2016年下半年BEC初級考試時間為11月26日，所剩備考時間不多了，以下是yjbys網小編整理的關於BEC初級閱讀素材，供大家備考。
BEC初級閱讀：全球股市波動並非中國製造
誠然，平安是在全球最大的市場上賣保險，但僅憑這一點，很難證明其市淨率較全球保險業平均水平高出三倍是合理的。實際上，中國境外投資者對平安保險的估值較其內地新股東低28%。許多兩地上市的中國股票都存在令人瞠目的估值差距。平安保險最大競爭對手中國人壽(China Life)香港上市的股價就較內地低40%。匯豐(HSBC)持有平安保險的部分股權。
Sure, Ping An sells insurance in the world's biggest market, but that alone hardly justifies a price-to-book multiple that is four times the industry's global average. Indeed, investors outside China value shares in Ping An, which is partly owned by HSBC, at a 28 per cent discount to the new mainland shareholders. Yawning valuation gaps exist among many of China's dual-listed stocks. China Life, Ping An's bigger rival, is 40 per cent cheaper across the border in Hong Kong.
儘管目前以人民幣計價的中國A股市場市值已達1.4萬億美元，但國際準則在這裡顯然並不適用。股票交易主要取決於變化無常的市場人氣：以中國國航(Air China)為例，由於市場需求不旺，該公司去年夏季被迫削減了首次公開發行(IPO)規模。結構性制約因素依然存在。中國國內投資者的投資渠道非常有限，因此，在市場行情好的時候，新股發行基本上可以保證獲得極高的超額認購率--還有高股價和驚人的.首日漲幅。自2000年以來，中國內地IPO始終保持著高水平的單日平均回報率。Dealogic的資料顯示，今年迄今為止，中國內地IPO的首日平均漲幅為70%，相比之下，鄰近的香港和日本則分別只有22%和44%。
International norms clearly do not apply, even though China's domestic-currency "A" share market now has a capitalisation of US$1,400bn. Stocks trade largely on sentiment, which can turn on a dime: witness Air China, which was forced to scale back its IPO last summer due to tepid demand. Structural constraints persist. Domestic investors have few investment options, so in good times huge over-subscription rates are more or less guaranteed - along with top-dollar prices and impressive first-day pops. Since the start of the decade, Chinese IPOs have consistently produced high average one-day returns. So far this year the average pop is 70 per cent, compared with 22 per cent in neighbouring Hong Kong and 44 per cent in Japan, according to Dealogic.
一個靠人氣推動的市場不斷走高似乎是一個典型的泡沫--即便經過週二的大幅回撥，上海A股市場仍高於去年年底的水平，過去12個月累計上漲114%。監管機構已發出大量警告，並很可能採取干預措施。但和泡沫一樣，泡沫的破裂實質上只會波及國內市場。外國投資者在中國A股市場的投資額不足100億美元，僅大致相當於一筆中等規模的私人股本交易。與中國公司的股價相比，他們應該還有一些更緊迫的事情需要擔憂。
A sentiment-driven market spiralling higher - even after Tuesday's correction, the Shanghai "A" share market is in positive territory this year and up 114 per cent in the past 12 months - looks like a classic bubble. Regulators have warned as much, and may well intervene. But the bursting, like the bubble, will be essentially domestic. Foreigners have less than $10bn in the market, or about the same as in a mid-sized private equity deal, and should have more pressing things to fret about than Chinese share prices.
BEC初級閱讀：油價金價再創新高
在美元再度走軟之際，原油及黃金價格昨日再創新高，因投資者試圖躲避第二輪信貸動盪的衝擊。
Crude oil and gold prices surged to fresh highs yesterday amid renewed dollar weakness as investors sought refuge from a second wave of credit turmoil.
西德克薩斯中質原油(West Texas Intermediate)大幅上漲逾3美元，創下每桶97.07美元的名義高點，交易員警告稱，如果本週美國原油庫存資料較上週又有下降，油價最早可能於今日試探每桶100美元的水平。
West Texas Intermediate jumped more than $3 to a nominal record of $97.07 a barrel and traders warned it might test the $100-a-barrel level as soon as today if US crude oil inventories show another weekly decline.
美國能源情報署(Energy Information Administration)一份看漲的報告推動了油價上漲，報告稱“緊張的基本面因素”將繼續推高油價。能源情報署是美國能源部(Department of Energy)的統計機構。
The price jump was helped by a bullish report from the Energy Information Administration, the statistical arm of the US Energy Department, warning that “tight fundamentals” would continue to push up oil prices.
能源情報署預測原油價格“在未來數月內將超過每桶80美元”，在2008年將維持在每桶75美元以上，因為“全球原油市場可能仍將處於緊張狀態。”該機構表示，石油輸出國組織(OPEC，簡稱歐佩克)需要在目前每日增產50萬桶的基礎上，再增產70萬桶，從而使市場維持平衡狀態，直到明年第一季度。
The EIA forecast that crude oil prices would “exceed $80 per barrel over the next several months” and trade above $75 a barrel in 2008 as “global oil markets will likely remain stretched.” It said the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries would need to add another 700,000 barrels a day on top of its current production increase of 500,000 b/d to balance the market through the first quarter of 2008.
針對原油價格在1年內超過每桶100美元的看漲期權價格飆升至每桶4.15美元，較10月底上漲近70%。
The cost of using options contracts to insure against crude oil trading at $100 in a year’s time surged to $4.15 per barrel, up almost 70 per cent since the end of October.
在原油價格上漲和美元不斷走軟的共同作用下，黃金價格升至824.3美元/盎司的28年高點，僅略低於1980年1月份850美元/盎司的歷史高點。
The combination of strong crude oil prices and a weakening dollar boosted gold prices to a fresh 28-year high of $824.3 an ounce, just below its all-time high of $850 reached in January 1980.
貴金屬交易員們表示，投資者在增持黃金——沒有人賣出。Dresdner Kleinwort駐倫敦的貴金屬業務主管大衛·赫爾姆斯(David Holmes)表示，金價升至每盎司850美元的“可能性很大。”
Precious metals traders said investors were adding to their gold positions – no one was selling. David Holmes, head of precious metals at Dresdner Kleinwort in London, said a rise to $850 was “very much on the cards”.
瑞銀集團(UBS)駐倫敦的貴金屬策略主管約翰?裡德(John Reade)將其1個月期金價預測定為“不可避免的”每盎司850美元。
John Reade, head of metals strategy at UBS in London, upgraded its one-month gold forecast to an “inevitable” $850 an ounce.
