时间:2018-12-19 作者:英语课 分类:VOA双语新闻 2008年10月


英语课

  The International Monetary 1 Fund, the European Union and World Bank have agreed to a $25 billion economic rescue package for Hungary to strengthen confidence in its economy. It has been described as the largest financial aid measure for an emerging-market economy since the start of the worldwide financial troubles, and the first for an EU-member country.

国际货币基金组织、欧洲联盟和世界银行同意向匈牙利提供一个250亿美元的一揽子经济拯救计划,以增强市场对匈牙利经济的信心。这个拯救计划是自从全球金融危机爆发以来国际社会向新兴市场经济体所提供的最大的金融援助项目,同时也是欧盟成员国接受的第一个国际援助。

They still sing Hungarian folksongs while baking bread and cookies at an old pensioners 2 club in Budapest. But they may soon sing the blues 3 when hearing of government plans to freeze or reduce their pensions.

这是在布达佩斯的一个老年人俱乐部,人们一边烤着面包和点心,一边唱着匈牙利民歌。可是当他们听到政府计划冻结或削减他们的养老金的时候,他们的调子恐怕就会显得垂头丧气了。

Hungary's Socialist-led government also wants to suspend salary bonuses for state employees.

匈牙利社会党人领导的政府还准备暂时停止向国企雇员发放奖金。

Cutting spending is a key condition for Hungary to receive more than $25 billion in international aid as it struggles with the worst global financial crisis in 80 years.

在匈牙利挣扎著应付80年来最糟糕的全球金融危机的时候,削减支出是匈牙利得到250多亿美元国际援助的一个关键条件。

The International Monetary Fund says it will grant Hungary a standby loan of nearly $16 billion while the European Union has offered over $8 billion and the World Bank more than $1 billion.

国际货币基金组织说,它将给匈牙利提供将近160亿美元的备用贷款。与此同时,欧盟同意提供80多亿美元,世界银行提供10多亿美元。

Hungary is particularly hard hit. Last year it had Europe's largest budget deficit 4, with most of its overspending on social benefits.

这次金融危机对匈牙利的打击尤其严重。去年,它的财政赤字是欧洲最大的,大部分的超额花费都被用在社会福利上。

In addition, most households took loans and mortgages in foreign currencies, such as euros, Swiss francs or Japanese yen 5, because interest rates were better. With the Hungarian currency, the forint, plunging 6 to record lows, many Hungarians are unable to pay-off their financial obligations.

另外,大多数家庭的借贷和房屋贷款都是以欧元、瑞士法郎或是日元这些外币来计算的,因为这些货币的利率比较好。随著匈牙利货币福林贬值到创记录的低水平,很多匈牙利人变得无力偿还他们的债务。

But Hungary's main center-right opposition 7 party, Fidesz, has criticized the government for accepting the financial rescue package, saying it could compromise the country's sovereignty.

但是匈牙利中间偏右的主要反对党青年民主联盟-匈牙利公民联盟对政府接受金融援助计划提出批评,说此举可能使匈牙利的主权受到损害。

Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany shrugs 8 off this criticism. He says the loans Hungary receives will not restrict the country's right to make its own political decisions and introduce reforms.

匈牙利总理久尔恰尼对这个批评不以为然。匈牙利总理久尔恰尼(Gyurcsany)说,匈牙利得到的贷款不会限制匈牙利的政治决策权,也不会限制改革进程。

"We will remain an independent country," he added.

这位总理还说:“我们将保持国家独立。”

But Mr. Gyurcsany admits his government can "not take up the responsibility to pay automatically 13th month wages and pensions, because we do not know from where to cover these expenses."

不过,久尔恰尼承认,他的政府“不能承担自动支付‘第13个月’的工资和退休金的责任,因为我们不知道这笔费用从什么地方出。”

One in five Hungarians, about 1.5 million people, are expected to be impacted by the measures.

估计这些措施将会对五分之一的匈牙利人,也就是150万民众,造成影响。

Hungarian pensioners find it difficult to prepare for the upcoming holiday season without their bonus extra month's pay.

如果拿不到相当于一个月工资的额外奖金,匈牙利领取退休金的人员恐怕就会感到难以为今年的节日进行筹措了。

"We are always counting how many nights we have to sleep to receive the 13th month pension," said one woman.

“我们每天晚上都在数着再过多少个晚上就能够拿到这“第13个月”的退休金了。”

But bread-and-butter concerns seem far removed from the daily reality of traders at the Budapest Stock Exchange, seen as a key indicator 9 of Hungary's overall economic situation.

不过,对面包和奶油的担心要跟布达佩斯股票交易所的交易员们每天所面对的现实相比就差得太远了。股票交易所被人们视为匈牙利整体经济状况的晴雨表。

Men in suits are glued to their computers as they try to cope with unprecedented 10 volatility 11 in Hungary's stock market. The Hungarian forint and the Budapest Stock Exchange were both significantly higher Wednesday, but nobody knows for how long after weeks of turmoil 12.

西装革履的交易员们坚守在电脑旁,试图应付匈牙利股市前所未有的震荡。匈牙利货币的币值和布达佩斯股市星期三大幅度走高,但是经过几个星期的震荡,没有人知道这种形势会持续多久。

Hungary's financial situation is closely monitored by Europe's other former Communist countries, where governments have slashed 13 economic growth forecasts and expect budget revenues to dwindle 14. Analysts 15 say it comes at a time when their ability to borrow more on international debt markets has been squeezed by the global credit crunch 16.

The larger-than-expected rescue for Hungary, the biggest for an emerging market economy since the global crisis began, is the first for an EU member. It also dwarfs 17 the $2 billion and more than $16 billion sums offered by the IMF earlier to fellow strugglers Iceland and Ukraine.

