财经英语

Is the market a place? Or a thing? Neither, really. It’s a concept. If you are growing tomatoes in your backyard for sale, you are procduing for the market. You might sell some to your neighbor and some in your little stand by the roadside and some to the manager of the local supermarket. But in either case, you are producing for the market. Your efforts are being directed by the market. If people stop buying tomatoes, you will stop producing them. If you mow lawns to earn money, you are producing a service for the market. If your father a steelworker or a bricklayer or a truck driver or a dentist or a grocer, he is producing goods or services for the market.

市场是一个地方吗？是一样东西吗？都不是，真的。市场是一个概念。如果你在自家的后院种番茄出售，你是在给市场提供产品。你可以将一些蔬菜卖给邻居，将一些蔬菜摆在路边的小摊上出售，将一些蔬菜卖给当地超级市场的经理，在任何一种情况下，你都是在给市场提供产品。你的努力都是在市场的引导下作出的。如果人们不买你的番茄，你就不会种番茄。如果你割草挣钱，你是在为市场提供劳务。如果你父亲是钢铁工人，或者是瓦匠，或者是卡车司机，或者是牙医，或者是开食品杂货店的，他也正在给市场提供商品或者劳务。

A banker must always remember that he is dealing with other people's money and that he is responsible for its safety. But he cannot keep his deposits lying idle in his safes and strongrooms. He must use them----and he is expected to use them to produce an income. A banker also earns money from the charges which he makes for some of his services, but much the greater part of a bank's income comes from investing and lending its deposits. From these various receipts the banker has to meet the expenses of running the bank----including, for example, the salaries of its staff---pay interest to its depositors and earn a profit for shareholders.

银行家会永远记住，他在和别人的钱打交道，对钱的安全负有责任。但银行家不能将存款一直闲置在保险箱和保险库里，必须运用这些钱——而且想用这些钱获得收益。银行家还从其提供服务的手续费中获得货币收入，除此而外，银行的绝大部分收入是通过投资和出借储蓄资金而获得的。银行家必须用这些各种各样的收入来支付银行的经营费用——包括，比如职工薪酬，支付存款人的利息，给股东分配红利等。

The banks' short-term assets earn interest but less than that obtained through “Investments” and “Advances to customers”. The banks investments are nearly all in securities issued or guaranteed by the British Government and quoted on the Stock Exchange. Like the short-term assets, they too can be readily sold, should the need arise, but their price can vary.

银行的短期资产能够获得利息，但与通过“投资”和“对客户的预付款”所获利息相比要少。银行投资几乎都是由英国政府发行或担保的有价证券，并由股票交易所报价。这些有价证券和短期资产一样，如果有市场需求，可以随时出售，但价格时常有变化。

Advances are the amounts which the banks lend to their customers. They earn a higher rate of interest than the banks' other assets, but as we shall see, there is a lot of work involved in managing them and, despite all the precautions which a bank may take, they are seldom entirely free from risk. Advances cannot be so conveniently and quickly turned into cash as most of a bank's other assets.

预付款是银行贷给客户的钱，所获利息要高于银行的其他资产。但我们也要

看到，管理这些预付款要做大量工作，尽管银行采取了各种预防措施，还是不能够避免所有的损失。预付款和银行的其他资产不一样，不能够那么方便、那么迅速地变现

A modern bank accepts people's money for safe-keeping. It also lends money and offers many other services. The experience of a businessman will show some of these. James Jones has a furniture store and buys his goods from different parts of the country. It isn't convenient for him to send money through the mail, so he goes to the bank and opens a checking account. He puts his money in the bank regularly, and the bank keeps it until he writes checks for that amount. When Mr. Jones orders furniture from the Modern Furniture Company in another city, he simply writes a check. This check is as good as money to the owner of the company. The owner can take it to his bank and cash it, that is, he can get money for it.

现代银行从客户手中吸收货币并加以妥善保管，也贷放货币，并提供许多其它服务。我们从一个商人的经历可以看到银行是如何办理某些业务的。詹姆斯·琼斯开了一个家具店，需要从全国各地购买家具。通过邮局汇款使他感到不方便，因此，他到银行开了一个支票账户。通常他把钱存放在银行，银行保管着这笔钱，直到他开支票提完这笔钱为止。当詹姆斯·琼斯从另外一个城市的摩登家具公司定购家具时，他只要开出一张支票。这张支票对公司的老板来说就跟真正的货币一样，该老板可以拿着支票到银行去兑现，也就是说，他可以凭支票取钱。