英语论文范文经济

在全球化时代,随着国际交流日益增多,中国对高质量英语人才的要求也达到了前所未有的高度。英语教学在中国高等 教育 体系中占据着举足轻重的地位,也肩负着社会培养高质量人才的重任。下文是我为大家搜集整理的关于 毕业 英语论文 范文 大全的内容，欢迎大家阅读参考!毕业英语论文范文大全篇1 浅谈老水手的心理历程——《苦舟子咏》 读后感 [摘要]：《苦舟子咏》是英国19世纪湖畔派诗人柯勒律治的一首长诗。全诗是一个充满了奇幻之美的的航海 故事 。全诗探索人生的罪与罚问题，诗人把热爱宇宙的万物泛神论思想和____思想结合起来，宣传仁爱和基督____罪思想。诗中的水手的心理活动刻画得细致入微，水手杀掉信天翁表示他拒绝社会给他的礼物，他除掉了深爱自己并代表超自然的事物，也就除掉了对这个世界的感情，最后水手内心发生转变，以新的态度对待自然，为此他才得以解脱出来。 [关键词]：老水手;道德;内疚;痛苦;赎罪 Abstract: “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” is one of Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s masterpieces. It is a long poem, telling a story in the form of ballads .The poem can be approached as a dream voyage to another realm, as a story of sin and expatiation, or as the quiet essential representation of the alienated isolated modern individual. 一、作者简介 塞缪尔·泰勒·柯尔律治(Samuel Taylor Coleridge)1772年10月21日生于英格兰西南部德文郡一个乡镇牧师的家庭。9岁丧父，被送往伦敦基督慈幼学校上学，熟读希腊、罗马文学。19岁入剑桥大学，与骚塞相识。当时两人都同情法国革命，但又都害怕革命暴力，于是设想去美洲建立乌托邦社会。计划失败后柯尔律治移居英格兰部西部湖区，致力于写诗，并与华兹华斯结成密友。他憎恶资本主义城市文明和冷酷的金钱关系，于是远离城市，隐居于昆布兰湖区，寄情山水或缅怀中世纪的宗法社会。他们创作出歌颂大自然的或美化宗法制农村生活方式的诗篇，以抵制丑恶的资本主义现实。因此被称为“湖畔派诗人”。1798年，两人合作出版著名的《抒情歌谣集》。同年他与华兹华斯兄妹到德国 留学 ，被康德的哲学和耶拿派的诗歌理论和创作所吸引。回国后继续居住于湖区，与华兹华斯保持往来。柯尔律治年青时代即患有风湿痛等多种疾病。为求镇痛他长期服食鸦片竟至上瘾，故健康大受损害。晚年他贫病交加，1834年7月25日逝世于海格特。柯尔律治的作品以真的细节描绘超自然的神秘事物，令人甘愿暂时不去考虑普通情理而信以为真，并在领略到一种怪异的美的同时获得教益或良知的觉醒。柯尔律治的创作实践和理论建设，不仅影响过他的同时代人，也影响了包括和他政治态度相左的拜伦、雪莱和济慈，而且，对于时至今日的诗歌艺术探索者，仍具有重要的借鉴价值。他在英国文学史上有重要地位，是浪漫主义思潮的重要代表。 二、《苦舟子咏》简介 《苦舟子咏》是柯尔律治唯一一部完整的长诗。这部长625行的叙事谣曲是一个神秘恐怖的浪漫故事：一名老水手对一个赴结婚宴的客人讲述了他自己的可怕的故事。客人想走开，赶快去赴宴，却为老水手眼中的特殊表情所吸引住，不得不站在那里把这个故事听完了。老水手和同伴们坐了一艘船出海去。一路上很平安。然后遇到了一阵暴风，暴风过后，这位水手却无端地射杀一只了航海者认为好运象征的信天翁。因此，厄运又降临了。船驶进静海中，那里没有风也没有浪;太阳如火如荼地照耀着。海水绿绿地满载着腐物。船停在那里不动，老水手被视为这次厄运的造因者。水手们都渴得要死去，仿佛有一只船要驶进救他们却又消失不见了。那是一只幻船，水手们一个个都死在甲板上，每个死者的眼光都注定在这位杀死信天翁的水手身上。全船的人，只有他没有死。后来，他对于自所做的恶罪觉得悔恨。于是天使们可怜他的悲苦，使死尸们站了起来，仍去做水手们的职务。他们开上了帆。虽然没有风，船却渐渐地移动。于是，这船一直驶到了老水手的故乡。一个领航者离了海岸，出来迎接。但在他到这船之前，它却突然地沉下了，留下了这位老水手在海波中与死神挣扎着。他被领航者所救。后来，他一想起那时受的言之不尽的痛苦，便不能忍。他的心在体内烧着，一直到了把这可怕的故事说了出来，方才觉得舒服。 三、分析老水手的心理历程 “自由、平等、博爱”是资产阶级道德重要规范。“自由、平等、博爱”的 口号 是资产阶级革命时期提出来的。它既是资产阶级的政治主张，又是资产阶级道德的重要内容。这一口号的提出不仅在政治上曾经起过推动历史进步的作用，而且在人类道德发展史上也是一个巨大的进步，因为它否定了人身依附关系，肯定了人身自由;否定了等级特权，肯定了人的平等;否定了把人不当人的非人道主义的博爱思想。一句话，肯定了人的尊严、价值以及个人对幸福的追求。所以，它对个性的张扬和自我意识的发展，对人们挣脱禁欲主义、蒙昧主义、等级主义的枷锁都起到了巨大的革命作用。 西方____的万物泛神论主张神无处不在，万物都是神的表象。这种主张认为：上帝就等于万事万物;任何个别事物就是上帝;世上的事物实际上都是虚无的。 在这两种思想的支配下，作者把信天翁认为是基督____徒。老水手无端地射死了信天翁，表示他拒绝社会给他的礼物，他除掉了深爱自己并代表超自然的事物，也就除掉了对这个世界的感情。老水手违反上天的指意，违反自然规律，射死了无辜的信天翁，必然要受到惩罚。于是，灾难来了：风停了，船无法前进，阳光酷热，水手们口干舌燥。这时候，有人指责老水手——“你怎敢放肆，将神鸟射死!是它引来了南风。”此时，老水手开始意识到自己行为的错误。于是，他开始不断地感到内疚。心理学认为，在道德情感系统中，羞耻感是其中的一个元素。毕达哥拉斯要求人们对自己言行进行反省以后，就应该在内心里对卑劣的行为感到羞耻、悲哀和恐惧;对善良行为感到欣喜。沙莆慈伯利认为，道德上的善恶主要取决于感情系统中的羞耻感。