VOA常速英语2008年-US Central Bank Chief Pledges to Help Strugglin

By Kent Klein
Washington
14 March 2008

The Chairman of the U.S. central bank says his agency will do everything it can to help American homeowners who have been hurt in the mortgage lending crisis. VOA's Kent Klein reports from Washington.

Chairman Ben Bernanke says the Federal Reserve is doing whatever possible to give homeowners relief from a record number of home foreclosures, which have been causing further damage to an already-weak U.S. housing market.

"The Federal Reserve is strongly committed to fully¹ employing our authority, expertise² and resources to help alleviate³ this distress," he said.

Bernanke spoke⁴ Friday before The National Community Reinvestment Coalition⁵, an organization that promotes affordable⁶ housing. He said the growing number of foreclosures and delinquencies have been caused by, among other things, irresponsible lending practices.

"However, far too much of the lending in recent years was neither responsible nor prudent," he said. "The terms of some subprime mortgages permitted homebuyers and inverstors to purchase properties beyond their means, often with little or no equity⁷. In addition, abusive, unfair or deceptive⁸ lending practices led some borrowers into mortgages that they would not have chosen knowingly."

The Fed chief did not make any new recommendations on how to alleviate the crisis, but he outlined the steps the Federal Reserve has been taking in the past few months. Among them is a proposal to ban a series of unfair or deceptive lending practices.

"Our goal was to produce clear and comprehensive rules to protect consumers from unfair practices while maintaining the viability⁹ of a market for responsible subprime lending," Bernanke said.

Bernanke said the Fed has been working since 2006 to make this and other changes, including more tightly regulating the mortgage industry, cracking down on deceptive mortgage advertising¹⁰ and supporting efforts to reach troubled borrowers.

President Bush said Friday the recent problems in the housing market are at the core of the country's economic problems.

Mr. Bush rejected several ideas for fighting the problem, including allowing bankruptcy¹¹ judges to change the terms of mortgages and allowing local and state governments to buy foreclosed homes.

1 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

2 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

3 alleviate   

v.减轻，缓和，缓解(痛苦等)

参考例句：

• The doctor gave her an injection to alleviate the pain.医生给她注射以减轻疼痛。
• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。

4 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。

5 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

6 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

7 equity   

n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票

参考例句：

• They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
• To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值，墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。

8 deceptive   

adj.骗人的，造成假象的，靠不住的

参考例句：

• His appearance was deceptive.他的外表带有欺骗性。
• The storyline is deceptively simple.故事情节看似简单，其实不然。

9 viability   

n.存活(能力)

参考例句：

• What is required to achieve or maintain such viability? 要达到或维持这种生存能力需要什么？
• Scientists are experimenting to find ways to ensure the viability of seeds for even longer periods of time. 正如我们所说，科学家正在试验努力寻找让种子的生命力更加延长的方法。

10 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

11 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。