["the" vs "a" vs nothing]
Rather than start by offering a whole series of rules about the use of the definite article ("the") in English, let’s look through the following Research Proposal and find out how far you are able to identify "article" problems in this text.
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A Research proposal for reviewing Hong Kong Economic Outlook
I will study Hong Kong economy by first studying the economic indicators:
- Hong Kong GDP which reflects the production of people in HK.
- Employment and unemployment situation which is directly effected when the economy is deteriorated.
- Overall nominal and/or real wages index which reflect the labour market and economy and what are the effects on the living standard; and of course
- Consumer Price Index (CPI) will also be studied especially CPI(A) which cover the largest population in Hong Kong.
- External trades like imports, exports and re-export will be studied. Any depreciation or appreciation of domestic currency will affect the demand and supply of goods in any country.
Except for Hong Kong economic indicators, some figures from banking sector should also be examined.
- Best lending rate (In normal situation, as Hong Kong dollar is begged with US$; whenever Federal Reserves government moves its Federal Fund rate, HK will move its best lending rate.)
- The HK dollar deposit in banking sector and probably M3 which included Hong Kong dollar in circulation and all kinds of deposits.
Others:
- Hang Seng Index and Ordinary Index and the stock market turnover.
- Hong Kong economy may sometimes be affected by external factors, for instance: the decrease of saving rate may lead to a capital outflow of Hong Kong dollar and the depreciation of other countries’ currencies will decrease the competitiveness of Hong Kong’s products. I will take a quick look on Hong Kong’s first three largest trading partners: China, Japan and the United States.