他说：“凡出自不公正的情感所作的，就是不义恶行和过失;如果情感公正、健全、良好，并且情感的内容有益于社会，而且还是以有益于社会方式施行，或有所感动，这就必定在任何行动中构成我们所说的公平和正直。”不义、恶行和过失将引起人们的羞耻感。羞耻感是个人的自我道德意识的一种表现，表示一个人对自己的行为、动机和道德品质的谴责时的内心体验。良心是羞耻感的的主要作用机制，常表现出焦虑、羞愧和内疚等情绪。道德焦虑是一种复合情绪。其中，痛苦和畏惧是主要构成“因子”。但它仅以避免外在处罚为目的，是低级形式的羞耻感，可又是羞耻感发生的基础。那么，羞耻感的真正作用是什么?是内疚，只有内疚才是高度的主体意识的产物，它激活潜在的思维和力量，专注与对过失的懊悔和追悔的行为，促进个体的心理成熟。如果个体内疚匮乏，那他将对道德不屑一顾，达不到“有羞知格”的认识。同时，羞耻感要以自尊为前提，一个没有自尊的人是不会知耻的，更不会自责。自尊体现了对自我社会话的切近，没有自尊的防卫，就不可能有自责的意识和行为的发生。老水手对自己的不道德行为知耻，惭愧和悔恨。老水手真是由于良心发现才深感自己行为的错误，于是惶惶终日，不断自责自己。 事态进一步发展，在他忏悔和祈祷下挂在脖子下的鸟掉下来了，但是同行的水手都因为缺水而一个个地死去，只有老水手一个人活着。这似乎是上帝对他的又一个惩罚。他一方面觉得自己的罪行深重，导致了其他水手的死亡——痛苦;另一方面在茫茫大海中，一条船上就他孤零零的一个人——恐惧。于是他的内心又经历了一场痛苦与恐惧的考验。良心是每个人自身内部的道德评析，是自己对自己行为道德价值的认识、认知、判断、态度、感情、体验、意向、意志、动机等一切心理反应活动。老水手不断对自己惊醒良心谴责。良心的基本因素是感情，感情是对需要的体验，是心理的动力因素。它一方面产生良心的认知因素，推动自己去判断自己行为的道德价值;另一方面则产生良心意志因素，推动自己做出改过迁善的选择。在行为过后，良心对行为的后果有影响和评价作用。对于履行了道德义务并产生了好后果的影响和行为，它便于进行自我谴责，使人感到内疚、惭愧和悔恨。这种自我谴责，往往能形成一种力量，促使人们改正自己的行为。 后来，老水手虔诚地祈求海蛇破开魔法，他才获救得以回家。人非圣贤，孰能无过?人生在生活中不免发生道德过失。道德反省就是通过对道德过失的追悔，从而激励人们采用新的道德行为去补救已经酿成的道德不幸，并且通过对道德过失的觉醒为将要开始的道德行为提供罗盘。道德反省的实质在于主体对自己已作的道德选择进行批判性的分析，是在主体已经体验到自己的道德行为存在着过失的情况下，从而进行的对自己内心的深刻 反思 。通过反思，要为今后的行为提供新的路线和方案，明白来者可追，逝者可补。在今后的行动过程中，要用千倍的补偿替代原有的损失;通过反思，主体对自我发展和自我需要与社会道德的系统会领悟得更加深刻。 故事的最后，老水手回到了家。于是出现了开篇的那一幕：他极力拉住去赴婚宴的人，让他们听他讲这个离奇的故事——他想寻找听众，承认自己的错误，说出自己的故事，解除内心的痛苦——赎罪。尽管老水手已经虔诚忏悔，但还是有种负罪感难以释怀，于是他渴望被人理解，宣泄出来以排除内心的痛苦。生活也是这样，当我们遇到困难、痛苦的时候，不要封闭自己，找一个忠实的听众，把自己的苦恼说给他听。这是一种释放压力的好 方法 。 总之，柯尔律治的这首诗歌以神秘、怪诞著称，其中的心理描写可谓是典范!诗歌探讨了罪与罚、善与恶，生与死等哲学问题，宣传了一切生物皆上帝听造的教义。但诗歌的真正价值并不在故事本身或它所包含的哲理上，而在以造型艺术的精确性和音乐的流动感为读者创造了一幅幅神奇的海洋画面：时而风平浪静，沉寂安宁;时而风暴骤起，一片喧嚣。在写作此诗时，柯尔律治并不熟悉大海，但他能凭借想象，使真实的情形与幻想的景象互相交织，把平凡的细节与诗意的象征融为一体，充分显示了瑰丽奇特的想象能力。在诗艺上，长诗将英国民歌的自由与古典文人诗的谨严冶于一炉，炼就出适合表达浪漫主义情绪的活泼自然的诗体，而长诗的音韵与节奏之美，也表现了诗人能让文字进行歌唱的本领。 [参考文献]： 《英美文学选读》 天津大学出版社出版 《英国文学简史》 河南人民出版社出版 《道德心理学》 中南大学出版社出版 毕业英语论文范文大全篇2 浅谈东西方数字九的 文化 对比分析与翻译 一、前言 "数是人类思维发展到一定阶段，为适应社会生产活动的需要，在符号的帮 助下产生的。"(苏金智，19 91)"数字是语言学中的一个特殊的领域。在科 学的数字世界里，它的功能是计算，秩序严谨，职司分明，是 实数;而在人类 心灵的数字世界中，它的功能是表义，许多数字经过“神化”后成为“玄数”、 “虚数”、“ 天数"。它们有着极其丰富的外延和内涵。"(王秉钦，1998) 由于受东西方文化传统、宗教信仰、语言崇拜、地理环境等方面的影响，数 字的神化存在着东西方的差异 ，但也存在着共性，有着共同的规律。在"数的 灵物崇拜"上各民族都有普通性。东方人有自己心目中的"天 数"，而西方人 也有自己心目中的"神数"。神秘数字的演化规律一般经过"神化—泛化—虚 化"的过程。( 王秉钦，1998) 东西方已有不少有关数字科学的专著和论文， 如毕达哥拉斯(phythagoras) 学派的T·丹齐克的《数 科学语言》(商务印书馆，1998)，英国人伦拉德·法 拉的《七的探源》;国内也有不少学者就数字写过著作 和论文，并开展过学术探 讨。如，王秉钦教授在其《语言与翻译新论》的中篇第六章就以"数的语义范围 比较 与翻译"为专题;苏金智曾写过《数的灵物崇拜》(载〈语言、社会、文化》 440页， 语文出版社，1991，1) 等。在1998 年南昌大学主办的"中国英汉语 比较研究会第二届年会暨第三次学术研讨会"上，英汉文化对比专 业委员会会 员曾就中南工业大学外语学院吴玲英老师的《中西文学中"以三为法”的文化模 式》展开了激烈的 讨论。本人认为东方人，尤其是中国人，自己心目中的天数 是"九"而不是"三"，也并非完全是因为"九" 是"三"的倍数。 二、东西方数字"九"的文化对比分析 在我国，人们之所以把"九"看成是自己心目中的"天数"和最富有神奇色 彩的数字， 是因为"九" 这个数字的象征意义(symbolicmeaning)，在我国可 以说历时最久，涉及面也最广。 "九"作为数不同于一 般数字，在中国古代被 认为是一种神秘的数字，它起初是龙形(或蛇形)图腾化之文字，继而演化出"神 圣" 之意，于是中国古代历代帝王为了表示自己神圣的权力为天赐神赋，便竭 力把自己同“九”联系在一起。