VOA慢速英语2021 拜登参观汽车工厂推动电动汽车发展（在线收听）

President Joe Biden visited an auto factory in Detroit, Michigan, earlier this week to bring attention to the push for electric vehicles.

本周早些时候，拜登总统参观了密西根州底特律市的一家汽车工厂，以引起人们对推动电动汽车发展的关注。

Old auto factories in the United States have to be updated in order to build cars with electric motors and parts needed for the change.

美国的旧汽车厂需要进行升级改造，以便制造装备电动机和相应零部件的汽车。

Biden supports legislation that increases government spending in many areas in the U.S. called the Build Back Better Act. Currently, it includes billions of dollars to help renovate old factories and aid the communities that grew up around them.

拜登支持在美国众多领域增加政府支出的法案，它被称为《重建更好法案》。目前，该法案包括数十亿美元用于帮助翻新旧工厂并援助围绕其成长起来的周边社区。

The proposed bill includes $3.5 billion to change the old factories to build electric and fuel cell vehicles. There is $3 billion for an auto loan program that should help people buy new electric cars. There also is a plan to have government agencies buy electric cars. The total cost of all the proposals might be $50 billion.

拟议的法案包括35亿美元用于改造旧厂，以生产电动燃料电池汽车。有30亿美元用于汽车贷款项目，可以帮助人们购买新电动汽车。还有一项计划是让政府机构购买电动汽车。所有提案的总成本可能达500亿美元。

Biden went to a factory known as "Factory Zero" on Wednesday. It is operated by automaker General Motors, GM, which opened it 1985. It will be the company's first to be updated to make electric cars. There are 21 GM factories in the United States.

拜登周三去了一家名为“零工厂”的工厂。这是由汽车制造商通用汽车公司运营的，于1985年启动的一家工厂。它将成为该公司第一家升级改造用于生产电动汽车的工厂。通用汽车在全美有21家工厂。

Gerald Johnson is the head of global manufacturing for GM. Johnson said the factory is flexible, meaning it will be able to change based on markets, laws and spending.

杰拉德·约翰逊是通用汽车全球制造主管。约翰逊表示，这家工厂是弹性的，这意味着它可以根据市场、法律和支出做出改变。

If Americans start buying more electric cars, Johnson said, GM wants to be prepared. He said GM is planning to make more electric cars no matter what happens in Congress. "It does not change what we are doing," he said.

约翰逊表示，如果美国人开始购买更多电动汽车，通用汽车希望做好准备。他说，无论国会发生什么，通用汽车都计划生产更多电动汽车。他说：“这不会改变我们正在做的事情。”

Biden looked at the first Hummer electric vehicles during his visit to the factory. Hummers are based on military vehicles and cost over $100,000. They sold well in the past but use a lot of fuel. By 2025, GM wants 20 percent of its cars to be electric. Five years later, the company wants that number to reach 50 percent.

拜登在参观工厂期间查看了第一批悍马电动汽车。悍马汽车以军用汽车为基础，成本超过10万美元。这种车过去销量很好，但是非常费油。通用汽车希望到2025年该公司20%的汽车是电动汽车。该公司希望再过5年，这一数字能够达到50%。

GM will be competing with companies like Tesla. In 2020, Tesla, started by businessman Elon Musk, had 80 percent of the electric vehicle market in the U.S. Tesla's main production center is in Texas.

通用汽车将与特斯拉等公司展开竞争。2020年，商人埃隆·马斯克创办的特斯拉公司在美国电动汽车市场占有了80%的份额。特斯拉的主要生产中心在德克萨斯州。

Mike Tracy heads a company that studies manufacturing. He said GM is trying to enter the electric vehicle market and keep workers in their jobs.

迈克·崔西领导了一家研究制造行业的公司。他说，通用汽车正试图进入电动车市场，并保住工人们的就业机会。

Beginning-level GM factory workers earn about $56,000 per year. That is more than at Tesla. As the electric vehicle market grows, Johnson said, the 21 factories in the U.S. will help the company grow.

通用工厂初级员工年薪大约是5.6万美元。这比特斯拉高得多。约翰逊表示，随着电动汽车市场的发展，美国的21家工厂将帮助通用公司发展壮大。

GM said it can save up to $15 billion by 2030 by renovating the old factories instead of building new ones in other states. He called having many existing factories "an asset, not an anchor."

通用汽车表示，通过翻新旧工厂，而不是在其它州建设新工厂，这能帮助通用汽车在2030年节约高达150亿美元。他称拥有现有工厂是“资产，而不是负担。”

In a speech, Biden said: "We're going to make sure the jobs of the future end up in Michigan, not halfway around the world."

拜登在演讲中表示：“我们将确保未来的就业机会最终都会在密歇根州，而不是在地球的另一端。”