英语听力精选进阶版 7151（在线收听）

Background: 今天受债务危机困扰的希腊政府希望能通过国际金融市场来募集10亿英镑（约15亿美元）。这次短期国库债券的拍卖是对希腊整体经济的信用度的关键考验。同时欧元区也通过了针对希腊的救助机制，涉及援助资金达260亿英镑（约400亿美金）。

The Greeks will be selling a mixture of treasury or T-bills, as they are called, that mature after six months or a year.

These are regarded as the safest form of securities and as a result usually attract a low level of interest.

But Athens paid a painful price when it last auctioned T bills.

One-year bills sold in January, at the height of the financial crisis, commanded an interest rate of 2.2%.

Whereas the same bill, sold in October 2009, before Greece's predicament exploded onto the world stage, only yielded interest of 0.9%.

Analysts will scrutinise the auction to determine whether the markets feel secure enough to dabble in Greek debt, now that the rescue plan is ready to roll.

Some economists doubt that there will be a significant reduction in interest rates demanded during January's sale.

The success, or not, of the auction, could be a factor in whether the Greeks decide to activate the Eurozone rescue mechanism.

The government here wants to be able to borrow from the international markets at reasonable interest rates.

But if traders are reluctant to purchase Greek debt, then the Prime Minister, George Papandreou, may be compelled to pull the ripcord of Brussels' parachute.

Glossary 词汇表

treasury bills (T-bills) 短期国库债券 

mature 成熟，到期 

securities 保障 

level of interest 利率 

auctioned 拍卖 

predicament 困境；窘境 

yielded 生产出，带来 

scrutinise 细察 

dabble 尝试，浅尝 

ready to roll 准备启动 

Eurozone rescue mechanism 欧元区救助计划 

traders 交易人 

debt 债务 

pull the ripcord of Brussels' parachute 拉开布鲁塞尔降落伞的开伞索，指启动欧盟的救助计划

Questions and Answers

1. How long do theT-bills take to pay a return to the people who buy them? 

They will mature after six months or a year.

2. Are these kinds of bills a risky investment? 

No, they are amongst the safest investments possible.

3. What happened to the interest rates between Oct 2009 and Jan 2010? 

They rose from 0.9% to 2.2%.

4. What will happen if the bill issue fails? 

The Greeks will be able to borrow money from other European government.