新奇事件簿 津元换美元新规

The central bank of Zimbabwe scrapped¹ the country's national currency on Friday and started using the U.S. dollar. The Zimbabwean dollar has for the past decade become more and more worthless because of spiralling inflation. Hyperinflation peaked at an incredible 500 billion per cent in 2008. Since then, Zimbabweans began seeking financial security in the U.S. dollar. Economists² estimate that today, 90 per cent of the economy is based on the U.S. dollar. People have until September to exchange their remaining local currency for the U.S. dollar. The official exchange rate is one U.S. dollar to 35 quadrillion Zimbabwean dollars. That's 35 followed by 15 zeroes.

津巴布韦央行周五废除了津巴布韦元，而改为使用美元。由于通货膨胀，过去十年间，津巴布韦元变得越来越不值钱。2008年，津巴布韦的恶性通货膨胀达到了惊人的百分之5000亿。从那时起，津巴布韦开始在美元上寻求安全。经济学家预测称如今经济中的90%都依赖于美元。在9月份之前，人们都可以将剩余的本国货币换成美元。官方汇率为1美元换取35千万亿津元。35换取15个“零”。

All is not lost for the old Zimbabwean dollar. The large number of zeroes that make up each denomination³ of the bills is making them a collector's item online. On the auction⁴ site eBay, a 100 trillion Zimbabwean dollar note is getting up to US$35 from bidders⁵. This is nearly one hundred times more than the 40 U.S. cents the bill is officially worth in a bank. One hundred trillion is one followed by 14 zeroes. The 100 trillion dollar bill used to be able to buy a weekly bus ticket. One enterprising Zimbabwean has decided⁶ to cash in on the old currency by selling it to tourists. Shadreck Gutuza, a former currency trader, said it was a waste of time to cash it in at the banks when tourists will buy the notes for US$20.

这对于津元来说并不都是坏事。去货币化所带来的“零户头”将让津元成为网上的收藏产品。在eBay的拍卖网站上，100万亿津元的最高拍价为35美元。这比40美分的银行价值还高出了将近100倍。100万亿将得到14个“零”。以前，100万亿津元能够买到一周的公交车票。一位有想象力的津巴布韦人决定通过将旧币售卖给游客来兑现。前外汇交易商Shadreck·Gutuza称在银行兑现是耽误时间，因为游客会出20美元来购买旧币。

1 scrapped   

废弃(scrap的过去式与过去分词)； 打架

参考例句：

• This machine is so old that it will soon have to be scrapped. 这架机器太旧，快报废了。
• It had been thought that passport controls would be scrapped. 人们曾认为会放开护照管制。

2 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》

3 denomination   

n.命名，取名，(度量衡、货币等的)单位

参考例句：

• The firm is still operating under another denomination.这家公司改用了名称仍在继续营业。
• Litre is a metric denomination.升是公制单位。

4 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。

5 bidders   

n.出价者，投标人( bidder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Bidders should proceed only if they intend on using a PayPal account to complete payment. Bidders的唯一形式，应继续只当他们在使用贝宝帐户，以完成付款打算。 来自互联网
• The other bidders for the contract complained that it had not been a fair contest. 其他竞标人抱怨说该合同的竞标不公平。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 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。