VOA标准英语10月-Bush Remains Confident About Financial Rescue Pla

As world stock prices continue falling, U.S. President George Bush is trying to reassure¹ Americans and people around the world that his government is doing everything in its power to address the economic crisis. VOA's Kent Klein reports from Washington.
　

President George W. Bush makes statement on the economy at the White House, 10 Oct 2008

President Bush says the U.S. financial rescue plan will, in time, put the nation's economy back on its feet.

"The plan we are executing is aggressive,' the president explained. "It is the right plan. It will take time to have its full impact. It is flexible enough to adapt as the situation changes, and it is big enough to work."

The president spoke² outside the White House Friday, hoping to calm anxiety among Americans and people around the world about the state of the U.S. and global economy.

"This uncertainty³ has led to anxiety among our people. And that is understandable. But anxiety can feed anxiety," Mr. Bush noted⁴. "And that can make it hard to see all that is being done to solve the problem. The federal government has a comprehensive strategy and the tools necessary to address the challenges in our economy."

Meanwhile, leaders of the world's leading economies are meeting to look for answers to the global crisis. Finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of Seven--the United States, Japan, Britain, Germany, France, Italy and Canada - are in Washington for the weekend. Mr. Bush plans to meet with them on Saturday.

"Through these efforts the world is sending an unmistakable signal. We are in this together and we will come through this together," he said.

One possible remedy that may be discussed at the G-7 meeting is for governments to guarantee lending between banks.

Frozen credit markets and the prospect⁵ of a global recession have led to panic selling on the world's stock markets.

Asian and European stocks suffered major losses on Friday. Tokyo's Nikkei Index dropped 881 points, more than 9.5 percent, finishing Friday at 8,276. It was the biggest one-day loss for the Nikkei since 1987. It was a similar story in Hong Kong, where the Hang Seng plunged⁶ 7 percent, or 1146 points, closing at 14,797.

Stocks in London, Paris and Frankfurt were also down sharply for much of the day.

Heavy selling led exchanges in Austria, Russia and Indonesia to suspend trading, and the losses on Australia's markets caused traders to call it "Black Friday." Mr. Bush discussed the financial meltdown with Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on Friday.

In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped more than 600 points in the first few minutes of trading, then briefly⁷ surged into positive territory a half-hour later, but plunged again.

This week's coordinated⁸ interest rate cuts by several nations' central banks appear to have had little or no effect on investors⁹' confidence.

In other financial news, the Commerce Department says the U.S. trade deficit¹⁰ declined by 3.5 percent in August, to $59 billion. But the deficit with China rose to more than $25 billion, the second highest on record. The overall trade deficit is expected to continue shrinking, as the economic slump¹¹ leads to lower demand for imported goods.

One of America's biggest companies, General Electric, announced that its third-quarter profit was down by 22 percent. G.E. blamed the losses on its financing business.

And Citigroup is suspending its bid to buy the troubled bank, Wachovia. That paves the way for Wachovia to be acquired by Wells Fargo.

1 reassure   

v.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• This seemed to reassure him and he continued more confidently.这似乎使他放心一点，于是他更有信心地继续说了下去。
• The airline tried to reassure the customers that the planes were safe.航空公司尽力让乘客相信飞机是安全的。

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 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

4 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

5 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

6 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

7 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

8 coordinated   

adj.协调的

参考例句：

• The sound has to be coordinated with the picture. 声音必须和画面协调一致。
• The numerous existing statutes are complicated and poorly coordinated. 目前繁多的法令既十分复杂又缺乏快调。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

9 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

10 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

11 slump   

n.暴跌，意气消沉，（土地）下沉；vi.猛然掉落，坍塌，大幅度下跌

参考例句：

• She is in a slump in her career.她处在事业的低谷。
• Economists are forecasting a slump.经济学家们预言将发生经济衰退。