VOA常速英语2013--美国财政危机即将"撞线"

 

Washington Week: Time Running Out to End US Fiscal¹ Impasse² 美国财政危机即将"撞线"

WASHINGTON — The coming week will likely determine whether the United States defaults on its $16 trillion national debt, as a federal shutdown nears a third week. Lawmakers are mounting final efforts to avoid financial calamity³ and restart government operations after a flurry of proposals from both houses of Congress failed to attract bipartisan support.

Fiscal talks broke down Saturday between Republican leaders of the House of Representatives and the White House.

众议院议员共和党领导人和白宫之间周六的财政谈判最终以破裂告终。

In the Senate, meanwhile, Republicans blocked a Democratic bill to raise America's borrowing limit for more than a year, and Democrats⁴ rejected a Republican proposal with short-term fixes to the debt limit and the federal shutdown.

与此同时,参议院的共和党人阻止了民主党超过一年提高美国债务上限的法案,而民主党否决了共和党短期解决债务上限及联邦政府关闭的提议。

Discussions are continuing in the Senate between Majority Leader Harry⁵ Reid and his Republican counterpart, Mitch McConnell.

而谈判正在参议院多数党领袖哈里·里德他的共和党对手米克·麦康奈尔之间继续。

“Senator McConnell and I have been in this body for a long time.

“参议员麦康奈尔和我长时间以来身在同一战壕。

We have done things for a long time together.

我们多年来一直一起共事。

I know him, he knows me.

我们两人彼此深谙对方。

We do not agree on everything,” said Reid.

我们在一切问题上都各有分歧。”里德说道。

McConnell has long advocated dialogue.

麦康奈尔一直主张对话。

“Talk we should.

“我们应该放到谈判桌上来。

The American people have given us divided government.

美国人民赋予我们的是分权政府。

And when you have divided government, it means you have to talk to each other,” said McConnell.

而既然是分权政府,就意味着必须互相谈判,”说麦康奈尔。

But talks do not guarantee agreement.

但谈判不保证协议。

President Barack Obama continues to reject Republican stipulations for extending the debt limit or reopening the government.

美国总统奥巴马继续反对共和党延长债务上限或重新开放政府的规定。

“Manufacturing crises to extract massive concessions⁶ is not how our democracy works, and we have to stop it.

“制造危机逼迫让步非我们的民主所推崇，我们必须竭力阻止。

Politics is a battle of ideas, but you advance those ideas through elections and legislation - not extortion,” said Obama.

政治的确是理念的斗争，但是你应该用选举和立法推行这些理念—而不是通过敲诈勒索。”奥巴马说道。

House Republicans, meanwhile, have given no indication they will accept any unconditional⁷ plan to end the fiscal impasse.

与此同时还没有迹象表明众议院的共和党人会接受结束财政僵局任何无条件的计划。

In addition, divisions have opened between House and Senate Republicans, adding to doubts that any bipartisan accord reached in one chamber⁸ will be embraced by the other.

此外, 众议院和参议院的共和党人之间已经存在的分歧为一方达成的任何两党协议被另一方同意所接受增加了不确定性。

Treasury⁹ officials say the U.S government risks insolvency¹⁰ unless both houses of Congress vote to raise the debt limit by this Thursday.

美国财政部官员表示除非这周四国会两院投票支持提高债务上限,否则美国政府将有无偿债能力的风险。

And, the ongoing¹¹ government shutdown is believed to be shaving U.S. economic output a little more each day it drags on.

而且正在进行的政府关闭被认为每一天都在或多或少拖垮美国经济产出。

1 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。

2 impasse   

n.僵局；死路

参考例句：

• The government had reached an impasse.政府陷入绝境。
• Negotiations seemed to have reached an impasse.谈判似乎已经陷入僵局。

3 calamity   

n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件

参考例句：

• Even a greater natural calamity cannot daunt us. 再大的自然灾害也压不垮我们。
• The attack on Pearl Harbor was a crushing calamity.偷袭珍珠港(对美军来说)是一场毁灭性的灾难。

4 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》

5 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

6 concessions   

n.（尤指由政府或雇主给予的）特许权( concession的名词复数 )；承认；减价；（在某地的）特许经营权

参考例句：

• The firm will be forced to make concessions if it wants to avoid a strike. 要想避免罢工，公司将不得不作出一些让步。
• The concessions did little to placate the students. 让步根本未能平息学生的愤怒。

7 unconditional   

adj.无条件的，无限制的，绝对的

参考例句：

• The victorious army demanded unconditional surrender.胜方要求敌人无条件投降。
• My love for all my children is unconditional.我对自己所有孩子的爱都是无条件的。

8 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

9 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

10 insolvency   

n.无力偿付，破产

参考例句：

• The company is on the verge of insolvency.该公司快要破产了。
• Normal insolvency procedures should not be applied to banks.通常的破产程序不应当适用于银行。

11 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。