金融英语听力4,5,6单元(4页).doc

-金融英语听力4,5,6单元-第 4 页Unit 4Passage 1There are different kinds of bank accounts. The most popular is the checking account. A checking account pays no interest but it has other advantages. Firstly, it enables people to keep their money in a safe place. Secondly, it allows them to withdraw their money at any time. Thirdly, it provides them with a cheque book so that they do not carry a large amount of cash with them.To open a checking account it is necessary to see the branch manager. He has to decide whether the applicant is likely to keep a credit balance in the account. A checking account holder can only make an overdrawal with the manager's permission. The manager will therefore want to meet the applicant to get the necessary background information. For example, he will want to know the applicant's occupation and his place of work. He will also probably want a reference from his/her employer. If, after the interview, the manager is satisfied with the applicant, he will approve the application, arrange for the applicant to be given a cheque book and arrange for a monthly statement to be sent to the account holder.Passage 2A deposit account is a popular kind of account. It has advantages over a checking accounts. For one, it is easier to open than checking account. There is no need to see the manager. A customer only needs to fill out a form and then deposit the minimum amount of money required by the bank. The customer is then given a passbook which he must bring to the bank every time he wishes to withdraw or deposit money. The passbook is the customer's record of the account.Secondly, a deposit account earns interest for the customer. The bank invests the money that is paid by the customer and, in turn, the bank pays the customer interest. The rate of interest in the U.K. is not fixed but it is usually between 5-10%. However, a deposit account does have some disadvantages. Some banks do permit limited withdrawals in one day. Another disadvantage is that the customer doesn't receive a cheque book and therefore, he cannot pay directly his bills with this account.Unit5Passage1An interest rate is the cost of borrowing or the price paid for the rental of funds (usually expressed as a percentage of the rental of $100.00 per year). We see many interest rates in the economy- mortgage interest rates, car loan rates, and interest rates on many different types of bonds. Interest rates are important variables to you because they affect so many personal decisions. High interest rates could deter you from buying a house or a car because the cost of financing them would be high. On the other hand, high interest rates could encourage you to save. You can earn more interest income by putting your savings into an account at the bank when interest rates are high.Interest rates have an impact on the overall health of the economy because they affect not only consumers' willingness to spend or save, but also businesses' investment decisions High interest rates, for example, may cause a corporation to postpone building a new plant that would insure more jobs. Passage2China lowered its interest rates on deposits and loans on Nov.1, 1997, to help its debt- ridden stateowned enterprises. This is the third interest rate cut since May,1996, and it reduced the savings rate by 1.1% and lowered the cost of a loan by 1.5 percent.Savings rates are levers that a central bank can employ to adjust the growth rate of the country's macroeconomy as well as control inflation. Previous experience suggests that interest rate adjustments in China are mainly aimed at controlling inflation. For instance when inflation surges, the interest rate drops and when inflationary pressures ease, the interest rates rise.From February to September of 1997, the retail price index fell 1.3 percent and the consumer price index stood at 3.4 percent when compared to the previous year. Lower inflation helps promote economic growth, solve the problem of unemployment and reform China's State sector. It also creates a favorable climate for further interest rate reductions. Generally, if a central bank cuts interest rates, it suggests that the bank is going to relax its credit control. But this reduction does not indicate that China is relaxing its credit control or give up its tight monetary policy. The cut was made primarily to help ease the debt burden created by various state-owned enterprises. After the cut, the interest rate on one-year floating fund was 8.64 percent which is 3.4 percentage points lower than the previous year. This will greatly ease the interest payment burden on the enterprises and help them improve efficiency in production and management.Unit6Passage1In the foreign exchange market, exchange rates are quoted for the selling and buying of foreign exchange. These rates are normally applied to the wholesale level where substantially large transactions take place. Commercial banks, merchant banks, corporations, particularly those of multinationals, and major government institutions are the principal participants in such large transactions.Spot rates are rates quoted for spot transaction for foreign exchange. Spot transactions require delivery of the exchange involved within two business days. The rates are normally determined by the supply of the demand for and the continuously needed foreign currencies. When the domestic currency is not directly traded with another currency in the foreign exchange market, it requires a third country's currency as a base to determine the common relationship. The rate determined in terms of a third currency is called “cross rate”. For example, if a Chinese merchant wants to know the exchange rate between the Philippines Peso and RMB but cannot find the direct currencies, the merchant has to work it out by using the US dollar as a common base.Passage2The overwhelming majority of international payments are made through the media of foreign exchange traded in foreign exchange markets. The foreign exchange market is not an organized market in the same sense as a stock exchange or commodity exchange. In other words, there is no single, physical place where purchases and sales are executed. While markets are organized in various ways in different countries of the world, most foreign exchange transactions are simple arranged by two parties and executed by telephone or telex. The most important dealers in foreign exchange transactions are large commercial banks, which maintain foreign exchange “dealing rooms” and execute foreign exchange transactions between themselves or on behalf of their corporate customers. The foreign exchange market is made of two sections: the spot market for spot transactions and the forward market for forward transactions.The method of quoting the prices or rates of exchange for different currencies takes one of two forms, the direct quotation method and the indirect quotation method. Under the direct quotation, the rates are quoted in terms of a variable number of home currency per fixed foreign currency unit, and China adopts this method. Under the indirect quotation method, the rates are quoted in terms of a variable number of foreign currency units to the fixed unit of home currency, the exchange market in London practices this method.