Часть II. Тексты и задания для устного перевода с листа

Текст 1.

Задание 1. Прочитайте однократно оригинальный текст. Передайте как можно ближе к оригиналу содержание текста сначала на английском языке, а затем на русском языке (без опоры на письменный текст).

Задание 2. Выполните устный перевод с листа следующего текста.

ECONOMY: RUSSIA

The Russian economy underwent tremendous stress in the 1990s as it moved from a centrally planned economy to a free market system. Difficulties in implementing fiscal reforms aimed at raising government revenues and a dependence on short-term borrowing to finance budget deficits led to a serious financial crisis in 1998. Lower prices for Russia’s major export earners (oil and minerals) and a loss of investor confidence due to the Asian financial crisis exacerbated financial problems. The result was a rapid and steep decline (60%) in the value of the ruble, flight of foreign investment, delayed payments on sovereign and private debts, a breakdown of commercial transactions through the banking system, and the threat of runaway inflation.

The Russian economy bounced back quickly from the 1998 crisis and enjoyed over nine years of sustained growth averaging about 7% due to a devalued ruble, implementation of key economic reforms (tax, banking, labor and land codes), tight fiscal policy, and favorable commodities prices. Household consumption and fixed capital investments both grew by about 10% per year during this period and replaced net exports as the main drivers of demand. Inflation and exchange rates stabilized due to a prudent fiscal policy (Russia ran a budget surplus from 2001-2008). Foreign exchange reserves grew to close to $600 billion by mid-2008, the third-largest in the world, of which more than $200 billion were classified as stabilization funds designed to shelter the budget from commodity price shocks. The balance of payments experienced twin surpluses until mid-2008 in the current and capital accounts, which accounted for the phenomenal growth of reserves. As of July 1, 2006, the ruble became convertible for both current and capital transactions. Russia prepaid its entire Soviet-era Paris Club debt of $22 billion in late 2006, but by October 2008 foreign external debt totaled $540 billion, of which $500 billion was short-term debt owed by private sector banks and corporations.

The global economic crisis hit Russia hard, starting with heavy capital flight in September 2008, which caused a crisis in its stock market. Several high-profile business disputes earlier in 2008 such as TNK-BP and Mechel, as well as the Georgian war helped drive capital out of Russia. By mid-September, Russia’s stock market had collapsed. As the global financial crisis gathered steam in the fall of 2008, the accompanying steep fall in global demand, commodity prices, and tightening of credit served to almost grind Russia’s economic growth to a halt in the fourth quarter of 2008. The Central Bank of Russia responded by pumping liquidity into Russian banks, which helped avert a banking crisis. At the same time, the government attempted a managed devaluation, which successfully avoided a run on the ruble and bank deposits but at the cost of a steep decline in foreign exchange reserves to $387 billion by mid-February 2009. This in turn prompted S&P and Fitch rating agencies to downgrade Russia’s sovereign debt to the lowest investment-grade. With the exchange rate in line with global oil prices by end-January 2009, according to preliminary data from the Central Bank, the balance of payments stabilized, with a current account surplus of $11.1 billion in the first quarter of 2009. Capital outflows slowed to $38.8 billion from $130.5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2008.

www.ereport.ru

Текст 2.

Задание 1. Прочитайте следующий текст в ускоренном темпе. Выполните перевод с листа текста, сохраняя темп чтения оригинала.

Задание 2. Выполните аннотирование текста на языке оригинала (без опоры на письменный текст).

ECONOMY: SOUTH KOREA

The Republic of Korea’s economic growth over the past several decades has been spectacular. Per capita GNP, only $100 in 1963, is close to $20,000. South Korea is now the United States’ seventh-largest trading partner and is the 13th-largest economy in the world.

In the early 1960s, the government of Park Chung Hee instituted sweeping economic policy changes emphasizing exports and labor-intensive light industries, leading to rapid debt-financed industrial expansion. The government carried out a currency reform, strengthened financial institutions, and introduced flexible economic planning. In the 1970s Korea began directing fiscal and financial policies toward promoting heavy and chemical industries, consumer electronics, and automobiles. Manufacturing continued to grow rapidly in the 1980s and early 1990s.

