雅思口語9分帶你閱讀《經濟學人》: Why central banks a...

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翻譯:金庫大挪移
Why central banks are stockpiling?gold
翻譯:各國央行為何囤積黃金
The metal offers a hedge against inflation?—?and a way to circumvent sanctions
翻譯:黃金提供了一種對沖通脹的手段—和一種規(guī)避制裁的方法
2022-12-7
段落1
IN 1968?THE?London Bullion Market?closed for two weeks. The world’s largest precious-metal market had run out of gold,?drained?by a five-month run on America’s stash by European central banks. The crisis marked the beginning of the end for the Bretton Woods standard that had kept the dollar?pegged?to gold, and currencies elsewhere to the dollar, since 1944.
翻譯:1968年,倫敦黃金市場關閉了兩周。世界上最大的貴金屬市場已經耗盡了黃金,這是由于歐洲中央銀行對美國儲備的五個月的擠兌。這場危機標志著布雷頓森林體系終結的開始。自1944年以來,布雷頓森林體系一直將美元與黃金掛鉤,并將其他國家的貨幣與美元掛鉤。
The London bullion market?is a wholesale over-the-counter market for the trading of gold and silver.倫敦黃金市場
Drain v. to reduce or cause something to reduce消耗;耗盡: The long war had drained the resources of both countries.
peg v. to make a price, currency, etc. stay at a particular level與…掛鉤: The agreement works because member nations haven't tried to peg prices.
段落2
Now central banks are?furiously?buying gold again (see chart). In the third quarter alone 400 tonnes moved into their reserves. That has pushed the total from January to September to 670 tonnes, a pace unseen since the Bullion Market debacle. In May Turkey?snapped up?almost 20 tonnes in one go. India and Qatar are also?ravenous. The metal now makes up two-thirds of Uzbekistan’s reserves, months after it planned to reduce gold to under half. Kazakhstan is also?doubling down.
翻譯:現在,各國央行又開始瘋狂購買黃金。僅在第三季度,就有400噸進入了他們的儲備。這使得1月至9月的黃金總量達到670噸,這是自黃金市場崩潰以來從未有過的速度。今年5月,土耳其一次就搶購了近20噸。印度和卡塔爾也是狼吞虎咽。在烏茲別克斯坦計劃將黃金儲備減少到一半以下的幾個月后,黃金現在占該國儲備的三分之二。哈薩克斯坦也在加倍下注。
Furiously adv. in a very angry way猛烈地;狂暴地: "Get out of here!" she shouted furiously.
Snap up?to buy or get something quickly and enthusiastically because it is cheap or exactly what you want搶購;搶先弄到手: The tickets for the concert were snapped up within three hours of going on sale.
Ravenous?adj. extremely hungry貪婪的;渴望的;狼吞虎咽: I'm ravenous - where's supper?
Double down?strengthen one's commitment to a particular strategy or course of action, typically one that is potentially risky加倍下注: He decided to double down and escalate the war.
段落3
In part this is because gold,?snubbed?in good times because it generates no yield, recovers its shine in times of volatility and high inflation. In the long run, it is seen as a store of value and, not tied to any individual economy, seems immune to local political and financial turmoil. Central bankers may also think they are getting a bargain. Even though it has resisted better than most, the price of the metal has dropped 3% this year. Gold bugs expect a rebound.Like in the past, however, buying gold bars is also a way to ditch some dollars. Except this time it is not Europe but emerging markets who?grumble?about the greenback.
翻譯:在某種程度上,這是因為黃金在繁榮時期因不產生收益而受到冷落,但在波動和高通脹時期卻恢復了光芒。從長遠來看,它被視為一種價值儲存手段,與任何單個經濟體都沒有聯系,似乎不受當地政治和金融動蕩的影響。央行行長們可能也認為他們撿到了便宜。盡管它的抵抗能力比大多數資產都要強,但今年的金價已經下跌了3%。黃金投資者期待反彈。然而,和過去一樣,購買金條也是拋售一些美元的一種方式。不過這一次,抱怨美元的不是歐洲,而是新興市場。
Snub v. to treat someone rudely, esp. by ignoring that person冷落: They’re likely to snub people who aren’t just like them.
Grumble v. to complain about someone or something in an annoyed way抱怨: She spent the evening grumbling to me about her job.
段落4
They need dollars to pay for imports and external debts. But their reserves are mostly made of treasuries, not actual banknotes. And as the Federal Reserve has raised interest rates,?buoying?yields, the value of government paper has dropped. Lesser central banks have taken this as a?cue?to swap them for precious metal rather than bet on the Fed?taming?inflation.
