新视野大学英语视听说教程3 Unit 10-15

Task 3: A Stock Market Crash

A stock market crash is a dramatic loss of shares of corporations. Crashes often follow speculative¹ stock market bubbles such as the dot-com boom.
After the most famous crash in 1929, known as the Black Thursday when the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 50%, there came the Great Depression. The following years saw the Dow drop a total of over 85%.
There was also a crash on Monday, October 19, 1987, known in financial circles as the Black Monday, when the Dow lost 22%of its value in a single day, bringing to an end a five-year bull run. The pattern was repeated across the world.
The stock market downturn of 2002 was part of a larger bear market that took the NASDAQ 75%from its highs and broader indices down 30%.
Stock market crashes are driven by panic as much as by economics factors. They often follow stock market bubbles. So long as the prospect² of further daily drops in the value stocks continues, those who invest in equities³ will be discouraged. If few people are willing to make further investments, a bear market is expected to persist.

1 speculative   

adj.思索性的，暝想性的，推理的

参考例句：

• Much of our information is speculative.我们的许多信息是带推测性的。
• The report is highly speculative and should be ignored.那个报道推测的成分很大，不应理会。

2 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

3 equities   

普通股，股票

参考例句：

• These are invested mainly in the OECD bonds and equities. 这些资产主要投资于经济合作及发展组织的债券与股票市场。
• They are also advantage of the global rebound in equities. 它们还在利用全球股市反弹的机会。