VOA标准英语2009年-US Treasury Secretary Unveils Plan to Unfreeze

U.S. Treasury¹ Secretary Timothy Geithner on Tuesday unveiled the Obama administration's plan to remove bad debts from the banking² system and restore the confidence needed for normal lending to resume. The new effort likely will cost a huge sum of taxpayer³ money.
　
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner speaks in Washington on economic plan, 10 Feb 2009

Geithner says the government will do all that is necessary to save the nation's banking system. U.S.-based financial institutions remain distressed⁴ 18 months after the onset⁵ of a credit squeeze caused by bad loans to the housing sector⁶. Thus far, injections of hundreds of billions of dollars in government money to banks have failed to resolve the problem.

He said that in some respects, the problem has worsened and that the financial system is seriously damaged. "The credit markets that are essential for small businesses and consumers are not working. Borrowing costs have risen sharply for state and local governments, for students trying to pay for college and for businesses large and small. Many banks are reducing lending, and across the country they are tightening⁷ the terms of loans," he said.

At the center of Geithner's plan is a public-private partnership⁸ to buy as much as $1 trillion of bad loans still on the books of financial institutions. And another $1 trillion could be made available to boost bank lending.

Geithner said there had been a sudden loss of confidence in the financial system and that his plan entails⁹ a reshaping of the system. "This strategy will cost money. It will involve risk. And it will take time. But as costly¹⁰ as this effort may be, we know that the cost of a complete collapse¹¹ of our financial system would be incalculable for families and businesses and for our nation," he said.

Wall Street was unimpressed with the Geithner plan and financial stocks sold off sharply. Analysts¹² complained about a lack of specific measures and disliked the Treasury secretary's reference to banks being subjected to a medical-like stress test to determine whether they should receive more government money.

Other analysts said Geithner's plan represents a compromise, attempting to reconcile public anger about excesses in the banking system, while cajoling banks to boost lending.

Geithner said he will seek support for his plan and coordinate¹³ measures with other governments when he meets this week with finance leaders from the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations in Rome.

1 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

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 taxpayer   

n.纳税人

参考例句：

• The new scheme will run off with a lot of the taxpayer's money.这项新计划将用去纳税人许多钱。
• The taxpayer are unfavourably disposed towards the recent tax increase.纳税者对最近的增加税收十分反感。

4 distressed   

痛苦的

参考例句：

• He was too distressed and confused to answer their questions. 他非常苦恼而困惑，无法回答他们的问题。
• The news of his death distressed us greatly. 他逝世的消息使我们极为悲痛。

5 onset   

n.进攻，袭击，开始，突然开始

参考例句：

• The drug must be taken from the onset of the infection.这种药必须在感染的最初期就开始服用。
• Our troops withstood the onset of the enemy.我们的部队抵挡住了敌人的进攻。

6 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

7 tightening   

上紧，固定，紧密

参考例句：

• Make sure the washer is firmly seated before tightening the pipe. 旋紧水管之前，检查一下洗衣机是否已牢牢地固定在底座上了。
• It needs tightening up a little. 它还需要再收紧些。

8 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

9 entails   

使…成为必要( entail的第三人称单数 )； 需要； 限定继承； 使必需

参考例句：

• The job entails a lot of hard work. 这工作需要十分艰苦的努力。
• This job entails a lot of hard work. 这项工作需要十分努力。

10 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

11 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

12 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

13 coordinate   

adj.同等的，协调的；n.同等者；vt.协作，协调

参考例句：

• You must coordinate what you said with what you did.你必须使你的言行一致。
• Maybe we can coordinate the relation of them.或许我们可以调和他们之间的关系。