如天 分九层，极言其高，天证/诞日为正月初 九，天子祭天一年九次。更有趣的是连皇宫建筑都与"九"有关。例 如，北京 城有九门，天安门城楼面阔九问，门上饰有九路钉(即每扇门的门钉纵横各九排)。 汉语词汇中也常 用"九"来形容帝王将相的称谓，如"九五之尊"(imperial throne);称官位仅次于皇帝的王爷为"九千岁 "等。 根据阴阳五行与数的关系，万物之根均为数，宇宙也是数。数始于1而终于 10，五行也是数，按传统的五行 理论来划分，则1、2为木：1为阳木，2为阴 木。以3、4为火：3为阳火，4为阴火。以5、6为土：5为阳土，6为 阴土。 以7、8为金：7为阳金，8为阴金。以9、10为水：9 为阳水，10为阴水。这 就是将"象"、"数"与五行 结合起来推演变化，用以显示事物发展变化的内 在联系。由此看来，"九"是最大的阳数，象征着天。 传说 古 代中国人把天分 为九层，九层天是天的最高处，汉语中有关词汇有"九重霄"(指极高的天空， "九霄云外" ，"九天揽月"，"九天九地"等。另外，天坛，这个明清两代 祭天的场所，其建筑无处不体现着“九”的象 征意义。 民间传说中还有"九头 鸟"(nine-headed bird: a fabulous bird whose appearance was f ormerlyregarded as a bad omcn)的故事。 中国人以"九"为大数，刘师培在《古书疑义举例补》一书中写道："凡数 指其极者，皆得称之为'九' ;"《素问》中说："天地之数，始于一，终于 九。"因此，汉语中有"九九归一"或"九九归原"之说。因 从"九"为数之 极而引出人生之限，故"明九"或"暗九"均为人生之"坎"，避讳有“九”之 岁。例如：“ 老太太因明年八十一岁，是个暗九。"(《红楼梦》)。日本人一般 认为"九"是"苦命和痛苦"的象征，因 为"九"与"苦"同音，因此忌讳 "九"。然而，《外语与外语教学》曾报道过国内一位学者曾为考证这一点 ，采 用"全选法"将日本某地电话号码其中的几千个姓和名分别进行统计，结果发现 将"九"作为姓的只占极 少数(约占0.35%)，而将"九"作为名的却不少(约 占35%)。看来，日本人忌讳"九"也并非绝对。 此外，《词源》中说："九：虚指多数。""九"作虚数解时，是数的一种 语义模糊现象。《现代汉语词 典》中，"九"的意思有三个：(1)数目，八加一 后所得;(2)从 冬至 起每九天是一个"九"，从一"九" 数起，二"九"、三 "九"，一直数到九"九"为止。冬练三九，夏练三伏;(3)表示多数或多次： 九泉，三 弯九转等。因此， 汉语中有不少和"九"有关的 成语 。如："九牛一 毛"、"九死一生"、"九牛二虎之力" 、"九流宾客"等等。 在我国，数字"九"涉及面在所有数字中最广。含有数字"九"的词汇也十 分丰富。如，"九州"是指传 说中的我国上古行政区划，后用作"中国"的代 称。因此，有的全国性的电视节目就取名为“九州方圆”;“ 九族"(the nine degrees of kindred: either thenine generations from one's great-great-gr andfather down toone's great-great-grandson;or four generations of one'spatemal relations, three generations of one's matemalrelations, and two generations of noe's wife's relatio ns)，古代有一种残酷的刑法叫"诛灭九族";古代传说 "龙生九子，各有所好"。因此，《红楼梦》第九回 中用"一龙生九种，种种各 别"来比喻贾氏家族族大人多，龙蛇混杂，好坏不一，各种各样的人都有。还有 " 九龙杯"等。此外，在文娱、体育等词汇中，数字"九"也比比皆是。如， 许多歌名都以"九"开头："九妹 "、"九九艳阳天"、"九百九十九朵玫瑰" 等;乐器中也有"九音锣";在体育活动中，"九柱戏"(nine pins)，兵器中 有"九节鞭"[但这与西方文化中的"九尾鞭”(cat-o '-nine- tails: an instrurnent of punishment so calledfrom the nine pieces of leather or cord which compose it)意义不大一样]。 地名中也有一些以"九"开头的，如"九 寨沟"、"九华山"、"九江"和"九龙"等。此外，中国人常把" 九"看成 为吉祥数字之一。在申请电话号码时，人们宁愿多出 钱去买一个尾数为"8"或 "9"的吉祥号码。比 如，湖南有线电视台的"欢乐热线"号码为"16899919"。 在西方，数字"九"也是人们心目中的"神数"之一。对西方人来说， "九"的象征意义是"神性"、 "神圣之至"。 英语权威字典Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary and Webster's ThirdIntema tional Dictionary 中 对"九"所解释的意义比《现代汉语词典》所解释的意义还多，分别有： 1)one more than eight, three threes, the square of three;2) nine units of objects (a tota l of nine) ; 3) a: thenumerable quantity symbolized by the arabic numeral 9; b: thefigure 9 ; 4) nine o'clock——compared Bell table, timeillustration; 5) the ninth size in a set series: as a; aplaying team of nine members,esp.a baseball team; b:the firstor last 9 hol es of an 18-hole golf course…。 其中收入与"九"有关词语和成语多达近二十条。