I: Mr Green, thank you very much for your time.
G: Thank you.
Answers
Economic indicator ↑/↓
Reason
Inflation
↑
Wages have gone up
Interest rates
↑
To control inflation
I: Finally, what about investment?
G: We think that investment will increase next year. Companies have to put more money into computer systems and into making their factories more modern.
Green: Well, I predict that inflation will rise slightly, by about 4%. Wages have gone up this year, and this usually means prices rise, too.
I: OK, and what about interest rates?
have all the information stores need.
3
M: I’m certain information will be the most important commodity of the future. If you don’t believe me, just look how popular the Internet has become in the past few years!
1
W: Do you think cash will become unnecessary in the next century?
M: Oh, I’m sure it will. People will use credit cards or other forms of plastic money, so no one will need cash as well.
I: That’s too bad- no new car for me next year! Now what about production?
G: Well, this is all part of the cycle: wages go up, inflation goes up, interest rates go up, so production usually falls. And, of course, with rising inflation, we won’t buy as much ourselves, either! We predict that production will fall next year by about 5% because our currency will be stronger. This means that fewer people abroad will buy our goods because they are too expensive. Exports will fall, so we will not need to produce as much.
解 Smart card 智能卡 Service industry 服务业 Electronic immigrant 电子移民
Answers
1 service industries 2 electronic immigrants 3 cash 4 smart cards 5 information
Interviewer: Today we have Bob Green, an economics expert, in the studio with us. Bob, could you tell us something about the economic forecasts for next year? For example, what will happen to inflation?
2 W: I expect smart cards will replace all the
cards we have at present. M: Really? Why do you think that? W: Well, all you will need is one card- it’ll
I: Falling production, falling exports- that all sounds rather bad! What about imports then?
G: Well, we predict that these will rise by 7%. People might not have so much money to spend, but what they do buy will probably be electronic goods, and we will import more of these to meet demand.
Answers:
1 will rise 2 will increase 3 didn’t rise 4 will go up 5 will go down 6 will fall
C. Listening
New words:
Economics n. 经济学 Economics expert 经济专家 Indicator ['ɪndɪkeɪtə] n. 指示器；[试剂] 指示剂； Inflation [ɪn'fleɪʃ(ə)n] n. 膨胀；通货膨胀 Currency ['kʌr(ə)nsɪ]n. 货币；通货 Export [ˈekspɔːt] n. 输出,出口 Import n. 进口，进口货
Unit 18 Future trends
AIMS
1. Express prediction of future trends 2. Express degrees of certainty 3. Future time will future for forecasts and predictions 4. Degrees of certainty

electronic goods
Investment
↑
Companies will buy

computer systems and

modernize factories
18.2 Talking about the future
A. Vocabulary Illustration [ɪlə‘streɪʃ(ə)n] n. 说明；插图；例证；图
Answers
Housing costs Food prices Unemployment Wages Petrol prices
Answers
1 T 2 F 3 T 4 F 5 F
B. Language focus
Will (forecasts and predictions)
Petrol prices
increase slightly
Unemployment will rise
slowly
Wages
won’t
go up/down rapidly[‘ræpɪdlɪ] 迅速的
Food prices
decrease dramatically
Housing costs
fall
[drə‘mætɪkli] 显著地
Production
↓
Inflation up- we can’t

afford to buy things
Exports
↓
Strong currency- peord to buy our products
Imports
↑
People will buy more
I’m sure it won’t happen.
Answers
1 I’m sure cash will… 2 I expect smart cards will… 3 I’m certain information will … 4 I don’t think many people will… 5 I expect we will…
B. Reading
New words:
Rate n. 比率；速度 Transaction [træn'zækʃ(ə)n] n. 交易；事务 microprocessor [maɪkrə(ʊ)‘prəʊsesə]n. [计] 微处理器 Memory [计] 存储器
Identification [aɪ,dentɪfɪ'keɪʃ(ə)n] n. 身份证明 commodity [kə'mɒdɪtɪ]n. 商品，货物；日用品
A. Presentation
Our prediction for next year are that unemployment will fall and wages will increase. If you want to buy a house, do it now as housing costs will rise next year. The good news is that petrol prices will decrease [dɪ'kris] vt. 减少，减小 next year, but food prices will go up.