GDP年成長2.98％
Taiwan unexpectedly became Asia’s fastest-growing economy last year, and outperformed China for the first time in 30 years, due to strong global demand for the island’s tech exports which have eased the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
台灣去年出乎意料成為亞洲成長最快的經濟體，30年來首次超越中國，原因是全球對台灣科技出口產品強勁的需求緩和了新冠肺炎疫情的衝擊。
unexpectedly(adv.)意想不到地，出乎意料地fast-growing(adj.)快速成長的outperform(v.)做得比……更好;勝過ease(v.)降低;減少
Taiwan’s gross domestic product grew 2.98% in 2020, compared with China’s 2.3% rise. The island’s impressive pace comes as the global economy was battered by the coronavirus pandemic.
2020年台灣GDP成長2.98％，而中國則成長了2.3％。在全球經濟受到新冠肺炎疫情衝擊之際，台灣的成長速度令人讚嘆。
gross domestic product 國內生產毛額(GDP)batter(v.)(用拳頭或重物)多次重擊、連續猛打、打擊
“2020 has been a record year for Taiwan, and we expect the star to continue shining,” Angela Hsieh, an economist at Barclays, wrote in a report. An uptick in global electronics demand — particularly of semiconductors — helped Taiwan to “easily offset” any drags from the pandemic, said Hsieh.
巴克萊銀行經濟學家謝涵涵在報告中寫道：「2020年是台灣創紀錄的一年，我們預期這顆星星將繼續閃耀。」謝涵涵表示，全球電子產品需求的成長——尤其是半導體需求——有助於台灣「輕易抵消」疫情帶來的拖累。
uptick(n.)增加offset(v.)抵消;彌補drag(v.)拖;拉(n.)累贅;拖累
Taiwan has successfully controlled the Covid-19 pandemic and avoided a lockdown. The island appears to have survived the crisis relatively unscathed. It managed to keep its labor force working and its economy running.
台灣成功控制疫情，避免封城，似乎全身而退度過了這場危機，同時設法保持勞動力工作和經濟正常運作。
lockdown(n.)封鎖、封城unscathed(adj.)毫髮無傷的;無恙的manage to RV
Besides a successful pandemic response, a key driver of Taiwan’s economic growth is its semiconductor industry. Demand for chips has gone through the roof globally as Covid-19 lockdown measures forced users to switch to working and playing at home, triggering an uptick in sales of consumer electronics, such as smartphones, tablets and computers.
除了處置疫情得當外，台灣經濟成長的關鍵驅動力是半導體產業。因為新冠肺炎封城措施迫使用戶轉而在家工作、玩線上遊戲，全球晶片需求飆升，帶動智慧手機、平板電腦和電腦等消費電子產品的業績上升。
driver(n.)(電腦的)驅動程式、驅動力go through the roof大幅增加、火冒三丈;暴跳如雷trigger(n.)(槍的)扳機(v.)引發...
More recently, a global shortage of semiconductors has led several automakers, including American carmaker Ford Motor Company and Japan’s Nissan Motor Corporation, to put production on hold at some of their plants.
最近，全球半導體供應短缺，已經使得美國福特汽車和日本日產汽車等車廠暫停部分工廠的生產。
shortage(n.)短缺put sth. on hold 暫停，暫緩
Economists at research firm TS Lombard estimated that Taiwan and South Korea account for 83% of global processor chip production and 70% of memory chip output, which means the two East Asian economies dominate the chip manufacturing industry.
研究公司TS Lombard的經濟學家估計，台灣和南韓占全球處理器晶片生產83％，記憶晶片產量70％，這表示說這兩個東亞經濟體主導了晶片製造業。
estimate(v.)估計;估算account for 佔～比重output產量dominate(v.)控制;支配;主導