时间:2018-12-19 作者:英语课 分类:VOA双语新闻 2009年6月


英语课

  A congressional overseer of the U.S. government's efforts to rescue the financial system said a massive infusion 1 of federal funds intended to ease a severe credit crunch 2 has only partially 3 succeeded, with many ailing 4 banks using the money to survive rather than making new loans to businesses and consumers.

美国国会负责监管联邦救助金融系统工作的一名议员说,联邦政府向金融系统注入大规模资金用来缓解信贷危机的努力,只取得了部分成功,许多有问题的银行仅仅是利用这些资金来维持生存,而不是将这些钱贷出去给企业或是消费者。

During last year's financial meltdown, the Bush administration argued that government action was required to combat tight credit conditions that were choking the U.S. economy. Officials like former Treasury 5 Secretary Henry Paulson insisted back then that the nation's banking 6 sector 7 was vibrant 8 and healthy, despite a lack of lending.

在去年的金融危机中,布什政府表示,政府必须采取行动来解决信贷紧缩问题,因为信贷紧缩已经阻碍了美国经济的发展。前财政部长保尔森等官员当时坚持认为,尽管缺乏信贷,美国的银行体系仍然充满活力,非常健康。

"Our financial institutions are strong. Our banks are strong. They are going to be strong for many, many years," he said at the time.

他说:“我们的金融机构很稳固, 我们的银行很稳固,在今后很多、很多年的时间里,他们都将是健壮的。”

But that assertion proved wrong, according to Congressional Oversight 9 Panel chairperson Elizabeth Warren, who said that hundreds of billions of dollars in federal funds did more to prop 10 up struggling banks than ease credit conditions.

但是,在国会监督小组主席伊丽莎白.沃伦的眼中,这种看法已经被证明是错误的。她说,数千亿美元的联邦资金更多地被用来支撑步履维艰的银行本身,而不是用来缓解信贷状况。

"In fact, the banks were not healthy. And when we stuffed this money into them, they just held on to it. And they held on to it, many of them, just as reserves," he said.

她说:“实际上,这些银行并不健康。我们把钱塞给他们,他们只是紧紧抓住这些钱。他们抓住这些钱,很多银行把这笔钱当成储备资金。”

Warren was speaking on CBS's "Early Show".

沃伦是在哥伦比亚广播公司“晨间秀”采访时说这番话的。

Tuesday, the Treasury Department announced it will allow 10 of America's largest banks to repay a total of $68 billion in emergency government aid. President Barack Obama welcomed the news as a sign of progress in reviving America's financial sector.

美国财政部已经宣布,允许美国10家大银行退还680亿美元的政府紧急援助资金。奥巴马总统对这一消息表示欢迎,并且说这标志着重振美国金融系统的工作取得了进展。

But Elizabeth Warren said the true health of American lending institutions is hard to judge, because of flaws in so-called "stress tests" the government administered to banks earlier this year. The tests were designed to gauge 11 the ability of major banks to withstand further economic shock.

但是,沃伦说,现在还很难判断美国银行系统真正的健康状况,因为政府今年早些时候进行的“压力测试”本身有问题。“压力测试”的目的是评估大银行是否有能力抵御未来的经济震荡。

Testifying on Capitol Hill Tuesday, Warren noted 12 that, at 9.4%, the current U.S. unemployment rate already exceeds the rate that was assumed as a worst-case scenario 13 for the stress tests.

沃伦在国会作证时表示,美国目前9.4%的失业率已经超出了“压力测试”所假定的最糟糕的境况。

"Let's face it. The [economic] numbers are bad and they have headed in the wrong direction. This is a real concern: that the worst-case scenario right here in 2009 is, in fact, not the worst case. And that we are going to see worse numbers than that," he added.

她说:“让我们面对现实吧。经济数据糟糕,并且仍在朝错误的方向发展。我们真正担心的是:假定的2009年最糟糕的状况不是最糟的,我们还将看到比这个更加糟糕的状况出现。”

Warren also criticized the stress tests for gauging 14 banks' health through the end of 2010. She argued that America's real estate woes 15 -- particularly in the commercial sector -- could extend well beyond that date and harm banks for years to come.

压力测试所衡量的是这些银行直到2010年底之前的健康状况,沃伦对此也提出批评。她指出,美国房地产市场的困境,特别是在商业领域,将远远超过2010年的既定期限,很有可能在未来很多年对银行造成损害。

But others have argued that the essential factor when it comes to boosting stability in the banking sector cannot be measured by statistics or economic formulations. Bank analyst 16 Richard Bove of Rochdale Securities:

但是,另有一些人认为,加强银行稳定性的根本因素并不能通过统计数据或是经济公式来衡量。罗彻代尔证券公司的银行业分析师理查德.博韦说:

"The key issue is: do we have confidence in the banking system? And I think confidence is back," he noted.

“关键的问题是: 我们是否对银行系统有信心?我认为,信心已经回来了。”

Ten of 19 U.S. banks subjected to stress tests were deemed undercapitalized and ordered to raise a total of $75 billion. Most have either met their targets or are close to doing so.