常用的有： a nine-day's wonder (an object or event that creates ashort-lived sensation) ____Those political expositions…that make a nine day'snine wonder till something fresh c omes alone——Mary Deasy. nine times out of ten(very often) be dressed up to the nines(elaborately dressed, as for aformal occasion) ____She dressed herself up to the nines and went to theparty. in the nineholes:in the difficult situation nine-men's morris: morris played with nine counters A cat has nine lives: A cat can move so fast and jump sowell that he seems to escape being killed many times. 从以上的解释还可以发现一个规律：数字"九"及其倍数在西方也被广泛运 用于文娱和体育活动中。如， 保龄球(bowling )中的瓶状木柱数(ninepins) 为"九"; 高尔夫球 球场有一十八个洞：跳子棋的棋板上各 方均为九个孔; 古 时英国还有一种九个男人一起跳的舞蹈(morrisdance)等。由此看来，数字"九" 也倍 受西方人的青睐。 总之，在东西方文化中，数字"九"含有以下主要共性： 1)东西方大多数人把数字"九"看成神秘的数字， 其象征意义均有"神 圣"之意。 2)在东西方文化中，数字"九"均可虚指多数。 3)数字"九"被广泛运用于文体项目中。 数字“九”在东西方文化中的个性恐怕主要在于：对中国人来说，其神奇色 彩要比西方人更浓;其象征意 义的历史在东方文化中比西方文化中更悠久;其 涉及面在东方文化中比西方文化中更广泛。 三、数字"九"的翻译问题 罗马西塞罗说过："翻译不是字当句对，而是保留语言的总风格和力 量。""按分量而不是按数量译词" 。此处所说的数字是指经过神化、泛化、 虚化了的"虚数"，"实数"的翻译不在此例。根据这一理论，结合 东西方文 化的共性与个性，可采用如下的翻译方法，并遵循以下的翻译原则。 可采取的翻译方法主要有： (一)保留原数字 e.g. We thought our cat would be killed when he fell fromthe roof of the house. He was not, he used up one of his ninelives. 我们以为我们的猫从屋顶掉下来会死了，它并没死，只失掉九条命中的一条。 这样翻译过来，人们很容易接受，因为人们已熟悉"猫有九命"这个成语， 并能够促进东西方文化的融合 。 (二)转换成各民族喜爱的数字 e.g.nine out of ten——十之八九 nine days' wonder———可翻译为"昙花一现"， 这样翻译可以加深对奈 达的"对等"和纽马克的"转 换"翻译理论的理解。 (三)增舍数字 比如，"九死一生"可翻译成"a narrow escape from death;survival after many hazards";又如 ，"九九归一，还是他说的话对。"可翻译成"All things considered,what he says is right."其译文均 舍弃了数字，转译其 形象意义。 应遵循的原则主要有： (一)民族性原则 比如，汉语中的"费了九牛二虎之力"，《汉英词典》(外研社，1996)的译 文有三个："strain onese lf to the limit; use everyounce of one's strength; make herculean efforts"。笔者认为第二种译文 "use every ounce of one's strength "更符合"民族性原则”，成功地将东方文化中该成语的比喻意义转 化成了西方文化语言中的形象意义。 (二)习语性原则 比如："匡超人此时恍若亲见瑶宫仙子，月下嫦娥，那魂灵都飘到九霄云外 去了。"(《儒林外史》)， 其译文为"Kuang felt that he was gazing at a goddess and his spirit had flown to heaven."这种译 文因遵循了"习语性原则"， 充分地体现了人类交际行为的一个最根本原则——语言——符号的经济原则。 (三)形象性原则 数字用于模糊意义时，一般都失去了其数量意义而具有形象意义。翻译时， 必须越出其理性意义而捕捉其 与 其它 的词结合后所产生的形象意义。 比如："飞流直下三千尽，疑是银河落九天(李白)。"此句诗中的"九天" 的形象意义为"极高的天空 "，因此，可翻译成"Down itcascades a sheer three thousand feet—As if the Silver River [i.e. the Milky. Way]were falling from heaven!"猜你喜欢： 1. 毕业英语论文范文 2. 英美文学毕业论文优秀范文 3. 商务英语专业毕业论文范文 4. 大学英语毕业论文范文 5. 英语专业论文范文 6. 本科英语专业论文范文

