VOA慢速英語:Study:South African Economy Grew Steadily Over 2 Decades

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[00:00.00]This is the Economics Report from VOA Learning English. [00:05.98]A new report is praising South Africa [00:08.92]for its economic growth over the past 20 years. [00:12.79]The report comes from the banking company Goldman Sachs. [00:17.79]It decided to examine South Africa's economic progress [00:22.79]since the end of white minority rule in 1994. [00:27.90]Colin Coleman works for the company. [00:30.76]"South Africa in the last year has tended to have a motional, [00:34.27]somewhat negative reaction both domestically and internationally. [00:39.50]And my view is that we needed to kind of get some perspective [00:44.05]on the past 20 years as to what's been achieved [00:47.49]in order to get a better balance in the debate," said Colin Coleman. [00:50.66]The report notes changes to the South African economy [00:55.12]over the past 20 years. [00:57.34]"When you look back at what Nelson Mandela inherited [01:01.14]in May when he became president, it was really bitter pill, [01:06.51]because you had an indebted nation that had no money. [01:10.17]There was growing below-population growth [01:12.97]with huge unemployment, huge racial disparities, [01:15.33]a very volatile political social environment. [01:18.47]Effectively, that gave way to a golden period of growth, [01:21.53]low inflation, bringing the debt down and an extraordinary performance [01:26.47]until the global financial crisis," Coleman said. [01:29.27]The report says the amount of money collected in taxes [01:32.54]increased from $114 billion in 1994 to $814 billion. [01:41.62]South Africans are not always happy about the direction of the economy, [01:47.01]but business leaders and economists were pleased [01:50.78]to see a long-term look at some of the improvements. [01:54.74]Joanne Yawitch heads the National Business Initiative, [01:59.12]the organization works on efforts to help strengthening the economy. [02:04.22]"There's often a lot of doom and gloom talk about South Africa, [02:07.69]but what the report did point out [02:10.75]is some fairly of significant achievements over the last 20 years. [02:15.33]In particular, there has been an increase in productivity, [02:19.46]an increase in employment, [02:22.11]there has been a huge increase in the number of people in the middle class. [02:25.38]Quite a substantial improvement [02:29.68]in the quality of life of a great number of people," said Joanne Yawitch. [02:33.46]But the country still has problems. [02:36.52]The report notes South Africa's education system continues to struggle, [02:42.06]and the unemployment rate remains at about 24 percent. [02:47.04]It says 70 percent of those jobless people are under age 34. [02:53.96]There are also great racial inequality, especially in terms of earnings. [03:00.28]The reports says 85 percent of blacks are poor, [03:04.61]while 87 percent of whites are middle to upper class. [03:09.50]There have been criticisms of the report. [03:12.43]Some people say it depends heavily on general information, [03:16.75]not cultural evidence. [03:19.04]When Yawitch agrees with some of the criticisms, [03:22.36]but she says the report shows the country has come a long way. [03:27.21]"I think the reality certainly for me [03:30.07]- I mean I grew up under apartheid and have spent 20 years in this democracy [03:35.13]- is that life in South Africa is a lot better for most people than it ever was. [03:38.44]But there are very, very big things that still have to happen. [03:43.96]And I think that's what the report draws our attention to, [03:46.80]is that it's a long journey and that we've made progress [03:51.90]and must carry on," Yawitch said. " [03:53.27]And that's the Economics Report from VOA Learning English.

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By VOA

21 November, 2013

This is the Economics Report from VOA Learning English.

A new report is praising South Africa for its economic growth over the past 20 years. The report comes from the banking company Goldman Sachs. It decided to examine South Africa's economic progress since the end of white minority rule in 1994.

Colin Coleman works for the company.

"South Africa in the last year has tended to have a motional, somewhat negative reaction both domestically and internationally. And my view is that we needed to kind of get some perspective on the past 20 years as to what's been achieved in order to get a better balance in the debate," said Colin Coleman.

The report notes changes to the South African economy over the past 20 years.

"When you look back at what Nelson Mandela inherited in May when he became president, it was really bitter pill, because you had an indebted nation that had no money. There was growing below-population growth with huge unemployment, huge racial disparities, a very volatile political social environment. Effectively, that gave way to a golden period of growth, low inflation, bringing the debt down and an extraordinary performance until the global financial crisis," Coleman said.

The report says the amount of money collected in taxes increased from $114 billion in 1994 to $814 billion. South Africans are not always happy about the direction of the economy, but business leaders and economists were pleased to see a long-term look at some of the improvements.

Joanne Yawitch heads the National Business Initiative, the organization works on efforts to help strengthening the economy.

"There's often a lot of doom and gloom talk about South Africa, but what the report did point out is some fairly of significant achievements over the last 20 years. In particular, there has been an increase in productivity, an increase in employment, there has been a huge increase in the number of people in the middle class. Quite a substantial improvement in the quality of life of a great number of people," said Joanne Yawitch.

But the country still has problems. The report notes South Africa's education system continues to struggle, and the unemployment rate remains at about 24 percent. It says 70 percent of those jobless people are under age 34. There are also great racial inequality, especially in terms of earnings. The reports says 85 percent of blacks are poor, while 87 percent of whites are middle to upper class.

There have been criticisms of the report. Some people say it depends heavily on general information, not cultural evidence.

When Yawitch agrees with some of the criticisms, but she says the report shows the country has come a long way.

"I think the reality certainly for me - I mean I grew up under apartheid and have spent 20 years in this democracy - is that life in South Africa is a lot better for most people than it ever was. But there are very, very big things that still have to happen. And I think that's what the report draws our attention to, is that it's a long journey and that we've made progress and must carry on," Yawitch said. "

And that's the Economics Report from VOA Learning English.

