一季度進出口貿(mào)易“雙降”

　　請看《中國日報》的報道：

　　Total trade contracted 9 percent to $332.5 billion, the Customs Administration said on Thursday. Exports tumbled 6.6 percent year-on-year to $170.1 billion after dropping 18.1 percent in February. It's the first time since 2009 that exports declined for two consecutive months.

　　海關(guān)總署周四表示，貿(mào)易總額縮減9%至3325億美元。出口在2月份下跌18.1%之后，又同比下降6.6%至1701億美元。這是自2009年以來，出口首次連續(xù)兩個月下降。

　　在表述貿(mào)易額“下降”時上文先后使用了contract、tumble、drop和decline四個詞。Contract指(經(jīng)濟或市場)萎縮、緊縮，如：The manufacturing economy contracted in October for the sixth consecutive month. (10月，制造業(yè)經(jīng)濟已經(jīng)連續(xù)第6個月出現(xiàn)萎縮狀況。)Tumble多指(物價等經(jīng)濟指數(shù))暴跌，如：Share prices continued to tumble today on the Tokyo stock market.(東京股市的股價今天繼續(xù)暴跌。)Drop和decline平時比較常用，均指下降或減少，如：Temperature dropped dramatically at night(夜間溫度急劇下降)，the number of staff has declined in the past years(過去幾年，員工數(shù)量有所下降)。

　　與之相關(guān)的“經(jīng)濟下行壓力”可用downward pressure on the economy表示，“經(jīng)濟增速下滑”則用economic slowdown表達。因為一系列的經(jīng)濟減速跡象，國際上唱衰新興經(jīng)濟體的聲音再起(Pessimistic views about the prospects of emerging economies have resurfaced)。