Paper Two

Part V Translation (30 minutes, 10 points)

Directions: Translate the following passage into Chinese and put your translation on the ANSWER SHEET.

The stability of the U.S. banking system is maintained by means of supervision and regulation, inspections, deposit insurance, and loans to troubled banks. For over 50 years, these precautions have prevented banking panics. However, there have been some close calls. The collapse of Continental Illinois Bank & Trusted Company of Chicago in 1984 did not bring down the banking system, but it certainly rattled some windows.

In the late 1970´s, Continental soared to a leadership position among Midwestern banks. Parts of its growth strategy were risky, however. It made many loans in the energy field, including $1 billion that it took over from Penn Square Bank of Oklahoma City. To obtain the funds it needed to make these loans, Continental relied heavily on short term borrowing from other banks and large 30-day certificates of deposit — "hot money", in banking jargon. At least one Continental officer saw danger signs and wrote a warning memo to her superiors, but the memo went unheeded. Although the Comptroller of the Currency inspected Continental on a regular basis, it failed to see how serious its problems were going to be.