In recent years, Korea’s economy moved away from the centrally planned, government-directed investment model toward a more market-oriented one. Korea bounced back from the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis with some International Monetary Fund (IMF) assistance, but based largely on extensive financial reforms that restored stability to markets. These economic reforms, pushed by President Kim Dae-jung, helped Korea return to growth, with growth rates of 10% in 1999 and 9% in 2000. The slowing global economy and falling exports slowed growth to 3.3% in 2001, prompting consumer stimulus measures that led to 7.0% growth in 2002. Consumer over-shopping and rising household debt, along with external factors, slowed growth to near 3% again in 2003. Economic performance in 2004 improved to 4.6% due to an increase in exports, and remained at or above 4% in 2005, 2006, and 2007. With the onset of the global financial and economic crisis in the third quarter of 2008, annual growth slowed to 2.2%.

Economists are concerned that South Korea’s economic growth potential has fallen because of a rapidly aging population and structural problems that are becoming increasingly apparent. Foremost among these structural concerns are the rigidity of South Korea’s labor regulations, the need for more constructive relations between management and workers, the country’s underdeveloped financial markets, and a general lack of regulatory transparency. Korean policy makers are increasingly worried about diversion of corporate investment to China and other lower wage countries, and by Korea’s falling foreign direct investment (FDI). President Lee Myung-bak was elected in December 2007 on a platform that promised to boost Korea’s economic growth rate through deregulation, tax reform, increased FDI, labor reform, and free trade agreements (FTAs) with major markets. President Lee’s economic agenda necessarily shifted in the final months of 2008 to dealing with the global economic crisis. In 2009, the economy responded well to a robust fiscal stimulus package and low interest rates.

www.ereport.ru

Текст 3.

Задание 1. Переведите с листа по абзацам на русский язык следующий текст, повторяя перевод предыдущего абзаца, сделанный вашим коллегой.

Задание 2. Воспроизведете по памяти всю прецизионную информацию, содержащуюся в тексте (без опоры на письменный текст).

ECONOMY: JAPAN

Japan’s industrialized, free-market economy is the world’s third-largest by purchasing power parity (PPP) after the United States and the People’s Republic of China, and second-largest by market exchange rates. Its economy is highly efficient and competitive in areas linked to international trade, although productivity is lower in areas such as agriculture, distribution, and services.

Government-industry cooperation, a strong work ethic, mastery of high technology, and a comparatively small defense allocation have helped Japan advance with extraordinary speed to become one of the largest economies in the world. Its reservoir of industrial leadership and technicians, well-educated and industrious work force, high savings and investment rates, and intensive promotion of industrial development and foreign trade have produced a mature industrial economy. Japan has few natural resources, and trade helps it earn the foreign exchange needed to purchase raw materials for its economy.

For three decades, Japan’s overall real economic growth had been spectacular: a 10% average in the 1960s, a 5% average in the 1970s, and a 4% average in the 1980s.

Growth slowed markedly in the 1990s largely due to the after-effects of over-investment during the late 1980s and domestic policies intended to wring speculative excesses from the stock and real estate markets. Government efforts to revive economic growth have met with little success and were further hampered in 2000 to 2001 by the slowing of the global economy.

Sliding stock and real estate prices marked the end of the “bubble economy” of the late 1980s, and ushered in a decade of stagnant economic growth. Real GDP in Japan grew at an average of roughly 1.5% yearly between 1991-1999, compared to growth in the 1980s of about 4% per year. Growth in Japan throughout the 1990s was slower than growth in other major industrial nations, and the same as France and Germany. Japan endured periods of recession around the turn of the millennium, exacerbated by recession in the United States, but from 2003 began to grow strongly again at 2.0% and this rate has held steady through 2004. The economy saw signs of strong recovery in 2005. GDP growth for the year was 2.8%, with an annualized fourth quarter expansion of 5.5%, surpassing the growth rate of the US and European Union during the same period. Unlike previous recovery trends, domestic consumption has been the dominant factor in leading the growth.

