Markets Welcome Central Banks' Efforts on Europe

 　　Stocks soared after the U.S. Federal Reserve and other major central banks agreed to make it easier to borrow dollars overseas, in a bid to ease the fallout of the European debt crisis.  The move came as European finance ministers delayed key decisions for resolving the European debt crisis.

　　The pressure is on for European leaders to deliver a plan next week to fix the eurozone crisis, after their finance ministers failed to do so at a meeting in Brussels.  European Economic Commissioner¹ Olli Rehn underscored the sense of urgency as he spoke² to reporters on Wednesday.

　　"Overall, I could say that we are now entering the critical period of 10 days to complete and conclude the crisis response over the European Union," said Rehn.  "And we have to continue to work especially on two fronts, both in order to ensure that we have a sufficiently³ credible⁴ financial firewall to contain market turbulence⁵.  And at the same time, we need to reinforce our economic governance."

　　The 10-day deadline is pegged⁶ to the December 8 summit of European heads of state and government. It will cap one of the European Union's bleakest⁷ years. 2010 has brought a spreading financial crisis to the 17 nations sharing the euro currency, bringing down several governments and weakening many banks.

　　Analysts⁸ and officials point to many causes. For Dutch Finance Minister Jan Kees de Jager, the problem is lack of fiscal⁹ discipline on the part of some eurozone nations. "Lack of economic reforms and lack of fiscal discipline has brought us into this crisis.  So you also have to address these fundamental issues," said de Jager.

　　Finance ministers did give Greece another, much-needed installment¹⁰ of bailout money during their two-day meeting that ended Wednesday.  But they failed to move on doubling the larger European rescue fund to more than a trillion dollars.

　　Despite the lack of strong EU action, financial markets soared after major central banks announced they would slash¹¹ the costs for foreign banks to borrow U.S. dollars.  The eurozone crisis has spawned¹² a credit crunch¹³, leaving many financial institutions struggling to borrow the money they need to fund their operations.

1 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 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。

4 credible   

adj.可信任的，可靠的

参考例句：

• The news report is hardly credible.这则新闻报道令人难以置信。
• Is there a credible alternative to the nuclear deterrent?是否有可以取代核威慑力量的可靠办法？

5 turbulence   

n.喧嚣，狂暴，骚乱，湍流

参考例句：

• The turbulence caused the plane to turn over.空气的激流导致飞机翻转。
• The world advances amidst turbulence.世界在动荡中前进。

6 pegged   

v.用夹子或钉子固定( peg的过去式和过去分词 )；使固定在某水平

参考例句：

• They pegged their tent down. 他们钉好了账篷。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She pegged down the stairs. 她急忙下楼。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

7 bleakest   

阴冷的( bleak的最高级 )； （状况）无望的； 没有希望的； 光秃的

参考例句：

• This is the bleakest novel I've ever read. 这是我读过的小说中最乏味的一本。
• Relax! When things appear at their bleakest. 放松！当情况显得凄凉的时候。

8 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。

9 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

10 installment   

n.(instalment)分期付款；(连载的)一期

参考例句：

• I shall soon pay the last installment of my debt.不久我将偿付我的最后一期债款。
• He likes to buy things on the installment plan.他喜欢用分期付款法购买货物。

11 slash   

vi.大幅度削减；vt.猛砍，尖锐抨击，大幅减少；n.猛砍，斜线，长切口，衣衩

参考例句：

• The shop plans to slash fur prices after Spring Festival.该店计划在春节之后把皮货降价。
• Don't slash your horse in that cruel way.不要那样残忍地鞭打你的马。

12 spawned   

（鱼、蛙等）大量产（卵）( spawn的过去式和过去分词 )； 大量生产

参考例句：

• The band's album spawned a string of hit singles. 这支乐队的专辑繁衍出一连串走红的单曲唱片。
• The computer industry has spawned a lot of new companies. 由于电脑工业的发展，许多新公司纷纷成立。

13 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。