Obama On Economy: 'Things Will Get Better'

　　The U.S. unemployment rate was slightly better than expected in July. The relatively¹ good news gave President Barack Obama a break from the week’s relentlessly² bad news on Wall Street.

　　As stock prices continued to slide in New York, the government reported Friday that the U.S. economy created 154,000 new private sector³ jobs in July.  Cuts in government jobs led to a net total of 117,000 new positions last month.  The nation’s unemployment rate eased from 9.2 percent in June to 9.1 percent in July.

　　President Obama acknowledged that those numbers are better than expected, but not nearly good enough.

　　“We have to create more jobs than that each month to make up for the more than eight million jobs that the recession claimed," said President Obama. "We need to create a self-sustaining cycle, where people are spending, and companies are hiring, and our economy is growing.  And we have known that will take some time.”

　　Opposition⁴ Republicans say the jobless numbers show that the Obama administration’s economic program is not working.

　　In a written statement, House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner called the report further proof that the economy is being devastated⁵ by a binge of spending, taxing and regulating.  He said Democrats⁶ are not creating more jobs, but “more fear, more uncertainty⁷ and more debt.”

　　Despite the criticism and the gloom in the world’s financial markets, the president said the economy continues to grow, although slowly, and he believes the situation will improve.

　　“But what I want the American people and our partners around the world to know is this: We are going to get through this," said Obama. "Things will get better, and we are going to get there together.”

　　Mr. Obama spoke⁸ at the Washington Navy Yard, where he announced a plan to give tax breaks to companies that hire military veterans returning to civilian⁹ life.

　　The program is intended to put 100,000 veterans and their spouses¹⁰ in private-sector jobs by 2013.

　　Meanwhile, Friday was the final day at the White House for the chairman of the president’s Council of Economic Advisers¹¹, Austan Goolsbee.  He is resuming his academic career at the University of Chicago.  A replacement¹² has not been named.

1 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

2 relentlessly   

adv.不屈不挠地；残酷地；不间断

参考例句：

• The African sun beat relentlessly down on his aching head. 非洲的太阳无情地照射在他那发痛的头上。
• He pursued her relentlessly, refusing to take 'no' for an answer. 他锲而不舍地追求她，拒不接受“不”的回答。

3 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

4 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

5 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

6 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

8 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

9 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

10 spouses   

n.配偶，夫或妻( spouse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Jobs are available for spouses on campus and in the community. 校园里和社区里有配偶可做的工作。 来自辞典例句
• An astonishing number of spouses-most particularly in the upper-income brackets-have no close notion of their husbands'paychecks. 相当大一部分妇女——特别在高收入阶层——并不很了解他们丈夫的薪金。 来自辞典例句

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 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。