Obama: 'The American Auto Industry is Back'

 　　Three years after approving government bailouts for two major U.S. automakers, President Barack Obama is proclaiming the industry's revival². The president also has created a government unit to investigate allegations of unfair trade by other countries.

　　Labor³ unions have strongly supported Democratic Party candidates for decades. And the United Auto¹ Workers union conference in Washington on Tuesday gave the president an enthusiastic reception that at times sounded like a political rally.

　　“The economy is getting stronger. The recovery is speeding up. Now is the time to keep our foot on the gas, not put on the brakes. And I am not going to settle for a country where just a few do really well and everybody else is struggling to get by," said Obama.

　　The president in 2009 authorized⁴ a payment of almost $25 billion to struggling U.S. automakers General Motors and Chrysler. Today, GM has regained⁵ its position as the world’s biggest car company. Chrysler is growing. And Obama is claiming at least partial credit for their success.

　　“Three years later, three years later, that bet is paying off. It is not just paying off for you. It is paying off for America. Three years later, the American auto industry is back,” said Obama.

　　Many Republicans at the time opposed the bailouts. They were concerned about the huge cost to taxpayers⁶ and the prospect⁷ of government involvement in private industry. Mitt⁸ Romney, now a leading contender for the Republican presidential nomination⁹, wrote an opinion column in The New York Times newspaper in 2008, titled “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt.”

　　Speaking to the auto workers Tuesday, the president did not mention former Massachusetts Governor Romney by name, but he ridiculed¹⁰ the column.

　　“Some even said we should ‘let Detroit go bankrupt.’ You remember that. You know," said the president.

　　White House officials denied that the president’s appearance was a campaign speech.

　　Obama, however, did speak on the same day that voters in the Midwestern state of Michigan, the base of the U.S. auto industry, were voting in a Republican Party primary election.

　　While campaigning in Michigan earlier this month, Romney said the auto industry bailout was done in exchange for big campaign contributions to Obama from the United Auto Workers.

　　Meanwhile, the president announced that he has signed an executive order creating an agency to monitor trade violations¹¹ by America’s trading partners. He again singled out China.

　　“We are doing it today. I am creating a Trade Enforcement Unit that will bring the full resources of the federal government to bear on investigations¹². And we are going to counter any unfair trading practices around the world, including by countries like China,” said Obama.

　　Obama reminded the auto workers that he had signed into law a trade agreement with South Korea, which he said will result in more American cars being sold there.

1 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。

2 revival   

n.复兴，复苏，（精力、活力等的）重振

参考例句：

• The period saw a great revival in the wine trade.这一时期葡萄酒业出现了很大的复苏。
• He claimed the housing market was showing signs of a revival.他指出房地产市场正出现复苏的迹象。

3 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

4 authorized   

a.委任的，许可的

参考例句：

• An administrative order is valid if authorized by a statute.如果一个行政命令得到一个法规的认可那么这个命令就是有效的。

5 regained   

复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地

参考例句：

• The majority of the people in the world have regained their liberty. 世界上大多数人已重获自由。
• She hesitated briefly but quickly regained her poise. 她犹豫片刻，但很快恢复了镇静。

6 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。

7 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

8 mitt   

n.棒球手套，拳击手套，无指手套；vt.铐住，握手

参考例句：

• I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日，我送给他一只棒球手套。
• Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。

9 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

10 ridiculed   

v.嘲笑，嘲弄，奚落( ridicule的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Biosphere 2 was ultimately ridiculed as a research debade, as exfravagant pseudoscience. 生物圈2号最终被讥讽为科研上的大失败，代价是昂贵的伪科学。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She ridiculed his insatiable greed. 她嘲笑他的贪得无厌。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

12 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。