Half-way from rags to richesApr 24th 2008From The Economist print editionVietnam has made a remarkable recovery from war and penury, says Peter Collins (interviewed here). But can it change enough to join the rich world?EyevineCorrection to this articleKNEES and knuckles scraping the ground, the visitors struggle to keep up with the tour guide who is briskly leading the way through the labyrinth of claustrophobic burrows dug into the hard earth. The legendary Cu Chi tunnels, from which the Viet Cong launched waves of surprise attacks on the Americans during the Vietnam war, are now a popular tourist attraction (pictured above). Visitors from all over the world arrive daily at the site near the city that used to be called Saigon, renamed Ho Chi Minh City after the Communists took the south in 1975.Alongside the wreckage of an abandoned M41 tank another friendly guide demonstrates a dozen types of improvised booby-traps with sharp spikes that were set in and around the tunnels to maim pursuing American soldiers. The Vietnamese not only welcome the tourist dollars Cu Chi brings in, but are also rather proud of it. They feel it demonstrates their ingenuity, adaptability, perseverance and, above all, their determination to resist much stronger foreign invaders, as the country has done many times down the centuries. These days Vietnam also has plenty of other things to be proud of. In the 1980s Ho Chi Minh's successors as party leaders damaged the war-ravaged economy even more by attempting to introduce real communism, collectivising land ownership and repressing private business. This caused the country to slide to the brink of famine. The collapse soon afterwards of its cold-war sponsor, the Soviet Union, added to the country's deep isolation and cut off the flow of roubles that had kept its economy going. Neighbouring countries were inundated with desperate Vietnamese “boat people”. Since then the country has been transformed by almost two decades of rapid but equitable growth, in which Vietnam has flung open its doors to the outside world and liberalised its economy. Over the past decade annual growth has averaged 7.5%. Young, prosperous and confident Vietnamese throng downtown Ho Chi Minh City's smart Dong Khoi street with its designer shops. The quality of life is high for a country that until recently was so poor, and its larger cities have retained some of their colonial charm, though choking traffic and constant construction work are beginning to take their toll. An agricultural miracle has turned a country of 85m once barely able to feed itself into one of the world's main providers of farm produce. Vietnam has also become a big exporter of clothes, shoes and furniture, soon to be joined by microchips when Intel opens its $1 billion factory outside Ho Chi Minh City. Imports of machinery are soaring. Exports plus imports equal 160% of GDP, making the economy one of the world's most open. All this has kept government revenues buoyant despite cuts in import tariffs. The recent introduction of company taxes is