VOA标准英语10月-European Share Rally Extends Into Third Day

European shares extend their rally into a third day Thursday. For VOA, Tom Rivers in London has details.

Encouraged by the U.S. Federal Reserve half a percentage point interest rate cut, European markets, as in Asia, have picked up some lost ground amid hopes of a round of cuts soon.
　

Double-decker bus advertising1 chocolate drives past The Bank of England in central London, 08 Oct 2008

In Britain, the Bank of England is expected to cut rates in the next few days. While the Bank's decision is independent from the government, Treasury² Secretary Alastair Darling hinted Thursday that the central bank will likely opt³ for a cut now to counter growing recessionary pressures.

"The Bank of England's remit⁴ is sufficiently⁵ wide to allow it firstly to target inflation. And I think inflation is coming back down now, or will come back down now, but also to help the government in its wider objectives of supporting the economy," said Darling.

Recession worries here, as in the rest of Europe, center on mortgage difficulties, rising unemployment and the difficulties small businesses face. Darling says the government is freeing up four billion pounds, or around $6.5 billion, specifically for banks to loan to those small companies feeling the squeeze right now.

"I want to make sure that we do everything we possibly can to help them. And today's step of making that extra four billion pounds available I believe will be a significant step forward and I want the banks to get on with doing the job that they do and that is making sure that where you have got perfectly⁶ good prospects⁷, that you help those businesses. They need that help," he said.

Elsewhere on the European markets Thursday, strong third quarter results by Deutsche Bank, Germany's largest bank, boosted the Dax index. Commerzbank and UBS were also up.

Royal Dutch Shell fell two percent, despite recording⁸ a quarterly net profit increase of just over 70 percent.

Among others reporting results, consumer giant Unilever was up two percent after posting a rise in third quarter sales.

While the mood is more upbeat Thursday, analysts⁹' stress that the European economy remains¹⁰ in a slump¹¹ and that inevitably¹² means there will be more bad days ahead.

1 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

2 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。

3 opt   

vi.选择，决定做某事

参考例句：

• They opt for more holiday instead of more pay.他们选择了延长假期而不是增加工资。
• Will individual schools be given the right to opt out of the local school authority?各个学校可能有权选择退出地方教育局吗？

4 remit   

v.汇款，汇寄；豁免（债务），免除（处罚等）

参考例句：

• I hope you'll remit me the money in time.我希望你能及时把钱汇寄给我。
• Many immigrants regularly remit money to their families.许多移民定期给他们的家人汇款。

5 sufficiently   

adv.足够地，充分地

参考例句：

• It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
• The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。

6 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

7 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

8 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

9 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

10 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

11 slump   

n.暴跌，意气消沉，（土地）下沉；vi.猛然掉落，坍塌，大幅度下跌

参考例句：

• She is in a slump in her career.她处在事业的低谷。
• Economists are forecasting a slump.经济学家们预言将发生经济衰退。

12 inevitably   

adv.不可避免地；必然发生地

参考例句：

• In the way you go on,you are inevitably coming apart.照你们这样下去，毫无疑问是会散伙的。
• Technological changes will inevitably lead to unemployment.技术变革必然会导致失业。