride your bike to the top of the hill, youll have to push it up.如果你没有办法把车骑到山顶, 那么你得把车推上去。Whats pushing up the price of oil?什么促使油价上涨?2.Futures contracts
13、 are agreements between a buyer and a seller to exchange something at a set price at some time in the future.sometime、some time、sometimes、some times这些词或词组在初中我们就都接触过了，但是未必所有的英语学习者都能够清楚地进行区分和准确无误地运用。许多人对它们的理解都还很模糊。现在，我们来逐个击破。sometime(1)副词：某个时候。可指过去或将来的某个时候。如： Would you come to the cinema with me, some
14、time? 赏脸找个时间和我看场电影吗？(将来) We’ll take our holiday sometime in August. 我们会在八月找个时间度假。(将来) I bought this sometime last summer. 这是我在上个夏天买的。(过去) This mansion was built sometime around 1980. 这栋大厦是1980年左右建的。(过去)(2)形容词：前，过去的。意思类似former。 This is our sometime general manager.这是我们的前任总经理。 Our sometime class
15、mate, Rose, is now a pop star. 我们以前的同学罗斯，现在是明星了。sometimes 副词：有时候。顺便提一下，at times也是“有时”的意思。 Every man is a fool sometimes, and none at all times. 每个人有时都会犯傻，但没有谁会一直都傻。 I sometimes have letters from him. 有时我会收到他的来信。some time 某段时间。常与for连用。 We plan to stay in Hainan for some time. 我们打算在海南呆上一段时间。 I will ke
16、ep the computer for some time, so you can use it.这部电脑我会留着一段时间，你可以用。some times 几次。several times也可以表示“几次”，但比some times较确定。time作可数名词时可作“次数”解；表示“时间”时是不可数名词。 I am sure that we have met some times before.我肯定我们之前见过几次了。 The newly bought microwave oven failed to work some times.新买的微波炉坏了几次了。3.He says only this will let them gain from world trade.only，只有这样才能……为了强调only及其所修饰的状语（通常是副词、介词短语或从句），则将它们移到句首，句中的主谓作部分倒装。如：Only then did we realize that the man was blind.直到那时我们才发现那个人是盲人。Only when the war was over in 1918 was he able to get happily back to work.直到1918年战争结束后，他才得以愉快地重返工作岗位。