also helping to fill the government's coffers. Spending on public services has surged, yet public debt, at an acceptable 43% of GDP, has remained fairly stable. Having made peace with its former foes, Vietnam hosted Presidents Bush, Putin and Hu at the Asia-Pacific summit in 2006 and joined the World Trade Organisation in 2007. This year it has one of the rotating seats on the UN Security Council. Vietnam's Communists conceded economic defeat 22 years ago, in the depths of a crisis, and brought in market-based reforms called doi moi (renewal), similar to those Deng Xiaoping had introduced in China a few years earlier. As in China, it took time for the effects to show up, but over the past few years economic liberalisation has been fostering rapid, poverty-reducing growth.The World Bank's representative in Vietnam, Ajay Chhibber, calls Vietnam a “poster child” of the benefits of market-oriented reforms. Not only does it comply with the catechism of the “Washington Consensus”—free enterprise, free trade, sensible state finances and so on—but it also ticks all the boxes for the Millennium Development Goals, the UN's anti-poverty blueprint. The proportion of households with electricity has doubled since the early 1990s, to 94%. Almost all children now attend primary school and benefit from at least basic literacy.Vietnam no longer really needs the multilateral organisations' aid. Multilateral and bilateral donors together have promised the country $5.4 billion in loans and grants this year, but with so much foreign investment pouring in, Vietnam's currency reserves increased by almost double that figure last year. At least the aid donors have learned from the mid-1990s, when excessive praise discouraged Vietnam from continuing to reform, prompting an exodus of investors. Now the tone in private meetings with officials is much franker, says a diplomat who attends them. Vietnam has become the darling of foreign investors and multinationals. Firms that draw up a “China-plus-one” strategy for new factories in case things go awry in China itself often make Vietnam the plus-one. Wage costs remain well below those in southern China and productivity is growing faster, albeit from a lower base. When the UN Conference on Trade and Development asked multinationals where they planned to invest this year and next, Vietnam, at number six, was the only South-East Asian country in the top ten. The government's programme of selling stakes in publicly owned firms and exposing them to market discipline has recently gathered pace. At the same time the switch from a command economy to free competition has allowed the Vietnamese people's entrepreneurialism to flourish. Almost