商业报道:经济--首要问题

Issue No. 1

The economy is front and center on voters' minds as markets slide, banks skirt collapse¹ and the dollar is in freefall.

The mortgage meltdown, the credit crunch². Up and down investments, uncertainty³ in the job market, today issue No.1 is the economy. The nation's housing crisis has 1 in 10 homeowners underwater. That's 8.8 million families owing more than their home is worth, according to Moody’s economy.com.

And many of those could lose their homes. 900 thousand households are currently in foreclosure according to the Mortgage Bankers Association and Industry Trade Group. American debt doesn't help the problem. The average American household with a credit card owed nearly 10 thousand dollars in 2007 according to cardweb.com which serves the credit card industry. Adam Levin of consumer information website credit.com.

"It's a disastrous⁴ threat. Uh, It's a threat based on the fact that the more debt that you get yourself involved in, the less income you are gonna have available to pay for other things.”

If all that debt isn't enough to pinch your pocket book, the loss of value in your investment certainly could. The stock market continues its wild ride, tanking one day, soaring the next. Despite some positive signs this week, the market's still down dramatically for the year. And it's harder to save money when you are spending more for everything you buy. Gas prices for one are at record high. All this leads to fears of recession. And with recession comes the possibility of job losses.

"Job loss is about as serious a threat to your financial security as there is. It's not terrible right now. The problem is the trend is going in the wrong direction, jobless claims are creeping higher."

The bureau of labor⁵ statistics says 6,300 people lost their jobs in February and economists⁶ say that number will likely rise. Mix all of these factors together, it signals a threat to your bottom line, your issue No.1.

Gerri Willis, CNN, New York.

Notes:

Meltdown: an event resulting in great loss and misfortune

在市场下滑，银行倒闭，美元疲软的情况下，经济是投票人最关心的首要问题。

信贷紧缩，信用崩溃，投资波动，就业市场形势不稳。今天，经济成了首要问题。房产危机导致十分之一的业主受到冲击。根据 Moody’s economy.com.的报道，880万家庭的房子物超所值。

其中许多人会失去房子。根据美国抵押贷款银行协会提供的数据，目前90多万房产被没收。美国债券并不能解决问题。根据行用卡行业网站cardweb.com，2007年美国持有信用卡的家庭平均欠债一万美元。

“这是灾难性的威胁。这种威胁意味这，你欠债越多，你的可支配收入越少。”

如果所有的债务不会把你的口袋掏空，你投资的贬值也会让你一无所有。股市继续波动，今天探底，明天飙升。虽然本周有一些积极的信号，今年的股市下跌依然很剧烈。而且物价上涨导致存钱更难。汽油价格达到历史新高。所有的一切导致对经济危机的恐慌。而经济萧条导致失业。

“失业的威胁像财政状况一样严重。现在情况还不是很严重。问题是，形势在向错误的方向演变，失业率会更高。”

劳工局统计数据表明，二月份有6，300人失业，经济学家表示，失业数据还会继续增加。综合考虑所有的因素，这预示着你的底线受到威胁——你最关心的经济问题。

单词注解：

Meltdown：导致巨大损失和不幸的事件

1 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。

2 crunch   

n.关键时刻；艰难局面；v.发出碎裂声

参考例句：

• If it comes to the crunch they'll support us.关键时刻他们是会支持我们的。
• People who crunch nuts at the movies can be very annoying.看电影时嘎吱作声地嚼干果的人会使人十分讨厌。

3 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

4 disastrous   

adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的

参考例句：

• The heavy rainstorm caused a disastrous flood.暴雨成灾。
• Her investment had disastrous consequences.She lost everything she owned.她的投资结果很惨，血本无归。

5 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

6 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》