U.S. House Speaker urges Obama to lead on debt talks

 U.S. House Speaker urges Obama to lead on debt talks

WASHINGTON, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama should play a leading role in resolving the imminent¹ "fiscal² cliff " through bipartisan negotiations³, John Boehner, Speaker of the U. S. House of Representatives, said here Friday.

A bipartisan deal to avoid the "fiscal cliff" should include entitlement reform, tax reform and lower tax rates, Boehner told reporters at a Friday press conference, adding that he was hopeful that "productive conversations" could begin soon.

The top Republican lawmaker of the House stressed that he opposed higher tax rates to solve the nation's fiscal challenge, citing a study from Ernst & Young that raising the income tax rates for the wealthy would destroy nearly 700,000 jobs in the country.

Unless U.S. Congress acts by the end of this year, a combination of tax hikes and sweeping⁴ spending cuts, dubbed⁵ as the "fiscal cliff" and with the combined amount of about 600 billion U. S. dollars, was set to kick in. Democrats⁶ and Republicans locked horns over how to reduce the nation's public debt hovering⁷ at 16.2 trillion dollars and tide over the "fiscal cliff."

1 imminent   

adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的

参考例句：

• The black clounds show that a storm is imminent.乌云预示暴风雨即将来临。
• The country is in imminent danger.国难当头。

2 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。

3 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

4 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

5 dubbed   

v.给…起绰号( dub的过去式和过去分词 )；把…称为；配音；复制

参考例句：

• Mathematics was once dubbed the handmaiden of the sciences. 数学曾一度被视为各门科学的基础。
• Is the movie dubbed or does it have subtitles? 这部电影是配音的还是打字幕的？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

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 hovering   

鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫

参考例句：

• The helicopter was hovering about 100 metres above the pad. 直升机在离发射台一百米的上空盘旋。
• I'm hovering between the concert and the play tonight. 我犹豫不决今晚是听音乐会还是看戏。