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Alan Greenspan: the Most Powerful Guy With the American’s Midterm Elections over, and a new Commander-in-Chief about to step

admin2010-07-24  50
问题                        Alan Greenspan: the Most Powerful Guy
    With the American’s Midterm Elections over, and a new Commander-in-Chief about to step in, some Americans are a little nervous about the nation’s future. But others feel secure, knowing that the man they consider the most powerful person in the world isn’t going anywhere.
    Just who is this behind-the-scenes guy they think has more power than George W. Bush ever will? He’s Alan Greenspan, a 74-year-old expert economist who heads the Federal Reserve, commonly known as the Fed.
    Unlike the president, who has to please the voters and compromise with Congress, Greenspan doesn’t have to answer to anyone.
    But that doesn’t mean his job is easy.
    Basically, Greenspan is in charge of keeping the nation’s economy stable. The economy is sort of like a balloon: blow in too much air, and it pops. But with too little air, it falls to the floor. Greenspan helps decide when to blow more air into the economy. In this case, the air in a balloon is. the amount of money in the economy. Greenspan can make the economy grow by increasing the money supply, or keep the economy from inflating too much by decreasing the money supply. His goal is for the economy to grow and contract gradually. Rapid changes can harm businesses and consumers.
    Translating "Greenspan—Speak"
    In a speech lately, Greenspan hinted the Fed was concerned the economy might be slowing down too fast. What Greenspan actually said was that the Fed should "remain alert to the possibility that greater caution and weakening asset values in financial markets could signal or precipitate(促成) an excessive softening in household and business spending. "But what investors heard was: "I may lower interest rates which will make it easier for the companies you are investing in to borrow money. That means they’ll expand and their stock will be worth more in the future."
    Within hours of Greenspan’s remarks, so many investors bought stocks that the Dow Jones and the NASDAQ rose by three percent and ten percent that day. The value of some companies went up by millions of dollars, just because investors had confidence in Greenspan’s words.
    Increasing Influence
    But Greenspan doesn’t just work magic by talking. He was educated at New York University and Columbia and appointed to his job in 1987 by President Ronald Reagan. And he’s credited with steering the country through some difficult times since then, including a serious stock market crash just after he took the job.
    Another reason Greenspan has become almost a celebrity in America, is that more people are paying attention to the stock market than ever before. It used to be that only rich people and powerful corporations had the extra money to invest in stocks. But the U.S. economy has done so well in recent years, that more and more ordinary people are investing in stocks.
    Who is Greenspan?
    He’s a native New Yorker. His first focus was music: He attended New York’s Julliard School and toured the country for a year in the early 1940s, playing in the Henry Jerome swing band(摇摆乐队). If nothing else, friends believe, this experience of US travel gave him the ability to connect dispassionate(不带感情的) economic theories with the individuals they affect.
    "The most outstanding thing about his is he knows the American economy…," says friend Herbert Stein, an economist.
    A swing into economics carried him straight into moderate Republican politics. He advised Richard Nixon in his 1968 campaign, and served briefly in the Bureau of the Budget.
    Seven years later, he returned to government service, replacing Mr. Stein as chair of the Council of Economic Advisers in the final days of Nixon presidency. He agreed only after being assured that Vice President Ford would keep him.
    In that role, he helped formulate the inflation—fighting blueprint of the 1970s that reduced inflation from 11 to 6.5 percent.
    Greenspan is also known for taking hot morning baths that last as long as an hour, with his inbox within reach. The practice began years ago to counter a bad back.
    That has not kept him off Washington’s tennis courts, where he is renowned competitor. "I found his intensity remarkable and his approach shot serious," says one of Greenspan’s partners.
    Married to NBC newswoman Andrea Mitchell, Greenspan is also famous for his syntax(句法), or rather, the way it conceals virtually anything that could be said to be an opinion. This is partly the result of the natural silence of Fed officials, who understand that markets hang on their every word. But it is also part of Greenspan’s personality.
    One friend remembers encountering him in an airport, after violent storms had almost shut down air traffic on the East Coast. Asked about the weather, the Fed chairman said hesitantly that is was "OK."
    "He couldn’t even bring himself to be conclusive about the weather!" says’ the friend.
    Greenspan’s Next Move
    After years of very high growth, the American economy is starting to slow down. Recently, corporations have been making less money and people are starting to have a harder time finding jobs.
    Greenspan is hoping to ease the economy into a soft landing—to make the car come to a gentle stop instead of hitting a brick wall. If he succeeds, the country will avoid two possible problems: rising prices and high unemployment.
    At the Fed’s meeting, Greenspan and the other members decided that the economy was growing at an OK rate, but that there is a possibility of a serious slowdown. If they are worried that the whole economy is starting to sink, they could lower interest rates at the next meeting in an attempt to encourage people to borrow and spend.
    While there’s no way to know what they will decide, one thing is certain: the decisions that Greenspan and the Federal Reserve Board make will affect everyone who earns, borrows or spends money.
Why did Greenspan answer the question about weather hesitantly?
选项 A、Because he needed to see clearly what the weather was like.
B、Because he has a habit of being careful with his words.
C、Because he was thinking about something important.
D、Because he didn’t know the person who asked him the question.
答案B
解析 综合推断题。文章在本小节第八段提到了联邦储备委员会里的每个人都和格林斯潘一样说话谨慎，因为他们的每一个词都对美国乃至全球的经济产生影响。而格林斯潘说话时这一特点尤其明显。所以，即使在面对象天气这样再平常不过的话题时，他也会先犹豫一下才会说出一句OK这样模棱两可的话。因此，答案为B“因为他随时都在考虑说话的后果，很小心地选择用词。”
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