VOA慢速英语 2008 1114a

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

Treasury¹ Secretary Henry Paulson is making changes in the seven hundred billion dollar rescue plan for the financial industry.
　
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson speaking to reporters Wednesday in Washington

The plan passed by Congress last month is called the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP. Secretary Paulson proposed to buy risky² housing-related investments from banks. But on Wednesday he announced that the Treasury Department has moved away from the idea of buying troubled assets.

Instead, he says the best way to help financial companies is to provide new capital, such as buying stock He said TARP and other measures have helped to calm financial markets that were in danger of collapse³. Now, he wants to use money from the program to help restart the market for securities based on consumer credit.

Secretary Paulson says this market has basically come to a halt. He says this is raising the cost and reducing the availability of car loans, student loans and credit cards. Jobs are also affected⁴. The government says unemployment reached six and a half percent in October -- the highest in fourteen years.

As the financial crisis deepens, more companies have turned to the government for help, including American automakers. Their sales are at the lowest levels in more than twenty years.

Congress approved twenty-five billion dollars in loans to help them build more fuel-efficient vehicles. Now some lawmakers also want to lend them twenty-five billion in financial rescue money. Secretary Paulson has resisted that idea.

The bailout program started with half of the seven hundred billion dollars. The Treasury has already used all but sixty billion. Congress has to agree to release the other half.

Banks and government programs have helped some struggling homeowners reduce their monthly loan payments. But critics say the government is doing more to help the financial industry than to solve the housing crisis weakening the economy.

So far the biggest recipient⁵ of aid is the insurance company American International Group. This week A.I.G. reported another huge loss related to home loans, almost twenty-five billion dollars between July and September. The government agreed to increase support for A.I.G. to one hundred fifty billion dollars in loans and stock purchases.

This weekend, leaders from the Group of Twenty countries meet in Washington on how to reform the financial system.

And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter and archived at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.

 

1 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

2 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

3 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。

4 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

5 recipient   

a.接受的,感受性强的 n.接受者,感受者,容器

参考例句：

• Please check that you have a valid email certificate for each recipient. 请检查是否对每个接收者都有有效的电子邮件证书。
• Colombia is the biggest U . S aid recipient in Latin America. 哥伦比亚是美国在拉丁美洲最大的援助对象。