Distinguishing characteristics of the Japanese economy include the cooperation of manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, and banks in closely-knit groups called keiretsu (they being Mitsubishi, Sumitomo, Fuyo, Mitsui, Dai-Ichi Kangyo and Sanwa); the powerful enterprise unions and shunto; cozy relations with government bureaucrats, and the guarantee of lifetime employment (shushin koyo) in big corporations and highly unionized blue-collar factories. Recently, Japanese companies have begun to abandon some of these norms in an attempt to increase profitability.

www.ereport.ru

Текст 4.

Задание 1. Выполните устный перевод с листа следующего текста.

Задание 2. Передайте как можно ближе к оригиналу содержание текста на английском языке, воспроизведя по памяти как можно больший объем прецизионной информации, заключенной в тексте (без опоры на письменный текст).

TRADE: RUSSIA AND THE U.S.

The U.S. exported $9.3 billion in goods to Russia in 2008, a 25% increase from the previous year. Corresponding U.S. imports from Russia were $26.7 billion, up a significant 38% (in 2007 imports were down by 2%). Russia is currently the 28th-largest export market for U.S. goods. Russian exports to the U.S. were fuel oil, inorganic chemicals, aluminum, and precious stones. U.S. exports to Russia were machinery, vehicles, meat (mostly poultry), aircraft, electrical equipment, and high-tech products.

Russia’s overall trade surplus in 2008 was approximately $180 billion, a significant rise from a $129 billion surplus in 2007. However, the overvalued exchange rate and collapse in global demand in the last quarter of 2008 quickly turned the trade surplus into deficit. Given a readjustment of the exchange rate, the outlook for 2009 is better with a projected surplus of $80 billion, given slower growth in exports and severe contraction of imports. World prices continue to have a major effect on export performance, since commodities – particularly oil, natural gas, metals, and timber – comprise nearly 90% of Russian exports. Russian GDP growth and the surplus/deficit in the Russian Federation state budget are closely linked to world oil prices.

Russia is in the process of negotiating terms of accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). The U.S. and Russia concluded a bilateral WTO accession agreement in late 2006, and negotiations continue on meeting WTO requirements for accession. Russia reports that it has yet to conclude a bilateral agreement with Georgia.

According to the 2008 U.S. Trade Representative’s National Trade Estimate, Russia continues to maintain a number of barriers with respect to imports, including tariffs and tariff-rate quotas; discriminatory and prohibitive charges and fees; and discriminatory licensing, registration, and certification regimes. Discussions continue within the context of Russia’s WTO accession to eliminate these measures or modify them to be consistent with internationally accepted trade policy practices. Non-tariff barriers are frequently used to restrict foreign access to the market and are also a significant topic in Russia’s WTO negotiations. In addition, large losses to U.S. audiovisual and other companies in Russia owing to poor enforcement of intellectual property rights in Russia are an ongoing irritant in U.S.-Russia trade relations. Russia continues to work to bring its technical regulations, including those related to product and food safety, into conformity with international standards.

www.ereport.ru

Текст 5.

Задание 1. Прочитайте следующий текст в ускоренном темпе. Выполните перевод с листа текста, сохраняя темп чтения оригинала.

Задание 2. Выполните аннотирование текста на языке оригинала (без опоры на письменный текст).

ECONOMY: KRASNOYARSK KRAI

Second-largest Russian region rich in various natural reserves

Krasnoyarsk Krai, located in eastern Siberia, is Russia’s second-largest region. It occupies 13.9% of Russian territory, comprises 2.0% of the total population, contributes 3.3% of industrial output, and its GRP constitutes 2.2% of the national GDP. Large quantities of proven and probable reserves of nickel, copper, palladium, and platinum imply a long reserve life.

Low density requires intensification of transportation network

The krai’s vast territory, low density of population, and severe climate conditions add pressure on the need to finance the transportation network and so increase the mobility of its residents.

In line with the national trend, Krasnoyarsk’s population has been gradually declining, albeit at a lower pace compared with other regions. The krai historically benefits from a high proportion of its population (65.2%) being of working age. Its adverse climate forces people to relocate to European Russia after retirement, resulting in a low share of elderly residents and consequently less pressure on social security. In the longer term, we expect this trend to reverse as living conditions improve in the region.