A、Start afresh an era for a vibrant auto production base in Australia. B、Reduce the costs to make Australia an attractive auto-m

Berlin, Germany—Germany’s economic growth in the past year was largely driven by overseas trade, according to official statistics. The German economy grew by 0. 4% in the past year compared with the previous year, the German statistics agency said, confirming its earlier estimate.
   Foreign trade drove the increase, accounting for 1. 1 percentage points of the rise in gross domestic product.
   However, weak domestic demand cut 0. 7 percentage points from the figure.
   The balance of exports and imports was the "key economic engine in the period", the statistics office said. Despite the weak domestic demand at the end of last year, economists said they now expected it to pick up.
   High job security and rising incomes as well as very low inflation have been boosting consumer confidence to record highs lately and should translate into stronger household spending growth in 2014.
   New York, The United States—Twitter’s share price had more than doubled in value since the company was floated on the stock market in November, when it was valued at around 18 billion dollars, said in a statement recently released by the company.
   Twitter pledged to continue to improve its services to advertisers in the hope of growing revenues further. Twitter brings in money largely by selling advertising space and data on tweeting habits. More than 90% of its revenues last year came from advertising, where advertisers pay to have their tweets promoted and appear in users’ feeds. Three-quarters of advertising income comes from mobile platforms like smart-phones, the company said.
   Canberra, Australia—Toyota Motor Corp issued a statement on Monday saying it would stop making cars and engines in Australia by the end of 2017, marking the end of an era for a once-vibrant auto production base and the loss of thousands of direct and indirect jobs.
Toyota’s decision follows the planned exits of General Motors and Ford Motor announced last year and would leave no global automaker remaining in Australia as high costs and a strong currency make it an unattractive production base.
   About 2,500 jobs will be affected when the plant stops building cars in 2017, the company said.
   Rome, Italy—Italian unemployment is more than twice the average rate in the euro-zone. The number of people out of work in the single currency bloc in December was 19 million, with the jobless rate at 12%, according to official EU figures. Other economic figures such as retail sales, manufacturing activity and construction, have pointed to signs that Italy’s recession has bottomed out.
   However, Italy’s unemployment rate is expected to rise further in the first three months of 2014 as firms continue to restructure and cut jobs. "As expected, the labor market showed a lagging reaction to other positive signs in the economy," said some economists at National Bank in Rome.
   With 1. 38 million people officially jobless, turning around the country’s economy will take time, even if the recovery does start this year as Rome hopes.
   Washington, The United States—The woman accused of killing six people in a horrific crash in California was spotted driving the wrong way on two freeways before she drove her BMW at 100mph into a Ford Explorer, the California Highway Patrol says. At least 17 witnesses called 911 before the crash to report seeing the vehicle on the 57 and 60 freeways early Sunday morning, reports the Los Angeles Times.
   The driver, 21-year-old Olivia Brown, is still in hospital and has been charged with six counts of murder. She has a previous drunk driving conviction and was on a "girls’ night out" when the deadly crash occurred. Her two passengers, one of them her sister, were killed along with all four people in the Explorer.
Question No. 6 What was Germany’s economic growth rate in the past year?
Question No. 7 How much of Twitter’s income came from advertising last year according to the company’s statement?
Question No. 8 What did Toyota Motor Corp say it would do in its Monday statement?
Question No. 9 What do we know about Italian unemployment according to official EU figures?
Question No. 10 Why has the 21-year-old woman been charged with six counts of murder?