在接受压力测试的19家银行中,有10家被认为资本金不足,总共需要筹集750亿美元。目前,大部分银行已经达到了标准或是接近达标。



1 infusion
n.灌输
  • Old families need an infusion of new blood from time to time.古老的家族需要不时地注入新鲜血液。
  • Careful observation of the infusion site is necessary.必须仔细观察输液部位。
2 crunch
n.关键时刻;艰难局面;v.发出碎裂声
  • If it comes to the crunch they'll support us.关键时刻他们是会支持我们的。
  • People who crunch nuts at the movies can be very annoying.看电影时嘎吱作声地嚼干果的人会使人十分讨厌。
3 partially
adv.部分地,从某些方面讲
  • The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
  • The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静,宵禁部分解除。
4 ailing
v.生病
  • They discussed the problems ailing the steel industry. 他们讨论了困扰钢铁工业的问题。
  • She looked after her ailing father. 她照顾有病的父亲。
5 treasury
n.宝库;国库,金库;文库
  • The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
  • This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。
6 banking
n.银行业,银行学,金融业
  • John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
  • He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。
7 sector
n.部门,部分;防御地段,防区;扇形
  • The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
  • The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。
8 vibrant
adj.震颤的,响亮的,充满活力的,精力充沛的,(色彩)鲜明的
  • He always uses vibrant colours in his paintings. 他在画中总是使用鲜明的色彩。
  • She gave a vibrant performance in the leading role in the school play.她在学校表演中生气盎然地扮演了主角。
9 oversight
n.勘漏,失察,疏忽
  • I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
  • Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。
10 prop
vt.支撑;n.支柱,支撑物;支持者,靠山
  • A worker put a prop against the wall of the tunnel to keep it from falling.一名工人用东西支撑住隧道壁好使它不会倒塌。
  • The government does not intend to prop up declining industries.政府无意扶持不景气的企业。
11 gauge
v.精确计量;估计;n.标准度量;计量器
  • Can you gauge what her reaction is likely to be?你能揣测她的反应可能是什么吗?
  • It's difficult to gauge one's character.要判断一个人的品格是很困难的。
12 noted
adj.著名的,知名的
  • The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
  • Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。
13 scenario
n.剧本,脚本;概要
  • But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
  • This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。
14 gauging
n.测量[试],测定,计量v.(用仪器)测量( gauge的现在分词 );估计;计量;划分
  • The method is especially attractive for gauging natural streams. 该方法对于测量天然的流注具有特殊的吸引力。 来自辞典例句
  • Incommunicative as he was, some time elapsed before I had an opportunity of gauging his mind. 由于他不爱说话,我过了一些时候才有机会探测他的心灵。 来自辞典例句
15 woes
困境( woe的名词复数 ); 悲伤; 我好苦哇; 某人就要倒霉
  • Thanks for listening to my woes. 谢谢您听我诉说不幸的遭遇。
  • She has cried the blues about its financial woes. 对于经济的困难她叫苦不迭。
16 analyst
n.分析家,化验员;心理分析学家
  • What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务?
  • The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。
学英语单词
abutment splint
annular velocity
be past your sell-by date
benzene fulfonic amide
block encoder
Bol'shoy Tyuters, Ostrov
Bonefeld
car location information computer
circumscriptive
cortical field
Cotylurus
cypris
dark lanterns
emergency coolant injection
end-to-end scheduling
ethyl amyl ketone
ethyl butyl carbonate
fentems
flammability test
fluid ounce
freezing point
gating nozzle
Generation company
get it right
grandam
graphic and schematic analysis
group-specific
heterogenicity
Hilbert programme
hollow water line
hollow-cathode tube
honkey, honkies
hook bolt lock
horizontally
humbs
hypoesophoria
ice-creams
in an attempt to
Indo-Gangetic
iniopic monster
intergrowth
interval of orthogonality
jarmusz
jeszenszky
kaziss
King Charles's heads
lambda point transition
landing strake
law of inverse squares
leelo
lesene
luxury liners
mabila
make one's way to
Marsdenia stenantha
maryann
mathematic statistics
medical boat box
modualr microcomputer component
nanofiber
natrium glycocholicum
neck brace
nitramidin
nitropuine
paraphed
Phaenicia
photometric axis
Pong Rok, Stung
poopload
prehemiplegic chorea
PSMRD
Rainy River
rayne
reciprocal point
red-count pipette
relative regulation
retarded scalar potenital
Rosa, Salvator
runaway economy
Saussurea umbrosa
saynts-bell
simple buffering
simple plales
small signal transistor
spath (spar)
spells out
spot commodity
stand on points
stillwellite
straightlaced
tabuchis
tering
That cock won't fight.
thickness measurement with laser
towed-target flight
turn-to-turn insulation
two-pan asymmetrical beam
upbringer
vermicelloni
vertical check
volume rendering
web bar