第十一篇　Is There a Way to Keep the Britain's Economy Growing

　　1.In today's knowledge economy, nations survive on the things they do best. Japanese design electronics while Germens export engineering techniques. The French serve the best food and Americans make computers.

　　2.Britain specializes in the gift of talking. The nation doesn't manufacture much of anything. But it has lawyers, stylists and business consultants who earn their living from talk, talk and more talk. The World Foundation think tank1 says the UK's four iconic jobs today are not scientists, engineers, teachers and nurses. Instead, they're hairdressers, celebrities, management consultants and managers. But can all this talking keep the British economy going? The British government thinks it can.

　　3.Although the country's trade deficit was more than ￡60 billion in 2006, UK's largest in the postwar period, officials say the country has nothing to worry about. In fact, Britain does have a world-class pharmaceutical industry, and it still makes a small sum from selling arms abroad. It also trades services — accountancy, insurance, banking and advertising. The government believes Britain is on the cutting edge2 of the knowledge economy. After all, the country of Shakespeare and Wordsworth has a literary tradition of which to be proud. Rock “n” roll3 is an English language medium, and there are billions to be made by their cutting-edge bands. In other words, the creative economy has plenty of strength to carry the British economy.

　　4.However, creative industries account for only about 4 percent of UK's exports of goods and services. The industries are finding it hard to make a profit, according to a report of the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts4. The report shows only 38 percent of British companies were engaged in "innovation activities", 3 percentage points below the EU average and well below Germany (61 percent) and Sweden (47 percent).

　　5. In fact, it might be better to call Britain a "servant" economy — there are at least 4 million people "in service". The majority of the population are employed by the rich to cook, clean, and take care of their children. Many graduates are even doing menial jobs for which they do not need a degree. Most employment growth has been, and will continue to be, at the low-skill end of the service sector — in shops, bars, hotels, domestic service and in nursing and care homes.

　　词汇：

　　ionic 偶像的

　　menial 仆人的

　　pharmaceutical 制药的

　　注释：

　　1.think tank：思想库;智囊团

　　2.cutting edge：尖端的

　　3.rock' n' roll：摇滚乐

　　4.National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts：国家科学、技术和艺术捐赠委员会

　　译文：是否有办法使英国经济继续保持增长

　　现今的知识经济体系下，各国都发挥其特长以求生存。日本靠生产电子产品，而德国出口工程技术。法国有著名的美食，美国则制造计算机。

　　英国人以口才见长。英国制造不出什么东西，但却有一把把的律师、造型师和商业顾问。他 们每天的生计除了说，还是说。世界基金组织的智囊团公布，如今英国的四大偶像职业已不再是科学家、工程师、教师和护士，而变成了发型师、名流显要、管理顾问和商业经理。但这些以说见长的工作是否能保持英国经济的增长?英国政府认为可以。

　　尽管2006年英国的贸易赤字已超出600亿英镑，创英国战后史上的最高，英国官方却称此不足为患。事实上，英国的确拥有世界先进水平的制药工业和可以小赚一笔的军工业。除此之外，它还出售服务业，即会计业、保险业、银行业和广告业。英政府认为英国正处在知识经济的风口浪尖上。毕竟这个诞生出了莎士比亚和华兹华斯的国度有着可以引以为荣的文学传统。摇滚乐也是传播英语的媒介，英国就有很多顶尖的摇滚乐队，可以带来数十亿的收入。换句话说，这种以创造力为本的经济有诸多优势来承载英国经济的发展。

　　然而，创造力产业占英国出口商品和服务的总额还不足4%。据英国国家科学、技术和艺术 捐赠委员会报告，这些行业越来越发现盈利不易。报告显示只有38%的企业进行有关创新的活 动，比欧盟的平均水平还要低三个百分点，更是远远落在了德国(61%)和瑞典(47%)之后。

　　事实上，称英国经济为“仆人经济”或许更形象些——因为至少有400万人在做服务性工 作。英人口的大多数受雇富人，替他们做饭、打扫和看孩子。甚至许多大学生正从事体力劳动， 根本用不着文凭。雇佣增长的大部分过去是，将来仍将是由服务业中的低端技术部分实现，即商 店、酒吧、宾馆、家政服务和养老院这样的地方。