2. Loan

A businessman walked into a New York Citibank and asked for the loan officer. He was going to Europe on business for two weeks and needed to borrow $5,000. The loan officer said it would need some security1 for such a loan. The business man then handed over the keys to a Rolls Royce2 that was parked on the street in front of the bank. Everything checked out and the loan officer accepted the car as collateral3 for the loan. An employee then drove the Rolls into the bank's underground garage and parked it there.

Two weeks later the businessman returned, repaid the $5,000 and the interest which came to $15.41. The loan officer said, "We do appreciate your business and this transaction4 has worked out very nicely, but we are a bit puzzled. While you were away we checked and found that you are a multimillionaire. What puzzles us is why you would bother to borrow $5,000?"

The business man replied, "Where else in New York City can I park my car for 2 weeks for 15 bucks?"

Notes:

1. security 担保，安全

2. Rolls Royce 劳斯莱斯轿车

3. collateral 抵押品

4. transaction 交易

贷　款

一位商人走进纽约花旗银行要求见贷款员。他要去欧洲出差两周需要借5000美元。贷款员说这样一笔贷款银行需要抵押。这个商人把他停在银行门口街道上的一辆劳斯莱斯轿车的钥匙交给了贷款员。经过查验，贷款员接受了这个抵押。一位银行雇员把劳斯莱斯轿车开进了银行的地下车库并停在那里。

两周以后商人回来了，交回了5000美元以及15.41美元利息。贷款员说：“我们很感谢您的惠顾，这笔交易也非常顺利，但是我们都有点不理解。你走后我们查了一下发现你是百万富翁。令我们不解的是为什么你会不厌其烦地借5000美元呢？”

商人答道：“在纽约，还有什么地方能让我花15美元停车两周呢？”

Useful link:

花旗银行总部位于美国纽约派克大道，是华盛顿街最古老的商业银行之一。1812年，纽约州特许建立纽约城市银行（City bank of New York）——今日花旗集团的前身。1865年7月17日，按照美国《国民银行法》，纽约城市银行取得了国民银行的营业执照，更名为纽约国民城市银行。此后，纽约国民城市银行迅速发展成为全美最大的银行之一。