every household now seems to be running a micro-business on the side, and a slew of ambitious larger firms is coming to the stockmarket. Much of the praise now being showered anew on the country is deserved. The government is well on course for its target of turning Vietnam into a middle-income country by 2010. Its longer-term aim, of becoming a modern industrial nation by 2020, does not seem unrealistic. But from now on the going may get tougher. As Mr Chhibber notes, few countries escape the “middle-income trap” as they become richer. They tend to lose their reformist zeal and see their growth fizzle. A study in 2006 by the Vietnamese Academy of Social Sciences concluded that further reductions in poverty will require higher growth rates than in the past because the remaining poor are well below the poverty line, whereas many of those who recently crossed it did not have far to go.The stench of corruptionThe Communist Party leadership openly admits that the Vietnamese public is fed up with the endemic corruption at all levels of public life, from lowly traffic policemen and clerks to the most senior people in ministries. In 2006, just before the party's five-yearly congress, the transport minister resigned and several officials were arrested over a scandal in which millions of dollars of foreign aid were gambled on the outcome of football matches. The leadership insists it is doing its best to clean up, but a lot remains to be done.Almost as bad as the corruption is the glacial speed of legislative and bureaucratic processes. Proposed laws have to pass through all sorts of hoops before taking effect, with endless rounds of consultations to build consensus. The dividing line between the Communist Party, the government and the courts is not always clear. The justice system is rudimentary. Lawyers have no formal access to past case files, so they find it hard to use precedent in legal argument.The government is part-way through a huge project to slim the bureaucracy and streamline official procedures. It recently cut the number of ministries from 28 to 22. Yet for the moment the bureaucratic logjam is stopping the country building the roads, power stations and other public works it needs to maintain its growth rate. Nguyen Tan Dung, the prime minister, says that if growth is to continue at its current rate, the country's electricity-generating capacity needs to double by 2010. That seems a tall order, to put it mildly. Soaring car-ownership is leaving the country's underdeveloped roads increasingly gridlocked. In an admirably liberal attempt to limit price distortions as oil surged above $100 a barrel, the government slashed fuel subsidies in