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　　Persistent¹ fears of a deep economic downturn and deteriorating² corporate³ performance are keeping the markets in Europe in a gloomy mode.
欧洲投资人持续担心经济严重衰退和公司业绩恶化，愁云惨雾笼罩股市。
Lead by disappointing November U.S. unemployment figures, the European markets finished up the week on a downward note. Oil and banking⁴ shares on Friday were among the biggest losers.
美国11月令人失望的失业数据使得欧洲股市以跌势结束了这个星期。星期五，石油和银行类股的跌幅最大。
The negative mood comes just a day after European central banks slashed⁵ interest rates in the hope of stabilizing⁶ the markets.
就在这种负面情绪弥漫市场的前一天，欧洲各中央银行削减利率，希望稳定市场。
On Thursday, the Bank of England dropped interest rates a full point down to the two percent level.
星期四，英格兰银行下调利率一个百分点至2%。
It is now up to the commercial banks to pass that on to their customers in the form of lower loan and mortgage rates but not all are enthusiastically willing to do that.
现在需要商业银行通过降低贷款和房贷利率来把降息的效应传导到它们的客户，但是并非所有商业银行都诚心愿意那样做。
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown says he is doing his best to encourage the financial institutions to pass on the cuts.
英国首相布朗说，他正在竭尽全力鼓励金融机构把降息的效应体现出来。
"We are talking to banks. Remember the last time and interest rates came down 1.5 percent, we had to talk to the banks before things moved forward," he said. "But things did move forward and we will be talking to the banks again."
布朗说：“我们正在和各银行对话，还记得上次利息下调1点5个百分点吗？当时我们不得不和银行对话，才使得信贷市场出现好转。但是这种对话的确生效，所以我们将再次和银行对话。”
Philip Booth from the Institute of Economic Affairs says banks in Britain that have been recapitalized by the government are trying to strike a balance between retaining some of those funds while also loosening up lending to help the economy in general.
经济事务研究所的菲利普.布斯说，接受了政府注资的英国银行正在试图寻找平衡，在保留部分政府资金的同时，也在放松银根，帮助整体经济。
"The banks are desperate not to make the same mistakes again and at the same time they want to try to rebuild their balance sheets so that the banking market, the markets for savings⁷ and lending, can get back to normal again," he said.
布斯说：“银行极力避免重犯相同的错误，同时他们也希望争取重建它们的资产负债表，从而使储蓄和借贷的金融市场能够重新恢复正常。”
In the auto⁸ sector⁹, carmaker BMW has announced that November sales were down 26 percent compared to a year ago.
在汽车产业，汽车制造商宝马公司宣布，11月份的销售量比去年同期下降了26%。
Honda car sales in their key U.S. market meanwhile were down 30 percent last month. And that steep downward trend for the manufacturer has forced it to pull out of the glitzy world of Formula One racing¹⁰.
与此同时，本田汽车在其关键性市场美国的销售量上个月也下降了30%。销售量的严重下降已经迫使本田公司退出了享誉全球的一级方程式汽车大赛。
Unless a buyer for the Honda team is found by the end of this month, its racing operations in northern England will cease with the loss of over 700 jobs.
除非在这个月底找到买主接管本田车队，否则它将终止在北英格兰的赛事，结果将使700多人失业。
Honda's Formula One technical manager Ross Brawn¹¹ concedes it is a difficult time for his staff.
本田一级方程式比赛的技术经理罗斯.布朗承认，对于他的雇员来说，现在是一个艰难的时期。
"It is a great shame because this is a team that was coming together well with a plan that we are on schedule with," he said. "We had three-year plan. This year's results were poor but I would not say that was part of the plan but that was understandable what we were trying to achieve next year and the third year."
他说：“这真令人遗憾，因为这是一个按计划及时组建的赛车组。我们制定了三年的规划，今年的结果不好，但我不认为这是我们规划的一部分，这种结果是可以理解的。我们将争取在明年和第三年实现既定目标。”
Brawn says his number one priority now is to work to keep the team alive by finding a buyer that would secure as many jobs as he can at the Northamptonshire base.
布朗表示，他目前的首要目标是找到一个买主，使本田车队得以幸存，这将使他能够尽可能多地保留那些在北安普敦郡基地的工作人员。
Racing enthusiasts¹² fear that Honda might just be the first of a number of teams that will be forced out of the sport due to the current tough economic times.
赛车迷们担心本田可能只是第一个在当前经济困难时期被迫退出比赛的车队。