They hoped to remedy their lacklustre performance by a few changes in personnel.

他们希望做若干人事调动来改进毫无起色的工作表现。

||1: Recently the American public’s growing criticism of Barack Obama has been accompanied by warmer feelings for the Clintons. ||2: More and more Democrats now wonder if they should have chosen Hillary in his place, and it is increasingly common for the president’s lacklustre handling of the economy to be contrasted with the surer leadership and much happier economic times when Bill ruled the White House. ||3: Mr Clinton has now written a book full of ideas about how to revive the economy and get America’s unemployed millions back to work—advice that, by drawing further attention to their contrasting styles, Mr Obama may find less helpful than Mr Clinton intends.

||1: 最近，一面是美国公众对巴拉克·奥巴马 (Barack Obama) 日渐增多的批评声不绝于耳；另一面是对克林顿夫妇更加温馨的情感绵绵于心。 ||2: 越来越多的民主党人现在怀疑是否他们当初应该选择希拉里 (Hillary) 取代奥巴马，而且奥巴马处理经济的乏善可陈与比尔入主白宫时更加自信的领导力以及更加幸福的经济时期之间的对比也愈发普遍。 ||3:克林顿刚写完的一本书里满是关于如何复苏美国经济以及如何使得美国成百上千万失业人员重返工作岗位的点子。比起克林顿的主观意图而言，奥巴马可能觉得这些忠告起不了多大用处，因为它们促使人们进一步注意到两人对比鲜明的风格。

||1: Business at home is so lacklustre , however, that they may have little choice but to place bigger bets abroad. ||2: And even if prospects for growth in Japan did improve—GDP rose by 1% in the first quarter, beating expectations—the banks would still benefit from diversifying. ||3: So exposed are they to Japanese government bonds that Masaaki Shirakawa, the governor of the Bank of Japan, has said the big banks could suffer losses of up to ￥3.5 trillion ($43.5 billion) if yields rose by an admittedly lofty one percentage point. ||4: That would more than wipe out their combined profit last year.

||1:但是，国内市场太过乏味，日本大型银行不得不向国外市场押下更大的赌注。||2:尽管日本国内经济增长前景的确有所改善——第一季度的GDP上涨1%，超出预期；但多元化经营仍旧会给他们带来诸多利益。||3: 日本政府公债对这些银行的影响过大，日本银行理事Masaaki Shirakawa表示，如果利率真的上涨了1%，这些大型银行将会遭受价值3.5亿日元的巨额损失。 ||4:这比他们去年利润的总和还要多。

||1: Even with so much lost ground to make up, the medium-term outlook is for a lacklustre recovery in the euro area, which will continue to be held back by its dodgy banks. ||2: Forecasters recently surveyed by the European Central Bank expected on average that euro-zone GDP for the whole of 2013 would be 0.6% lower than in 2012; and that it would grow by only 0.9% in 2014. ||3: A tepid recovery is unlikely to do much for the unemployed, especially those in southern Europe where joblessness rates are extraordinarily high. ||4: The end of the recession will give fresh heart to European leaders, who can (again) proclaim that the worst of the crisis is over. ||5: But weak growth will still leave the euro area vulnerable to social and political discontent.

||1:尽管经济需要重振雄风，但是欧元区的中长期复苏乏力，这其中运转不佳的银行是主要原因。||2:欧洲央行最近调查预测欧元区今年的GDP增量为0.6%，低于去年，而明年的增长率也仅为0.9%。||3:微弱的复苏似乎不能使就业状况好转，尤其是在欧洲南部失业率居高不下的国家。||4:衰退的结束会鼓舞欧盟的领导人，但是谁敢说危机结束了呢？||5:疲软的增势仍然让欧元区极易陷入社会不满与政治不满中。

||1:That puts a different spin on a trend most economists have seen in a drearier light.||2:They thought a lacklustre economy was suppressing participation by driving discouraged workers out of the labour market altogether, and that participation would rebound along with the economy.||3:Mr Krueger agrees that part of the drop is due to lack of demand for labour because of the recession, but thinks something else is at work: the underlying trend in participation in the past decade has already been falling because of an ageing work force and a downdrift in participation by women.||4:It may tick up in coming years as the young people now in college graduate.||5:When they do, Mr Krueger notes, they will have more human capital, which will, with luck, earn them higher wages and boost the economy’s overall potential.||6:Which would be all to the good, since they will have hefty student loans to repay.

||1:这转变了大多数经济学家在不明朗的情势下看到的趋势。||2:他们曾认为疲软的经济使得灰心丧气的劳动者退出劳动力市场，从而压制了参与率，经济复苏可以使得参与率回升。||3:克鲁格先生赞同这样的观点：经济衰退降低了劳动力需求从而降低了参与率，但他认为这后面另有玄机：过去的十年里参与率已经有潜在的下降的趋势，这时由于劳动力老龄化以及女性参与率下降造成的。||4:不过在接下来的几年里，参与率会由于现在读大学生毕业而再度上升。||5:克鲁格先生还指出当这些大学生毕业后会拥有更高的人力资本，如果一切顺利的话，他们将因此获得更高的薪资，并促进经济总体潜力的增长。||6:这样总得来说还是好的，因为他们须偿还巨额贷款。

The economy is sluggish. Consumption is lacklustre .

