时间:2018-12-19 作者:英语课 分类:VOA双语新闻 2008年9月


英语课

  Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury 1 Secretary Henry Paulson Tuesday implored 2 members of the Senate Banking 3 Committee to quickly enact 4 legislation that would permit the government to buy up bad housing-related loans that have negatively impacted credit markets.

美联储主席伯南克和财政部长保尔森星期二恳求参议院银行委员会的成员尽快制定议案,允许政府收购严重影响信贷市场的房屋贷款坏帐。

Bernanke said quick action is required to stabilize 5 financial markets and combat the threat of economic slowdown. He said markets wildly gyrated last week and dire 6 consequences loomed 7 as the government scrambled 8 to come up with a plan to shore up bad housing related loans.

伯南克说,必须尽快采取行动,以稳定金融市场,抵御经济放缓的威胁。他说,上星期市场剧烈波动,可怕的后果赫然成形,政府匆忙拿出这份收购房屋贷款坏帐的方案。

Treasury Secretary Paulson told skeptical 9 lawmakers that the two-year long slump 10 in the U.S. housing market is the cause of the crisis.

财政部长保尔森对持怀疑态度的国会议员们表示,美国房地产市场持续两年的下滑是这场危机的根源。

"The root cause is the housing correction [price declines], as you have all pointed 11 out, that has resulted in illiquid mortgage assets choking off the flow of credit, which is so vitally important to our economy," said Paulson.

他说:“根本原因是房地产市场的调整,正像你们所有人指出得那样,房屋价格下滑导致了无法兑现的房贷资产,窒息了对我们的经济至关重要的信贷流动。”

Bernanke defended recent actions by the government to deal with the problem. Those measures since September 7, included taking over the two government sponsored entities 12 most involved in home finance, allowing the Lehman Brothers investment bank to fail, taking over AIG - the world's biggest insurer, and then announcing Friday a $700-billion rescue plan that must be approved by Congress.

伯南克为政府最近处理危机所采取的行动做辩护。这些措施包括,接管两家政府赞助的房屋贷款融资公司,允许投资银行雷曼兄弟公司申请破产保护,接管全球最大的保险公司美国国际集团,然后于上星期五宣布了7千亿美元的救援方案,这个方案必须得到国会的批准。

Bernanke denied that the government has been too generous to the shareholders 14 and managers of failing institutions.

伯南克否定有关政府对于那些陷于困境的金融机构的股东和主管人员过于慷慨的说法。

"We have insisted on bringing the shareholder 13 value down close to zero, imposing 15 tough terms and so on. But the firms we are dealing 16 with now [with the proposed legislation] are not necessarily failing," he said. "They are contracting, de-leveraging and pulling back. And they will be unwilling 18 to make credit available as long as market conditions are as they are now."

他说:“我们一直坚持把这些股东们持有的资产价值降到几乎为零,并设定严厉条件和采取其他措施。但是我们现在所要挽救的公司是那些并不见得会倒闭的金融机构,它们正在采取紧缩措施,减少杠杆投资和紧缩开支。然而只要它们目前所处的市场条件不改变,它们就不会情愿发放贷款。”

Lawmakers were insistent 19 that bankers not be rescued at the expense of ordinary homeowners and consumers. Both Bernanke and Paulson agreed, but said without a comprehensive bailout all consumers will suffer.

国会议员们坚持认为,政府不应当以牺牲普通房主和消费者的利益来挽救银行家。伯南克和保尔森对此表示认同,但是他们强调,如果不实行全面的收购计划,所有的消费者都将受到伤害。

Paulson, who was a top executive of the Goldman Sachs investment bank before coming to Washington, blamed weak regulation for the abuses in mortgage finance.

在华盛顿任职之前曾担任高盛投资银行总裁的保尔森把滥发房屋贷款的原因归咎于监管不利。

"I was shocked, absolutely shocked [when I arrived in DC two years ago], to find that it was not deregulation or too much regulation or too little regulation, it was just a flawed regulatory structure built for a different model," said Paulson.

他说:“(两年前当我到华盛顿任职的时候),我就感到非常震惊,因为我发现问题并不是放松监管、监管太多、或管理不够,而是监管结构有缺陷,那个监管结构是为另一种不同的模式建立的。”

In 1999 Congress gave increased freedoms to the financial service industry, but failed to create a comprehensive regulatory structure.

1999年,美国国会扩大了金融服务产业的自由度,但是却没有建立起一个新的全面的监管机制。

President Bush, speaking at the United Nations in New York, said he is acting 17 decisively to contain the financial crisis. The administration wants Congress to approve the rescue legislation before its scheduled adjournment 20 on Friday, but there is no clear indication that that timetable will hold.

