voa标准英语2008-France Prepares $30 Billion Economic Stimulus Pl

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has unveiled a stimulus¹ plan worth more than $30 billion to fight the economic and financial downturn.
　

French President Nicolas Sarkozy announces his economic stimulus plan on 04 Dec. 2008 in Douai, North of France

The French plan is the latest of a series of proposals by various European governments to earmark massive amounts of money to help reinvigorate their moribund² economies. In a speech in northern France, President Sarkozy said the global economic crisis would sharply change people's behavior, values and ideas - and that France needed to confront it head on.

Mr. Sarkozy said the response by his conservative government will be investment. He said investment was the best way to sustain activities and to save jobs for today - and tomorrow. For a long time, he said, France had postponed³ this kind of investment to make the French economy more competitive. He said not doing so now would be a major error.

The French president spoke⁴ in Douai, which is home to a major Renault car factory. As elsewhere in Europe and the United States, the French car industry has been hard hit by the crisis, and part of Mr. Sarkozy's stimulus plan aims to shore up the automobile⁵ sector⁶.

Italy, Germany, Spain and Britain have also unrolled similar plans worth tens-of-billions of dollars.

While France has so far narrowly escaped a recession - which is defined as two successive periods of negative growth - it is widely expected to be in recession next year. The 15-nation eurozone, which includes France, is already in recession

1 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

2 moribund   

adj.即将结束的，垂死的

参考例句：

• The moribund Post Office Advisory Board was replaced.这个不起作用的邮局顾问委员会已被替换。
• Imperialism is monopolistic,parasitic and moribund capitalism.帝国主义是垄断的、寄生的、垂死的资本主义。

3 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。

4 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。

5 automobile   

n.汽车，机动车

参考例句：

• He is repairing the brake lever of an automobile.他正在修理汽车的刹车杆。
• The automobile slowed down to go around the curves in the road.汽车在路上转弯时放慢了速度。

6 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。