今天的这篇文章来自于经济学人，和经济学人精读：蚊子夺去了很多人的性命，也塑造了人类社会的精读方法一样，我们来看看今天这篇文章中有哪些我们还不够熟悉的英语词汇，从而在这个过程中扩大大家的词汇量，并一并提高自己的阅读技巧和方法，如果你对外刊阅读还没有什么概念的话，推荐看看这篇文章 外刊杂志：关于外刊杂志阅读的5点建议。
A principle followed by traders who speculate 1 on short-term movements in market prices is “cut your losses early”. This doctrine finds expression in the stop-loss—an order to sell a security, such as a company share, automatically when it hits a predetermined price. People being people, stop-loss orders tend to cluster at salient levels, such as whole or round numbers. They might instruct a broker to sell the pound at $1.20, say, or sell Apple at $200.文章源自西贝博客-https://qinghe.me/how-yuan-dollar-became-the-worlds-most-closely-watched-asset-price.html
上标注解：文章源自西贝博客-https://qinghe.me/how-yuan-dollar-became-the-worlds-most-closely-watched-asset-price.html
1.speculate文章源自西贝博客-https://qinghe.me/how-yuan-dollar-became-the-worlds-most-closely-watched-asset-price.html
- vt. & vi. 思索; 猜测, 推测
来看一个来自今日美国的例子：文章源自西贝博客-https://qinghe.me/how-yuan-dollar-became-the-worlds-most-closely-watched-asset-price.html
- Though prison officials can only speculate, Gautz said Gray may have posed as his late brother in a bid for leniency.— Paul Egan, USA TODAY, "Man went to prison posing as his dead brother. Here's what happens next," 20 Aug. 2019
- 尽管监狱官员只能猜测，但戈茨说，格雷可能假扮自己的已故兄弟以求宽大处理。
* 这几个词和think, deliberate, meditate, muse, reason, reflect, speculate容易混淆，大家不妨看看这篇文章：单词辨析：think, deliberate, meditate, muse, reason, reflect, speculate的区别。文章源自西贝博客-https://qinghe.me/how-yuan-dollar-became-the-worlds-most-closely-watched-asset-price.html
利用市场价格的短期波动来投机的交易员遵循的原则之一是“及早止损”。这一原则体现在止损单上，即在证券（例如公司股票）价格达到预先设定的价位时自动卖出。但这毕竟是人为的标准，止损单的预设价位一般都定在很显眼的水平，像是整数或经过取整的数字。比如，它们可能指示经纪人到1.20美元就卖出英镑，或到200美元就卖出苹果股票。文章源自西贝博客-https://qinghe.me/how-yuan-dollar-became-the-worlds-most-closely-watched-asset-price.html
The round-number fetish is a strange one. But when a situation is uncertain (and financial markets are always uncertain) arbitrary numbers or thresholds are often charged with great meaning. And few have had the significance of seven yuan per dollar. So when the yuan broke through seven on August 5th, it prompted 2 a violent sell-off in stocks and a rally in bonds. That was followed by a formal charge by the US Treasury that China was manipulating its currency.文章源自西贝博客-https://qinghe.me/how-yuan-dollar-became-the-worlds-most-closely-watched-asset-price.html
上标注解：文章源自西贝博客-https://qinghe.me/how-yuan-dollar-became-the-worlds-most-closely-watched-asset-price.html
2.prompted文章源自西贝博客-https://qinghe.me/how-yuan-dollar-became-the-worlds-most-closely-watched-asset-price.html
- vt. 促进；激起；提示；（给演员）提白
关联例句：文章源自西贝博客-https://qinghe.me/how-yuan-dollar-became-the-worlds-most-closely-watched-asset-price.html
- Curiosity prompted her to ask a few questions.
- 好奇心促使她提了一些问题。
执迷于取整是个怪现象。但当情况不明朗时（而金融市场总是充满变数），带有随意性的数字或关口位往往就会被赋予重大意义。七元人民币兑一美元这一关口的意义少有其他数字能比得上。因此，8月5日人民币兑美元汇率破七后，股市暴跌，债市反弹。之后美国财政部正式指控中国操纵汇率。
On the face of it, that looks like an overreaction. If things were fine when the yuan was at 6.99, why did all hell break loose when it reached 7.01? Odder still is the idea that a currency that has only fairly limited use outside China is suddenly a prime mover in global capital markets. Yet China’s heft in the world economy has made it so. The yuan-dollar exchange rate is now the world’s most watched asset 3 price. And “seven” mattered simply because people had come to believe that it did.
