Part 2. News Reports.
In this section, you're going to hear two news reports.
A. Keywords.
ranked number one, annual survey, followed in second and third place by, a growing trend.
Vocabulary.
composite formula, asset, market capitalization, merger, acquisition, cite, Forbes, Super 100 global list.
Listen to the first news report, complete the news summary, and then briefly answer the questions below.
For the second year in a row, the General Electric Cooperation is ranked number one in an annual survey of the 100 most powerful cooperations in the world.
The survey compiled and published by Forbes Business Magazine, shows General Electrics of the United States ranked number one.
Followed in second and third place by the US banking and financial services giants City group and Bank of America.
In fourth and fifth place are the British-based HSBC banking company and Daimler-Chrysler, the German-American auto-company.
The companies are ranked with a composite formula, which includes total sales, profits, assets and market capitalization or the total value of its stock.
What the magazine calls its Super 100 global list are 46 companies based in the United States, and 54 in Europe and Japan.
Mike Ozanian, the Forbes editor who compiled the list, says there is a growing trend of international mergers and acquisitions,
citing companies such Daimler-Chrysler and BP-Amoco, the Anglo-American oil company.
Mr Ozanian says that despite the huge capitalizations of many Internet-related firms, none were included because most have little, if any profits at least not yet.