Old-School Banks Emerge A top New World of Finance

Bells & Whistles
連續兩周華爾街日報的導讀文章都是全球金融秩序的重整, 近來再也沒有比這個更重要的議題了。過去幾十年來, 全球銀行業的業務分為兩大類, 一是商業銀行(commercial bank), 以存款、放款提供穩定的回報。一是投資銀行(investment bank), 像是雷曼兄弟、美林公司等高風險、高利潤的投資機構。隨著金融市場崩潰, 投資銀行只剩下高盛和摩根士丹利獨撐局面。銀行業回歸基本面(Back to basics), 傳統的借貸、不講究花樣(less bells and whistles)的商品大尚其道。Bells and whistles這個成語來自於交通工具, 也可以說成「bells, whistles and gongs」。駱駝隊的鈴聲bells, 汽車、火車的汽笛聲whistles, 大船要出發前的鑼聲gongs, 都有叫留心的作用, 鈴還有裝飾作用。所以, bells and whistles現在一般是指花俏, 能引人注目的附加設施。有人視bells and whistles為先進功能, 襃貶意思都有, 例如：
1). I want a simple fax machine without all the bells and whistles and gongs.
     我要一部簡單的傳真機, 不必有那些附加的無聊玩意。
2). I found many of the bells and whistles of the fax very useful.
     我覺得那部傳真機的許多附加設施都很有用
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醉花陰
薄霧濃雲愁永晝, 瑞腦消金獸。
佳節又重陽, 玉枕紗廚, 半夜涼初透。
東籬把酒黃昏後, 有暗香盈袖。
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資料來源：Apple Pie Everyday English (SEP 20, 2008)
你想要幾分熟?
How would you like that cooked?
How would you like your steak cooked?
How would you like your steak?
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  • Sep 16 Tue 2008 19:50

  • 李白

客中作
蘭陵美酒鬱金香， 玉碗盛來琥珀光。
但使主人能醉客， 不知何處是他鄉。
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Who Are You Calling Old ? 導讀