国际社会对匈牙利的救援超过了预期规模,对于一个发展中经济体来说,这是全球金融危机开始以来最大的一笔援助,在欧盟成员国中更是绝无仅有。相比之下,国际货币基金组织早些时候分别向冰岛和乌克兰提供的20亿美元和160亿美元的救援资金就显得相形见绌了。



1 monetary
adj.货币的,钱的;通货的;金融的;财政的
  • The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
  • Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。
2 pensioners
n.领取退休、养老金或抚恤金的人( pensioner的名词复数 )
  • He intends to redistribute income from the middle class to poorer paid employees and pensioners. 他意图把中产阶级到低薪雇员和退休人员的收入做重新分配。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • I am myself one of the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. 我自己就是一个我们的高贵的施主遗留基金的养老金领取者。 来自辞典例句
3 blues
n.抑郁,沮丧;布鲁斯音乐
  • She was in the back of a smoky bar singing the blues.她在烟雾弥漫的酒吧深处唱着布鲁斯歌曲。
  • He was in the blues on account of his failure in business.他因事业失败而意志消沉。
4 deficit
n.亏空,亏损;赤字,逆差
  • The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
  • We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。
5 yen
n. 日元;热望
  • He wanted to convert his dollars into Japanese yen.他想将美元换成日币。
  • He has a yen to be alone in a boat.他渴望独自呆在一条船上。
6 plunging
adj.跳进的,突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 );暴跌;骤降;突降
  • War broke out again, plunging the people into misery and suffering. 战祸复发,生灵涂炭。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • He is plunging into an abyss of despair. 他陷入了绝望的深渊。 来自《简明英汉词典》
7 opposition
n.反对,敌对
  • The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
  • The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。
8 shrugs
n.耸肩(以表示冷淡,怀疑等)( shrug的名词复数 )
  • Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany shrugs off this criticism. 匈牙利总理久尔恰尼对这个批评不以为然。 来自互联网
  • She shrugs expressively and takes a sip of her latte. 她表达地耸肩而且拿她的拿铁的啜饮。 来自互联网
9 indicator
n.指标;指示物,指示者;指示器
  • Gold prices are often seen as an indicator of inflation.黃金价格常常被看作是通货膨胀的指标。
  • His left-hand indicator is flashing.他左手边的转向灯正在闪亮。
10 unprecedented
adj.无前例的,新奇的
  • The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
  • A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。
11 volatility
n.挥发性,挥发度,轻快,(性格)反复无常
  • That was one reason why volatility was so low last year.这也是去年波动性如此低的原因之一。
  • Yet because volatility remained low for so long,disaster myopia prevailed.然而,由于相当长的时间里波动性小,灾难短视就获胜了。
12 turmoil
n.骚乱,混乱,动乱
  • His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
  • The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。
13 slashed
v.挥砍( slash的过去式和过去分词 );鞭打;割破;削减
  • Someone had slashed the tyres on my car. 有人把我的汽车轮胎割破了。
  • He slashed the bark off the tree with his knife. 他用刀把树皮从树上砍下。 来自《简明英汉词典》
14 dwindle
v.逐渐变小(或减少)
  • The factory's workforce has dwindled from over 4,000 to a few hundred.工厂雇员总数已经从4,000多人减少到几百人。
  • He is struggling to come to terms with his dwindling authority.他正努力适应自己权力被削弱这一局面。
15 analysts
分析家,化验员( analyst的名词复数 )
  • City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
  • I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。
16 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。
17 dwarfs
n.侏儒,矮子(dwarf的复数形式)vt.(使)显得矮小(dwarf的第三人称单数形式)
  • Shakespeare dwarfs other dramatists. 莎士比亚使其他剧作家相形见绌。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The new building dwarfs all the other buildings in the town. 新大楼使城里所有其他建筑物都显得矮小了。 来自辞典例句
学英语单词
acrylic lacquer
agitatest
apparent output
bass
bath-chairs
beggar's clapper
Brachinus
catagmatic
come up trumps
contendings
coupling of circuits
cut ... in
cylindrocarpon tenue
day labour
dead-naming
desamidize
diksha
dirtying
dress and personal adornment
dynamic derivative
dynamic world
emery wheels
entity-dependent relational schema
ethnologically
extended jurisdiction
extra-strong
fankles
freely-locatable program
fruit dish
gamahe
gelatinating
geographical geomorphology
GGGG
Grevenmacher
ground fault protection
hoe furrow opener
hypercompute
hypercurve
included sentence
indolepropionic acid
intercornual ligaments
interlocutory decision
intermittent typhoid
interpretive dancings
interstate preferential duty
Koungou, Mt.
last length
ledra auditura
ligamenta capituli costae interarticulare
limiting device
logical device order
macrofilaricide
Mayǒng-ri
metal aryl
molecular beam mass spectrometer
multilateral treaties
native sulphur
natural electric field
necessary stool
non-director system
nonobservability
normal file
oedemutes formosanus
omne
over-achiever
palettised
parageusia
pismire
piston ring putting in and out tool
Polish-americans
praeterists
prowfish
ratio meter
real-time colour TV
regn
replowing
Rose Haven
sandbox tree
schistosomes
silent numbers
skenning
Smilde
smirlock
smot
socketed
solarigram
Somers Point
sons harmoniques
stale debt
stumpholes
subsidiary goal
superadds
sweet baby
sychronous pull-in torque
thrust plunger
tire chains
unspectacular
vanilla bean
venturia inaqualis(cke.)winter.
water table slope
wrestplanks
Zangba