经济不景气。消费萎靡不振。

Hamasaki said the weaker outlooks from the shipping firms was not a big surprise considering lacklustre market conditions in April-June.

Hamasaki称，鉴于4-6月迟滞的市场环境，船运企业财测不佳也并非出人意料。

The lacklustre economic recovery will keep loan demand weak.

暗无生机的经济恢复使得贷款需求虚弱。

Barclays Capital said the lacklustre buying was the result of the reserve price being set at market prices.

巴克莱资本（BarclaysCapital）表示，低迷的买盘是储备铜价格设定在市场价格的结果。

The sale will be held about an hour before the Fed’s two-day meeting finishes, which could result in lacklustre demand for the new notes.

此次拍卖将在美联储为期两天的会议结束之前大约一个小时举行，这一安排可能导致市场对新债券的需求低迷。

But most students study at lacklustre public universities or at private diploma mills.

但是大多数学生在平淡无奇的公立大学或私人颁发文凭的机构就读。

Lacklustre sales of TVs and appliances meant that digital media probably posted falling operating margins in the second quarter.

电视及其它电器销售惨淡，意味着数码媒体业务第二季度的营运利润率可能有所下降。

And lacklustre schools turn out poorly educated workers, limiting productivity gains.

而且，教学环境不佳使得工人学历偏低，限制了生产力提高。

His lacklustre record as vice-president and before that as governor of Bayelsa state suggests, alas, that this would be his instinct.

副总统时期的他政绩平淡无奇，甚至追溯到作为巴耶尔萨州州长期间也是如此，这些经历证明，乔纳森也许是天性使然。

On current form, economists such as Esmond Birnie of PricewaterhouseCoopers, a consulting firm, expect lacklustre economic growth at best.

根据目前的形式，经济学家们——如来自咨询公司普华永道会计师事务所的埃斯蒙德•波尼——预计经济增长顶多也就是疲软式的。

Lacklustre leadership of European organizations is both a cause and a result of this loss of momentum.

灰头土脸的欧盟组织机构领导人既是失去民心的原因，也是不得人心的结果。

The HSBC reading was the lowest in a year, reflecting relatively lacklustre demand in domestic and foreign markets.

汇丰中国制造业PMI为一年内最低，反映出国内外市场需求相对疲弱。

and it will likely stay there for a while given the lacklustre shift from inventory rebuilding to consumption, investment and exports.

鉴于从库存重建转向消费、投资和出口的过程颇为低迷，失业率可能会在这一水平保持一段时间。

The investment and lacklustre sales led to an operating loss of Y232. 3bn against a profit of Y8. 7bn last time.

巨额投入和低迷的销售，导致本年度运营亏损2323亿日元，而上一年度该业务部门盈利87亿日元。

Ed Gillespie, another close aide, was “a speechwriter’s worst kind of boss: a lacklustre writer who thought he was a good one. ”

另外一位贴身助手艾德吉尔斯比，“是演讲撰稿人们最差劲的头头：一个自命不凡却毫无文采的家伙”。

American households remain saddled with debt, and businesses seem reluctant to invest at home in the face of a lacklustre consumer.

美国的千家万户正债务缠身，而且商业部门似乎不太愿意投资国内，死气沉沉的国内消费需求已使他们心凉不已。

Agricultural Bank shares made a relatively lacklustre debut, casting doubts over investor appetite for mainland banks.

农行股票上市首日的表现较为低迷，这让人们开始怀疑投资者对中国内地银行的兴趣。

Lacklustre first-quarter growth figures were released this week.

欧元区上周公布了黯淡的第一季度增长数据。

A terrible recession will be followed by a lacklustre recovery, but Britain is no basket-case

疲软的复苏后糟糕的衰退接踵而至，但英国并非毫无希望

So far, data such as retail sales and industrial production have been generally lacklustre .

迄今零售销售和工业生产等数据大都一直表现欠佳。

last year’s star of the conservative tea- party has had a lacklustre 2011.

去年的政坛明星—保守派“茶叶党”—在2011年的表现暗淡无光。

But a lacklustre opposition, weakened after losing a two-year battle over the new constitution, also contributed to Mr Morales’s victory.

然而，毫无战力的反对党亦是EvoMorales胜选的主因之一，反对党在输掉了长达两年的新宪抗争之后欲振乏力。

Japanese exports to China increased by a more lacklustre 6. 4% compared with the previous year’s 27. 2%.

日本对华出口则增加了6.4%多点，和去年27.2%相比显得暗无光泽。

Indeed, it may be hard for most people to distinguish a shallow recession from lacklustre growth.

事实上，对于大多数人们来说，区分平淡无奇的增长和不明显的衰退是很困难的。

Virtually every measure of wage growth has been accelerating, although increases in productivity have been lacklustre .

事实上在所有标准下，工资增葬都在提速，尽管生产力的增加却缺乏动力。