The?threat?of?impending?financial?disaster?concentrates?political?minds?wonderfully.?On?Thursday?a?group?of?Congressional?leaders?heard?Hank?Paulson,?the?Treasury?secretary,?and?Ben?Bernanke,?the?Federal?Reserve?chairman,?paint?a?dire?economic?scenario?if?they?did?not?approve?a?more?sweeping?remedy?for?the?financial?crisis.?Student?and?car?loans,?not?just?mortgages,?would?all?be?harder?to?get.?The?economy?would?sink?into?a?severe?recession.??
　　迫在眉睫的金融災(zāi)難引起了相當(dāng)多的政治關(guān)注。上周四，一群國(guó)會(huì)領(lǐng)袖聽(tīng)了財(cái)長(zhǎng)保爾森和美聯(lián)儲(chǔ)主席伯南克所描述的，當(dāng)國(guó)會(huì)不通過(guò)這項(xiàng)全面拯救金融危機(jī)的方案，經(jīng)濟(jì)上將會(huì)出現(xiàn)的可怕場(chǎng)面。那時(shí)，不僅僅是抵押貸款，甚至連助學(xué)貸款和買車貸款可能都很難獲得。經(jīng)濟(jì)將陷入嚴(yán)重的衰退。
　　For?this?reason,?ad?hoc?responses?will?still?be?critical,?such?last?week’s?federal?guarantees?for?money-market?funds,?Fed?loans?to?banks?to?purchase?asset-backed?commercial?paper?and,?on?Sunday,?approval?of?the?remaining?two?big?independent?investment?banks,?Morgan?Stanley?and?Goldman?Sachs,?to?become?Fed-regulated?bank?holding?companies?whose?investment?bank?units?can?now?borrow?from?the?Fed?on?the?same?terms?as?other?banks.
　　基于這樣的原因，特別的拯救措施仍然非常關(guān)鍵，上周對(duì)貨幣市場(chǎng)的聯(lián)邦擔(dān)保，通過(guò)美聯(lián)儲(chǔ)購(gòu)買資產(chǎn)抵押的商業(yè)票據(jù)對(duì)銀行的貸款，以及在周日允許剩下的兩家大型投行——摩根斯坦利和高盛變?yōu)槊缆?lián)儲(chǔ)監(jiān)管銀行控股公司，使其投行部分現(xiàn)在也可以向其它銀行一樣向美聯(lián)儲(chǔ)借錢。
　　It?could?be?some?time?before?the?Treasury?is?able?to?purchase?mortgages?en?masse,?and?longer?still?before?that?starts?to?affect?the?broader?financial?system?and?economy.?In?the?meantime,?the?crisis?could?claim?other?victims.
　　財(cái)政部完成購(gòu)買所有的抵押貸款可能還需一段時(shí)間，而此舉對(duì)整個(gè)金融系統(tǒng)和經(jīng)濟(jì)發(fā)揮作用則更需時(shí)日。其間，金融危機(jī)的危害可能會(huì)波及更多的機(jī)構(gòu)。
　　有用的單詞和句子：
　　The?financial?crisis金融危機(jī)
　　A?break?in?the?clouds黑云裂日，曙光顯現(xiàn)
　　But?questions?abound?over?a?$700?billion?rescue?plan?for?Wall?Street.
　　有關(guān)7000億美元華爾街拯救計(jì)劃的問(wèn)題仍然不少。
　　Mr?Paulson’s?plan?is?stunning?in?its?brevity?(two-and-a-half?pages)?and?audacity.
　　保爾森計(jì)劃的簡(jiǎn)潔（只有兩頁(yè)半紙）和大膽令人驚訝不已。
　　What?Caused?The?Financial?Crisis?
　　I?think?we?can?sum?up?the?cause?of?our?current?economic?crisis?in?one?word?—?GREED.?Over?the?years,?mortgage?lenders?were?happy?to?lend?money?to?people?who?couldn’t?afford?their?mortgages.?But?they?did?it?anyway?because?there?was?nothing?to?lose.?These?lenders?were?able?to?charge?higher?interest?rates?and?make?more?money?on?sub-prime?loans.?If?the?borrowers?default,?they?simply?seized?the?house?and?put?it?back?on?the?market.?On?top?of?that,?they?were?able?to?pass?the?risk?off?to?mortgage?insurer?or?package?these?mortgages?as?mortgage-backed?securities.?Easy?money!?
and?what?went?wrong?with?our?financial?system??The?whole?thing?was?one?big?scheme.?Everything?was?great?when?houses?were?selling?like?hot?cakes?and?their?values?go?up?every?month.?Lenders?made?it?easier?to?borrow?money,?and?the?higher?demand?drove?up?house?values.?Higher?house?values?means?that?lenders?could?lend?out?even?bigger?mortgages,?and?it?also?gave?lenders?some?protection?against?foreclosures.?All?of?this?translates?into?more?money?for?the?lenders,?insurers,?and?investors.?Unfortunately,?many?borrowers?got?slammed?when?their?adjustable?mortgage?finally?adjusted.?When?too?many?of?them?couldn’t?afford?to?make?their?payments,?it?causes?these?lenders?to?suffer?from?liquidity?issue?and?to?sit?on?more?foreclosures?than?they?could?sell.?Mortgage-backed?securities?became?more?risky?and?worth?less?causing?investment?firms?like?Lehman?Brothers?to?suffer.?Moreover,?insurers?like?AIG?who?insured?these?bad?mortgages?also?got?in?trouble.?
The?scheme?worked?well,?but?it?reverses?course?and?is?now?coming?back?to?hurt?everyone?with?a?vengeance.
?Lasting?more?than?one?years,?the?American?housing?market?crisis?gradually?extended?to?the?whole?financial?system?to?be?a?financial?crisis?all?over?the?world,?in?which?progress?every?conuntry?is?included.?

Being?customed?by?market?economy,?most?western?countries?are?not?convenient?to?rely?on?the?government?input?to?survive?this?crisis,?but?they?have?no?other?alternatives.?
Basicly,?there?are?at?least?two?things?for?governments?to?do?in?this?crisis.?First,?enough?fund?should?be?prepared?to?ganrantee?the?stablity?of?the?whole?financial?system.?Maintaining?the?steady?of?the?financial?system?is?becoming?one?of?the?most?important?things?in?today’s?economic?system?because?a?healthy?fiancial?system?is?the?basic?of?healthy?financing?and?investment.?It?is?difficult?for?the?growth?of?the?substantial?economy?with?the?lack?of?the?financing?support.?
Second,?there?must?be?some?changes?in?the?whole?financial?system?which?should?be?organised?by?governments.?If?the?traditional?investment?method?is?proved?to?be?inefficient?in?current?economic?situation,?the?old?financial?system?would?require?some?improvement.?For?example,?when?the?investment?banks?bankrupted?in?the?financial?crisis,?the?American?government?gave?this?organisation?up?soon?to?protect?the?investors?as?well?as?other?financial?institutions.?
Moreover,?many?other?measures?thould?be?taken?by?governments?including?maintaining?the?stability?for?the?commercial?market?and?the?normal?life?of?residents?referring?to?low?unemployment.