VOA标准英语2009年-US Treasury Secretary says Economy Still "

By Michael Bowman
Washington
01 November 2009 

 
US Treasury¹ Secretary Tim Geithner - File Photo
 
The Obama administration says the U.S. economy is rebounding² from a painful recession and a severe financial crisis, but the recovery will be slow and uneven³. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said America's soaring national debt must be curtailed⁴, but that ensuring sustained economic expansion is of immediate⁵ importance.

After a year of shrinking output, the U.S. economy grew last quarter at a 3.5 percent annual rate.  Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner hailed the news, but noted⁶ that steep economic hurdles⁷ remain. "Just five months after the president [Barack Obama] came into office, we got growth restarted.  But it is just the beginning.  We have a ways to go.  Unemployment is high and still rising.  This is a very tough economy, still, for huge numbers of American businesses," he said.

Geithner, who appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press" program, said it will take time before average Americans perceive economic improvements. "This is going to be a different recovery than [those seen] in the past, because Americans are going to have to save more.  A lot of damage was caused by this crisis.  It is going to take some time for us to grow out of this.  It could be a little choppy, it could be uneven, and it is going to take a while," he said.

Consumer spending accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity.  But recent reports showed U.S. consumer confidence dipping and consumer spending down as government subsidies⁸ to purchase new cars have ended and tax credits for first-time home buyers are soon to expire.

That has led to charges by Republicans the economic recovery is an illusion, funded by inefficient⁹ government spending that has weakened America's long-term economic position by vastly expanding the national debt.  House Minority Leader John Boehner said "The [federal] stimulus¹⁰ bill is not working.  Unemployment is rising.  The debt to be paid by our kids and grandkids is exploding.  Enough is enough."

But Treasury Secretary Geithner insists the $787-billion stimulus package President Barack Obama signed into law in February has worked to stop the plunge¹¹ of an economy that was in freefall when Mr. Obama came into office.  And, despite continuing bank failures, Geithner says America's financial system has also been rescued and a catastrophic credit squeeze has eased.

The treasury secretary did not dispute Republican contentions¹² that mounting federal deficits¹³ are creating an unsustainable level of national debt. "It is going to have to come down. It is too high, and I think everybody understands this.  We have two central imperatives¹⁴: restore growth and create jobs, but make sure people understand we are going to have to bring those fiscal¹⁵ deficits down as growth recovers.  First growth, though. Without growth you cannot fix those long-term fiscal problems," he said.

Geithner said he is encouraged by legislative¹⁶ progress on bills to reform America's health-care system and reduce health care costs, which he said will improve the nation's fiscal outlook.

1 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

2 rebounding   

蹦跳运动

参考例句：

• The strength of negative temperature concrete is tested with supersonic-rebounding method. 本文将超声回弹综合法用于负温混凝土强度检测。
• The fundamental of basketball includes shooting, passing and catching, rebounding, etc. 篮球运动中最基本的东西包括投篮，传接球，篮板球等。

3 uneven   

adj.不平坦的，不规则的，不均匀的

参考例句：

• The sidewalk is very uneven—be careful where you walk.这人行道凹凸不平—走路时请小心。
• The country was noted for its uneven distribution of land resources.这个国家以土地资源分布不均匀出名。

4 curtailed   

v.截断，缩短( curtail的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Spending on books has been severely curtailed. 购书开支已被大大削减。
• Their public health programme had to be severely curtailed. 他们的公共卫生计划不得不大大收缩。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

6 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

7 hurdles   

n.障碍( hurdle的名词复数 )；跳栏；（供人或马跳跃的）栏架；跨栏赛

参考例句：

• In starting a new company, many hurdles must be crossed. 刚开办一个公司时，必须克服许多障碍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There are several hurdles to be got over in this project. 在这项工程中有一些困难要克服。 来自辞典例句

8 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 inefficient   

adj.效率低的，无效的

参考例句：

• The inefficient operation cost the firm a lot of money.低效率的运作使该公司损失了许多钱。
• Their communication systems are inefficient in the extreme.他们的通讯系统效率非常差。

10 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

11 plunge   

v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲

参考例句：

• Test pool's water temperature before you plunge in.在你跳入之前你应该测试水温。
• That would plunge them in the broil of the two countries.那将会使他们陷入这两国的争斗之中。

12 contentions   

n.竞争( contention的名词复数 )；争夺；争论；论点

参考例句：

• Direct tests on individual particles do not support these contentions. 对单个粒子所作的直接试验并不支持这些论点。 来自辞典例句
• His contentions cannot be laughed out of court. 对他的争辩不能一笑置之。 来自辞典例句

13 deficits   

n.不足额( deficit的名词复数 )；赤字；亏空；亏损

参考例句：

• The Ministry of Finance consistently overestimated its budget deficits. 财政部一贯高估预算赤字。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Many of the world's farmers are also incurring economic deficits. 世界上许多农民还在遭受经济上的亏损。 来自辞典例句

14 imperatives   

n.必要的事( imperative的名词复数 )；祈使语气；必须履行的责任

参考例句：

• Nixon, however, had other imperatives. 但尼克松另有需要。 来自辞典例句
• There could be some cultural imperatives in there somewhere! 在公共传播那里，在某些方面，可能有更迫切的文化需要！ 来自互联网

15 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

16 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。