金融英语备考资料口语篇-西方的银行（一）

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　　西方的银行（一）
. I4 o0 z0 t- q　　Situation 1
　　情景 1
　　Jiro Ito is visiting with his friend ,Bob Jenson ,a banker in NewYork .
( J) d! g6 ?, ^, Z: n　　伊滕次郎正与他的朋友鲍勃·詹森闲谈。鲍勃是纽约的一位银行职员。
　　They are talking about the history of banking in the west .
　　他们正在谈论有关西方银行的历史。
　　Ito:I’m curious about the history of banking in the west ,Bob.Can you tell me something about it ?
3 f8 M+ [3 I- L3 w　　伊 滕：我很想知道有关西方银行史的一些情况。鲍勃，您能给我讲一讲吗？
& G3 C  r/ y- U) x: W, X% _　　Jensen:Well,Jiro,the earliest banks started in Babylon almost 4,000 years ago .
　　詹 森：好的，次郎。最早的银行大约是4，000年前在巴比伦建立的。
　　They were really temples which collected deposits and made loans .
% G6 F' |8 O6 a* C6 Q　　实际上，那些银行只是一种收集存款并进行放款的场所。
9 k' k3 u& H, D' I　　I :That surprises me .I had always thought that banking started during the Renaissance in Europe .
- N0 D# f0 t1 g; r. p+ D　　伊 滕：这可真是出乎我的意料之外，我原来一直以为银行业务始于欧洲文艺复兴时期呢。
! h; E9 f& l/ ~& z　　J:No ,it was much earlier than that.Actually ,private firms that handled deposits and loans ,
, q$ q! T/ W7 e; a6 o　　詹 森：不，比那个时期要早多了。实际上，早在公元前6世纪就有了私营的商行。
: l. J4 k/ Z7 F3 @% o　　changed coins and even arranged for credit transactions existed as early as the 6th century B.C.
$ q& G7 u" S) x! h& b　　这些商行从事储蓄存款和贷款，兑换硬币以至安排信贷交易。
　　I:Then ,there were banks in ancient Greece and Rome,too?
2 b1 H, l( n( a# X　　伊 滕：当时，古希腊和罗马也有银行吗？
9 L7 A8 k; P& T# K- q0 N8 k8 Y　　J:Yes ,laws in Both Greece and Rome recognized banks and many bank functions .
) \" `% q8 w# e. F　　詹 森：是的，希腊和罗马都在法律上承认了银行和银行的许多作用。
　　It wasn’t until the breakup of the Roman Empire and the decline in trade and commercialtransactions that banking lost its previous importance .
3 [6 x' j8 A; }6 l　　直到罗马帝国崩溃，商贸业务衰落，银行业才失去了它以往的重要性。
　　I:What about the laws against usury during the Middle Ages?Didn’t such laws made it illegal tocharge interest on loans?
　　伊 滕：中世纪时，法律禁止放高利贷是怎么回事？这些法律没有规定贷款收取利息是非法的吗？
- p( ?: {4 A- Q* V9 a　　J:Yes,they did ,but these laws were gradually changed during the 14th and 15th centuries,andbanking functions started appearing again in Italy and Belgium and later in France ,Germany andEngland .
　　詹 森：规定了，但是这些法律在14，15世纪时逐步地改变了，银行的作用又在意大利和比利时开始出现，后来又显现在法国、德国和英国。
; _$ n: K- b. m8 p- F, F　　I:I see .So we can really say that banking restarted during the Renaissance .
　　伊 滕：我明白了。实际上我们可以说，银行业在文艺复兴时期又重新开始了。