Obama names Gene Sperling as top economic adviser

    WASHINGTON, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama announced on Friday that Gene¹ Sperling would take the position of National Economic Council (NEC) Director, the top White House economic adviser².
    Obama made the announcement（宣告） during his Friday trip to a U.S. manufacturing company in Maryland. Former NEC Director Larry Summers, a Harvard professor, resigned at the end of last year.
    Sperling, a counselor（法律顾问） to U.S. Treasury³ Secretary Timothy Geithner, served the same position of NEC Director during the Clinton administration.
    "Gene has been an extraordinary asset to me and this administration over the past two years. He has been working with me. He is a public servant who has devoted⁴ his life to making this economy work, and making it work specifically for middle-class families," Obama noted⁵.
    Obama said that one reason he had selected Sperling was that in Sperling's tenure⁶ in the Clinton administration during the late 1990s, he helped formulate⁷ the policies that contributed to turning deficits⁸ to surpluses and a time of prosperity and progress for American families in a sustained way.
    Obama also announced to elevate Jason Furman, deputy director of the NEC, to be principal deputy head of the agency, the number two slot at the NEC.
    Obama named his pick of Heather Higginbottom, deputy director of the Domestic Policy Council（委员会）, to serve as deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget. Obama also nominated Katharine Abraham, a commissioner⁹ of the Bureau of Labor¹⁰ Statistics during the Clinton administration, to be a member of the White House Council of Economic Advisers¹¹.
    The pace of U.S. jobs creation was picking up momentum¹² and the economy was recovering, but there was still "a lot to do" to spur the economic growth, said Obama before announcing the appointments.
    The U.S. Labor Department on Friday said that the country's unemployment rate dropped by 0.4 percentage points in December 2010 from November 2010, but still stood at 9.4 percent.
    "Part of this team's mission in the months ahead will be to maximize the steps we have taken to spur the economy," Obama added.(本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑)

1 gene   

n.遗传因子，基因

参考例句：

• A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
• The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。

2 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

3 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

4 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

5 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

6 tenure   

n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期

参考例句：

• He remained popular throughout his tenure of the office of mayor.他在担任市长的整个任期内都深得民心。
• Land tenure is a leading political issue in many parts of the world.土地的保有权在世界很多地区是主要的政治问题。

7 formulate   

v.用公式表示；规划；设计；系统地阐述

参考例句：

• He took care to formulate his reply very clearly.他字斟句酌，清楚地做了回答。
• I was impressed by the way he could formulate his ideas.他陈述观点的方式让我印象深刻。

8 deficits   

n.不足额( deficit的名词复数 )；赤字；亏空；亏损

参考例句：

• The Ministry of Finance consistently overestimated its budget deficits. 财政部一贯高估预算赤字。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Many of the world's farmers are also incurring economic deficits. 世界上许多农民还在遭受经济上的亏损。 来自辞典例句

9 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

10 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

11 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

12 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。