在英美经贸报刊中，关于国际经济贸易发展和预测其发展趋势的文章占据相当大的比重。这些文章除在内容上具有涉及范围广泛的特点外，在文章的表达方式上也具有鲜明的特点。比如，有关国际经贸发展及预测其发展趋势的文章通常涉及各种指数的变化和比较，而这些指数变化的文字表达构成该类文章的一大特点。掌握这些特点，无疑对迅速而准确地理解文章的内容起到十分重要的作用。

下面我们就先来归纳一下有关经济贸易发展方面常用的表达方式。

描述经济贸易的发展无非是上升、下降和趋势平稳三种情况，再加上各种指数之间的比较以及表达"约估"这个概念，来看以下的归纳总结：

一、有关经济贸易发展方面常用的表达方式：

1. 上升情况

例：Also, fourth-quarter consumer spending appears to be perking up. After strong 0.8% advance in September, October retail sales rose 0.2%. The gain was modest, but excluding car dealers, sales increased a strong 0.4%.
此外，第四季度消费者消费额趋于上扬。零售指数在九月份以0.8％的比例强劲增长后，十月份又上涨了0.2％。利润虽然不多，但除汽车销售外，销售额有0.4％的大幅增长。

例：Consumer outlays surged 1% in May, followed by a 0.4% advance in July.
消费者的消费额5月份上升1％，6月份上升0.4％。

常用于描述上升趋势的短语有：

an increase / to increase

a rise / to rise

a gain / to gain

an upward movement / to go up

a jump / to jump

a peak / to (hit) reach a peak / to peak

a growth / to grow

a hike / to hike

a leap / to leap

a soaring / to soar

a surge in/ to surge

2. 下降情况

例：The Nation's purchasers said industrial activity declined in August, and the government composite index of leading indicators fell 0.2% in July.
全国的购买商称：八月份的工业生产下降，政府主要指标的综合指数七月份下降了0.2％。

例：The unemployment rate dipped from 5.7% in July back to 5.6% - its June reading - but the non-farm workweek was cut, and hourly wage fell.
失业率从七月份的5.7％下降至六月份的5.6％，但非农业企业的周工作时间缩短，时工资降低。

常用于表示下降趋势的短语有：

a dip / to dip to

a decline / to decline

a drop / to drop

a decrease / to decrease

a collapse / to collapse

a cut / to cut

a downward movement in / go down

a fall off / to fall off

a leveling off / to level off

a low point / to reach a low point

a slip in / to slip off

a slump in / to slump

a slide / to slide

3. 趋势平稳

例：After falling sharply in the previous two years, the unemployment rate has hardly moved since April. August unemployment stood at 8.2% and the annual pace of weekly earnings slowed to 3.25%.
失业率在过去两年急剧下降的情况下，四月份以来几乎没有变化。八月份的失业率保持在8.2％，而年均周收入增长速度七月份降至3.25％。

例：The economic expansion will most likely continue at a modest pace, turning into one of the longest ever in peacetime. But growth could slow to a crawl.
经济增长很可能以较小的幅度(适度)增长，成为和平时期以来持续最长的一次经济增长。但此增长速度可能会变得如爬行一般。

例：Measured against the currencies of the major industrial countries, the dollar is likely to hover about where it is for several calendar quarters at least.
用主要工业国家的度量衡量，至少在以后的几个季度里，美元汇率可能在目前水平上徘徊。

二、西方经贸报刊中常使用的比较手法

1. 一般比较

例：Foreign trade, however, remains at a negative. The July trade deficit widened further to $11.56billion, from $$11.3billion in June. Imports fell 1.7%, but exports dropped 2.3%. The trade gap began the third quarter wider than its second-quarter reading.
外贸处于负增长。七月份的贸易赤字继续扩大，由六月份的113亿美元上升至115亿美元。进口额下降了1.7％，但是出口也跌落了2.3％。第三季度贸易逆差比第二季度增大。

例：But if the budget cuts look credible - and if the economy is no peppier than it is now - look for lower rates by year end.
但如果预算削减成为可能--如果经济状况与现在相比没有转机--年底可望利率下调。

2. 对比与变化程度的表达

例：Japan's exports of steel grew 1.4-fold, making it the largest exporter by a considerable margin.
日本的钢出口量增加1.4倍，使其一跃成为远远超过其他国家的最大钢出口国。

常用于描写经济贸易情况变化程度的词汇有：
big change / small change / marked(ly) / fractional(ly) / great(ly) / marginal(ly) / considerable(ly) / slight(ly)

fast change / slow change ; quick(ly) / gradual(ly) ; sudden(ly) / slow(ly) ; rapid(ly) / gentl(e)(ly)

三、西方经贸报刊中有关"约估"概念的表达方式

例：Kengan stocks have risen nearly 135%, Chanian stocks are up about 70%.
Kengan股市上涨近135％，而Chanian股市上升约70％。

例：The State Bank of India (SBI) is the country's largest commercial bank controlling around 25% of the total banking business.
印度国家银行为印度最大的商业银行，控制全国近25％的银行业务。

例：The company now spends approximately $1 billion to design a microprocessor and then pours $1 billion into each plant that builds it.
该公司现投资近10亿美元设计一种微型处理器，然后再向每一家生产该产品的厂家投入10亿美元。

描写经济发展趋势时常用的"约估"词汇有：

表示远远高于：far (over) above

表示略高于：just over, just above

表示左右：around, about, approximately, more or less

表示略低(高)：almost, nearly, just under, just above

来源：竞学网