2007年VOA标准英语-US Central Bank Chief Faces Senate Questions on

By Barry Wood
Washington
19 July 2007

Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke spoke¹ to a Senate committee Thursday about conditions in the U.S. housing market. VOA's Barry Wood reports the chairman of America's central bank faced tough questioning from the senators about the difficulties poorer Americans are having paying their home loans.

Federal Reserve Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke testifies before the House Financial Services Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, 18 Jul 2007

The Federal Reserve chief was put on the defensive² by senators alarmed over the increasing number of foreclosures on borrowers who cannot meet their monthly home payments. Ben Bernanke was unable to offer little good news. He said home prices nationwide are still rising, although the rate of increase has slowed.

"So we have not yet seen anything, except in a few local areas, akin³ to a decline in house prices. We have not yet seen a decline in [overall] consumption [by consumers]," he said.

Bernanke told the senators that the losses from bad home loans, loans that borrowers are unable to repay, could reach $100 billion this year. These losses are being borne by financial institutions and not by the government.

Senator Jim Bunning, from Kentucky, had little sympathy for the companies that loan money to homebuyers. He said many of them lure⁴ buyers into purchasing house they cannot afford. "Instead of buying a $400,000 home, it should have been a [$]200,000 home. Instead of an interest-free loan, it should have been a 30-year mortgage," he said.

Senator Robert Menendez, from New Jersey⁵, said many households cannot afford to pay their home loans because they are so deep in debt.

"The average family in America is in debt for over $130 for every $100 it has to spend. And compounding this is that the average household savings⁶ rate has actually been negative for the past seven quarters [21 months], averaging a negative one percent for 2006," he said.

Responding to the senators, Bernanke agreed that poorer Americans are being financially squeezed and don't have needed savings. He suggested that the Federal Reserve might undertake a program of public education about the need to save.

"The fact is that the bottom third of our population has almost no savings, maybe less than $500. I think this is a very serious problem. We need to find ways to make people more cognizant of the need to save, to help them to save, so they can build wealth and will have more security in case they have, for example, an illness or an unemployment spell," he said.

Debt has become a problem for many Americans. Recent figures say that most households have credit card debt that exceeds $8,000.

1 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。

2 defensive   

adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的

参考例句：

• Their questions about the money put her on the defensive.他们问到钱的问题，使她警觉起来。
• The Government hastily organized defensive measures against the raids.政府急忙布置了防卫措施抵御空袭。

3 akin   

adj.同族的，类似的

参考例句：

• She painted flowers and birds pictures akin to those of earlier feminine painters.她画一些同早期女画家类似的花鸟画。
• Listening to his life story is akin to reading a good adventure novel.听他的人生故事犹如阅读一本精彩的冒险小说。

4 lure   

n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引

参考例句：

• Life in big cities is a lure for many country boys.大城市的生活吸引着许多乡下小伙子。
• He couldn't resist the lure of money.他不能抵制金钱的诱惑。

5 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

6 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。