2010年考研英语一阅读 Text 4 原文翻译及答案解析

Bankers have been blaming themselves for their troubles in public. Behind the scenes, they have been taking aim at someone else: the accounting standard-setters. Their rules, moan the banks, have forced them to report enormous losses, and it's just not fair. These rules say they must value some assets at the price a third party would pay, not the price managers and regulators would like them to fetch.

银行家们在公开场合为自己的困境自责。但在幕后，他们却瞄准了别人：会计准则制定者。银行抱怨说，这些规则迫使他们报告巨额损失，这太不公平了。这些规则要求他们必须按照第三方愿意支付的价格来评估某些资产，而不是按照经理和监管机构希望它们能卖到的价格。

Unfortunately, banks' lobbying now seems to be working. The details may be unknowable, but the independence of standard-setters, essential to the proper functioning of capital markets, is being compromised. And, unless banks carry toxic assets at prices that attract buyers, reviving the banking system will be difficult.

不幸的是，银行的游说似乎正在奏效。细节可能无法得知，但准则制定者的独立性——这对资本市场的正常运作至关重要——正在受到损害。而且，除非银行以吸引买家的价格持有有毒资产，否则复兴银行系统将十分困难。

After a bruising encounter with Congress, America's Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) rushed through rule changes. These gave banks more freedom to use models to value illiquid assets and more flexibility in recognizing losses on long-term assets in their income statements. Bob Herz, the FASB's chairman, cried out against those who "question our motives." Yet bank shares rose and the changes enhance what one lobbying group politely calls "the use of judgment by management."

在与国会的激烈交锋后，美国财务会计准则委员会（FASB）匆忙通过了规则变更。这些变更给了银行更多自由来使用模型评估非流动资产，并在损益表中更灵活地确认长期资产的损失。FASB主席Bob Herz大声疾呼反对那些“质疑我们动机”的人。然而，银行股价上涨，这些变更强化了一个游说团体礼貌地称之为“管理层使用判断权”的做法。

European ministers instantly demanded that the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) do likewise. The IASB says it does not want to act without overall planning, but the pressure to fold when it completes its reconstruction of rules later this year is strong. Charlie McCreevy, a European commissioner, warned the IASB that it did "not live in a political vacuum" but "in the real world" and that Europe could yet develop different rules.

欧洲部长们立即要求国际会计准则理事会（IASB）采取同样行动。IASB表示不想在没有整体规划的情况下行动，但在今年晚些时候完成规则重建时屈服的压力很大。欧洲委员Charlie McCreevy警告IASB，它“并非生活在政治真空中”，而是“在现实世界中”，欧洲可能会制定不同的规则。

It was banks that were on the wrong planet, with accounts that vastly overvalued assets. Today they argue that market prices overstate losses, because they largely reflect the temporary illiquidity of markets, not the likely extent of bad debts. The truth will not be known for years. But banks' shares trade below their book value, suggesting that investors are skeptical. And dead markets partly reflect the paralysis of banks which will not sell assets for fear of booking losses, yet are reluctant to buy all those supposed bargains.

是银行自己错估了形势，其账目严重高估了资产。如今他们争辩说市场价格夸大了损失，因为它们主要反映了市场的暂时流动性不足，而不是坏账的可能程度。真相几年内都不会知晓。但银行股价低于账面价值，表明投资者持怀疑态度。而死气沉沉的市场部分反映了银行的瘫痪状态——它们因担心记账损失而不愿出售资产，却又不愿购买那些所谓的便宜货。

To get the system working again, losses must be recognized and dealt with. America's new plan to buy up toxic assets will not work unless banks mark assets to levels which buyers find attractive. Successful markets require independent and even combative standard-setters. The FASB and IASB have been exactly that, cleaning up rules on stock options and pensions, for example, against hostility from special interests. But by giving in to critics now they are inviting pressure to make more concessions.

要使系统重新运转，必须确认并处理损失。美国收购有毒资产的新计划不会奏效，除非银行将资产标记到买家认为有吸引力的水平。成功的市场需要独立甚至好斗的准则制定者。FASB和IASB正是如此，例如，他们在面对特殊利益集团敌意的情况下清理了股票期权和养老金的规则。但现在向批评者屈服，他们正在招致更多让步的压力。