[by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.16]As 2015 comes to a close, [00:03.36]here are some of the top business stories of the year: [00:06.96]The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) created the world's largest free-trade zone [00:12.32]among 12 nations around the Pacific. [00:15.88]Together, they account for $28.5 trillion [00:20.84]in combined gross domestic product, [00:23.44]or 40 percent of the world's economic output. [00:29.12]The TPP spans four continents and 800 million people. [00:34.72]The agreement aims to strengthen economic ties, [00:39.08]cut tariffs and foster trade among the member countries. [00:44.80]The 12 nations involved are the U.S., Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam, [00:53.36]Singapore, Brunei, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Mexico, Chile and Peru. [01:03.96]The TPP is a counterweight to China's growing economic power globally. [01:11.32]This year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) [01:14.84]selected China's yuan to be in the group of top global currencies. [01:20.68]Experts said this showed a declining role for Europe in global financial markets, [01:28.00]and an increasing role for China. [01:31.20]It is the world's second-largest economy. [01:35.24]China had an economic slowdown in the third quarter, [01:39.24]but analysts disagreed over its scope. [01:43.44]There is a lack of transparency in the economic data [01:47.36]that China provides to the rest of the world. [01:51.92]China also set up the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). [01:57.44]It is an international development bank [02:00.28]with 57 countries participating. [02:03.96]China will use the new bank to expand its global influence in Asia [02:09.88]and compete with the World Bank in Washington, D.C. [02:14.44]The huge bailout of the Greek economy was another big story this year. [02:21.04]The International Monetary Fund (IMF), the European Commission (EC) [02:25.52]and the European Central Bank (ECB) issued $97.6 billion [02:31.04]to avoid a Greek bankruptcy. [02:34.60]It was feared that if Greece failed to pay its debt [02:38.36]and left the Eurozone, it would cause a global financial crisis. [02:44.60]In exchange for the bailout, the lenders demanded major economic reforms from Greece. [02:51.72]Despite these measures, the Greek economy has shrunk by a quarter in five years, [02:58.40]and unemployment is above 25 percent. [03:02.84]Volkswagen, Europe's largest automaker, was hit by scandal. [03:08.40]The German automaker admitted to lying about carbon dioxide emissions from its cars. [03:15.64]VW installed software that fooled regulators into thinking the cars [03:22.00]emitted less pollution than they did. [03:25.80]The cars gave off up to nine times more pollution [03:29.76]than the amount allowed by the U.S. government. [03:33.56]In September, Volkswagen admitted that up to 11 million cars globally [03:39.56]could have the misleading devices. [03:42.44]Bringing all these vehicles into compliance [03:45.64]with pollution regulations will be one of the most complex [03:50.56]and costly fixes in automotive history. [03:55.40]Lastly, in the face of an improving economy, [03:59.36]the U.S. Federal Reserve raised the key interest rate [04:03.56]for the first time in seven years. [04:06.88]The rate increase was just ? of a point. [04:11.48]During the financial crisis of 2007 and 2008, [04:16.36]the Federal Reserve cut the key interest rate to almost zero for the past seven years. [04:23.52]This was done to flood the economy with cheap money and boost hiring. [04:29.36]Since the start of the Great Recession, [04:32.24]unemployment has fallen from 10 percent to 5 percent. [04:36.96]And those are some of the top business and economic stories from 2015. [04:42.76]I'm Mary Gotschall. [04:44.68]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM