VOA慢速英语2010-Economics Report - One Group’s Fight fo

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

Sometimes, financial news can be hard to understand. Here, a former official of Goldman Sachs investment bank explains what his group did before the financial crisis.

JOSH BIRNBAUM: “Our desk began to accumulate short positions, purchasing protection on individual securities through credit default swaps¹, largely from external C.D.O. managers who asked us to bid for these positions.”

Josh Birnbaum was involved in synthetic² C.D.O.s. These are really financial bets on whether some asset will gain or lose value. They are at the heart of the government’s case against Goldman Sachs for misleading investors³. Senator Claire McCaskill described synthetic C.D.O.s during a Senate subcommittee hearing.

CLAIRE MCCASKILL: “Let me just explain in very simple terms what synthetic C.D.O.s are. They are instruments that are created so that people can bet on them.”

The purpose of language is to communicate information. But it can often hide meaning. Have you ever agreed to the “terms of use” for a service without reading it all?

Annetta Cheek heads the Center for Plain Language in Silver Spring, Maryland. Her non-profit group has been working for more understandable language in government and business since two thousand four.

Two former officials at Goldman Sachs, Daniel Sparks, left, and Joshua Birnbaum, right on Wednesday during a meeting with lawmakers

She offers one piece of advice for people who receive long, unclear documents.

ANNETTA CHEEK: “If you don’t understand something, don’t sign it.”

This year, the Center for Plain Language is holding its first contest for best and worst language use. The best entry receives a ClearMark award. Confusing language gets a WonderMark award.

One of the WonderMark entries comes from the communications company, Blackberry. Annetta Cheek says the terms of use for a Blackberry are impossible to understand.

Miz Cheek says the health care and finance industries are known for using language that is hard to understand. Health care has made progress. Several industries are competing for this year’s ClearMark award. But the financial industry remains⁵ a problem.

ANNETTA CHEEK: “Part of the issue with the finance stuff, I think, is if people really understood it, they wouldn’t buy it.”

Miz Cheek says, since the nineteen nineties, the Securities and Exchange Commission has tried to get financial companies to give clearer product descriptions. This has helped sales.

ANNETTA CHEEK: “As they move more and more of their product descriptions into a plainer format⁴, the ones with the plainer and easier to understand description sold better.”

She says government has to be involved in requiring clear language because the marketplace has not dealt with the problem.

And that’s the VOA Special English Economics Report written by Mario Ritter. Share your thoughts at voaspecialenglish.com or on Facebook at VOA Learning English. You can also find transcripts⁶ and MP3s of our programs. I’m Steve Ember.

 

1 swaps   

交换( swap的名词复数 )； 交换物，被掉换者

参考例句：

• He swaps his old car for a new motorcycle. 他用旧车换了一辆新摩托车。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 口语
• Swaps the anchor and end points of the current selection. 交换当前所选内容的定位点和结束点。

2 synthetic   

adj.合成的，人工的；综合的；n.人工制品

参考例句：

• We felt the salesman's synthetic friendliness.我们感觉到那位销售员的虚情假意。
• It's a synthetic diamond.这是人造钻石。

3 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

4 format   

n.设计，版式；[计算机]格式，DOS命令:格式化(磁盘)，用于空盘或使用过的磁盘建立新空盘来存储数据；v.使格式化，设计，安排

参考例句：

• Please format this floppy disc.请将这张软盘格式化。
• The format of the figure is very tasteful.该图表的格式很雅致。

5 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

6 transcripts   

n.抄本（ transcript的名词复数 ）；转写本；文字本；副本

参考例句：

• Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样，都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
• You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书，你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句