Группа Learning Engllish. Транскрипт: http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/webcast/scripts/insight/tae_insight_11_04bs_081002.pdf
Clip Anti-globalisation protest (actuality) Gary: “Anti-globalisation” protestors take to the streets to make their feelings known. Clip News story Gary: “Globalisation” is a buzzword in our news bulletins, though according to some commentators, it’s by no means a new phenomenon. Mark Gregory is the BBC World Service Business Correspondent. I’ve been speaking to him about globalisation, and I asked him first for his definition of the term. Clip Mark Gregory, BBC World Service Business Correspondent Well, “globalisation” has become a kind of catch-all phrase that’s used to describe a process of seemingly ever-greater economic integration – a process in which economic events in one place pretty soon have huge implications almost everywhere else. So there’s lots of different aspects to it. From the consumers’ point of view, increasingly people think in terms of global brands: NIKE sells its “Sneakers” throughout the world, Coca-cola is bought in many different countries of the world. That’s one aspect of it. Then, of course, there’s the sort of… the economists are focused on things like the enormously increased volumes of international trade. And many commentators associate that with this nebulous process of globalisation. And then, of course, there’s just the increasing pace of technological change – the fact that using modern communications via the internet you have instant communications everywhere; and, of course, using jet travel, you can travel from one place to another all over the world. So, increasingly, what happens in one place seems to affect almost everywhere else … and that’s what’s clubbed together as “globalisation”. Gary: Technological developments have made communication and travel much easier, so that the world seems to be a smaller place. This has resulted, for example, in greater international trade and foreign investment, both of which are signs, or manifestations of what the experts call “globalisation”. There are also cultural aspects of the globalisation process – such as the increasing use of English and the appearance of similar (often American) products in different parts of the world. Mark Gregory again. Clip Mark Gregory, BBC World Service Business Correspondent The manifestations include global companies, the names that everybody’s heard of: Sony, Microsoft, IBM. And also the fact that you’ve got common brands that are on sale in many different parts of the world. You’ve got global financial institutions: the IMF, the World Bank and so forth. You have global financial markets. Gary: So if we look at all those things which you’re lumping together and calling “globalisation”, can we start to unpick, perhaps, the reasons, the causes, for those things happening? Mark: Well, it’s partly technology… the fact that transport is so much quicker than it used to be, the fact that we have the internet, that kind of thing. There’s also the growth of global financial institutions – the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the growth of global financial markets, the growth of global companies – huge, enormous companies. So, increasingly, it makes sense to talk in terms of… well, it’s ridiculous to say that everything is “globalised”, but that the boundaries, the economic barriers between countries have broken down. And so … many companies and much of the economy works on a … has a global perspective. Gary: So, we’re saying that technology is one of the reasons behind globalisation. What about trade agreements, what role have they played? Mark: Well, a lot of people have placed enormous emphasis on the move towards the liberalisation of trade. ...