VOA慢速讲解:奥巴马对银行施加限制

flywhy · 发表于 2010-1-22 22:16

Obama Seeks Limits on Banks,Condemns Campaign Finance Ruling

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

President Obama is proposing rules to limit the size of banks and the risks they can take. He wants to prevent banks from using government-insured deposits to make risky investments. He also wants to keep them from owning hedge funds or private equity funds.

Banks took big losses as they traded mortgage-related securities that went bad. That helped create the financial crisis.

Bank shares fell after the president's announcement Thursday. His earlier efforts at financial reform have faced strong opposition from financial companies and some members of Congress.

Scott Brown, a Republican state senator, celebrates in Boston after a special election for U.S. senator from Massachusetts. He won the remaining three years in the term of Ted Kennedy, a Democrat who had held his seat for almost 50 years.
In the Senate, sixty votes are needed to prevent unlimited debate on a bill. But the Democrats have lost their sixtieth vote. On Tuesday voters in Massachusetts elected a Republican to finish the term of Ted Kennedy who died in August.

Scott Brown opposes the health care legislation in Congress. His election could also affect other areas, like climate change legislation and reforms in the financial system.

And at the same time a separate development could affect future elections. The United States Supreme Court has cleared the way for independent spending by businesses and labor unions in political campaigns. The court decided, five to four, on Thursday to overturn its own ruling from nineteen ninety.

That case let the government bar corporations from using their own money to pay for campaign ads for or against candidates. Now the court says the restriction on political speech violates free speech rights guaranteed by the Constitution.

But President Obama says the decision will reduce the influence of average Americans. He called it a "major victory" for powerful interests like big oil companies, Wall Street banks and health insurance companies. He directed his administration to talk with congressional leaders from both parties to develop a "forceful response."

Elections for Congress are this November. The next presidential election is in two thousand twelve.

Wednesday marked Barack Obama's first anniversary in office. But the Republican victory in liberal Massachusetts was seen in large part as a sign of voter anger across the country about the economy.

Unemployment has doubled in two years to ten percent. Many people are angry that they struggle while the government rescued big banks. Some banks took losses last year but others earned record profits.

And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report. I'm Mario Ritter.

flywhy · 发表于 2010-1-22 22:17

这里是VOA慢速英语经济报道。

奥巴马总统提议制定新的措施，对银行的规模和高风险交易进行限制。他希望限制银行利用政府担保的保证金进行高风险投资。他还希望限制银行持有对冲基金或私募股权投资基金。

银行在交易不良抵押债券时遭受严重损失。这导致金融危机的发生。

奥巴马总统周四宣布该决定之后，银行股遭遇重挫。奥巴马此前在金融行业改革方面的努力遭遇了金融公司和国会其他成员的强烈反对。

在参议院，需要60张选票的支持才能避免无限制的争论。但是民主党已经失去了第60张选票。周二，马萨诸塞州选民进行投票，一名民主党人当选，完成八月份去世的Ted Kennedy的本届任期。

Scott Brown反对国会的医疗改革法案。他的当选还会影响其他领域，例如气候变化法案和金融体系改革。

同时，另外一个事件也会影响将来的选举。美国最高法院为企业和工会在政治活动中的独立花费扫清了道路。周四，该法院以5:4的投票推翻了1990年的裁决。

当时法律要求政府限制公司使用自己的资金来为支持或反对某个候选人的竞选广告付费。现在，法庭宣布，对政治言论的限制违反了宪法规定的言论自由的权利。

但是奥巴马总统表示，该决定将降低普通美国人的影响力。他表示，对于大型石油公司，华尔街的银行或医疗保险公司等大的利益群体来说，这是一个“重大胜利”。他命令政府与国会两党领袖进行对话，进行“更强有力的回应”。

国会选举将在今年11月份举行。下届选举将在2012年举行。

周三是奥巴马总统执政一周年纪念日。但是马萨诸塞州共和党人的胜利很大程度上被视为全国民众对经济形势的愤怒。

两年之内，失业率翻倍，上升到10%。许多民众非常愤怒，他们苦苦挣扎时，政府却忙于拯救大型银行。去年，一些银行遭受了损失，但是其他银行却获取了创纪录的利润。

flywhy · 发表于 2010-1-22 22:17

1.deposit n.存款,保证金

例句：It's up to you to pay back all deposits.
所有押金都该由你去退还。

vt. 储蓄,付;使沉淀,使淤积；把硬币投入(自动售货机等) 留下

例句：The flood deposited a layer of mud in the streets.
洪水在街道上沉淀下一层稀泥。

2.risky a.危险的,有风险的

例句：It was a risky operation, but might buy more time.
这样做有风险，但可能会赢得更多的时间。

3.overturn v.推翻,颠倒

例句：An attempt to overturn the government was made.
人们试图推翻这个政府。

4.violate v.违犯,亵渎,干扰,违反,侵犯,妨碍

例句：The country violated the international agreement.
这个国家违反了国际协议。

5.guarantee v.保证,担保

例句：We should fight to guarantee the "animal welfare".
我们应该为保障“动物福利”而战。

n. 担保,抵押品,保证书

例句：A diploma is no guarantee of efficiency.
持有文凭不能保证工作效率一定高。

6.forceful a.有力的,强烈的

例句：The article has a forceful ending.
文章的结尾很有力量。

7.double v.加倍,快步走,加倍努力

例句：When do you double the final consonant?
在什么情况下双写词尾的辅音字母？

与它相对的是：halve v.减半

flywhy · 发表于 2010-1-22 22:17