February. But one effect will be to stoke inflation, already worryingly high at 19.4% in March. Bank lending surged by 38% last year as firms and individuals borrowed to speculate on shares and property.The government is finding it much harder to manage an economy made up of myriad private companies, banks and investors than to issue instructions to a limited number of state institutions, especially as the public sector is currently suffering a drain of talent to private firms that are able to offer much higher pay. What could go wrongAll this leaves Vietnam's continued economic development exposed to a number of risks: • Rising inflation—which is hurting low earners in particular—and a growing shortage of affordable housing could create a new urban underclass among unskilled workers who have left the land for the cities. Combined with rising resentment at official corruption and the increasing visibility of Vietnam's new rich, this could cause social friction and bring strikes and protests, chipping away at the political stability that has underpinned Vietnam's strong growth and investment.• Trade liberalisation and increased domestic competition will benefit some firms and farmers but hurt others—especially inefficient state enterprises. These could join forces and press the government to halt or even reverse the reforms.• The slumping stockmarket or perhaps a property crash could cause a big firm or bank to fail. Given the country's weak and untested bankruptcy laws and financial regulators, the authorities may find it hard to deal with that kind of calamity.• Natural disasters, from bird flu to floods, could cause chaos.• The economy could come up against the limits of its creaking infrastructure and the shortage of people with higher skills. Jammed roads, power blackouts and the inability to fill managerial and professional jobs could all bring Vietnam's growth rate crashing down.Vietnam has set itself such demanding standards that even if some combination of these factors did no more than push annual growth below 5%, it would be seen as a serious setback. The foreign minister, Pham Gia Khiem, notes that Vietnam's current growth of around 8-9% is lower than that in Asia's richest economies at the same stage in their development. Despite the risks ahead, Vietnam has already provided the world with an admirable model for overcoming war, division, penury and isolation and growing strongly but equitably to reach middle-income status. This model could be followed by many impoverished African states or, closer to home, perhaps by North Korea. If it can be combined with gradual political liberalisation, it might even offer something for China to think about.