Next Activity:
Try the same text at a reading speed of 200 words per minute.
This is the text (if you need help).
The value of stock markets in Asia has fallen. It is the biggest fall in decades. Shanghai's market was down nearly 8%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 13.22%, and Japan's Nikkei index was 7.8% down. Markets in Australia also sank. An analyst told the BBC that the markets were a "bloodbath". Stock prices fell after the trade tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump on April the 2nd. He called this day "Liberation Day". He said it "will forever be remembered as the day American industry was reborn…and the day that we began to make America wealthy again".
Many countries are thinking about what to do about the tariffs. A newspaper in China wrote: "After eight years of trade wars with the US, we've built up a wealth of experience in this struggle." It added that China would beat "US tariff bullying". The country could increase its own tariffs on the USA. Japan's Prime Minister said he would ask the US to reduce the 24% tariffs on Japanese goods. He will visit the US to explain to President Trump that Japan "is not doing anything unfair". Talking about the tariffs, Trump said: "Sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something."
Back to the trade tarrifs lesson.
