奥巴马每周电视讲话:汽车工业好转

　　Weekly Address: The Big Three Drive a  Growing Manufacturing Sector¹
每周电视讲话：三大汽车公司推动制造业增长
WASHINGTON – Speaking to the American  people from a Chrysler plant in Toledo, Ohio, President Obama commended the  work of America’s dedicated² autoworkers, who have helped reinvigorate the  domestic auto³ industry. Each of The Big Three automakers is now turning a  profit, and the domestic auto industry continues to add shifts and create new  jobs across the country. When President Obama decided⁴ to lend a hand to the  American automotive industry shortly after taking office, it was with the  understanding that these great manufacturers would have to restructure,  modernize⁵ and position themselves to thrive in a competitive global  marketplace. Now, just a few years after the American auto industry teetered  on the brink⁶ of collapse⁷, America’s great manufacturers of yesterday have emerged  as some of the great manufacturers of today.
华盛顿：在俄亥俄州托莱多市的克莱斯勒工厂发表的演讲中，总统先生称赞了献身于美国汽车工业的工人们，称他们帮助美国重振了国内汽车工业的雄风。三大汽车制造商都开始盈利，国内的汽车产业也继续增加生产班次，并在全国新增众多工作岗位。当年奥巴马总统在主政后不久决定向汽车产业伸出援手，条件就是这些大型制造商必须进行重组和现代化，摆正自己的位置参与国际市场竞争并赢得生机。现在，离美国汽车产业在崩溃边缘摇摇欲坠的时候刚刚过去几年，曾经的美国最大制造商现如今又跻身最伟大制造商行列。
Hello, everyone. I’m speaking to you  today from a Chrysler plant in Toledo, Ohio, where I just met with workers,  including Jill. Jill was born and raised here. Her mother and step-father  retired⁸ from this plant.  And she met  her husband here, and now they have two children of their own. This plant has  not only been central to the economy of this town. It’s been a part of the  lifeblood of this community.
大家好。我在俄亥俄州特莱多市的克莱斯勒工厂向大家讲话。在这里，我与工人们见了面，其中包括吉尔。吉尔在这里出生、长大。她的母亲和继父都从这家工厂退休。在这里，她遇到了她的丈夫，现在，他们养育着两个孩子。这家工厂不仅仅是这座城市的经济中心，更是这里社会的生命之源的一部分。
The reason I came to Toledo was to  congratulate Jill and her co-workers on the turnaround they helped bring  about at Chrysler and throughout the auto industry.  Today, each of the Big Three automakers –  Chrysler, GM, and Ford⁹ – is turning a profit for the first time since  2004.  Chrysler has repaid every dime  and more of what it owes American taxpayers¹⁰ for their support during my  presidency¹¹ – and it repaid that money six years ahead of schedule.  And this week, we reached a deal to sell  our remaining stake. That means soon, Chrysler will be 100% in private hands.
我来到特莱多的原因就是要向吉尔和她的同事们表示祝贺，他们帮助克莱斯勒工厂和全国的汽车产业实现好转。今天，三大汽车生产商——克莱斯勒、通用汽车和福特——都取得了自2004年以来首次盈利。克莱斯勒已经开始偿还其欠美国纳税人的每一分钱，这些都是我任职期间人民给它的支援——他们比计划提前六年偿还这笔钱。本周，我们达成了一项交易，出售我们剩余的股权。这也意味着不久后，克莱斯勒又将成为100%的私营公司。
Most importantly, all three American  automakers are now adding shifts and creating jobs at the strongest rate  since the 1990s. Chrysler has added a second shift at the Jefferson North  plant in Detroit that I visited last year.   GM is adding a third shift at its Hamtramck plant for the first time  ever. And GM plans to hire back all of the workers they had to lay off during  the recession.
更为重要的是，美国三大汽车制造商都开始增加生产班次，并创造了自上世纪90年代以来最大的就业增长率。克莱斯勒在我去年到访过的底特律杰弗森北方工厂增加了第二个生产班次。通用汽车也第一次在汉姆川克工厂新增第三个生产班次。通用还计划将经济衰退时辞退的工人全部重新雇用回来。
That’s remarkable¹² when you think about  where we were just a couple of years ago. When I took office, we were facing  the worst recession since the Great Depression – a recession that hit our  auto industry particularly hard. In the year before I was President, this  industry lost more than 400,000 jobs, and two great American companies,  Chrysler and GM, stood on the brink of collapse.
想想几年前我们的处境这一切简直可以说是令人瞩目。当我主政之初，我们就面临自大萧条以来最严重的经济衰退——这一经济衰退严重打击了我们的汽车产业。在我当选总统的前一年，该产业就有40多万人失业，美国两大汽车厂商，克莱斯勒和通用，都面临崩溃的边缘。
Now, we had a few options.  We could have done what a lot of folks in  Washington thought we should do – nothing.   But that would have made a bad recession worse and put a million  people out of work. I refused to let that happen.  So, I said, if GM and Chrysler were willing  to take the difficult steps of restructuring and making themselves more  competitive, the American people would stand by them – and we did.
