Hong Kong (n.香港) remains the freest (adj.最自由的) economy in the world for the 17th straight (adj.連續的) year but Singapore (n.新加坡) is hot on its heels (adj.步步逼近), the Heritage (n.傳統) Foundation (n.基金會) said.
      The Economic Freedom Index (n.指數), released (v.發表) yesterday by the conservative (adj.保守派的) think tank (n.智庫) and Wall Street (n.華爾街) Journal (n.日報), ranks (v.排名) 183 countries and places on 10 measures (n.標準) for openness (n.開放), rule of law (n.法治) and competitiveness (n.競爭力).
      While Hong Kong's score is unchanged at 89.7 out of 100, Singapore gained 1.1 points to 87.2.
      "There is a possibility Singapore may overtake (v.超越) Hong Kong in the near future as the state (n.國家) has more room for improvement in banking," said Terry Miller, the US foundation's index editor (n.主編、總編輯), adding Hong Kong's major drawback (n.缺點) is an oversized (adj.過大的) fiscal (adj.財政的) surplus (n.盈余).
      "There's no reason the government should have a surplus more than the monetary (adj.貨幣的) base (n.基數)," said Hugo Restall (n.芮育光), editorial (n.社論) page editor for Wall Street Journal Asia (n.亞洲).
      The mainland (n.內地) came in as "mostly unfree" at 135 and a score that is lower than averages for the world and Asia.
      (The Standard, January 13)

      傳統基金會公布，香港成為十七連冠，依然是世界上最自由的經濟體系，但新加坡正步步逼近。
      該保守派智庫與《華爾街日報》昨日發表“經濟自由度指數”，就開放程度、法治、競爭力等十個標準，把一百八十三個國家或地區排名。
      滿分為一百分，而香港的得分不變，維持在八十九點七；新加坡則上升了一點一分，達到八十七點二。
      該美國基金會的指數主編Terry Miller說：“新加坡在銀行業有更大改善空間，因此可能不久便會超越香港。”他並指出，香港的最大缺點是財政盈余過多。
      《亞洲華爾街日報》社論版總編輯芮育光說：“政府的盈余比貨幣基數還要多，這是沒有理由的。”
      內地排名一百三十五，列為“不太自由”，得分低於全球和亞洲的平均數。
      （《英文虎報》，一月十三日）

      閱讀指引
      1. lead (n)　/li:d/，LEE-d　領先、優勢
      解讀：作動詞的lead可指領先、帶領，作名詞時的意思相若；標題的動詞slip(s)本指滑倒、滑落，引申指下降、變差；lead slips的意思是優勢收窄；在比賽中大大領先，可叫build up / have / establish a big / clear / good / strong / comfortable / commanding lead。
      2. think tank (n)　/'?畷?笈?痯k t?紓?痯k/，THINK-tank　智庫、智囊團
      解讀：think tank中的think是動詞，解作思考、思想，tank是名詞，泛指貯存東西的容器；think tank本指人的腦袋，例如︰My think tank may not be working properly when I am 100（我一百歲時，腦袋未必可正常運作）；後指一群專家組成的智庫，以前多叫智囊（團）。
      3. fiscal (adj)　/'f?笈sk?瑆l/，FISS-koll　財政的、國庫的
      解讀：有幾個形容詞的意思都與財政、經濟有關，例如economic、financial、fiscal、monetary等，其中fiscal與國庫有關，monetary與貨幣有關，financial多指金融，而economic則含義最廣。