上标注解：
3.asset
- n. 资产；有用的东西；有利条件；优点
我们来看一个来自华盛顿邮报的例子：
- On Wall Street, investors shifted money from stocks to U.S. government bonds, gold and other traditional safe-haven assets.— Washington Post, "Asian markets mixed after Wall Street slide," 28 Aug. 2019
- 在华尔街，投资者将资金从股票转向美国政府债券、黄金及其他传统避险资产。
表面看来，这似乎是反应过度。如果人民币汇率在6.99时还风平浪静，为何到了7.01就天下大乱了？更奇怪的是，在中国境外使用相当有限的一种货币突然间似乎成了全球资本市场的主要推动力量。但是，这是中国在世界经济中的影响力使然。人民币兑美元汇率是当今全球最受关注的资产价格。而“七”之所以重要，不过是因为人们已渐渐认定它重要。
To understand why, go back four years. Until August 2015 the yuan had been closely tied to the dollar. Since then its external price has been set by officials each day, ostensibly by reference to a basket of currencies. The idea is that the yuan’s value should somewhat reflect market forces. The outcome is that the yuan has moved in a limited range against the dollar, capped at seven. Were the yuan to surge, it would hurt China’s exports; were it to plummet, the dollar debts of Chinese firms would loom larger. A large fall would intensify an ever-present fear: devaluation 4 and capital flight.
上标注解：
4.devaluation
- n. (货币)贬值
下面来看一个来自纽约时报的例子：
- For those reasons, devaluations make investors nervous.— New York Times, "China’s Currency Moves Escalate Trade War, Rattling Markets," 5 Aug. 2019
- 因为这些原因，贬值让投资者们很紧张。
要探讨原因，且回到四年前。2015年8月之前，人民币汇率一直与美元密切挂钩。而之后，人民币对外价格由官员每日设定，表面上是参考一篮子货币汇率。此举意在让人民币价值在一定程度上反映市场动态。其结果是人民币兑美元汇率一直在一定范围内浮动，上限为七。人民币如果大幅升值，则中国的出口受损；如果暴跌，则中国企业的美元债务会加重。汇率大幅下跌将加剧一直存在的恐慌：货币贬值和资本外逃。
The yuan is still a long way from being a free-floating currency. It is further away still from being a global one to rival the dollar. It is not a straightforward business to buy and sell yuan. Traders joke that it is less liquid 5 than the shares of Alibaba, a giant Chinese e-commerce firm, which is listed in New York. Yet despite the constraints, the waxing and waning of the yuan’s value has had a growing influence on the foreign-exchange market and on asset prices more generally.
上标注解：
5.liquid
- adj. 液体的, 液态的
- 易转换成现款的, 流动的
- Pour out any liquid dairy from the bottom of the cup.— Los Angeles Times, "Armenian Shortbread With Cardamom and Mahleb," 26 Aug. 2019
- 从杯底倒出任何液态奶制品。
人民币还远不是汇率自由浮动的货币，更遑论能与美元竞争的全球性货币。买卖人民币并不是件简单直接的事情。交易员开玩笑说，人民币的流动性比中国电商巨头阿里巴巴的股票（在纽约上市）还要低。然而，尽管受到限制，人民币价值的涨跌对外汇市场和更广泛的资产价格的影响力日增。
This is in large part because the currencies of economies that do a lot of trade with China have tended to move in tandem 6 with the yuan. Its clout owes much to China’s weight in the global economy, but also to its gravity in export markets. When the yuan moves, it imparts news about global trade. The message is quickly picked up by the currencies of other export-oriented economies, not only in Asia but in Europe too.
上标注解：
6.tandem
- n. 串联；串座双人自行车
- adj. 串联的
- adv. 一前一后地；纵排地
来看一个来自洛杉矶时报的例子：
- The industry rose in tandem with the railroads: The oranges went out and the people came in.— Los Angeles Times, "Newsletter: The uncertain fate of the San Fernando Valley’s last remaining commercial citrus grove," 16 Aug. 2019
- 这个产业随着铁路的发展而发展：橘子卖出去了，人们也进来了。
这在很大程度上是因为有大量对华贸易的经济体的货币往往与人民币同步涨跌。人民币的影响力主要归功于中国在全球经济及出口市场中的分量。人民币的涨跌会传递全球贸易动态的信息。而这些信息会被其他出口导向型经济体的货币迅速吸收，不仅在亚洲，在欧洲也一样。
It is not wholly surprising, then, that President Donald Trump’s trade war with China has bled into a conflict over the yuan-dollar exchange rate. Reports from China in recent months suggested that it had become a sticking point in the stalled 7 trade negotiations. The governor of China’s central bank even dropped a public hint in June that there was no red line at seven. America’s treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, countered that if China gave up supporting the yuan, it might be interpreted as an attempt to weaken it. That is one reason why crossing seven caused such a fuss.
