Mexican IMF Contender Visits Brazil

     The head of Mexico's central bank says Latin American countries deserve greater representation at the International Monetary¹ Fund.

    Agustin Carstens made the comments Wednesday in Brazil, where he is seeking support for his bid to become the next managing director of the IMF.

    Carstens met with Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega in Brazil's capital, Brasilia, and is scheduled to meet with the country's central bank chief Alexandre Tombini in Sao Paulo on Thursday.

    After the Wednesday meeting, Mantega told reporters it was a step forward to have a candidate from a developing nation in the running, after so many years of European leadership at the Fund.  He has said, however, that Brazil has not yet decided² whom to support, and that the decision would be made based on merit, not nationality.

    On Monday, the other top candidate(候选人) for the top IMF job, French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde, visited Brazil to seek its backing.  Lagarde said that if elected head of the IMF, she will push reforms to give Brazil and other emerging countries more influence at the lending institution.

    The 55-year-old Lagarde already has the backing of European Union nations.  Lagarde's visit to Brazil was the first on a global tour that is expected to take her to India, China and several African nations.

    European nationals have held the post at the IMF under an agreement reached with the United States after World War II, which stipulated³ that an American would head the World Bank.

    U.S. Treasury⁴ Secretary Timothy Geithner has called both Lagarde and Carstens "credible⁵" and "talented" candidates for the job.

    Former IMF leader Dominique Strauss-Kahn of France resigned last month following his arrest in New York on charges of sexual assault.

    The IMF is expected to announce the candidates for its top post by June 17 and the final selection will be made by June 30.(本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑)

1 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 stipulated   

vt.& vi.规定；约定adj.[法]合同规定的

参考例句：

• A delivery date is stipulated in the contract. 合同中规定了交货日期。
• Yes, I think that's what we stipulated. 对呀，我想那是我们所订定的。 来自辞典例句

4 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。

5 credible   

adj.可信任的，可靠的

参考例句：

• The news report is hardly credible.这则新闻报道令人难以置信。
• Is there a credible alternative to the nuclear deterrent?是否有可以取代核威慑力量的可靠办法？