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。