奥巴马提名美联储首位女主席

 　　美国白宫官员透露称,总统奥巴马即将于当地时间10月9日提名现任美国联邦储备委员会副主席珍妮特·耶伦为下一任美联储主席。

　　据悉,现任美联储主席伯南克的任期将于2014年1月份结束。此前,呼声最高的下任美联储主席候选人拉里萨默斯出人意料地放弃了对此职位的竞选。如果顺利出任美联储主席,耶伦将成为历史上掌舵美联储的首位女性。她曾任克林顿政府的白宫经济顾问委员会主席、哈佛大学教授和美联储旧金山地区储备银行行长。

　　President Barack Obama has nominated Janet Yellen to head the U.S. Federal Reserve.  If confirmed by the Senate, she would be the first woman to lead the central bank for the world's largest economy.  Yellen is currently the second-in-command at the Fed, and many economists¹ say she is likely to continue its efforts to boost economic growth and lower unemployment by cutting short and long-term interest rates.

　　Obama came into office during the worst recession in decades, and opinion polls show the economy remains² a top issue for voters.

　　Unemployment has improved recently, but slowly, giving 67-year-old former Berkeley professor and long-time Fed official Janet Yellen a tough job. Obama says he has confidence in her.

　　"One of the nation's foremost economists and policymakers, current vice³ chairman, Janet Yellen," said President Obama.

　　Yellen says she understands the plight⁴ of the nation's millions of unemployed⁵ people.

　　"While we have made progress, we have farther to go.  The mandate⁶ of the Federal Reserve is to serve all the American people, and too many Americans still cannot find a job, and worry how they will pay their bills and provide for their families," said Yellen.

　　Yellen would replace Ben Bernanke, whose second term as head of the U.S. central bank ends in January. Obama praised his skill, creativity and courage in using unprecedented⁷ tactics to cope with severe economic problems.

1 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》

2 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

3 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

4 plight   

n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定

参考例句：

• The leader was much concerned over the plight of the refugees.那位领袖对难民的困境很担忧。
• She was in a most helpless plight.她真不知如何是好。

5 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

6 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

7 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。