1、This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.这里是美国之音慢速英语经济报道。The best example of something is often called the gold standard. It sets the standard against which other things are measured. In economics, the term describes how major trading nations once used gold to set currency values and exchang
2、e rates. Many nations continued to use the gold standard until the last century.事物最好的标准通常被称作“黄金标准”，它规定了衡量其他事物的标准。在经济学上，这个词汇用来描述贸易大国曾经使用黄金来设定货币价值和汇率。至少上世纪，许多国家还在奉行金本位。In the United States, people could exchange paper money for gold from the eighteen seventies until nineteen thirty-three. Then-Preside
3、nt Richard Nixon finally disconnected the dollar from the value of gold in nineteen seventy-one. From time to time, some politicians call for a return to the gold standard.从19世纪70年代到1933年，美国人们可以以纸币兑换黄金。随后，尼克松总统终于在1971年宣布美元脱离黄金价值。一些政治家不时呼吁回归金本位。But in nineteen seventy eight, the International Monetar
4、y Fund ended an official gold price. The IMF also ended the required use of gold in transactions with its member countries.不过在1978年，国际货币基金组织终结了官方金价，IMF还结束了要求会员国使用黄金做交易的规定。Since that time, gold prices have grown. But the growth was uneven. Prices - uncorrected for inflation continue near record highs
5、. Gold is trading above one thousand six hundred dollars an ounce. An ounce is about twenty-eight grams.从那时起，黄金价格开始上涨，但并非均衡上涨。未经过通货率修正的黄金价格目前仍接近历史高位。黄金交易每盎司价格在1600美元以上。一盎司约为28克。But people keep buying. Some people are gold bugs. These are investors who say people should buy gold to protect against in
6、flation. 但人们还在购买黄金，有的人是“黄金信徒”，这些投资人认为，人们应该购买黄金来应对通胀。People have valued gold for thousands of years. The soft, dense metal polishes to a bright yellow shine and resists most chemical reactions. It makes a good material for money, political power - and, more recently, electrical power. If you own a de
7、vice like a mobile phone or a computer, you might own a little gold in the wiring.几千年来人们都重视黄金价值。这种柔软、密度大的金属闪耀着亮黄色光芒，能抵抗大部分化学反应。这使它成为金钱和政治权力的良好材料 - 最近还用于电子方面。如果你拥有手机、电脑一类的设备，这些设备的线路板上就有少量黄金。The gold standard was the subject of one of the best-known speeches in American political history. It took plac
8、e at the eighteen ninety-six Democratic National Convention in Chicago.金本位是美国政治史上最著名的一次演讲，那是在1896年芝加哥举行的民主党全国代表大会上。William Jennings Bryan wanted the country to use both gold and silver as money. The idea was to devalue the dollar and make it easier for farmers to pay their debts. Here is Bryan readi
9、ng his speech much later, in nineteen twenty-one.威廉詹宁斯布赖恩（William Jennings Bryan）希望美国同时使用黄金和白银作为货币。该想法是为了让美元贬值，从而使农民还贷更为容易。以下是很久以后的1921年，布赖恩再次宣读他的演讲。WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN: You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns. You shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold.布赖恩：“我们不该把带刺的王冠戴上劳动人民的额头，不该把人类钉在黄金的十字架上。”The speech made William Jennings Bryan famous. He was a presidential candidate three times. But he never won.这次演讲使得布赖恩声名鹊起，他三次作为总统候选人，但从未当选。