Passage one

　　Whats the one word of advice a well-meaning professional would give to a recent college graduate today? China? India? Hedge fund ? Plastic surgery? How about trade?

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　　When the Commerce Department reported last week that the trade deficit in June spiked to nearly $50 billion, it set off a new round of economic doomsaying. Imports, which soared to $200.3 billion in the month, are subtracted in the calculation of gross domestic product. The larger the trade deficit, the smaller the GDP. ①Should such imbalances continue, pessimists say, they could contribute to a slowdown in growth.

　　②But theres another way of looking at the trade data. Over the past two years, the figures on imports and exports seem not to signal a double-dip recession-i.e., a renewed decline in the broad level of economic activity in the United States-but an economic expansion.

　　In June, imports were $200.3 billion and exports were $150.5 billion-total trade in goods and services of $350.8 billion. In June 2009, by contrast, imports were $155 billion and exports were $128 billion-a total trade in goods and services of $283 billion. In other words, the volume of U.S. trade with other countries in June was up nearly 24 percent from the year before, with exports up 17.5 percent and imports up 29 percent. Trade is nowhere near its peak-in July 2008, when exports were $165 billion and imports were $232 billion, the monthly total was nearly $400 billion. But over the course of 2010, as the rate of economic growth has slowed, trade has gained momentum. In June, exports were 5 percent higher than they were in December 2009, and imports were up 10.5 percent.