VOA标准英语2010年-US Economy Stabilized Under Obama but

Despite inheriting what he called a "mess" President Barack Obama pledged to do everything in his power to fix the "broken" U.S. economy.  Based on key indicators¹, the president appears to have succeeded in stabilizing² the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.  But financial experts say the improving economic picture hides a troubling statistic³: that nearly one in five Americans has lost a job or has given up looking for full time work altogether. 

When a record crowd gathered outside the U.S. Capitol on a crisp January morning in 2009, financial markets were in freefall, and the U.S. economy was shedding 600,000 jobs a month.  Many braved the cold to witness history, some seeking reassurance⁴ in a time of great difficulty.

"Today, I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America: they will be met," Mr. Obama said.

By the time Barack Obama had become the 44th president of the United States, the Great Recession had already claimed more than three million jobs.  In one year, that number would double. 

The auto⁵ industry was failing, banks had become reluctant to lend and Americans were losing their homes in record numbers.  To make matters worse, consumers, the main drivers of the U.S. economy, were in no mood to spend. 

But a year later, economist⁶ Alice Rivlin says aggressive actions taken by the Obama administration, appear to have stopped the bleeding. "He was handed an extraordinarily⁷ difficult situation and I think he's done very well in that context," Rivlin said.

To avert⁸ an economic collapse⁹, the administration moved forward with a controversial plan to bail¹⁰ out banks deemed too big to fail.

The Federal Reserve slashed¹¹ interest rates to promote lending. And then, despite heated objections from Republicans, Congress approved a nearly $800 billion stimulus¹² program to stabilize¹³ the financial system and kick start job growth. 

"I think all of those things have accounted for the fact that the freefall did not continue and the economy is leveling off and we hope, improving into the next year," Rivlin said.

Indeed, Wall Street has reflected a growing confidence, ending the year with its biggest gain since 2003. 

Banks that received money from the Troubled Asset Relief Program reaped unexpected profits and repaid billions in loans, resulting in a record 46 billion dollar profit for the Federal Reserve.

But at what cost? A year after the president took office, unemployment has reached double digits¹⁴ and the nation's deficit¹⁵ hit a record $1.4 trillion.

"There was too much spending on it, in my view," conservative policy analyst¹⁶ Ron Haskins at the Brookings Institution said. Haskins gives the president a "D" for his spending policies even though he admits it may have averted¹⁷ a bigger disaster. "It's a dangerous precedent¹⁸ for the government to get so heavily involved in the economy and so it concerns me, but the financial system did not go under," he said.

Haskins cites the nation's rising jobless rate as proof that government can't fix everything. "Unemployment is probably going to be the least happy outcome of the year," he said. "We're probably, it looks now, like we'll continue to bump along maybe even have some bad months and unemployment is not going to recover as it has in some past recessions."

But others say Mr. Obama deserves credit for meeting the challenge.

"A year ago I thought the forecast of economists¹⁹ who were saying we'll be back into positive growth territory by the end of the year might be optimistic.  But it turned out, they were right," Rivlin said. "We did get back into positive growth territory by the end of the year so it wasn't quite as disastrous²⁰ as I feared it might be."

Even if U.S. economic output expands in 2010 and more Americans head back to work, both critics and supporters of the president say the nation faces a more serious challenge to future economic viability²¹: a rapidly growing deficit and a national debt estimated at more than $12 trillion. 

That's the number 12 followed by 12 zeroes, or roughly $40,000 for every man, woman and child living in the United States.

1 indicators   

（仪器上显示温度、压力、耗油量等的）指针( indicator的名词复数 )； 指示物； （车辆上的）转弯指示灯； 指示信号

参考例句：

• The economic indicators are better than expected. 经济指标比预期的好。
• It is still difficult to develop indicators for many concepts used in social science. 为社会科学领域的许多概念确立一个指标仍然很难。

2 stabilizing   

n.稳定化处理[退火]v.（使）稳定， （使）稳固( stabilize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The disulfide bridges might then be viewed primarily as stabilizing components. 二硫桥可以被看作是初级的稳定因素。 来自辞典例句
• These stabilizing design changes are usually not desirable for steady-state operation. 这些增加稳定性的设计改变通常不太符合稳态工作的要求。 来自辞典例句

3 statistic   

n.统计量；adj.统计的，统计学的

参考例句：

• Official statistics show real wages declining by 24%.官方统计数字表明实际工资下降了24%。
• There are no reliable statistics for the number of deaths in the battle.关于阵亡人数没有可靠的统计数字。

4 reassurance   

n.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• He drew reassurance from the enthusiastic applause.热烈的掌声使他获得了信心。
• Reassurance is especially critical when it comes to military activities.消除疑虑在军事活动方面尤为关键。

5 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。

6 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

7 extraordinarily   

adv.格外地；极端地

参考例句：

• She is an extraordinarily beautiful girl.她是个美丽非凡的姑娘。
• The sea was extraordinarily calm that morning.那天清晨，大海出奇地宁静。

8 avert   

v.防止，避免；转移(目光、注意力等)

参考例句：

• He managed to avert suspicion.他设法避嫌。
• I would do what I could to avert it.我会尽力去避免发生这种情况。

9 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。

10 bail   

v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人

参考例句：

• One of the prisoner's friends offered to bail him out.犯人的一个朋友答应保释他出来。
• She has been granted conditional bail.她被准予有条件保释。

11 slashed   

v.挥砍( slash的过去式和过去分词 )；鞭打；割破；削减

参考例句：

• Someone had slashed the tyres on my car. 有人把我的汽车轮胎割破了。
• He slashed the bark off the tree with his knife. 他用刀把树皮从树上砍下。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 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。

13 stabilize   

vt.（使）稳定，使稳固，使稳定平衡；vi.稳定

参考例句：

• They are eager to stabilize currencies.他们急于稳定货币。
• His blood pressure tended to stabilize.他的血压趋向稳定。

14 digits   

n.数字( digit的名词复数 )；手指，足趾

参考例句：

• The number 1000 contains four digits. 1000是四位数。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The number 410 contains three digits. 数字 410 中包括三个数目字。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

15 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。

16 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

17 averted   

防止，避免( avert的过去式和过去分词 )； 转移

参考例句：

• A disaster was narrowly averted. 及时防止了一场灾难。
• Thanks to her skilful handling of the affair, the problem was averted. 多亏她对事情处理得巧妙，才避免了麻烦。

18 precedent   

n.先例，前例；惯例；adj.在前的，在先的

参考例句：

• Is there a precedent for what you want me to do?你要我做的事有前例可援吗？
• This is a wonderful achievement without precedent in Chinese history.这是中国历史上亘古未有的奇绩。

19 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 disastrous   

adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的

参考例句：

• The heavy rainstorm caused a disastrous flood.暴雨成灾。
• Her investment had disastrous consequences.She lost everything she owned.她的投资结果很惨，血本无归。

21 viability   

n.存活(能力)

参考例句：

• What is required to achieve or maintain such viability? 要达到或维持这种生存能力需要什么？
• Scientists are experimenting to find ways to ensure the viability of seeds for even longer periods of time. 正如我们所说，科学家正在试验努力寻找让种子的生命力更加延长的方法。