BOE Cuts Interest Rate 

   Within the last hour, the Bank of England has made its first cut in interest rates for almost two years. The key base rate is now down to  5.75 percent. The Bank of England is worried about the impact of the US slowdown. It’s the first cut in UK rates since June 1999. The move follows last week’s half a percent cut in the United States and several rate cuts in Asia over the last few days.

参考译文：

   　在刚刚过去的一个小时里，英格兰银行在近两年后首次降息。主要的基本利率现在已降到百分之五点七五。英格兰银行对美国经济增长减速带来的影响感到忧虑，这是自一九九九年六月以来英国首次降息。在此之前，美国已在上星期把利率向下调了半个百分点，在过去的几天里，亚洲也有一些国家相继降息。