This is the Economics Report from VOA Learning English.

這里是美國之音慢速英語經(jīng)濟(jì)報(bào)道。

A new report is praising South Africa for its economic growth over the past 20 years. The report comes from the banking company Goldman Sachs. It decided to examine South Africa's economic progress since the end of white minority rule in 1994.

一份新的報(bào)告贊揚(yáng)了過去20年南非經(jīng)濟(jì)增長取得的成就。該報(bào)告來自銀行業(yè)的高盛公司。該公司決定研究1994年白人少數(shù)統(tǒng)治結(jié)束以來南非的經(jīng)濟(jì)進(jìn)展。

Colin Coleman works for the company.

科林·科爾曼(Colin Coleman)就職于該公司。

"South Africa in the last year has tended to have a motional, somewhat negative reaction both domestically and internationally. And my view is that we needed to kind of get some perspective on the past 20 years as to what's been achieved in order to get a better balance in the debate," said Colin Coleman.

科爾曼說，“去年，南非國內(nèi)外已經(jīng)趨向于產(chǎn)生一個動態(tài)的稍微消極的反作用力。而我的觀點(diǎn)是，我們必須從過去二十年的成就中獲得一些觀點(diǎn)，以便在爭論中更好地平衡。”

The report notes changes to the South African economy over the past 20 years.

該報(bào)告指出了過去二十年南非經(jīng)濟(jì)的變化。

"When you look back at what Nelson Mandela inherited in May when he became president, it was really bitter pill, because you had an indebted nation that had no money. There was growing below-population growth with huge unemployment, huge racial disparities, a very volatile political social environment. Effectively, that gave way to a golden period of growth, low inflation, bringing the debt down and an extraordinary performance until the global financial crisis," Coleman said.

科爾曼說，“當(dāng)我們回顧1994年5月份曼德拉成為總統(tǒng)后接手的，那真是一枚苦果。因?yàn)樗邮值氖且粋€負(fù)債累累的窮國，該國的人口低增長率和高失業(yè)率不斷深化，種族差異嚴(yán)重，政治社會環(huán)境動蕩。實(shí)際上，這最終讓位于增長、低通脹、債務(wù)減少和成就非凡的黃金期，直到全球金融危機(jī)爆發(fā)。”

The report says the amount of money collected in taxes increased from $114 billion in 1994 to $814 billion. South Africans are not always happy about the direction of the economy, but business leaders and economists were pleased to see a long-term look at some of the improvements.

該報(bào)告稱，南非稅收總額從1994年的1140億美元增長到8140億美元。南非人對經(jīng)濟(jì)走向不總是樂觀，但商界領(lǐng)袖和經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家很高興看到一些成就的長遠(yuǎn)態(tài)勢。

Joanne Yawitch heads the National Business Initiative, the organization works on efforts to help strengthening the economy.

Joanne Yawitch負(fù)責(zé)南非的國家商業(yè)倡議組織。該組織致力于幫助強(qiáng)化經(jīng)濟(jì)。

"There's often a lot of doom and gloom talk about South Africa, but what the report did point out is some fairly of significant achievements over the last 20 years. In particular, there has been an increase in productivity, an increase in employment, there has been a huge increase in the number of people in the middle class. Quite a substantial improvement in the quality of life of a great number of people," said Joanne Yawitch.

她表示，“談到南非總是前景黯淡，但該報(bào)告實(shí)際指出了過去20年一些相當(dāng)顯著的成就。尤其是，生產(chǎn)力提高，就業(yè)增加，中產(chǎn)階級人數(shù)大幅增長，很多人的生活質(zhì)量有了實(shí)質(zhì)性改善。”

But the country still has problems. The report notes South Africa's education system continues to struggle, and the unemployment rate remains at about 24 percent. It says 70 percent of those jobless people are under age 34. There are also great racial inequality, especially in terms of earnings. The reports says 85 percent of blacks are poor, while 87 percent of whites are middle to upper class.

但南非還是有它的問題。該報(bào)告指出，南非教育體系仍在掙扎中，失業(yè)率還維持在24%左右。該報(bào)告還表示，70%的失業(yè)者年齡小于34歲。此外還存在巨大的種族不平等，特別是在收入方面。該報(bào)告稱，85%的黑人都是窮人，然而87%的白人是中上階層。

There have been criticisms of the report. Some people say it depends heavily on general information, not cultural evidence.

已經(jīng)有人對該報(bào)告提出批評。有人說，該報(bào)告嚴(yán)重依賴于一般信息而不是文化證據(jù)。

When Yawitch agrees with some of the criticisms, but she says the report shows the country has come a long way.

Yawitch對一些批評表示同意，但她表示，該報(bào)告顯示，南非已經(jīng)取得長足進(jìn)步。

"I think the reality certainly for me - I mean I grew up under apartheid and have spent 20 years in this democracy - is that life in South Africa is a lot better for most people than it ever was. But there are very, very big things that still have to happen. And I think that's what the report draws our attention to, is that it's a long journey and that we've made progress and must carry on," Yawitch said.

她說，“對我來說事實(shí)更是如此。我的意思是，我在種族隔離制度下長大，并且在現(xiàn)在的民主中生活了20年。對大多數(shù)人來說，在南非的生活比以往強(qiáng)了很多。但還有很多事情要做。我認(rèn)為該報(bào)告提醒我們，這是一個長期的過程，我們已經(jīng)取得進(jìn)展，必須繼續(xù)下去。”

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