VOA标准英语2009年-Negative News Further Depresses Global Markets

World markets are lower after new figures show Japan's economy is shrinking at a rate not seen for decades and more bad financial news is released in Britain.
　
Man walks past share prices board in Tokyo, 12 Feb 2009

In Japan, a fourth-quarter economic contraction¹ of 3.3 percent rattled² the markets.

For the year, the world's second-largest economy shrank by 12.7 percent, which is a much steeper decline than is being seen in either the United States or Europe.

Reinforcing the point, Japan's Economic Minister said his country faces its worst economic crisis since the end of World War II.

The Tokyo market finished four-tenths of a percent down on the day while Hong Kong finished seven-tenths off.

In Europe, financial stocks again dragged the markets down.

In London, all eyes were on the Lloyds Banking³ Group. Much larger than expected losses at Halifax-Bank of Scotland or HBOS, which Lloyds recently acquired, sent jitters⁴ through the market.

London market analyst⁵ Richard Hunter says depending on how things go, some sense that Lloyds may need additional taxpayer⁶ backing further down the recessionary road.

"A lot of the sting was taken out on Friday, obviously, with that 32 percent drop. There are indeed concerns around nationalization. There are further concerns as well," Hunter noted⁷. "We are of course getting into a state of the recession where credit write-downs will become less of an issue, but normal write-downs, if you like, as people will start defaulting on loans will become more of an issue."

Adding to the gloom, a new report by the Confederation of British Industry shows that this is going to be a rough one economically in Britain with unemployment heading up.

"The slowdown in the economy, much faster than anticipated means that tax revenues will be way down, like 50 billion [Pounds] over the next couple of years and benefits will rise as unemployment increases," said CBI Director-General, Richard Lambert.
"So it looks as though we are talking about government borrowing over the next couple of years being, getting on for a 100 billion more than the Chancellor⁸ hoped for last time around."

Also adding to the depressed⁹ mood Monday, some investors¹⁰ reacted with disappointment after finance chiefs from the Group of Seven industrialized countries failed to produce any concrete measures at their meeting this weekend in Rome.

1 contraction   

n.缩略词，缩写式，害病

参考例句：

• The contraction of this muscle raises the lower arm.肌肉的收缩使前臂抬起。
• The forces of expansion are balanced by forces of contraction.扩张力和收缩力相互平衡。

2 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。

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 jitters   

n.pl.紧张(通常前面要有the)

参考例句：

• I always get the jitters before exams. 我考试前总是很紧张。
• The whole city had the jitters from the bombing. 全城居民都为轰炸而心神不宁。

5 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

6 taxpayer   

n.纳税人

参考例句：

• The new scheme will run off with a lot of the taxpayer's money.这项新计划将用去纳税人许多钱。
• The taxpayer are unfavourably disposed towards the recent tax increase.纳税者对最近的增加税收十分反感。

7 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。

8 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。

9 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。

10 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