VOA慢速英语2011--President Obama Makes His Case for Jobs Plan

Economics Report - President Obama Makes His Case for Jobs Plan

 

经济报道 - 奥巴马为就业法案四处游说

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

这里是美国之音慢速英语经济报道。

President Obama and his wife Michelle traveled to the states of North Carolina and Virginia this week. The Obamas were seeking support for the president’s four hundred forty-seven billion dollar jobs plan.

奥巴马总统及夫人米歇尔本周前往北卡罗莱纳州和弗吉尼亚州。奥巴马一家此行目的是为奥巴马总统提出的4470亿就业方案寻求支持。

The American Jobs Act calls for cutting wage taxes on most businesses. It seeks to prevent public employees like teachers, police and firefighters from losing their jobs to budget cutting measures. And it calls for more federal spending on roads and transportation infrastructure¹ to help create jobs.

奥巴马提出的美国就业法案呼吁削减多数企业的工资税。该方案力图防止教师、警察和消防队员一类公共雇员因为预算削减措施失去工作，同时呼吁政府加大道路与交通基础设施上的联邦投资，帮助创造就业。

Last week, the Senate blocked a vote on the full bill.

上周，参议院否决了全部议案。

On Sunday, the Majority Leader in the House of Representatives said some parts of the bill are like those in a plan put forward by the Republican Party. Eric Cantor urged President Obama to find common ground with House Republicans.

上周日，众议院多数党领袖表示，该议案部分内容和共和党提出的一项方案相似。埃里克·康托尔（Eric Cantor）督促奥巴马总统与众议院共和党人寻找共同立场。

ERIC CANTOR: "We want the president to work with us. We want him to stop campaigning. Let's go find the things that are in common between this plan and his."

康托尔：“我们希望总统与我们合作，希望他停止四处游说，让我们一起来寻找两份方案的共同点。”

President Obama signs the Korea Free Trade Agreement at the White House, Friday. Behind him, from left, are Andrew Liveris, chief of Dow Chemical, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, Jim McNerney, chief executive officer of Boeing and Ron Kirk, U.S. Trade Representative. The administration says trade is important to creating more jobs.

Republicans in Congress offered their own plans to improve job growth earlier in the year. They have called for cutting tax rates and limiting government rules on businesses.

国会共和党人今年早些时候提出了自己改善就业增长的方案。他们呼吁降低税率，减少政府对企业的规则限制。

Last week, Congress passed free trade deals with South Korea, Colombia and Panama. Both Mister Obama and Congressional Republicans agree the deals should create jobs at home and open markets to American exports.

上周，国会通过了美国与韩国、哥伦比亚和巴拿马的自由贸易协定。奥巴马和国会共和党人都同意，这一协定将创造就业，并为美国出口打开市场。

United States trade officials say every billion dollars in new exports supports six thousand additional jobs. Last year, exports to South Korea alone stood at about thirty-nine billion dollars. President Obama signs the trade agreements into law Friday.

美国贸易官员表示，每新增10亿美元出口可以支持6000个额外的就业机会。去年，仅出口到韩国的总值就有约390亿美元。周五，奥巴马将这一贸易协定签署成为法律。

But, the president says a lack of jobs continues to hurt economic growth.

但奥巴马总统表示，缺少就业机会仍将继续损害经济增长。

The unemployment rate held at nine point one percent in September. The economy added over one hundred thousand jobs during the month. But economists² say that is not enough to markedly bring down jobless rate.

美国九月份失业率维持在9.1%。当月美国经济增加了超过10万个就业机会。但经济学家表示，这仍不足以显著降低失业率。

In Hampton, Virginia, First Lady Michelle Obama joined her husband in speaking to armed service members. She spoke³ about part of his jobs plan aimed at helping⁴ veterans find jobs after they leave the armed forces.

在弗吉尼亚州的汉普顿市，第一夫人米歇尔与丈夫奥巴马一道对军人发表了讲话。她谈到了奥巴马就业方案中旨在帮助退伍军人就业的内容。

MICHELLE OBAMA: "And this commitment puts us a quarter of the way towards reaching the president's challenge to the private sector⁵ to hire or train 100,000 vets⁶ and military spouses⁷ by the end of 2013."

米歇尔：“这一承诺使得总统提出的私营部门在2013年前聘请或培训10万名退伍军人及其配偶的挑战实现了1/4。”
注：这句话的背景是，几家私营公司保证在今后两年中雇用2.5万名退伍军人及其配偶。

President Obama has said lawmakers will now have to vote on parts of his jobs plan. And, he said, they will have to explain why they voted the way they did.

奥巴马总统表示，国会议员现在必须对他提出的就业方案的部分内容进行投票，同时必须解释他们如此投票的原因。

And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report. Find more economic news with transcripts⁸ and MP3s at voanews.cn. And follow us on Facebook and Twitter at VOA Learning English. I'm Mario Ritter.
________

Chris Simkins and Marissa Melton contributed to this report.

1 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

2 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》

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

5 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

6 vets   

abbr.veterans （复数）老手，退伍军人；veterinaries （复数）兽医n.兽医( vet的名词复数 )；老兵；退伍军人；兽医诊所v.审查（某人过去的记录、资格等）( vet的第三人称单数 )；调查；检查；诊疗

参考例句：

• I helped train many young vets and veterinary nurses too. 我还帮助培训了许多年青的兽医和护士。 来自互联网
• In fact, we've expanded mental health counseling and services for our vets. 实际上，我们已经扩大了退伍军人的心理健康咨询和服务。 来自互联网

7 spouses   

n.配偶，夫或妻( spouse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Jobs are available for spouses on campus and in the community. 校园里和社区里有配偶可做的工作。 来自辞典例句
• An astonishing number of spouses-most particularly in the upper-income brackets-have no close notion of their husbands'paychecks. 相当大一部分妇女——特别在高收入阶层——并不很了解他们丈夫的薪金。 来自辞典例句

8 transcripts   

n.抄本（ transcript的名词复数 ）；转写本；文字本；副本

参考例句：

• Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样，都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
• You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书，你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句