海关总署4月10日公布的最新外贸数据显示，今年一季度，我国进出口总额、出口、进口均呈下滑趋势，贸易顺差收窄达60.9%。

请看《中国日报》的报道：

Total trade contracted 9 percent to $332.5 billion, the Customs Administration said on Thursday. Exports tumbled 6.6 percent year-on-year to $170.1 billion after dropping 18.1 percent in February. It's the first time since 2009 that exports declined for two consecutive months.

海关总署周四表示，贸易总额缩减9%至3325亿美元。出口在2月份下跌18.1%之后，又同比下降6.6%至1701亿美元。这是自2009年以来，出口首次连续两个月下降。

在表述贸易额“下降”时上文先后使用了contract、tumble、drop和decline四个词。Contract指（经济或市场）萎缩、紧缩，如：The manufacturing economy contracted in October for the sixth consecutive month. （10月，制造业经济已经连续第6个月出现萎缩状况。）Tumble多指（物价等经济指数）暴跌，如：Share prices continued to tumble today on the Tokyo stock market.（东京股市的股价今天继续暴跌。）Drop和decline平时比较常用，均指下降或减少，如：Temperature dropped dramatically at night（夜间温度急剧下降），the number of staff has declined in the past years（过去几年，员工数量有所下降）。

与之相关的“经济下行压力”可用downward pressure on the economy表示，“经济增速下滑”则用economic slowdown表达。因为一系列的经济减速迹象，国际上唱衰新兴经济体的声音再起（Pessimistic views about the prospects of emerging economies have resurfaced）。