联邦储备系统简介

39 联邦储备系统简介

DATE=6-30-2001
TITLE=IN THE NEWS #487 - Federal Reserve
BYLINE=Nancy Steinbach

    (start at 1'6") This is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English program IN THE NEWS.
    Earlier this week, the United States (1) Federal Reserve Board announced another cut in the amount banks pay to borrow money for a short term.  The Federal Reserve Board is a part of America's (2) central bank.
    The United States Congress established the (3) Federal Reserve System in Nineteen-Thirteen when it approved the Federal Reserve Act.  The (4) legislation¹ created Federal Reserve banks in twelve areas of the country.  They are (5) supervised² by the (6) Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.  All national banks must be members of the system.  State banks can be members if they meet federal requirements.
    Seven people serve on the Board of Governors.  The group is usually known as the Federal Reserve Board.  Each member is appointed by the President of the United States to a fourteen year term.  The Senate must approve the appointments of the board members. 
   The President names one member to serve as chairman for four years.  The current chairman of the Federal Reserve Board is Alan Greenspan.  He took office for a fourth term as Federal Reserve Chairman on June twentieth of the year Two-Thousand.  Mister Greenspan has been named chairman by presidents Reagan, Bush and Clinton.  
    The main responsibility of the Federal Reserve Board is to (7) influence the economy of the United States to avoid (8) inflation³ and support continuing growth.  It does this by controlling the nation's banking⁴ system and money supply.  The Federal Reserve also sets important interest rates.  Interest is the money people or businesses pay to banks for borrowing money.  
    The Federal Reserve establishes interest rates for loans that banks in the federal banking system make to each other. This is the (9) federal funds rate.  This rate influences interest rates for all other kinds of loans in the country.
    About two-thirds of the economic activity in the United States depends on personal spending.  Lower interest rates set by the Federal Reserve Board are supposed to increase personal spending by (10) reducing the cost of borrowing. 
    The Federal Reserve Board has been reducing the federal funds interest rate all year.  It started with a half-point cut on the second business day in January.  It continued to cut a half-point at each of the three Board meetings since then.  The Board even cut another half-point between meetings on April eighteenth.  This reduced the rate from six and one-half percent in January to four percent.  Then on Wednesday, the Board cut the interest rate by one-quarter percent.  So the federal funds rate is now three and three quarters percent.  Experts say the (11) series of interest rate cuts this year is the most (12) aggressive action taken by the American central bank in nineteen years.
    This VOA Special English program IN THE NEWS was written by Nancy Steinbach.  This is Steve Ember.

(1)  Federal Reserve Board n.(美国)联邦储备金监察小组
(2) central bank n.中央银行
(3) Federal Reserve System n.(美国)联邦备银行制度
(4) legislation [ 7ledVis5leiFEn ] n.立法, 法律的制定(或通过)
(5) supervise [ 5sju:pEvaiz ] v.监督, 管理, 指导
(6) board [ bC:d ] n.木板, (供特殊用途的)木板, 甲板, 会议桌, 部
(7) influence [ 5influEns ] n.影响, 感化, 势力vt.影响, 改变
(8) inflation [ in5fleiFEn ] n.胀大, 夸张, 通货膨胀, (物价)暴涨
(9) federal funds <美>联邦基金
(10) reduce [ ri5dju:s ] vt.减少, 缩小, 简化, 还原
(11) series [ 5siEri:z ] n.连续, 系列, 丛书, 级数
(12) aggressive [ E5^resiv ] adj.好斗的, 敢作敢为的, 有闯劲的, 侵略性的

 

 

1 legislation   

n.立法，法律的制定；法规，法律

参考例句：

• They began to draft legislation.他们开始起草法规。
• The liberals band together against the new legislation.自由党员联合一致反对新的立法。

2 supervised   

v.监督，管理( supervise的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The architect supervised the building of the house. 建筑工程师监督房子的施工。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He supervised and trained more than 400 volunteers. 他指导和培训了400多名志愿者。 来自辞典例句

3 inflation   

n.胀大，夸张，通货膨胀

参考例句：

• Gold prices are often seen as an indicator of inflation.黃金价格常常被看作是通货膨胀的指标。
• The inflation of the airbed took several minutes.给空气床垫充气花了几分钟时间。

4 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。