澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2012-07-04

 Let's look at finance and the International Monetary¹ Fund says the economic recovery in the United States remains² tepid³.

The IMF is warning the country must avoid tax increases and spending cuts that could send it back into recession, says the risks to the economy haven't intensified⁴.

I would say that first of all the US economic recovery remains tepid and downside risks haven't intensified. They are of two types: one is clearly external and comes from the current European situation and its potential deterioration⁵.  And the second is domestic and is really closely associated with No.1 the debts ceiling and No.2 the fiscal⁶ cliff.

That's Christine Lagarde, the head of IMF. Let's take a look at the markets.

It's a good night despite those warnings from the IMF. The Dow closed 72 points higher. The NASDAQ gained 25 and the S&P 500 also rose. In London, the FTSE finished 47 points in the black.

Checking commodity prices. 

West Texas Crude is trading at 87 US dollars and 72 cents a barrel. Tapis Crude is trading at 104 US dollars and 88 cents a barrel. And gold is at 1617 US dollars an ounce. The Australian dollar is buying 103 US cents, 82 euro cents and 65 pence sterling⁷.

1 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

2 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。

3 tepid   

adj.微温的，温热的，不太热心的

参考例句：

• She bent her mouth to the tap and drank the tepid water.她把嘴伸到水龙头底下去喝那微温的水。
• Her feet firmly planted on the tepid rough brick of the floor.她一双脚稳固地立在微温而粗糙的砖地上。

4 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 deterioration   

n.退化；恶化；变坏

参考例句：

• Mental and physical deterioration both occur naturally with age. 随着年龄的增长，心智和体力自然衰退。
• The car's bodywork was already showing signs of deterioration. 这辆车的车身已经显示出了劣化迹象。

6 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。

7 sterling   

adj.英币的(纯粹的，货真价实的)；n.英国货币(英镑)

参考例句：

• Could you tell me the current rate for sterling, please?能否请您告诉我现行英国货币的兑换率？
• Sterling has recently been strong,which will help to abate inflationary pressures.英国货币最近非常坚挺，这有助于减轻通胀压力。