2017英语专八阅读100篇高级篇附答案解析（78）

2017英语专八阅读100篇高级篇附答案解析（78）

　　Controledbleeding or cauterisation? That was the unappealing choice facing UBS, a Swissbank which has been badly hurt by the carnage in America’s mortgage market. The bank optedfor the latter. First it opened the wound, by announcing a hefty $10 billionwrite-down on its exposure to subprime-infected debt. UBS now expects a lossfor the fourth quarter, which ends this month. Then came the hot iron: news ofa series of measures to shore up the bank’s capital base, among theminvestments from sovereign-wealth funds in Singapore and the Middle East.

　　Bad news hadbeen expected. UBS’s third-quarter write-down of over SFr4 billionin October looked overlyoptimistic compared with more aggressive markdowns at other banks such asCitigroup and Merrill Lynch. Steep falls in the market value of subprime debtsince the end of the third quarter made it certain that UBS would take morepain, given its sizeable exposure to toxic collateralised-debt obligations. Analysts at Citigroup were predicting in November that write-downs ofup to SFr14 billion were possible.

　　Why then didthis new batch of red ink still come as a shock? The answer lies not in thescale of the overall loss, more in UBS’s decision to take the hit in onego. The bank’s mark-to-model approach to valuing its subprime-related holdings hadbeen based on payments data from the underlying mortgage loans. Although thesedata show a worsening in credit quality, the deterioration is slower thanmark-to-market valuations, which have the effect of instantly crystallising allexpected future losses.

　　Thanks tothis gradualist approach, UBS had been expected to take write-downs in managedincrements of SFr2 billion-3 billion over a period of several quarters. It nowappears that the bank has incorporated market values into its model, sendingits fourth-quarter write-downs into orbit. The change of approach may be on theadvice of auditors and regulators but it is more likely to reflect a desire byUBS’s bosses toavoid months of speculation about the bank’s exposure, something that MarcelRohner, the chief executive, described as distracting .

　　In aparticular indignity for a bank long associated with conservatism, concernsabout the level of UBS’s capital ratio had even started to surface. Hence the moves tostrengthen its tier-one capital, an important measure of bank solidity, bySFr19.4 billion, a great deal more than the write-down. The majority of thatmoney will come from sovereign-wealth funds, the white knights of choice fortoday’s bank in distress. Singapore’s GIC, which manages thecity-state’s foreign reserves, has pledged to buy SFr11 billion-worth of convertiblebonds in UBS; an unnamed Middle Eastern investor will put in a further SFr2billion. UBS will also raise money by selling treasury shares, and save cash byissuing its 2007 dividend in the form of shares. Its capital ratio is expectedto end up above 12% in the fourth quarter, a strong position.The majority ofthat money will come from sovereign-wealth funds, the white knights of choicefor today’s bank in distress.

　　Hopeful talkof lines being drawn under the subprime crisis has been a feature of banks’ quarterly reporting sinceSeptember. Marrying bigger-than-expected write-downs with bigger-than-expectedboosts to capital looks like the right treatment in this environment. But UBSstill cannot be sure that its problems are over. Further deterioration in itssubprime asset values is possible; the broader economic impact of the creditcrunch is unclear; and the damage to the bank’s reputation cannot yet bequantified. The patient still needs watching.

　　1. The authoruses the metaphor hot iron to imply that_____.

　　[A] thosemeasures will do more harm to UBS.

　　[B] thosemeasures will cauterize UBS.

　　[C] thosemeasures will forcefully stop UBS from furthur loss.

　　[D] thosemeasures will control bleeding of UBS.

　　2. Comparedwith the mark-to-market valuations, the mark-to-model approach could _____.

　　[A] slow downthe worsening in credit qualtiy.

　　[B] instantlycrystallise all expected future loss.

　　[C] worsenthe credit quality.

　　[D]accelerate the deterioration in credit quality.

　　3. The reasonthat Marcel Rohner thought the chang of approach was distracting is_____.

　　[A] thischange was unexpected to take place in such a situation.

　　[B] thischange was result of the advice of auditors and regulators.

　　[C] thischange was unfavorite to UBS.

　　[D] thischange was taken to make people dispel their guess.

　　4. Thephrase the white knights most probablymeans____.

　　[A] richpeople.

　　[B] saviors.

　　[C] generouspeople.

　　[D] bravepeople.

　　5. The author’s attitude towards UBS’s future is______.

　　[A]optimistic

　　[B] pessimistic

　　[C] uncertain

　　[D] none ofthe above

　　篇章分析：

　　本篇文章介绍了UBS银行目前面临的困境以及其解决困境的一系列措施。第一段讲述UBS银行面对困境时作了强行止血的选择;第二段讲述UBS目前面临的不好的因素;第三段第四段分析了其估值的方式;第五段讲述UBS解决资金困难的一系列措施;第六段分析UBS面临的一些问题。

　　词汇注释：

　　Carnage n. 大屠杀, 残杀

　　hefty n. 异常大的或相当多的

　　write-down n.[会计]帐面价值的故意降低

　　shoreup v.支持

　　markdowns n. 削价

　　increment n.增加, 增量

　　distract v.转移

　　indignity n.轻蔑, 侮辱, 侮辱的行为

　　solidity n.可靠性

　　pledge vt.保证, 使发誓, 抵押, 典当

　　boost n.增加;提高

　　crunch n. 危急情况，危急时刻或紧急状态

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