2010级商务英语翻译半期测试及答案.doc

09级商务英语翻译半期测试（英译汉）及答案The Problems of Oil，of Debt and DisarrayThe oil drama was followed by the debt bomb, but voters and politicians didnt want to think about the long term.Anthony SampsonFor world business, and even for small investors or depositors in banks, all kinds of uncertainties seemed to feed on each other over the past year. Whats happening with oil? What about debts, currencies or the stability of countries?The year 1983 began-and ended- with an unusual oil crisis: fears that the price of crude would go not up but down. OPEC looked as if it might split apart, and as the crisis deepened, it showed how oil had seeped into every corner of the world economy. Currencies moved up and down with each days oil news, and bankers became aware of how much their loans to oil countries depended on keeping up the price. When OPEC patched up its quarrels and agreed to limit production, nobody was quite sure what was keeping up the price. What was clear was that many countries and institutions, from Britain to Mexico, from Citibank to Exxon, had virtually become unofficial members of OPEC, trying hard to keep the price steady. But as the oil drama played on, it began to be eclipsed by the wider problem of country debt. The near collapse of Mexico in mid-1982 had been precipitated by the falling oil price, but the crisis of credit that followed affected all Latin American countries as high interest rates and the high dollar made their repayments still more expensive. The debt crisis spread beyond Latin America into Asia and Africa. The balance of fear between countries and banks, locked in a situation in which each side could ruin the other, was beginning to seem like the commercial equivalent of the nuclear balance of terror. It also gave a new dimension to the old North-South divide: would the South find that their debts would force the North to take real notice of their problems?All these events, however geographically remote, urgently affected Western financial centers. They affected all currencies and all stock markets, and they called into question the stability of the banks. Shares were marked up or down according to the news from Brasilia or Manila; shares of Exxon or Shell rose or fell depending on the news from Baghdad or Lagos. Any hint of an oil glut sent the pound down and the yen up, while bad news from anywhere tended to strengthen the dollar as the worlds money haven. The quantity of “hot money” exaggerated still further the swings between currencies.The more serious bankers became especially concerned about how to bolster their foreign loans with a more secure system. Nearly all agreed, at least in private, on the need to strengthen the global institutions, particularly the International Monetary Fund, if they hoped to provide the stability and the discipline that private bankers by themselves could not enforce. But the world banking crisis coincided with a rapid upsurge of anti-bank feeling. The popular reaction to the debt problem, particularly in the United States, was to try to punish the banks for having lent money to developing countries rather than to neighborhood companies. When the Reagan administration asked Congress to approve another $8 billion to help strengthen the IMF, there was an outcry of protest that required the heaviest pressure from the president to still. The hostility was part of a broader movement that reached across the Western world-a desire to focus their attention on national and local problems, at the very time when the developing nations were dramatically revealing their interdependence. That situation bore an alarming resemblance to the mood of the 1930s when the world recession turned all countries inward, forcing Germany and Italy to work out their own drastic solutions, and contributing to the outbreak of World War.Then there came a brief surge of hope. Would the U.S. economic recovery spread around the world? Could it bring a greater demand for raw materials and more vigorous trade that would lift the debt-ridden countries off the rocks? But by the end of this harrowing year of debt, it was hard to be confident. Many developing countries were still caught in a vicious circle of contraction and the lack of bank confidence-on which credit is based - with take more time to turn around.Many economists and bankers insisted that only a major restructuring of the worlds debts, to allow lower interest to be repaid over longer periods, could resolve the problem. But this cannot happen without the support of central banks and governments, and most voters and politicians were in no mood to think about long-term global solutions. Internationalism, which had been part of the Western creed of the 60s, was now an increasingly suspect word. After 12 months of the economic roller coaster, there were few signs of changing attitudes. Would a more severe world it terrify them into putting their necks still further into the sand?To avert the danger of major defaults and to restore security to the economic system, Western bankers and governments will have to ensure that they are imposing reasonable repayment terms on developing countries, terms that will not provoke revolution or chaos. They will have to lower interest requirements, with some form of subsidy from the central banks if necessary. And they will have to strengthen the IMF as their ultimate safeguard.It is not enough for the IMF and the banks to provide a financial fire brigade, moving from one debt crisis to another, The IMF must be given enough support to make longer-term loans in order to enable developing countries to revive their exports without enduring crippling hardships. Unless Western governments face up to this challenge, they may face political catastrophes that will require far more costly intervention.石油和债务问题造成一片混乱戏剧性的石油危机和爆炸性的债务问题接踵而来,但是选民和政界人士却不愿作长远考虑.对各国商界人士,甚至对小额投资人和银行存款户来说,过去的一年内,各种动荡不安的因素似乎不断相互推波助澜.石油的情况又如何?债务、货币或者各国的稳定情况又如何？1983年新年伊始，就存在着一种异乎寻常的石油危机：人们担心原油价格要下降，而不是要上涨。这一年结束的时候，情况依然如故。石油输出国组织看上去似乎要四分五裂，而随着危机深化，情况表明石油已经渗入世界经济的每一个角落。各国货币的比价随着每天的石油消息而涨落；银行家们则认识到，他们给予产油国的贷款是否能够得到偿还，在多大程度上取决于能否使石油价格保持不跌。在石油输出国组织平息内部的争吵，达成限制产量的协议时，谁也不十分清楚使石油价格保持不跌得究竟是什么力量。但是人们明白，许多国家和机构，从英国到墨西哥，从花旗银行到埃克森公司，实际上已经成为石油输出国组织的非正式成员，它们竭力试图保持价格稳定。但是正当石油舞台锣鼓声喧时，出现了各国债务这一影响更加广泛的问题，相形之下，开始使它黯然失色。1982年中期，石油价格下跌。使墨西哥陷于