VOA常速英语2013--本周聚焦华盛顿 奥巴马继续关注经济问题

 

Washington Week: Obama Continues Economic Pitch 本周聚焦华盛顿 奥巴马继续关注经济问题

The president Obama has a message for the American people:Even in tough fiscal¹ times, there are things the federal government must do for the common good.

奥巴马总统向美国人民做出了保证:即使是财政艰难时期,联邦政府也必须为公共利益做些事情。

“America has to make the investments necessary to promote long-term growth and shared prosperity:Rebuilding our manufacturing base, educating our workforce².Upgrading our transportation and information networks.That is what we need to be talking about,” he said.

“美国必须投资于长期增长和共享繁荣:重建我们的制造业基地,教育我们的劳动力。提升我们的交通运输和信息网络。这就是我们需要谈论的问题。”他说道。

An active government role in the economy, however, is precisely³ what Republican lawmakers reject.House Speaker John Boehner offers a free market-oriented agenda.“Simplify our tax code, reduce harmful regulations , and fix a broken government,” said Boehner.

然而一个在经济中活跃的政府正是共和党议员们所拒绝的。众议院议长约翰·博纳提供了一个免费市场化的议程。“简化我们的免税代码,减少不利的规定并修补一个支离破碎的政府,”贝纳说道。

The clash in visions will intensify⁴ in the coming months as deadlines loom⁵ for authorizing⁶ next year's federal budget and increasing the U.S. government's debt limit.Republicans say budget cuts must accompany any hike of the federal borrowing cap.

对于设想的冲突将在接下来的几个月对于授权明年的联邦预算及增加美国政府的债务上限临近的最后期限上加强。共和党人称预算削减必须伴随任何联邦债务上限的提高。

“We have spent more than what we have brought in for 55 of the last 60 years.I hope somebody is willing to actually talk about it,” said Boehner.A similar stand-off two years ago triggered a downgrade of U.S. creditworthiness.

“我们的开销已经超过过去60年中55年我们所带来的。我希望有人真正愿意讨论这个问题,”贝纳说道。而2年前就是这样类似的对峙引发了美国信用评级的下降。

“We have seen a sizeable group of Republican lawmakers suggest they would not vote to pay the bills that Congress rang up,a fiasco that harmed a fragile economic recovery in 2011, and one we cannot afford to repeat,” said Obama.

“我们已经看到一大批共和党议员们建议他们不会投票支付国会提起的这些账单,而2011年的一次惨败已经伤害过脆弱的经济复苏,我们不能重蹈覆辙。”奥巴马说道。

The looming⁷ implementation⁸ of the Affordable⁹ Care Act, or Obamacare as it's commonly known, is further complicating¹⁰ the picture.The program compels Americans to purchase private health insurance, and provides subsidies¹¹ for those of modest incomes.Some Republicans say they will not vote for any budget that contains funding for Obamacare.Obama will not sign any budget bill that does not.

即将实现的可支付医疗法案,或俗称的奥巴马医改将未来进一步复杂化。这一项目迫使美国人购买私人医疗保险并为适度收入阶层提供补贴。一些共和党人表示他们不会投票给包含奥巴马医改资金在内的任何预算。奥巴马将不会签署任何预算法案。

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 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

3 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

4 intensify   

vt.加强；变强；加剧

参考例句：

• We must intensify our educational work among our own troops.我们必须加强自己部队的教育工作。
• They were ordered to intensify their patrols to protect our air space.他们奉命加强巡逻，保卫我国的领空。

5 loom   

n.织布机，织机；v.隐现，(危险、忧虑等)迫近

参考例句：

• The old woman was weaving on her loom.那位老太太正在织布机上织布。
• The shuttle flies back and forth on the loom.织布机上梭子来回飞动。

6 authorizing   

授权，批准，委托( authorize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Letters of Marque: Take letters from a warning friendly power authorizing privateering. 私掠许可证：从某一个国家获得合法抢劫的证书。
• Formal phavee completion does not include authorizing the subsequent phavee. 阶段的正式完成不包括核准随后的阶段。

7 looming   

n.上现蜃景（光通过低层大气发生异常折射形成的一种海市蜃楼）v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的现在分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• The foothills were looming ahead through the haze. 丘陵地带透过薄雾朦胧地出现在眼前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then they looked up. Looming above them was Mount Proteome. 接着他们往上看，在其上隐约看到的是蛋白质组山。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望

8 implementation   

n.实施，贯彻

参考例句：

• Implementation of the program is now well underway.这一项目的实施现在行情看好。

9 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

10 complicating   

使复杂化( complicate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• High spiking fever with chills is suggestive of a complicating pylephlebitis. 伴有寒战的高热，暗示合并门静脉炎。
• In America these actions become executive puberty rites, complicating relationships that are already complicated enough. 在美国，这些行动成了行政青春期的惯例，使本来已经够复杂的关系变得更复杂了。

11 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》