国际金价是否虚高?

Jim Boulden: Another deal done, another customer selling gold coins to London dealer¹ Mike Temple. It's no surprise people are selling their gold coins and bars with prices at 25-year highs. But why are there still plenty of people buying at this level?

Mike Temple: Because they see it as a long term investment, and as a security backing, you know, to their total portfolio², just to keep a little bit, say, 10% or whatever they want to keep, in physical gold.

Jim Boulden: Gold has always had an appeal of course. And demand in Asia for personal use is very strong. But the price has spiked³ in recent months thanks to speculators, and also buying from conservative institutions like pension funds , making these little bars worth ever more their weight in gold. (be worth its/your weight in gold: to be extremely useful or valuable)

Jim Boulden: This is almost 20, 000 dollars here [Yeah! ]as an investment, and the value of this would have gone up how much in the last year?

Mike Temple: Well, nearly, say between 30 and 50 percent.

Jim Boulden: People are now talking about a bubble in gold prices. But speculators are gambling⁴ that demand will continue and gold will continue to be in short supply.

Jill Leyland: There has been a dearth⁵ of exploration at the end of 1990s and the beginning of this decade. There are, there have been relatively⁶ few major finds of golds to replace exhausted⁷ mines. In contrast, demand last year was extremely strong. Identifiable demand rose by 7% in tonnage terms and by 16% in dollar terms.

Jim Boulden: But of course it's not just gold that glitters these days. Oil is backed up at record levels, silver is at a 22-year high, even orange juice futures⁸ are at a 14-year high. And copper⁹ prices have doubled in the past year.

Peter Kettle: It's a combination of the supply-demand position in the individual markets and a number of general factors, the, the growth in demand from China was a big one. But I think also, yes, the, the increasing interest of, of pension funds in diversifying¹⁰ their assets, putting a very small proportion of the total into commodities. But that small proportion is very big money.

Jim Boulden: A risk perhaps with prices so high. But for now, Mike Temple is happy to lug¹¹ bags of silver and gold to and from his vaults¹² each day, as sellers and even more buyers are pouring through his door.

Jim Boulden: Jim Boulden, CNN, London.

1 dealer   

n.商人，贩子

参考例句：

• The dealer spent hours bargaining for the painting.那个商人为购买那幅画花了几个小时讨价还价。
• The dealer reduced the price for cash down.这家商店对付现金的人减价优惠。

2 portfolio   

n.公事包；文件夹；大臣及部长职位

参考例句：

• He remembered her because she was carrying a large portfolio.他因为她带着一个大公文包而记住了她。
• He resigned his portfolio.他辞去了大臣职务。

3 spiked   

adj.有穗的；成锥形的；有尖顶的

参考例句：

• The editor spiked the story. 编辑删去了这篇报道。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They wondered whether their drinks had been spiked. 他们有些疑惑自己的饮料里是否被偷偷搀了烈性酒。 来自辞典例句

4 gambling   

n.赌博；投机

参考例句：

• They have won a lot of money through gambling.他们赌博赢了很多钱。
• The men have been gambling away all night.那些人赌了整整一夜。

5 dearth   

n.缺乏，粮食不足，饥谨

参考例句：

• There is a dearth of good children's plays.目前缺少优秀的儿童剧。
• Many people in that country died because of dearth of food.那个国家有许多人因为缺少粮食而死。

6 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

7 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

8 futures   

n.期货，期货交易

参考例句：

• He continued his operations in cotton futures.他继续进行棉花期货交易。
• Cotton futures are selling at high prices.棉花期货交易的卖价是很高的。

9 copper   

n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的

参考例句：

• The students are asked to prove the purity of copper.要求学生们检验铜的纯度。
• Copper is a good medium for the conduction of heat and electricity.铜是热和电的良导体。

10 diversifying   

v.使多样化，多样化( diversify的现在分词 )；进入新的商业领域

参考例句：

• Some publishers are now diversifying into software. 有些出版社目前正兼营软件。 来自辞典例句
• Silverlit is diversifying into new markets, such as Russia and Eastern Europe. Silverlit正在使他们的市场变得多样化，开发新的市场如俄罗斯和东欧国家。 来自互联网

11 lug   

n.柄，突出部，螺帽；(英）耳朵；（俚）笨蛋；vt.拖，拉，用力拖动

参考例句：

• Nobody wants to lug around huge suitcases full of clothes.谁都不想拖着个装满衣服的大箱子到处走。
• Do I have to lug those suitcases all the way to the station?难道非要我把那些手提箱一直拉到车站去吗？

12 vaults   

n.拱顶( vault的名词复数 )；地下室；撑物跳高；墓穴

参考例句：

• It was deposited in the vaults of a bank. 它存在一家银行的保险库里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They think of viruses that infect an organization from the outside.They envision hackers breaking into their information vaults. 他们考虑来自外部的感染公司的病毒，他们设想黑客侵入到信息宝库中。 来自《简明英汉词典》