翻譯:不過,就像過去一樣,購買金條也是拋售美元的一種方式。只不過這次抱怨美元的不是歐洲,而是新興市場。它們需要美元來支付進口和外債。但它們的外匯儲備大多是美國國債,不是真正的美元。隨著美聯儲加息,債券收益率受提振,美國國債的價值已經下降。較小經濟體的央行視之為一個信號,認為該把美元換成貴金屬,而不是押注美聯儲能抑制通脹。
Buoy?v. to prevent someone or something from sinking使浮起;支撐;鼓勵: The very salty water buoyed her (up) as she swam
Cue?n. a signal for someone to do something提示;暗示;線索: They started washing up, so that was our cue to leave the party.
Tame?v. to control something dangerous or powerful馴養(yǎng);制服: He'll need to tame his temper if he wants to succeed.
段落5
Shadier?motives are also at play. Gold provides a way to?circumvent?Western sanctions on Russia, much of whose reserves have been frozen since March and whose banks have mostly been disconnected from the dollar-based international-payments system. Almost no central banks keep roubles as foreign-currency reserves. For those countries that traditionally do a fair bit of business with the Kremlin—from Turkey to Turkmenistan—gold offers an alternative, if?clunky, means of exchange. This?motley?group of emerging markets have been among the biggest buyers of gold this time around.
翻譯:更不上臺面的動機也在起作用。黃金提供了一種規(guī)避西方對俄羅斯的制裁的方法。自今年3月以來,俄羅斯的大部分外匯儲備已被凍結,該國的銀行大多已被踢出以美元為基礎的國際支付系統(tǒng)。幾乎沒有哪家央行將盧布作為外匯儲備。對于從土耳其到土庫曼斯坦等傳統(tǒng)上與俄羅斯有不少生意往來的國家來說,黃金雖然很笨重,但畢竟提供了另一種交換手段。這些形形色色的新興市場是這一次黃金熱潮的最大買家。
Shady adj. dishonest or illegal陰暗的;名聲不好的: They know some very shady characters.
Circumvent?v. to avoid something, especially cleverly or illegally設法克服或避免(某事物);回避: Ships were registered abroad to circumvent employment and safety regulations.
Clunky adj. heavy and solid in an ugly way沉重的;影響不好的: The clunky handsets looked old-fashioned as soon as they were launched.
Motley adj. consisting of many different types that do not appear to go together混雜的;雜色的;五顏六色的: There's a motley assortment/collection of old furniture in the house we're renting now.
段落6
This is not something the West can do much about. Russian gold is banned on the London market, but no one can get at its gold reserves, which are mostly sourced from its own mines. And Russia’s central bank no longer reports how much gold it holds, making swaps impossible to track. Moving the physical metal is a?logistical?headache, but it keeps transactions under the West’s digital radar, which is useful for those?playing both sides—like Qatar or Turkey. The World Gold Council, a trade body, says unknown buyers account for a big chunk of this year’s bonanza.
翻譯:對此,西方國家能做的很有限。俄羅斯的黃金被禁止進入倫敦市場,但沒人能對它的黃金儲備下手,它們大多出自俄羅斯自己的礦山。此外,俄羅斯央行不再公布其黃金持有量,因此無法追蹤掉期交易。運送實物黃金在物流上讓人都疼,但能在西方的數字雷達下繼續(xù)交易,對那些耍兩面派的國家有用處,比如卡塔爾或土耳其。行業(yè)組織世界黃金協會表示,匿名買家占了今年囤金潮的很大一部分。
Logistical?adj. relating to the careful organization of a complicated activity后勤的: logistical support/problems
Play both sides?keep one's options open by supporting or favouring opposing sides.耍兩面派
段落7
One consolation for the dollar is that no other currency is gaining ground. The portion of foreign reserves held in yuan globally has?stalled?this year. The euro, yen and pound?are treading water?too. Central banks may have gold fever but there is no?regime change?on the horizon.
翻譯:能讓美元感到安慰的是,還沒有其他貨幣在擴大陣地。今年人民幣在全球外匯儲備中所占的比例停滯不前。歐元、日元和英鎊也原地踏步。各國央行或許掀起了淘金熱,但短期內美元的統(tǒng)治地并不受影響。
Stall?v. If an engine stalls, or if you stall it, it stops working suddenly and without you intending it to happen(使)熄火;(使)停止轉動: A car may stall due to the driver braking too suddenly.
Tread water?to be active but without making progress or falling further behind停滯不前: Stock prices continued to tread water this week.
Regime change??a complete change of government, especially one brought about by force政權更迭
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