1.第二章分析语料
(1)BBC NEWS,July 10,2003,Thursday:Asia shrugs off Sars’ economic impact.
Asia shrugs off Sars’ economic impact
After months of gloomy predictions,some of Asia’s biggest economies are emerging from the outbreak of the deadly Sars virus more or less unscathed.
Chana and Japan have unveiled statistics showing that economic recovery from the epidemic has been rapid,and that some sectors have in fact benefited.
The news is in sharp contrast to pundit’s pessimism during the outbreak,which centred around the damage done to Asia’s services industries,especially tourism.
By making human contact less attractive,many argued,Sars cut down on commercial interactions and persuaded potential visitors to shun the region.
Surging ahead
China,which suffered most casualties from the outbreak,has been economically least affected.
Its economy has been growing extremly rapidly for years,and showed no signs of slowing.
During the first half of the year,China exports jumped by one-third year on year,and imports leapt by 45%.
This surge in trade helped fuel continuing gains in industrial production,which was up 16% during the same period.
Some sectors outperformed expectations,notably cars,which Chinese consumers bought in unexpectedly high numbers in order to avoid public transport.
The buoyancy comes despite the fact that China’s main industrial region,the coastal southwest,was at the head of the Sars outbreak.
Staying put
Japan was barely touched by the epidemic,but its economy was tipped to suffer along with the rest of Asia.
But new figures show that it has benefited from the decision of many Japanese tourists and shoppers to stay at home.
The number of Japanese travelling abroad in May fell to 575000 from the previous month’s 1279000,the trade ministry said.
This alone helped to more than halve Jpan’s services deficit-the amount by which Japanese spending on overseas services exceeds those it sells abroad.
And the country’s overall current-account balance-which include trade in goods as well as services and other considerations-jumped by 29% to 1.4 trillion yen (?7bn,11.4bn),way above expectations.
Winners and losers
Not all Asian countries have been as immune as Japan and China,which have the advantage of size.
Smaller countries where the disease did proportionally more damage,notably,Taiwan,Singapore and Hong Kong,have been hit harder.
But even in these countries,economic recovery is already showing signs of being rapid.
And some sectors have reported positive benefits,notably those services catering to the desire to huddle at home.
Internet servcice providers,for example,have reported booming business around the region.
(2) BBC NEWS,July 8,2003,Tuesday:Sars boosts Chinese online profits.
Sars boosts Chinese online profits
A Chinese internet firm has become one of the first Asian companies to thank the deadly Sars virus for creating higher profits.
Sohu.com,one of the country’s leading online portals,said that revenue had more than doubled in the three months to end-June,as wary Chinese clients stayed at home and surfed the net.
Although now largely conquered,Sars created a wave a fear across Asia and beyond,killing 812 people worldwide and infecting at least 8,400.
During the quarters,Sohu made a profit of 7.5 m (?4.5m),compared with a slight loss a year earlier.
Sohu’s success comes in sharp contrast to a string of Asian firms,especially in tourism and other services businesses,which have blamed the disease for a slump in trade.
Back from the brink
Along with rivals Sina and NetEase,Sohu is enjoying a period of extraordinary success.
A year ago,the Chinese online sector was in the doldrums,battered by global hi-tech gloom and the sluggish development of the once-promising domestic market.
But a revival in investor sentiment-not apparently based on any fundamental upturn-has been their shares power back to record highs this year.
Sohu shares have risen by 450% this year,and 25-fold from a year ago,and the market now values the firm at 1.2bn.
Keen to capitalise on its strong results,Sohu announced plans to raise 65 m via a bond issue.
2.第三章第二节分析语料
A. 三篇新闻报道语料
(1)The Mirror,May 24,2003,Saturday. “Travel bans lifted as SARS cases fall”by Stephen White.
TRAVEL BANS LIFTED AS SARS CASES FALL
HOPES that the Sars epidemic is ending rose yesterday as the World Health Organisation withdrew warnings on travelling to Hong Kong and parts of China.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome has killed nearly 700 people worldwide,but the WHO said cases in Hong Kong had now dropped enough to scrap the alert.
It did the same for China"s Guangdong province,where the disease is believed to have started.
As the WHO eased restrictions,three more Sars deaths and 20 new infections were reported in China,with 55 more cases Taiwan.
There were also four possible new outbreaks in Toronto. The Canadian death toll is 24. The illness,fatal in about 15 percent of cases,is caused by a virus and has no standard treatment.
Drug manufacturer Roche said that Sars did not pose the same threat as Aids:"It is less contagious and the mortality rate is low."
Meanwhile,the Suffolk Accident Rescue Service has been causing a stir because its cars are painted with the words "Sars doctor".
(2)The Mirror,January 11,2003,Saturday. “SARS kills 9/11 survivor”by Hazel Parry.
SARS KILLS 9/11 SURVIVOR
A LAWYER who cheated death in the September 11 terror attacks and took his family to start a new life in Hong Kong has died of SARS.
Frankie Chu,41,was due at a meeting in the World Trade Center when the hijacked planes slammed into the towers,but missed his train.
He left New York two weeks after the atrocity,telling his wife:"Life"s too short. Surviving this means I"ve something more to do with my life."
He returned to his native Hong Kong to fulfil a dream of introducing new learning methods.