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. 迫在眉睫的金融災難引起了相當多的政治關注。上周四，一群國會領袖聽了財長保爾森和美聯儲主席伯南克所描述的，當國會不通過這項全面拯救金融危機的方案，經濟上將會出現的可怕場面。那時，不僅僅是抵押貸款，甚至連助學貸款和買車貸款可能都很難獲得。經濟將陷入嚴重的衰退。
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.
基於這樣的原因，特別的拯救措施仍然非常關鍵，上周對貨幣市場的聯邦擔保，通過美聯儲購買資產抵押的商業票據對銀行的貸款，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為美聯儲監管銀行控股公司，使其投行部分現在也可以向其它銀行一樣向美聯儲借錢。
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.
財政部完成購買所有的抵押貸款可能還需一段時間，而此舉對整個金融系統和經濟發揮作用則更需時日。其間，金融危機的危害可能會波及更多的機構。
有用的單詞和句子：
the financial crisis金融危機
a break in the clouds黑雲裂日，曙光顯現
but questions abound over a $700 billion rescue plan for wall street
有關7000億美元華爾街拯救計畫的問題仍然不少。
mr paulson’s plan is stunning in its brevity (two-and-a-half pages) and audacity.
保爾森計畫的簡潔(只有兩頁半紙)和大膽令人驚訝不已。