VOA标准英语10月-Global Market Volatility Continues

World markets are mostly lower amid continuing fallout from the failure of the U.S. House of Representatives to approve a bailout package for troubled financial institutions. VOA's Michael Bowman reports from Washington.
　

The Australian Securities Exchange board is a sea of red as Australian shares fell 3.4 percent in morning trade, 30 Sep 2008

Stock markets in Japan and Australia posted steep losses of more than four percent, while Hong Kong had a modest gain of less than one percent. Among major European markets, only London was higher in midday trading, while U.S. markets posted early gains after suffering the biggest ever single-day point loss Monday.

Investors² in many countries are increasingly panicked, according to senior manager Martin Hannecke of the Hong Kong-based financial firm Tyche Group.

"There is a huge amount of uncertainty³ now," he said. "The investors here have been looking to go into cash [sell assets] and they have seen substantial losses."

Less than an hour before trading began on Wall Street, President Bush reaffirmed the need for congressional action to stave off further financial upheaval⁴. Mr. Bush spoke⁵ hours after European leaders pleaded with their American counterparts to avoid further delay in tackling the situation.

German Chancellor⁶ Angela Merkel said that she and the German government expect that a U.S. financial rescue package will be approved this week, which she described as a vital precondition for creating new confidence in the markets.

Meanwhile, a European Union Commission spokesman said the United States must take responsibility and show leadership for its own sake and the sake of the world.

Just as the Bush administration has felt compelled to rescue or take over troubled American financial institutions, two Belgian banks have now received emergency bailouts. Ireland has moved to guarantee bank deposits. Central banks around the world have aggressively injected money into financial systems to counteract⁷ tight credit that could strangle economic expansion.

The increasingly-global financial crisis began with a rash of U.S. home foreclosures after a prolonged period of loose credit that saw millions of Americans acquire home mortgages they could not afford. U.S. housing prices have plummeted⁸ during the past year, and new figures show further sharp declines in America's biggest housing markets.

Without swift intervention⁹, the situation will get more grim, according to University of Maryland Business and Management Professor Peter Morici.

"We are going to see [U.S.] unemployment in the double digits¹⁰ if we do not do something fast," he said. "And we are going to see housing prices stay depressed¹¹, banks failing, the FDIC [Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation] insurance fund running out of money and the Congress having to bail¹ that out."

U.S. congressional leaders have pledged to renew efforts to pass an economic rescue package later in the week.

1 bail   

v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人

参考例句：

• One of the prisoner's friends offered to bail him out.犯人的一个朋友答应保释他出来。
• She has been granted conditional bail.她被准予有条件保释。

2 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

3 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

4 upheaval   

n.胀起，(地壳)的隆起；剧变，动乱

参考例句：

• It was faced with the greatest social upheaval since World War Ⅱ.它面临第二次世界大战以来最大的社会动乱。
• The country has been thrown into an upheaval.这个国家已经陷入动乱之中。

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

7 counteract   

vt.对…起反作用，对抗，抵消

参考例句：

• The doctor gave him some medicine to counteract the effect of the poison.医生给他些药解毒。
• Our work calls for mutual support.We shouldn't counteract each other's efforts.工作要互相支持，不要互相拆台。

8 plummeted   

v.垂直落下，骤然跌落( plummet的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Share prices plummeted to an all-time low. 股票价格暴跌到历史最低点。
• A plane plummeted to earth. 一架飞机一头栽向地面。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

10 digits   

n.数字( digit的名词复数 )；手指，足趾

参考例句：

• The number 1000 contains four digits. 1000是四位数。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The number 410 contains three digits. 数字 410 中包括三个数目字。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

11 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。