为英国喝彩 - 金融英语速读训练

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每天一篇《金融时报》

在全球化日益激烈的金融行业中，能迅速地阅读英文的专业文献，把握全球金融趋势，和海外的金融业者交流，已经成为每个金融业者必备的技能。如果你能坚持每天阅读一篇《金融时报》精选的文章，并不断提高阅读速读和理解准确率，你的专业水平和英文水平，必将令人刮目相看。

准备好了吗？开始吧。

为什么要每天阅读《金融时报》？
- 对于全球的金融业从业人员来说，阅读《金融时报》是每天必须进行的修炼。要想把握金融业的趋势，提高自己的“金融智慧”，和全球的金融业者站在同一高度，《金融时报》是你的首选。
为什么要训练阅读速度？
- 在信息爆炸的今天，能够迅速地阅读和理解大量资料，已成为金融业者必不可少的技能。著名的投资家股神巴菲特曾表示，他每天都会阅读大量报刊和年报，这也是他多年来始终能做出正确的投资决策的基础。
训练阅读速度的小工具
- 自动滚屏的功能可以帮助你训练自己的阅读速度。在点击“自动滚屏”的按钮后，屏幕就开始向下滚动，这样可以迫使你改掉向回看的习惯，加快你的阅读速度。输入框里面的数字是每分钟阅读的词数(wpm)，默认为140（朗读速度）。随着你的技能提升，你可以尝试更高的速度：
  250：美国大学生的最低速度
  350：美国大学生的最高速度
  1000：速读高手的阅读速度
  416250：世界纪录

速度：+ -

阅读以下文章

<b>A shift from bumbling to sensible policy</b>
Gillian Tett

During much of the past year, British financial authorities have looked like Bertie Wooster-style, bumbling amateurs in the face of the banking meltdown. Now, finally – albeit belatedly – they have got something right.

Alistair Darling, chancellor of the exchequer, on Wednesday announced that the government would spend up to ￡400bn underpinning the banks. The only thing more startling than those dazzling zeroes is that Mr Darling is now overseeing a policy package that is arguably more sensible than anything else emanating from the western world.

For this package suggests that British mandarins have finally learnt to draw sensible lessons from the past, most notably from the 1990s crises in Japan and Sweden. More striking still, these moves could also provide pointers for how the US authorities could improve their own policies.

There are at least three reasons to cheer. The first is that the UK government has acknowledged something the Americans remain reluctant to admit: that when a banking crisis is this bad, it makes more sense to recapitalise banks by buying preference shares than by purchasing their duff assets.

That does not necessarily mean that a “Tarp” – the scheme the US is creating to purchase toxic debt – is a bad idea. On the contrary, if the Tarp creates a liquid market for mortgage debt and removes rot from bank books, then all financial players will benefit – including those in London. This puts the British authorities in an unusually favourable position in formulating their own policies.

However, the problem with the Tarp is that the toxic assets are so fiendishly complex that they cannot be easily valued or traded. Even in good times, it can take a computer several days to price complex collateralised debt obligations. That creates daunting logistical obstacles for a Tarp, which could delay or blur the balance sheet benefits.

Putting money directly into the banks, by contrast, is a fast and transparent way to help them. Moreover, it worked relatively well when it was employed by Japan and Sweden a decade ago, in tandem with various initiatives to purchase toxic assets. Better still, while both Sweden and Japan badly underestimated the scale of their crisis when it started, once they finally produced a hefty bail-out plan, they eventually recouped most of their investment.

A second point of cheer is that the British now also seem ready to take other steps to get credit and money markets moving again. The most eye-catching element of this revolves around injections into the money markets. However, what is equally important is a pledge that debt issued by banks will be protected from default.

That may sound arcane. However, it is crucial. Until last month, European and US investors assumed that bonds issued by large banks were safe, since they had been protected in previous decades. But the manner of Lehman Brothers’ collapse shattered that belief in a manner that sparked a catastrophic chain of fear. The Federal Reserve’s apparent failure to anticipate that shock represents one of its biggest single policy mistakes. Wednesday’s announcement suggests the UK authorities have no intention of repeating this disastrous error. So much the better.

However, the third reason for cheer lies not in arcane finance – but sociology. Right now many voters are understandably furious with bankers. No wonder. When the banking crisis hit Japan a decade ago, bankers bowed to show their public remorse; this time, however, barely a single western banker has even said “sorry”.

Now, there is no guarantee that the British government can assuage this anger; but on Wednesday it did at least promise to impose more “discipline” on bankers. That may turn out to be mere window dressing; but it is more than anything offered by Washington so far.

Of course, none of this guarantees the UK can now end its banking woes, let alone avoid a recession. Unlike the Japanese and Swedish crises, this one is international. As a result, the fortunes of British finance now depend on more than UK policymaking alone.

But, with a bit of international co-ordination – and a hefty dose of luck – London does now have a chance of stabilising its banking system. The tragedy is that it took so much incompetence and denial – on both sides of the Atlantic – to arrive at this point. If nothing else, the next generation of bankers and financial bureaucrats should be compelled to start their careers by spending time studying financial history books.

