四六级

　　The speculator, George Soros, whose assault onsterling1 ejected Britain from the Europeanexchange rate mechanism that September of 10years ago has a mission — to use his estimated ￡5billion fortune and his fame to help tackle what hesees as the failures of globalisation. The idea that a man who made billions betting on thefinancial markets sides with the anti-globalisation movement might strike some as ironic .Soros is clearly genuinely appalled at the damage wrought on vulnerable economies by thevast sums of money which flow across national borders every day.

　　“The US governs the international system to protect its own economy. It is not in charge ofprotecting other economies, ”he says.“ So when America goes into recession, you haveantirecessionary policies. When other countries are in recession, they don't have the ability toengage in antirecessionary policies because they can't have a permissive monetary policy,because money would flee . ”In person , he has the air of a philosophy professor rather than agimlet-eyed financier. In a soft voice which bears the traces of his native Hungary, he arguesthat it is time to rewrite the so-called Washington consensus — the cocktail of liberalisation,privatisation and fiscal rectitude which the IMF2 has been preaching for 15 years. Developingcountries no longer have the freedom to run their own economies, he argues, even when theyfollow perfectly sound policies. He cites Brazil, which although it has a floating currency andmanageable public debt was paying ten times over the odds to borrow from capital markets.

　　Soros, who at one stage after the fall of the Berlin Wall3 was providing more assistance toRussia than the US government, believes in practising what he preaches. His Open SocietyInstitute has been pivotal in helping eastern European countries develop democratic societiesand market economies. Soros has the advantage of an insider's knowledge of the workings ofglobal capitalism, so his criticism is particularly pointed. Last year, the Soros foundation'snetwork spent nearly half a billion dollars on projects in education, public health and promotingdemocracy, making it one of the world's largest private donors.

　　Soros credits the anti-globalisation movement for having made companies more sensitive totheir wider responsibilities.“ I think [ the protesters] have made an important con tribution bymaking people aware of the flaws of the system, ”he says. “ People on the street had an impacton public opinion and corporations which sell to the public responded to that. ”Because the IMFhas abandoned billion dollar bailouts for troubled economies, he thinks a repeat of the Asiancrisis is unlikely. The fund's new“ tough love ”policy — for which Argentina is the guinea pig —has other consequences. The bailouts were a welfare system for Wall Street, with westerntaxpayers rescuing the banks from the consequences of unwise lending to emergingeconomies. Now the IMF has drawn a line in the sand, credit to poor countries is drying up. “ Ithas created a new problem — the inadequacy of the flow of capital from centre to theperiphery, ”he says.

　　The one economy Soros is not losing any sleep about is the U. S.“ I am much more positiveabout the underlying economy than I am about the market, because we are waging war notonly terrorism but also on recession, ”he says.“Although we don't admit it, we are actuallyapplying Keynesian4 remedies, and I am a confirmed Keynesian. I have not yet seen aneconomy in recession when you are gearing up for war. ”He worries that the world's largesteconomic power is not living up to its responsibilities. “ I would like the United States to live upto the responsibilities of its hegemonic power because it is not going to give up its hegemonicpower, ”he says.“The only thing that is realistic is for the United States to become aware thatit is in its enlightened self-interest to ensure that the rest of the world benefits from their role. ”

　　Ⅰ. Plea se pick out sente nces from th e p assa ge e xp ress in g the following mea nings:

　　1. 就算发展中国家实行很完善的机制, 它们的经济也有可能被国际游资打击。

　　2. 索罗斯在冷战结束后向俄罗斯提供的资助比美国政府给的要多。

　　3. 索罗斯是国际资本运作的行家里手, 所以他的观点总是切中要害。

　　4. 只要打仗, 国民经济就会景气。

　　Ⅱ. Question :

　　Where is Soros'motherland?

　　参考答案：

　　Ⅰ. 1. Developing countries no longer have the freedom to run their own economies, he argues, even when they follow perfectly sound policies.

　　2. Soros, who at one stage after the fall of the Berlin Wall was providing more assistance to Russia than the US government.

　　3. Soros has the advantage of an insider’s knowledge of the workings of global capitalism, so his criticism is particularly pointed.

　　4. I have not yet seen an economy in recession when you are gearing up for war.

　　Ⅱ. Hungary.

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