黄蒿-悼
Unit 4
Passage 1
There 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 hisher
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 2
A 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.
Unit5
Passage1
An 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.
Passage2
China
lowered its interest rates on deposits and loans
on Nov.1, 1997, to help its debt-
ridden
state—owned 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.
Unit6
Passage1
In 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.
Passage2
The 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.