当时我们只有几个选择。我们可以按华盛顿大多数人认为我们会采取的措施去做——那就是什么也不管。但那样将会让经济衰退更加严重并让数百万人民失去工作。我拒绝这样的事情发生。所以，我说，如果通用和克莱斯勒同意采取一些艰难的措施进行重组，让自己更具竞争力，美国人民就会与他们站在一起——当然，我们做到了。
But we decided to do more than rescue  this industry from a crisis.  We  decided to help it retool¹³ for a new age, and that’s what we’re doing all  across the country – we’re making sure America can out-build, out-innovate,  and out-compete the rest of the world.   That’s how we’ll build an economy where you can see your incomes and  savings¹⁴ rise again, send your kids to college, and retire with dignity,  security, and respect.  That’s how  we’ll make sure we keep that fundamental American promise – that if you work  hard and act responsibly, you’ll be able to pass on a better life to your  kids and grandkids.
但我决心要做更多，不仅仅是将该产业从危机中拯救出来。我们决定帮助它为新时期做好准备，这也是我们现在在全国做的事情——我们要确保美国在建设、创新和竞争上超越世界其他国家。通过这些我们要创造一个经济体，在这里，你们将能看见你们的收入和存款再次增长，你们可以将子女送进大学，你们可以体面、安宁、满怀尊严的退休。通过这些我们要确保我们坚守对美国人民最基本的承诺——如果你辛勤工作，敢做敢当，你就可以为你的子孙后代留下一份更美好的生活。
Now, we’ve got a ways to go.  Even though our economy has created more  than two million private sector jobs over the past 15 months and continues to  grow, we’re facing some tough headwinds. Lately, it’s high gas prices, the  earthquake in Japan, and unease about the European fiscal¹⁵ situation. That  will happen from time to time. There will be bumps on the road to recovery.
现在，我们还有很长的路要走。尽管我们的经济在过去15个月里创造了200多万个私营部门的工作岗位，并且这一数据还在增长，但我们依然要面对一些艰难的顶头风。最近，就是高油价，日本大地震以及对欧洲财政状况的担忧。这些都将不时发生。在复苏的道路上总会有些磕磕绊绊的。
We know that. But we also know what’s  happened here, at this Chrysler plant. We know that hardworking Americans  like Jill helped turn this company and this industry around. That’s the  American story. We’re a people who don’t give up – who do big things, who  shape our own destiny. And I’m absolutely confident that if we hold on to  that spirit, our best days are still ahead of us. Thanks for tuning¹⁶ in, and  have a great weekend.
这些我们都知道。但我们还知道在这里发生了什么，在此地的克莱斯勒工厂。我们都知道像吉尔一样的勤劳的工人帮助该工厂乃至整个产业实现了好转。这就是美国传奇。我们是一个整体，永不放弃——我们做大事敢担当，我们掌握自己的命运。而且我坚信如果我们坚守这一信念，美好的生活就在等待着我们。谢谢收听，周末愉快。

1 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。

2 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

3 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 modernize   

vt.使现代化，使适应现代的需要

参考例句：

• It was their manifest failure to modernize the country's industries.他们使国家进行工业现代化，明显失败了。
• There is a pressing need to modernise our electoral system.我们的选举制度迫切需要现代化。

6 brink   

n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿

参考例句：

• The tree grew on the brink of the cliff.那棵树生长在峭壁的边缘。
• The two countries were poised on the brink of war.这两个国家处于交战的边缘。

7 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

8 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

9 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

10 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

11 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

12 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

13 retool   

v.改组，重新装备

参考例句：

• Each time the product changes,the machines have to be retooled.每次更换产品，就得重新装备机器。
• In the computer industry,engineers have to retool frequently.在电脑业中，工程师必须经常以新知识充实装备自己。

14 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

15 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。

16 tuning   

n.调谐，调整，调音v.调音( tune的现在分词 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调

参考例句：

• They are tuning up a plane on the flight line. 他们正在机场的飞机跑道上调试一架飞机。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The orchestra are tuning up. 管弦乐队在定弦。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》