Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word or phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks from 31 to 35. While China’s growth next year is expected to be far slower than the historic 31_______ it has become accustomed to over the past four decades, it is unlikely that its GDP will contract for two quarters. After all, even an eight-percentage-point decrease in Chinese GDP growth during the peak of the 2008 global ...

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word or phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks from 31 to 35. While China’s growth next year is expected to be far slower than the historic 31_______ it has become accustomed to over the past four decades, it is unlikely that its GDP will contract for two quarters. After all, even an eight-percentage-point decrease in Chinese GDP growth during the peak of the 2008 global financial crisis was not enough to cause its domestic output to shrink in absolute terms. This is yet 32________ example of the flaws in defining recession by the rule of two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth. 33______, many countries’ current economic woes are self-inflicted, owing to policy errors 34______ have been as harmful as they were predictable. Between 2011 and 2021, for example, Europe needlessly deepened its dependence on Russian natural gas, leaving it exceedingly vulnerable when the Kremlin, 35________its war against Ukraine. Likewise, China’s draconian zero- Covid policy came at a high economic cost, while the absence of a plan for how to ease pandemic restrictions meant its containment strategy merely postponed Covid mortalities. (Adapted from www.theguardian.com)

While China’s growth next year is expected to be far slower than the historic 31_______ it has become accustomed to over the past four decades,