CNN 2011-02-05

Well, one government agency is predicting that the U.S. will have a deficit¹ in 2011. A big deficit. In a report that came out yesterday, the Congressional Budget Office, or CBO forecast that the U.S. government will spend $1.5 trillion more than it makes this year. The CBO says one reason for that deficit is the deal that Democrats² and Republicans passed late last year to extend a set of tax cuts. Another reason for the prediction: the country's slow economic recovery.

One part of the economy that has made a bit of a comeback is the stock market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which offers an idea of how the whole stock market is doing, finished yesterday just below 12,000 points. It hasn't been that high in two-and-a-half years.

The stock market is one kind of economic indicator³. The unemployment rate is another. It includes people who are out of work, but who are still looking for work. What it doesn't take into account is folks who are underemployed. They have jobs, but these jobs aren't full-time⁴, or they're not jobs that take advantage of all the workers' abilities. Mary Snow introduces us to one underemployed American and his efforts to find work.

1 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

2 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》

3 indicator   

n.指标；指示物，指示者；指示器

参考例句：

• Gold prices are often seen as an indicator of inflation.黃金价格常常被看作是通货膨胀的指标。
• His left-hand indicator is flashing.他左手边的转向灯正在闪亮。

4 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。