    美國大選如火如荼競爭之際, 延燒的話題也越趨廣泛: John McCain-剛滿72歲 (turns 72 this week), 而Obama 仍值壯年的47歲, 候選人的年齡在本篇以老化醫學、人口學、選舉研究予以分析, 原來屬於社會認同的選舉議題, 華爾街日報本文的作者試圖以科學實證數據或研究打破一般人習以為常的觀點, 加上本文用來旁徵博引的英語句型及論理方式, 值得一讀.
    Retrieve
    如同其他器官, 腦部以相同的比率逐漸降低其功能 (Brain function declines at the same rae as other organs), 尤其影響老年人擷取資訊的速度 (especially affects how fast older people can retrieve information). Retreve 原意指電腦檢索或擷取資訊的功能, 常延伸使用做恢復.
    例句: The company is fighting to retrieve tis market share. 公司正在為恢復市場佔有率而打拼.
名詞為 retriveal -- 老化的腦發展出無意識的運作以縮減變慢的擷取資訊 (Old brains develop unconscious operation to diminish the effect of slowed retreval speed).
    Offset & compensate
    生活經驗及累積的智慧有助於抵銷正常腦功能的下降並補償變慢的擷取時間 (Life experience and accumulated wisdom can help offset normal brain decline and compensate for slowed retrieval speed), offset 意指補償或抵銷.
    例如: The pay raise will be offset by extra expense (增加的薪水會被額外的支出抵銷) .
    He raised his prices to offset the increased cost of materials. (他提高價格以補償材料上漲的成本).
    和 offset 很接近的一個字是 compensate, 也有補償或賠償的意思, 例如我們補償在此一事件遭受損失的企業. We compensated those industries for the loss caused by this event.
    compensate 和 offset 意思相近, 用法稍有不同. offset 常用搭配為 "offset sth. by sth./doing sth.". 注意: compensate 後面接的是受補償的人, 常用搭配為 "compensate sb. for sth." (因為某事補償某人).
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In my life, no success has come without a good fight, and this nomination wasn't any different.
我的一生中, 沒有勝利不經奮鬥而來, 這次提名也不例外
A word to Senator Obama and his supporters. We'll go it over the next two months. That's the nature of these contests, and there are big differences between us. But you have my respect and admiration.
對歐巴馬及他的支持者, 我有一言. 在接下來的兩個月, 我們之間自然會有許多競爭. 這個競賽的本質就是如此, 我們彼此之間有極大的差異. 但我尊敬並欽佩你們.
And let me offer an advance warning to the old, big spending, do nothing, me first, country second Washington crowd: change is coming.
華府那些老朽的、 花大錢、一事無成、自我優先、國家第二的儲君, 我先警告你們 :  「改變來了!」
And when we tell you we're going to change Washington, and stop leaving our contry's problems for some unluckier generation to fix, you can count on it.
當我們說我們會改變華府, 不再把我們國家問題留給不幸的下一代去解決, 你們可以相信我們會說到做到.
We were elected to change Washington, and we let Washington change us. We lost the trust of the American people when some Republicans gave in to the tempations of corruption.
我們是被選來改變華府的, 我們卻任由被華府改變. 當一些共和國員無法抗拒貪腐誘惑時, 我們也隨之失去了美國人民的信任.
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drop-dead gorgeous 令人傾倒
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資料來源：聽見英國 (CD40)
LISTENING 4 Talking About Holiday Plans
Alan: What are you going to do this
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  National Geographic News -- People have been enjoying chocolate for more than 3,000 years -- about 500 years earlier than previously believed, according to a new study. Researchers also think that chocolate was discovered by accident -- when Central American Indians making beer from the pulp of cacao seedpods found a new use for a byproduct of that process.
  The new findings about chocolate's origins were gleaned from traces of cacao found on pottery fragments dating from about 1100 B.C. to 800 B.C. Then fragments were uncovered between 1995 and 2000 at archaeological excavations near Puerto Escondido in Honduras.
  Today's chocolate is made from the fermented seeds of the cacao tree, which only grows near the equator. Around 1100 B.C., ancient beer makers used the cacao's seedpods to make their drinks. The pods -- which were a little smaller than a modern American football -- were fermented, and then the pod pulp was used to make the beer. The seeds were discarded.
  "It was beer with a high kick," says study author Rosemary Joyce, an anthropologist at the University of California, Berkeley. "But is would not have tasted anything like the chocolate we have today."
  About 300 years later, however, people began using the discarded fermented seeds to make a non-alcoholic beverage that was highly prized despite its bitter taste, said study author John Henderson, an anthropologist at Cornell University.
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U.S. shoppers defy economic blues on 'Black Friday'
by Luis Torres De La Liosa
New York, AFP
  Shoppers in the United States brushed off some gloomy economic forecasts and rushed into stores during the Thanksgiving Day weekend kicking off one of the busiest U.S. shopping periods of the year.
  While economists have suggested this year's holiday season will likely see only a small increase in takings over last year due to weak consumer confidence, there was little sign of depressed sales on New York's streets.
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以下內容來自一封網路 e-mail
There was a one-hour interview on CNBC with Warren Buffet, the second richest man who has donated $31 billion to charity. Here are some very interesting aspects of his life:
1. He bought his first share at age 11 and he now regrets that he  started too late! 2. He bought a small farm at age 14 with savings from delivering  newspapers. 3. He still lives in the same small 3-bedroom house in mid-town Omaha, that he bought after he got married 50 years ago. He says that he has everything he needs in that house. His house does not have a wall or a fence. 4. He drives his own car everywhere and does not have a driver or security people around him. 5. He never travels by private jet, although he owns the world's largest private jet company. 6. His company, Berkshire Hathaway, owns 63 companies. He writes only one letter each year to the CEOs of these companies, giving them goals for the year. He never holds meetings or calls them on a regular basis. He has given his CEO's only two rules.
Rule number 1: do not lose any of your share holder's money.
Rule number 2: Do not forget rule  number 1.7. He does not socialize with the high society crowd. His past time after he gets home is to make himself some pop corn and watch Television. 8. Bill Gates, the world's richest man met him for the first time only 5 years ago. Bill Gates did not think he had anything in common with Warren Buffet. So he had scheduled his meeting only for half hour. But when Gates met him, the
meeting lasted for ten hours and Bill Gates became a devotee of Warren Buffet.9. Warren Buffet does not carry a cell phone,nor has a computer on his desk.
His advice to young people:"Stay away from credit cards and invest in yourself and Remember:
  • A. Money doesn't create man but it is the man who created money.
  • B. Live your life as simple as you are.
  • C. Don't do what others say, just listen them, but do what you feel good
  • D. Don't go on brand name; just wear those things in which u feel comfortable.
  • E. Don't waste your money on unnecessary things; just spend on them who really in need rather.
  • F. After all it's your life then why give chance to others to rule our life.
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    dpa -- It's every notebook computer user's worst nightmare. You go to retrieve your notebook from the last place you left it, only to discover that someone else -- a thief -- has retrieved it for you.
    Financial records, bank and credit card information, personal data, sensitive files, expensive software -- not to mention the notebook computer itself -- can be gone in an instant.
    That means that if you own a notebook computer, theft prevention is your best defense. But just because your notebook computer is personal doesn't mean it will stay that way. So your first step should be to take a hard look at just what information you have stored on your notebook computer and decide whether it belongs there, remembering that at any time it could be exposed to prying eyes.
    Also, be aware of the sensitive information you might have stored inside of document files. Don't leave documents filled with user names and passwords on your notebook's hard driver, for example. And turn off automatic form filling in Web browsers that offer that option. Making it easy for thieves to see which Internet banking sites you use and then to gain access to accounts simply by logging on to them makes no sense.
    If you must carry around personal information on your notebook it's wise to exercise at least a basic level of security in the form of passwords and data encryption.
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