voa标准英语2008-Auto Bailout Faces Senate Roadblock as More US J

Some Republicans in the U.S. Senate say they will block a plan to rescue the country's three major auto¹ companies. Meanwhile, new claims for unemployment benefits reached their highest level in 26 years.
　 COLLAPSE⁷: collapse" bordercolor="#111111" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="15%" align="right" border="0">

Sen. Richard Shelby, center, accompanied by, from left, Sen. Tom Coburn, Sen. Jon Ensign, Sen. David Vitter, and Sen. Jim DeMint, 10 Dec. 2008

Republican Senators like David Vitter of Louisiana say the $14 billion rescue package, which passed the House of Representatives on Wednesday, is not tough enough on the "Big Three" U.S. automakers.

"We need to see the commitment to bring down labor² costs, to be competitive with folks like Toyota and Honda," he said. "We need to see the commitment to bring down what bondholders will get for their bonds, so that this infusion³ of taxpayer⁴ dollars is not just a bonanza⁵ for them. And we need to see a very concrete commitment to a new management structure at the companies."

Some Republicans say the car companies should declare bankruptcy⁶.

U.S. President George Bush and President-elect Barack Obama are calling on the Senate to approve the bailout plan. White House spokeswoman Dana Perino says the collapse of even one of the automakers would be devastating⁸.

"The economy is in such a weakened state right now that adding another possible loss of one million jobs is just something our economy cannot sustain at the moment," she said.

Mr. Obama also says the country cannot afford to let General Motors, Ford⁹ or Chrysler fail.

"I believe our government should provide short-term assistance to the auto industry, to avoid a collapse, while holding the companies accountable and protecting taxpayer interests," he said.

Meanwhile, some General Motors workers are anxiously waiting for word from the Senate.

"I think it would really hurt things around here real bad," said one worker. "Things are bad enough as it is."

"As of now, I will be laid off. For how long? Permanent," said another worker.

"I think certainly the government should stand behind us," one worker said.

Sweden's government on Thursday announced a $3.4 billion support package for its troubled auto industry. But the government in Stockholm said it will not buy Volvo from Ford or Saab from General Motors.
　

Job seekers check employment offers in Miami

Layoffs¹⁰ throughout the U.S. economy have caused new claims for unemployment benefits to reach their highest level in 26 years. The Labor Department says first-time applications for jobless benefits totaled 573,000 in the week ending December 6 - far higher than the 525,000 claims Wall Street economists¹² expected.

Stuart Hoffman, chief economist¹¹ at PNC Financial Services Group, expects more bad news.

"It does not appear as though the end of the recession is anywhere in sight," he said. "I think we will see more layoffs, more people getting unemployment insurance."

Another government report says decreasing demand globally resulted in a two-percent drop in U.S. exports in October.

The U.S. central bank, the Federal Reserve, says American households reduced their debt levels by 0.8 percent from July to September. It is the first drop on records that go back more than 50 years.

The Federal Reserve says the net worth of American households fell by 4.7 percent in the third quarter of the year - to $56.5 trillion. Declining home values, stock market losses and a severe credit freeze are all said to be factors in the numbers.

Financial markets in Europe were mostly down on Thursday. In Frankfurt, the DAX closed down 0.8 percent, at 4,767. The CAC 40 in Paris was 0.4 percent lower, at 3,306. London's Financial Times 100 was up half a percent, at 4,389, largely because of a recovery in oil prices, which rose nearly 12 percent on Thursday.

Crude for January delivery surged more than $5, to $48.60 a barrel. The falling U.S. dollar was said to make commodities like oil more attractive.

Russian President Dimitri Medvedev suggested Thursday that Russia could coordinate¹³ its oil output with OPEC, as the cartel prepares for a major meeting next week.

In Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei index was 0.7 percent higher, at 8,721. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up nearly a quarter of a percent, at 15,614.

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 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。

3 infusion   

n.灌输

参考例句：

• Old families need an infusion of new blood from time to time.古老的家族需要不时地注入新鲜血液。
• Careful observation of the infusion site is necessary.必须仔细观察输液部位。

4 taxpayer   

n.纳税人

参考例句：

• The new scheme will run off with a lot of the taxpayer's money.这项新计划将用去纳税人许多钱。
• The taxpayer are unfavourably disposed towards the recent tax increase.纳税者对最近的增加税收十分反感。

5 bonanza   

n.富矿带，幸运，带来好运的事

参考例句：

• Bargain hunters enjoyed a real bonanza today.到处买便宜货的人今天真是交了好运。
• What a bonanza for the winning ticket holders!对于手持胜券的人来说，这是多好的运气啊。

6 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

7 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

8 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

9 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

10 layoffs   

临时解雇( layoff的名词复数 )； 停工，停止活动

参考例句：

• Textile companies announced 2000 fresh layoffs last week. 各纺织公司上周宣布再次裁员两千人。
• Stock prices broke when the firm suddenly announced layoffs. 当公司突然宣布裁员时，股票价格便大跌

11 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

12 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》

13 coordinate   

adj.同等的，协调的；n.同等者；vt.协作，协调

参考例句：

• You must coordinate what you said with what you did.你必须使你的言行一致。
• Maybe we can coordinate the relation of them.或许我们可以调和他们之间的关系。