Obama, State Governors Discuss US Economy

    President Barack Obama met with a group of state governors from his Democratic Party on Friday, to discuss ways to boost the U.S. economy and deal with state budget crises(危机). The governors said they did not talk about the ongoing¹ budget furor² in the north central state of Wisconsin.
    President Obama and Vice³ President Joe Biden hosted the Democratic（民主的） governors, as their Republican counterparts prepared to join them for this weekend’s annual meeting of the National Governors Association.
    This year’s gathering⁴ of the leaders of the 50 states could be more contentious⁵ than usual.
    Obama has blasted efforts by Wisconsin’s Republican governor to cut the state budget by limiting state workers’ rights to collective bargaining as an "assault" on labor⁶ unions.
    And Republican governors and state legislators（立法者） have been trying to block some or all of Obama’s health care reform law from taking effect.
    After Friday’s meeting, Democratic Governor Jack⁷ Markell, of the Eastern state of Delaware, said the president and the governors concentrated on ways to reduce unemployment.
    "I can tell you, in my conversations back at home, I have not had a single business person say to me that they want the federal government refighting the fights of the last two years about health care," said Markell. "What they want us focused on is, ‘What are we going to do to create jobs?"The Democratic governors said Obama had asked them to meet with business leaders in their states before coming to the White House, and relay their suggestions to him.
    Friday’s meeting took place as the Wisconsin state assembly considered legislation to reduce the collective bargaining rights of public employees. The legislation, proposed by Republican Governor Scott Walker, has led to more than a week of demonstrations⁸ in the state capital, Madison.  Similar controversies⁹ are brewing¹⁰ in other central states.
    At the White House, Martin O’Malley, of the Eastern state of Maryland, said he and his fellow Democratic governors ignored the situation in Wisconsin when meeting with the president. "I think most of us see that as a distraction¹¹, really, from the most important work that we can do, which is creating jobs."White House spokesman Jay Carney addressed the state budget crises at Friday’s press briefing, saying only that bipartisan cooperation is vital.
    "Everybody needs to tighten¹² their belts. Everybody needs to sacrifice and work together to bring state budgets into balance, to bring stability to the fiscal¹³ situations in the states, much as we need to work together at the federal level."Obama will host all the governors at a formal dinner Sunday night, and will meet with them on Monday.（本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑）

1 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

2 furor   

n.狂热；大骚动

参考例句：

• His choice of words created quite a furor.他的措辞引起了相当大的轰动。
• The half hour lecture caused an enormous furor.那半小时的演讲引起了极大的轰动。

3 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

4 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

5 contentious   

adj.好辩的，善争吵的

参考例句：

• She was really not of the contentious fighting sort.她委实不是好吵好闹的人。
• Since then they have tended to steer clear of contentious issues.从那时起，他们总想方设法避开有争议的问题。

6 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。

7 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

8 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

9 controversies   

争论

参考例句：

• We offer no comment on these controversies here. 对于这些争议，我们在这里不作任何评论。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史
• The controversies surrounding population growth are unlikely to subside soon. 围绕着人口增长问题的争论看来不会很快平息。 来自辞典例句

10 brewing   

n. 酿造, 一次酿造的量 动词brew的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• It was obvious that a big storm was brewing up. 很显然，一场暴风雨正在酝酿中。
• She set about brewing some herb tea. 她动手泡一些药茶。

11 distraction   

n.精神涣散，精神不集中，消遣，娱乐

参考例句：

• Total concentration is required with no distractions.要全神贯注，不能有丝毫分神。
• Their national distraction is going to the disco.他们的全民消遣就是去蹦迪。

12 tighten   

v.(使)变紧；(使)绷紧

参考例句：

• Turn the screw to the right to tighten it.向右转动螺钉把它拧紧。
• Some countries tighten monetary policy to avoid inflation.一些国家实行紧缩银根的货币政策，以避免通货膨胀。

13 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。