VOA标准英语2009年-US Stimulus Compromise Produces Little Overseas

Stocks are down on the world markets where traders are less than enthusiastic about the $798 billion U.S. compromise economic stimulus¹ package hammered out between congressional negotiators. And in London, Prime Minister Gordon Brown has strongly criticized the banking² bonus culture.
　
Pedestrians³ wait for walk signal in front of an electric market information display in Tokyo, 12 Feb 2009

Far from greeting the long-sought U.S. economic compromise, the markets reacted with reserved pessimism⁴ to the stimulus package. Many overseas investors⁵ feel it just will not be enough to fix the huge economic ills facing the world's largest economy.

That lack of optimism was felt first in Asia. In Japan, the Nikkei dropped three percent while Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 2.3 percent.

The Japanese electronics manufacturer Pioneer says it will lay-off 10,000 workers. The firm also plans to close its loss-making flat-screen television business.

In Europe, that same sentiment coupled with a raft of additional disappointing earnings⁶ reports kept the downward pressure on.

In France, the world's largest nuclear reactor⁷ operator, EDF, reported a 40 percent drop in net profits last year.

In Britain, drinks maker⁸ Diagio and communications giant British Telecom both warned of lower earnings.

Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown faced a two-and-a-half-hour grilling⁹ session in front of a parliamentary committee.

Now that a number of British institutions are partly-owned by the taxpayer¹⁰, he was asked what can be done about the huge bonuses many banks have been paying out to top executives.

"[The] short-term bonus culture in banks has got to end and we are putting in measures that will bring that to an end. The first stage of that is to make sure that performance is based on long-term success, allowing rewards to take place and not on short-term deals," he said. "And the second aspect of that is not to reward failure in any way."

The general mood on the streets of London is things will be getting tougher before they get better. The governor of the Bank of England says the British economy will decline sharply in the first half of this year.

1 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

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 pedestrians   

n.步行者( pedestrian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Several pedestrians had come to grief on the icy pavement. 几个行人在结冰的人行道上滑倒了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Pedestrians keep to the sidewalk [footpath]! 行人走便道。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 pessimism   

n.悲观者，悲观主义者，厌世者

参考例句：

• He displayed his usual pessimism.他流露出惯有的悲观。
• There is the note of pessimism in his writings.他的著作带有悲观色彩。

5 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

6 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

7 reactor   

n.反应器；反应堆

参考例句：

• The atomic reactor generates enormous amounts of thermal energy.原子反应堆发出大量的热能。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules.在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

8 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

9 grilling   

v.烧烤( grill的现在分词 )；拷问，盘问

参考例句：

• The minister faced a tough grilling at today's press conference. 部长在今天的记者招待会上受到了严厉的盘问。
• He's grilling out there in the midday sun. 他在外面让中午火辣辣的太阳炙烤着。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 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。