The writer is capital markets editor
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008

选择正确答案

Which of the following is NOT a reason why the U.K.'s package is better than the U.S. one, according to the author?

Check out the following texts: 1. The first is that the UK government has acknowledged......
2. A second point of cheer is that the British......
3. Now, ......but on Wednesday it did at least promise to impose more “discipline” on bankers.

The ￡400bn british package is higher than U.S.'s $700bn package, which shows that the UK government has realized the depth of the banking crisis.
The U.K. package focuses on buying stakes in troubled instituitions, rather than buying troubled assets from them.
The British package shows that the U.K. will deal with the problem of credit and money markets.
The U.K. promised to impose more regulations on bankers.

选择正确答案

According to the author, what's wrong with the U.S. package?

check this out:
"However, the problem with the Tarp is that the toxic assets are so fiendishly complex that they cannot be easily valued or traded. Even in good times, it can take a computer several days to price complex collateralised debt obligations. That creates daunting logistical obstacles for a Tarp, which could delay or blur the balance sheet benefits. "

The U.S. government should use taxpayer money to salvage greedy bankers who caused the crisis.
The package requires the U.S. government to buy assets that are hard to evaluate.
$700bln is just not enough to fix the global financial system.
The financial crisis is is a global one, while the U.S. package focuses only on American assets.

选择正确答案

Which of the following is TRUE according to the author?

check this out: "But the manner of Lehman Brothers’ collapse shattered that belief in a manner that sparked a catastrophic chain of fear. The Federal Reserve’s apparent failure to anticipate that shock represents one of its biggest single policy mistakes. "

The U.S. package is not nearly as good as the U.K. one.
The current crisis is past its worst.
The U.S. government is wrong to let Lehman Brother fail.
Rotten bankers, who caused the financial crisis, will surely be punished for their behavior.

选择正确答案

The author explicitly suggest which of the following?

Check this out:
"Of course, none of this guarantees the UK can now end its banking woes, let alone avoid a recession. Unlike the Japanese and Swedish crises, this one is international. As a result, the fortunes of British finance now depend on more than UK policymaking alone. "

The Japanese and Swedish got through financial crisis even though they underestimated the severity of the problem. So can U.K. with a much better plan.
Bankers should appologize to the public to causing the crisis.
Even if the British government does the right thing, the financial crisis will probably not end.
Under the U.S. package, the American taxpayer would end up paying too high to buy worthless assets.

放松与总结

今天的训练暂告一段落，FT中文网还将陆续推出更多的训练项目，欢迎您来信建议。(电子邮件：customer.service@ftchinese.com)

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您的正确率太低，在目前这个阶段，对你来说最重要的是提高英文水平和金融专业水平，而不是速度。请您点击后退仔细查看您答错的题目，并和原文对照。对原文中所有不懂的句子和知识点，也请一一查明。建议您：
1. 在进行下一次训练的时候，将滚屏速度保持在100以下。
2. 您可以找一些有声读物，如《经济学人》的audio edition，帮助你提高英文水平。

看得出你是非常认真来进行这次训练的，如果你坚持的话，你会获得非常大的提高。目前你的阅读速度偏低，可能是因为英文不是你的母语。不过，请不要放慢阅读速度。研究表明，阅读速度越快的人，其理解的正确率反而越高。因此，您可以同时提高您的阅读速度和理解能力。给你一点建议：
1. 一定要改掉默念的习惯
2. 不要一个词一个词的看，要学会把一个语义群当作一个整体来看。比如“an emergency $180bn injection of dollar”这个语义群，你要学会把他当作一个整体来看。
3. 看DVD的时候，切换到英文字幕。

用正常语速来朗读一篇文章，平均速度是每分钟140词。这说明你的阅读速度比朗读还要慢。建议您：1. 每一段的第一句话往往是最重要的。
2. “速读”最忌讳的就是“读”，不要一边看一边默念。
3. 在下一个训练中将滚屏速度设为140，迫使自己不能回头去看已经读过的部分。

您的阅读速度已经超过了正常语速，说明你已经开始有些速读的感觉了。美国大学生的最低阅读速度为每分钟250词，加把劲你就可以赶上了。建议您：
1. 养成习惯，读过的部分不要回头去看，这样会影响速读。
2. 加强“扫描”的训练，让自己的眼睛能“一目一行”。

您的阅读速度已经达到了美国大学生的水平，可喜可贺。不过作为金融从业人员，每天需要阅读数不清的中英文研究报告、公司年报、报刊杂志等，您还需要向每分钟350字进军。建议您：
1. 加强“扫描”的训练，让自己的眼睛能“一目两行”。
2. 对中英文的数字，尤其是大数字(million, billion)的转换进行总结和练习。

厉害，您的阅读速度已经超过了美国大学生的水平。不过，要成为巴菲特那样的金融专家，您需要锻炼出“一目十行”的火眼金睛。建议您在每次的训练中注意三个要点：
1. 您已经学会了将文章分成语义群，而非词来阅读，现在，你需要扩大每一个语义群中的词数。
2. 加快阅读每个语义群的速度。
3. 看过的内容尽量不要回看。

这就是传说中的“一目十行”吗？难以置信！

世界纪录才每分钟416,250字，居然被你破了！无语...