VOA标准英语2008年-Asia's Financial Markets Sell Off as Central Ba

Leading central banks have rushed to add more cash to the world's financial system in an effort to calm nervous international markets. As Ron Corben in Bangkok reports, most Asian stock markets fell again Thursday, as investors¹ continued to react to turmoil² on Wall Street, although the sell-off slowed late in the day.
　
Japanese businessmen walk in front of share prices board in Tokyo, 18 Sep 2008

The central banks of the United States, Britain, Japan, the European Union and other nations are pumping more than $180 billion into the world's banking³ system. The money is intended to increase the cash available to lenders and borrowers and ease the credit crunch⁴ that has sent stock and bond markets reeling this week.

The announcement Wednesday appeared to soothe⁵ some investors. In late Asia trading, some of the steep losses seen early in the day were erased⁶. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index, which had fallen more than seven percent at midday, ended nearly unchanged.

Still, most Asian markets lost ground. Japan's Nikkei average closed down more than two percent, at a three-year low, with a similar decline in share prices in South Korea and Australia.

Investors fear more problems ahead in US financial industry
　
AIG offices in New York City, 16 Sep 2008

Investors in Asia fear further problems in the U.S. financial industry despite the government's $85 billion loan to rescue insurance company AIG. Investors also are rattled⁷ by the collapse⁸ of the investment bank Lehman Brothers and reports that more U.S. banks may be in trouble.

Arporn Chewakrengkai is the chief economist⁹ at Thailand's Government Pension Fund. She thinks many Asian banks could be owed money by troubled U.S. banks.

"I believe that several Asian banks will have an impact from the fall of those big banks [in the United States]. So I think the stock markets in the region are still going to deteriorate¹⁰ further," he said.

The fall in global share markets has wiped off more than $19 trillion in value since a peak was reached in late October last year.

Arporn says that means the region will see slower growth because there will be less money available for businesses to borrow to expand.

What caused crisis?

The crisis was caused by the most severe U.S. housing recession since the 1930s, which led to a credit shortage as thousands of homeowners fell behind on their mortgage payments.

Graham Catterwell is a business consultant¹¹ and former banker in Bangkok. Like many market analysts¹² around the world, he says part of the problem lies in loosely regulated financial markets and the U.S. budget and trade deficit¹³. A recovery, he says, could be two years away.

"Some people are panicking but there have been imbalances building up over quite a few years - building up without people noticing quite often and unwinding in ways people did not expect," he noted¹⁴.

Many economists¹⁵ expect to see further restructuring of the financial industry, with more companies looking to mergers¹⁶ and takeovers to remain solvent¹⁷.

 

1 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

2 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。

3 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• 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 crunch   

n.关键时刻；艰难局面；v.发出碎裂声

参考例句：

• If it comes to the crunch they'll support us.关键时刻他们是会支持我们的。
• People who crunch nuts at the movies can be very annoying.看电影时嘎吱作声地嚼干果的人会使人十分讨厌。

5 soothe   

v.安慰；使平静；使减轻；缓和；奉承

参考例句：

• I've managed to soothe him down a bit.我想方设法使他平静了一点。
• This medicine should soothe your sore throat.这种药会减轻你的喉痛。

6 erased   

v.擦掉( erase的过去式和过去分词 )；抹去；清除

参考例句：

• He erased the wrong answer and wrote in the right one. 他擦去了错误答案，写上了正确答案。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He removed the dogmatism from politics; he erased the party line. 他根除了政治中的教条主义，消除了政党界限。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 rattled   

慌乱的，恼火的

参考例句：

• The truck jolted and rattled over the rough ground. 卡车嘎吱嘎吱地在凹凸不平的地面上颠簸而行。
• Every time a bus went past, the windows rattled. 每逢公共汽车经过这里，窗户都格格作响。

8 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

9 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

10 deteriorate   

v.变坏；恶化；退化

参考例句：

• Do you think relations between China and Japan will continue to deteriorate?你认为中日关系会继续恶化吗？
• He held that this would only cause the situation to deteriorate further.他认为，这只会使局势更加恶化。

11 consultant   

n.顾问；会诊医师，专科医生

参考例句：

• He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
• Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来，加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。

12 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

13 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

14 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

15 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 mergers   

n.（两个公司的）合并( merger的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Mergers fall into three categories: horizontal, vertical, and conglomerate. 合并分为以下三种：横向合并，纵向合并和混合合并。 来自辞典例句
• Many recent mergers are concentrated within specific industries, particularly in retailing, airlines and communications. 现代许多合并企业集中进行某些特定业务，在零售业、民航和通讯业中更是如此。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

17 solvent   

n.溶剂；adj.有偿付能力的

参考例句：

• Gasoline is a solvent liquid which removes grease spots.汽油是一种能去掉油污的有溶解力的液体。
• A bankrupt company is not solvent.一个破产的公司是没有偿还债务的能力的。