A modern bank provides many services other than checking accounts. One of the most important of these is regular passbook savings.　现代银行提供除支票账户之外的许多业务，其中最重要的业务之一是定期存折储蓄账户。　If you went to a bank to open a savings account, you would go through almost the same procedures followed in applying for a checking account. First you would be asked to fill out a signature card. Then you would be given a passbook in which your initial deposit would be recorded. All deposits and withdrawals from your account are entered into your passbook. This means that the passbook contains an actual record of all transactions made and that you know the exact amount of savings you have at any one time. With a regular passbook savings account, you would be able to withdraw money whenever you needed it. All you would have to do is to fill out a withdrawal order and present it, along with your passbook, to the teller.　如果你到银行开立储蓄账户，你会经历与申请支票账户所需的相同手续。首先，你需要填写印鉴卡。然后，你会得到一本记录起始存款金额的存折。账户上的所有存取款都记入存折。这就是说，存折记载一切交易的真实情况，而且你会随时了解到准确的账面存款余额。有了定期存折储蓄账户，无论你何时需要都能够取款。你需要做的事情就是填写取款单，然后将它和存折一起递交给银行出纳员。　All banks pay interest on savings account. The interest rate varies from bank to bank, but the general range is from 4 1/2 to 6 percent. Banks also pay interest at different times. But the majority of them pay semiannually -- that is, every six months. Suppose, for example, that on January 1, you deposited $1,000 in a bank that paid 4 1/2 percent interest semiannually. By July 1, you would have earned $ 22.50 interest. This interest would automatically be credited to your account; and if you left it in the bank, along with your original deposit, you would receive interest on $1,022.50 for the next six-month period. That is, your interest would be compounded.　所有银行对储蓄账户都要支付利息，各银行的利率也不一样，但变化范围通常在年利率4 1/2%到6%之间。各银行支付利息的时间也不一样，大多数都是半年，即每隔六个月付一次利息。例如，假定一月一日，你存了1，000美元，银行每隔半年按4 1/2%的利率支付利息，到七月一日你就会挣到22.50美元利息，这笔利息就会自动记到你的账上。如果你不支取，它将并入原有的存款，在以后的六个月里，你将得到按本金1,022.50美元计算的利息。也就是说，你的利息是按复利计算的