Passage 1 Disputes over farm trade have bedevilled the current round of GATT talks from the start. That is unsurprising. For decades governments everywhere have suppressed market forces in agriculture with subsidies，tariffs, quotas ，monopoly purchasing boards and all the other paraphernalia of mule-headed intervention. On one plausible estimate，consumers in industrial countries pay $ 300 billion a year in taxes and higher prices to support farming. Even allowing for the income transferred to farmers, the net welfare loss caused by the industrial countries' farm policies is $ 100 billion a year. What exactly are those reforms of the common agricultural policy (CAP) that Europe's govern ments agreed to? On cereals，where Europe and America have squabbled most fiercely, the GATT's director-general suggested cuts of 20% in the value of the CAP's production subsidies. America said it would settle for nothing else. The EC then came up with a new plan to re-form the CAP. Its main idea is to replace some production subsidies with direct payments to farmers.What does“squabble” mean here?

Passage 1 Disputes over farm trade have bedevilled the current round of GATT talks from the start. That is unsurprising. For decades governments everywhere have suppressed market forces in agriculture with subsidies，tariffs, quotas ，monopoly purchasing boards and all the other paraphernalia of mule-headed intervention. On one plausible estimate，consumers in industrial countries pay $ 300 billion a year in taxes and higher prices to support farming. Even allowing for the income transferred to farmers, the net welfare loss caused by the industrial countries' farm policies is $ 100 billion a year. What exactly are those reforms of the common agricultural policy (CAP) that Europe's govern ments agreed to? On cereals，where Europe and America have squabbled most fiercely, the GATT's director-general suggested cuts of 20% in the value of the CAP's production subsidies. America said it would settle for nothing else. The EC then came up with a new plan to re-form the CAP. Its main idea is to replace some production subsidies with direct payments to farmers.From the sentence underlined, do you think what attitude America took towards the reform suggested by the GATT's director-general?

Passage 2A notable development in 1991 was a narrowing of current account imbalances of most major industrial countries: The U. S. current-account deficit moved to near balance. The trade component of the deficit narrowed as lower inflation and earlier dollar depreciation improved competitiveness,while the transfers component moved into substantial surplus because of war-related payments. Moreover, there was a remarkable swing in the German current account——from a surplus equivalent to 3.2% of GDP in 1990 to a deficit of 1.3%. A continuation of the surge of imports that followed unification, as well as the earlier appreciation of the deutsche mark，contributed to the swing. Several important developments in monetary conditions also took place in 1991. Reflecting more accommodative monetary policy,nominal short-term interest rates fell in the United States. In contrast, the increase in German nominal short-term interest rates to postwar highs narrowed the potential of some European Monetary System partners to reduce their rates.What's the meaning of“the trade component of the deficit”?

Passage 2A notable development in 1991 was a narrowing of current account imbalances of most major industrial countries: The U. S. current-account deficit moved to near balance. The trade component of the deficit narrowed as lower inflation and earlier dollar depreciation improved competitiveness,while the transfers component moved into substantial surplus because of war-related payments. Moreover, there was a remarkable swing in the German current account——from a surplus equivalent to 3.2% of GDP in 1990 to a deficit of 1.3%. A continuation of the surge of imports that followed unification, as well as the earlier appreciation of the deutsche mark，contributed to the swing. Several important developments in monetary conditions also took place in 1991. Reflecting more accommodative monetary policy,nominal short-term interest rates fell in the United States. In contrast, the increase in German nominal short-term interest rates to postwar highs narrowed the potential of some European Monetary System partners to reduce their rates.Why does the appreciation of the deutsche mark cause the German current account to swift from a surplus to a deficit?

Passage 2A notable development in 1991 was a narrowing of current account imbalances of most major industrial countries: The U. S. current-account deficit moved to near balance. The trade component of the deficit narrowed as lower inflation and earlier dollar depreciation improved competitiveness,while the transfers component moved into substantial surplus because of war-related payments. Moreover, there was a remarkable swing in the German current account——from a surplus equivalent to 3.2% of GDP in 1990 to a deficit of 1.3%. A continuation of the surge of imports that followed unification, as well as the earlier appreciation of the deutsche mark，contributed to the swing. Several important developments in monetary conditions also took place in 1991. Reflecting more accommodative monetary policy,nominal short-term interest rates fell in the United States. In contrast, the increase in German nominal short-term interest rates to postwar highs narrowed the potential of some European Monetary System partners to reduce their rates.What's your paraphrase of “accommodative” in the sentence?

A clearly confident China has rolled up a large section of its bamboo curtain, declared itself “open to the outside world” and hung signs on nearly all its cities inviting foreign investors to come and do serious business. In China's special economic zones ( SEZs)，which are being built almost from scratch, foreigners can invest in anything which the state deems useful for the country, be it, for example, production of goods for export or construction of private-housing estates. These can be joint ventures ，cooperative enterprises or wholly foreign-owned operations. Because every factory or business established in the SEZs is new, imports of capital and consumer goods ( except cigarettes and liquor) are exempted from customs duties, and a uniform 15% income-tax rate is applied.

China's access to substantial sums of money from the World Bank also reduces the need to borrow on commercial terms.

Aggregate output for developing countries advanced by slightly less than 2% during 1991,impl- ying an easing in per capita income of 0.1%.

The world needs to hear from new president what his trade signals mean and where they are lead- ing,Mr Hirabayashi said.

Also noteworthy was the implementation by the Paris Club of a new menu of enhanced concessions in debt reschedulings for the severely indebted,low-income countries.