Banking¹ Committee hearing on the semi-annual monetary² policy report." width="400" border="0" src="/upimg/090808/4_013344_1.jpg" />
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, July 22, 2009, before the Senate Banking Committee hearing on the semi-annual monetary policy report.

The share of Americans who think the Federal Reserve is doing an excellent-to-good job has sunk even as chairman Ben Bernanke has taken unprecedented³ steps to try to prevent a financial catastrophe⁴, according to a new poll released Monday.

Many analysts⁵ credit Bernanke's unconventional approach with averting⁶ disaster last year. But his support of taxpayer⁷ bailouts of big financial firms such as insurance giant American International Group upset the public and many lawmakers.

The Gallop⁸ poll, conducted in mid-July, found that only 30 percent rated the Fed as doing an "excellent/good" job.

It was the lowest such score out of nine government agencies. And it was down sharply from the 53 percent who thought the Fed was doing an excellent-to-good job in a survey in 2003. At that time, then-Fed chief Alan Greenspan was steering⁹ a fragile economy back from the 2001 recession, terror attacks and corporate¹⁰ accounting¹¹ scandals that had rocked Wall Street.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention topped the list with 61 percent of poll respondents rating that agency excellent to good. NASA and the FBI tied for second place at 58 percent each.

The CIA, the Department of Homeland Security, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Internal Revenue Service and the Food and Drug Administration all earned scores higher than the Fed's, the poll said.

The results come at a delicate time for Bernanke. His term expires early next year, and President Barack Obama will have to decide whether to reappoint him to a new four-year term or find a replacement¹². Bernanke has been under fire on Capitol Hill for rescuing AIG to the tune¹³ of more than $180 billion.

根据本周一发布的最新民意调查，尽管美联储主席本•伯南克已经采取前所未有的措施极力防范金融灾难，但是认为美联储做得很好或不错的美国人却日渐减少。

许多分析家都对伯南克去年为防范金融灾难而采取的非常措施予以赞赏，但是他用纳税人的钱救助像保险业巨头美国国际集团这样的大金融公司却引起了公众和许多立法者的不满。

盖洛普民意调查公司在七月中旬进行了一项调查，发现只有30%的人认为美联储的工作做得“很好”或“不错”。

在对九个政府机构的调查中，美联储的得分是最低的。在2003年的民意调查中，有53%的人认为美联储的工作做得很好或不错，与之相比，美联储2009年在民众心目中的地位可谓是急剧下滑。当时的美联储主席艾伦•格林斯潘面临的是2001年的经济衰退、恐怖袭击和震动华尔街的一系列重大公司财务丑闻，但是在格林斯潘的引导下，美国疲弱的经济还是从泥淖中走了出来。

疾病控制和预防中心在这次民意调查中的排名是最高的，有61%的调查受访者认为该中心的工作完成得“很好”或“不错”。美国国家航空航天局和联邦调查局赢得了58%的民众的认可，在排名中并列第二。

民意调查报告显示，美国中央情报局、国土安全部、环境保护局、国内税务署、食品和药物管理局的得分都比美联储高。

这一结果公布的时机对于伯南克来说很棘手。他的任期到明年初就到期了，巴拉克•奥巴马总统需要决定是否让他连任。伯南克因为动用高达1800亿美元的巨款救助美国国际集团曾遭到国会抨击。

Vocabulary:

bailout: 紧急（财政）援助

steer: 指导，带领

tie: 打成平手，得分相等

to the tune of: 达……之多