Text

If the U.S. had achieved balanced trade in this period, as was predicted by the advocates of NAFTA and the WTO, U.S. manufacturing would be much stronger today and in a much better position to weather the downturn that is now under way. But the fact that 25 steel-producing companies, now including Bethlehem Steel6, have declared bankruptcy reveals that rapidly growing trade deficits have had corrosive effects on the U.S. industrial base. Rather than putting new trade deals on a fast track, policy makers should step back for a strategic pause, during which they can review the structure, enforcement, and effectiveness of U.S. trade policies.

The main idea of the paragraph

Given the fact that the creation of NAFTA and the WTO did not balance the U.S. trade, one should stop to evaluate the U.S. trade policies, rather than pushing for new trade deals.

鉴于签订北美自由贸易协定和建立世界贸易组织并没有平衡美国的贸易这一事实，人们应该停下来评估一下美国的贸易政策，而不是推进新的贸易协定的谈判。

句子分析

1、If the U.S. had achieved balanced trade in this period, as was predicted by the advocates of NAFTA and the WTO, U.S. manufacturing would be much stronger today and in a much better position to weather the downturn that is now under way.

　　在此句中：

　　1）“U.S. manufacturing would … the downturn”是主句；

　　2）“If the U.S. had achieved … NAFTA and the WTO”是条件状语从句，其中“as was predicted by the advocates of NAFTA and the WTO”是非限制性的定语从句，对“the U.S. had achieved balanced trade in this period”这个句子所陈述的内容进行说明；

　　3）主句“U.S. manufacturing would … the downturn”和“If the U.S. had achieved … NAFTA and the WTO”条件状语从句一起，构成一个虚拟结构，if-从句提出虚拟的假设，主句表示虚拟的结果；

　　4）另外，“that is now under way”是个限制性的定语从句，修饰名词“downturn”。

2 But the fact that 25 steel-producing companies, now including Bethlehem Steel, have declared bankruptcy reveals that rapidly growing trade deficits have had corrosive effects on the U.S. industrial base.

　　在此句中：

　　1）“But the fact reveals”是主句；

　　2）“that 25 steel-producing companies, now including Bethlehem Steel, have declared bankruptcy”是同位语从句，说明“fact”的内容；

　　3）“that rapidly growing trade deficits have had corrosive effects on the U.S. industrial base”是宾语从句，作动词“reveals”的宾语。

• Briefing
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• 6
• 7
• 8
• 9
• 10
• 11
• 12
• 13
• 14
• 15
• 16
• 17
• 18
• 19
• 20
• 21
• Summary