7.stalled
- adj.失速的
关联例句：
- The engine stalled suddenly.
- 发动机突然熄火了
所以，特朗普发起的对华贸易战会蔓延到人民币兑美元的汇率之争也就不那么意外了。中国近几月的报道表明，汇率问题已成为贸易谈判僵局的一个胶着点。中国央行行长甚至在6月公开暗示人民币汇率没有所谓的“保七”红线。美国财政部长史蒂文·努钦（Steven Mnuchin）反驳说，如果中国政府放弃力保人民币，就可以解读为是企图引导人民币贬值。这也是“破七”引发如此轰动的原因之一。
But there are others. The yuan-dollar exchange rate has become a gauge 8 of global risk appetite. A weak yuan is often associated with weakness in a host of other important currencies, including the euro. The result is a strong dollar. That in turn squeezes global credit, because many countries and companies beyond America’s borders borrow in dollars. One consequence is slower global GDP growth. Another is that money tends to flow out of riskier sorts of securities, such as stocks and emerging-market bonds, into safer assets such as Treasury bonds.
8.gauge
- n. 厚度, 直径
- 测量仪表
- 规格, 尺度
来看一个来自时代周刊的例子：
- There is no indication the Crown Prince plans to ease its suppression of critical voices, and the Kingdom’s intolerance for dissent makes gauging public sentiment difficult.— Joseph Hincks, Time, "Saudi Arabia Is Introducing Landmark Reforms for Women. But the Activists Who Pushed For Them Remain in Prison," 5 Aug. 2019
- 没有迹象表明王储计划放松对批评声音的压制，沙特对不同政见的不容忍使得评估公众情绪也变得困难。
但也有其他原因。人民币兑美元汇率已成为全球风险偏好的衡量指标。人民币走弱通常与欧元等许多其他重要货币疲软有关。结果是美元走强。这反过来又令全球信贷受到挤压，因为美国以外的许多国家和公司是以美元借款的。后果之一是全球GDP增长放缓。另一影响是资金往往会从股票和新兴市场债券等较高风险的证券转移至美国国债等较安全的资产上。
Arbitrary numbers often take on a life of their own in financial markets. China bears some blame in this instance. It has a penchant 9 for control and opaque policymaking. Left to their own devices, investors start to impute greater significance to key thresholds. Officials follow their lead. The markets had become used to the yuan trading in a familiar range. It is not clear what the new rules are. The only thing that is certain is that yuan-dollar remains the asset price to watch.
9.penchant
- n. (强烈的)爱好,嗜好
来看一个来自大西洋月刊的例子：
- This is no globe-trotting mystery thriller, and Bernadette Fox (played by Cate Blanchett) would not make for a particularly elusive super-thief, despite her penchant for big sunglasses.— David Sims, The Atlantic, "Richard Linklater’s Where’d You Go, Bernadette Is a Gripping Mess," 16 Aug. 2019
- 这并不是一部惊悚的惊悚片，尽管伯纳黛特·福克斯（由凯特·布兰切特饰演）喜欢戴大墨镜，但她不会成为一个特别被人难以捉摸的超级小偷。
在金融市场上，随机性数字常常变得非常重要。在眼下这个案例中，中国要负一定责任。中国政府惯于管控，决策过程也不透明。全凭自己摸索的投资者变得越来越看重一些所谓的关口。官员们也被牵着走。市场已经习惯人民币在熟悉的汇率幅度内交易，新规则是什么现在尚不清楚。唯一确定的是，人民币兑美元汇率仍会是备受关注的资产价格。
养成外刊阅读的好习惯对一个英语学习者来说是非常重要的，这样不仅仅可以提高自己的阅读能力，同时对于要准备考研英语和CATTI考试也可以积累一些素材，锻炼自己的翻译能力。
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