布什总统在纽约联合国大会上表示,他正在采取坚定的行动来控制金融危机。布什政府希望国会在星期五国会休会之前批准这项救助立法。但是目前还没有明确迹象显示国会将按照这个时间表如期完成有关的立法程序。



1 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。
2 implored
恳求或乞求(某人)( implore的过去式和过去分词 )
  • She implored him to stay. 她恳求他留下。
  • She implored him with tears in her eyes to forgive her. 她含泪哀求他原谅她。
3 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。
4 enact
vt.制定(法律);上演,扮演
  • The U.S. Congress has exclusive authority to enact federal legislation.美国国会是唯一有权颁布联邦法律的。
  • For example,a country can enact laws and economic policies to attract foreign investment fairly quickly.例如一个国家可以很快颁布吸引外资的法令和经济政策。
5 stabilize
vt.(使)稳定,使稳固,使稳定平衡;vi.稳定
  • They are eager to stabilize currencies.他们急于稳定货币。
  • His blood pressure tended to stabilize.他的血压趋向稳定。
6 dire
adj.可怕的,悲惨的,阴惨的,极端的
  • There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
  • We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了,但是我们渡过了困难。
7 loomed
v.隐约出现,阴森地逼近( loom的过去式和过去分词 );隐约出现,阴森地逼近
  • A dark shape loomed up ahead of us. 一个黑糊糊的影子隐隐出现在我们的前面。
  • The prospect of war loomed large in everyone's mind. 战事将起的庞大阴影占据每个人的心。 来自《简明英汉词典》
8 scrambled
v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 );攀登;争夺;(军事飞机)紧急起飞
  • Each scrambled for the football at the football ground. 足球场上你争我夺。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • He scrambled awkwardly to his feet. 他笨拙地爬起身来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
9 skeptical
adj.怀疑的,多疑的
  • Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
  • Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。
10 slump
n.暴跌,意气消沉,(土地)下沉;vi.猛然掉落,坍塌,大幅度下跌
  • She is in a slump in her career.她处在事业的低谷。
  • Economists are forecasting a slump.经济学家们预言将发生经济衰退。
11 pointed
adj.尖的,直截了当的
  • He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
  • She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。
12 entities
实体对像; 实体,独立存在体,实际存在物( entity的名词复数 )
  • Our newspaper and our printing business form separate corporate entities. 我们的报纸和印刷业形成相对独立的企业实体。
  • The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities. 北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。
13 shareholder
n.股东,股票持有人
  • The account department have prepare a financial statement for the shareholder.财务部为股东准备了一份财务报表。
  • A shareholder may transfer his shares in accordance with the law.股东持有的股份可以依法转让。
14 shareholders
n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )
  • The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
  • the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任
15 imposing
adj.使人难忘的,壮丽的,堂皇的,雄伟的
  • The fortress is an imposing building.这座城堡是一座宏伟的建筑。
  • He has lost his imposing appearance.他已失去堂堂仪表。
16 dealing
n.经商方法,待人态度
  • This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
  • His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。
17 acting
n.演戏,行为,假装;adj.代理的,临时的,演出用的
  • Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她,她只是假装的。
  • During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代,她的表演生涯黯然失色。
18 unwilling
adj.不情愿的
  • The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
  • His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝啬的雇主不肯给他加薪。
19 insistent
adj.迫切的,坚持的
  • There was an insistent knock on my door.我听到一阵急促的敲门声。
  • He is most insistent on this point.他在这点上很坚持。
20 adjournment
休会; 延期; 休会期; 休庭期
  • The adjournment of the case lasted for two weeks. 该案休庭期为两周。
  • The solicitor moved for an adjournment of the case. 律师请求将这个案件的诉讼延期。
学英语单词
abak
acutely aware
aformers
air flask
anatectic earthquake
at one's own expense
bakers creek
bashkir
caballeros
call processing tasks
capacitor bushing
cavalierness
central rectrice
centrifugal refrigerating machine
cff (compressibility of formation fluid)
characteristic ion
cladoxylopsids
compacting by high explosive
Denkyera
disulfide group
double limit
dry abrasive cloth
dual-catalyst
Durandal
dyll
ecoalarmist
entered tonnage
epinephelus flavocaeruleus
epiparietals
equipotential contour
ethylenediaminetetra-acetic acid
experimental development
father-of-six
Filago spathulata
film recording thermograph
fisetin
gate channel for repairing
gonatalgia
hand dressing
Hayama
hook conveyer
huvud
hydraulic-transmission
Indian relish
infra-median vein
kilerg
lateral meniscus
LHN
low carbon alloy
Lygodium palmatum
malaria survey
management training
mantodean
meganiche
merging data
merlon
middle meningeal artery
milk-shake
molecular equation
Mycoderma cerevisiae Hansen
National Petroleum Association
neutraling value
one-piece film
parallel association processor
pecorans
pelini
Pibul Songgram
pishamin
pointing out
prayerbooks
preplacode
private branch exchange,PBX
progermination
propellant outage
prox. acc
pseudo-operations
rapturizes
removing of the needle
rhusflavone
rozhdestvensky
safety mechanism
sarcoma virus
schmidt cameras
Sekenke
sequential buffering
silent status
slider control
smoot-hawleys
stabilized condition
start - up loan
status filters
subject(to)
teacup dog
tecla
thin silk
tidal observations
Torilis scabra
trabeate
tractor binder
unitary gas conversion process
untameably
Zcat