Passage1 Earlierthisyear,whenAmericafirstsneezed,theEuropeanCentralBank(alongwithmostprivate-sectoreconomists)arguedthattheeuroareawasinsulatedfromAmerica'sslowdownandhadlittletoworryabout.Thisseemstohavewrong.InGermanytherearefearsaboutrecessionasbusinessinvestmentandretailsalestumble.RecentfiguresconfirmedthatGermany’sGDPstagnatedinthesecondquarter.Italy'sGDPfellinthesecondquarter,andalthoughgrowthhasheldupbetterinFranceandSpain,thegrowthintheeuroareaasawholewasclosetozerointhequarter.Nobodyisforecastinganactualrecessionintheeuroareathisyear,butitisnolongerexpectedtoprovideanengineforworldgrowth. AsforJapan,itisprobablyalreadyinrecession.Japan'sGDPgrewslightlyinthefirstquarter.Persistentdeflationcontinuestobeasevereproblem.ArevisedmeasureofJapan’sconsumer-priceindex,tobepublishedsoon,islikelytoshowthatdeflationisworsethanhadbeenthought. Whatdoesthe1stsentencemean?
A.Earlier this year, America suffered from a cold. B.The European Central Bank believed it wouldn't be affected by US. C.The European Central Bank had little to worry about. D.The euro area was safe and sound.正确答案B
