VOA标准英语2008年-Bernanke Spells out Economic Woes to Congress

Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke says the U.S. economy is facing numerous difficulties amid a continuing downturn in housing, high oil prices, and renewed turmoil¹ in financial markets. VOA's Barry Wood has more.
　
Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke on Capitol Hill, 15 Jul 2008

In an appearance before the Senate Banking² Committee, Bernanke made clear that monetary³ policy is aimed at keeping the economy growing and fighting inflation. He gave no indication of future moves in interest rates.

The central bank chief told lawmakers the woes⁴ besetting⁵ the economy are more severe than they have been for several years, and as a result economic growth will be slower than earlier anticipated.

"Over the remainder of this year output is likely to expand at a pace appreciably⁶ below its trend rate, primarily because of continued weakness in housing markets, elevated energy prices and weak credit conditions," said Ben Bernanke. "Growth is projected to pick up gradually over the next two years as residential⁷ construction bottoms out and begins a slow recovery and as credit conditions gradually improve."

Bernanke was asked about the government's rescue of two federally chartered agencies that are the biggest players in the residential mortgage market. He defended the plan to offer assistance to the agencies, known as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and called for Congress to enact⁸ legislation that will strengthen public oversight⁹ of both entities¹⁰.

Bernanke said the economic outlook has downside risks mainly because of uncertainty¹¹ about future oil prices, which are up 50 percent this year and 500 percent since the beginning of the decade.

"Our best judgment¹² is that this surge in prices has been driven predominately by strong growth in underlying¹³ demand and tight supply conditions in global oil markets," he said. "Over the past several years the world economy has expanded at is fastest pace in decades, leading to substantial increases in the demand for oil."

Bernanke said a weak dollar may have contributed somewhat to the sharp rise in oil.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Labor¹⁴ Department reported soaring costs for gasoline and food pushed producer prices up by 1.8 percent in June and 9.2 percent during the past 12 months, the biggest increase since 1981.

At the same time the dollar reached a record low against the euro, a currency used by 15 European Union countries.

 

1 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。

2 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

3 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。

4 woes   

困境( woe的名词复数 )； 悲伤； 我好苦哇； 某人就要倒霉

参考例句：

• Thanks for listening to my woes. 谢谢您听我诉说不幸的遭遇。
• She has cried the blues about its financial woes. 对于经济的困难她叫苦不迭。

5 besetting   

adj.不断攻击的v.困扰( beset的现在分词 )；不断围攻；镶；嵌

参考例句：

• Laziness is my besetting sin. 懒惰是我积重难返的恶习。 来自辞典例句
• His besetting sin is laziness. 他所易犯的毛病就是懒惰。 来自辞典例句

6 appreciably   

adv.相当大地

参考例句：

• The index adds appreciably to the usefulness of the book. 索引明显地增加了这本书的实用价值。
• Otherwise the daily mean is perturbed appreciably by the lunar constituents. 否则，日平均值就会明显地受到太阳分潮的干扰。

7 residential   

adj.提供住宿的；居住的；住宅的

参考例句：

• The mayor inspected the residential section of the city.市长视察了该市的住宅区。
• The residential blocks were integrated with the rest of the college.住宿区与学院其他部分结合在了一起。

8 enact   

vt.制定(法律)；上演，扮演

参考例句：

• The U.S. Congress has exclusive authority to enact federal legislation.美国国会是唯一有权颁布联邦法律的。
• For example,a country can enact laws and economic policies to attract foreign investment fairly quickly.例如一个国家可以很快颁布吸引外资的法令和经济政策。

9 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

10 entities   

实体对像； 实体，独立存在体，实际存在物( entity的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Our newspaper and our printing business form separate corporate entities. 我们的报纸和印刷业形成相对独立的企业实体。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities. 北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

11 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。

12 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

13 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

14 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。