VOA标准英语2009-British Incentive Program Hopes to Spur New Car

Facing record auto¹ industry losses and with thousands of jobs on the line, Britain has launched a new car incentive² program aimed at spurring sales. Under the deal, qualified³ motorists will get a $3,000 discount on the purchase of a new vehicle.
　
Toyota Motor Corp.'s cars are on display at showroom "Toyota Mega Web" in Tokyo, 08 May 2009

Given the depth of the problems facing the auto sector⁴ around the world, one answer to moving cars out of the showrooms seems to be spreading.

What began in Germany and spread to France and Italy has now moved to Britain. The idea is a joint⁵ government-manufacturer incentive plan to give consumers with old car trade-ins a $3,000 cash back deal on the purchase of any new car.

The $450 million program is designed to boost plummeting⁶ car sales in Britain that will in turn help to save auto sector jobs. A secondary benefit is getting gas-guzzling old clunkers off the road and replaced with more fuel-efficient band new models.

In order to participate in the plan, car buyers like Georgie need to trade in a car that is at least 10-years old.

"I heard about the new scheme when it was announced in the budget and my car qualified as old enough," said Georgie. "So I thought, if I was going to buy a new car, this would be a good time."

Under the deal, half of the $3,000 discount comes from the government, the other half comes from the car manufacturer.

And while it may not solve all of the problems facing the industry today, people like Jon Pollock, the marketing⁷ manager of Toyota G.B. say it is a program that will help.

"The scrappage scheme will bring incremental⁸ business to the market. We are indeed already seeing that," said Pollock. "Is it the panacea⁹ solution to the economic crisis and the car market in the U.K.? I think that is more debatable, but we have to be honest that anything that does bring new people to market has got to be good news to the economy and has got to be good news to the market in Britain."

In Germany, a similar program boosted sales by 20 percent. For the first four months of 2009, new car sales in Britain were down nearly 30 percent, so there is much hope the incentive plan can persuade some to purchase now.

The program is scheduled to run through next March.

Other countries will be watching with interest. Japan is considering its own plan, but with incentives¹⁰ there aimed more at selling hybrids¹¹ and electric-car options.

In the United States, a vote in Congress is expected in the coming weeks that could authorize¹² up to $4,500 to individuals who trade in vehicles in what has become known as the "cash for clunkers" bill.

According to USA Today, the price tag of getting such a program up and running in America would be around about $4 billion.

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 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

3 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

4 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。

5 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

6 plummeting   

v.垂直落下，骤然跌落( plummet的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Prices are rising, falling, going up, going down, shooting up, plummeting, etc. 物价在上涨、下跌、上升、下落、猛然上涨、骤然下跌等。 来自辞典例句
• The enemy plane went plummeting into the sea. 敌机直直掉进海里。 来自辞典例句

7 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

8 incremental   

adj.增加的

参考例句：

• For logic devices, the incremental current gain is very important. 对于逻辑器件来说，提高电流增益是非常重要的。 来自辞典例句
• By using an incremental approach, the problems involving material or geometric nonlinearity have been solved. 借应用一种增量方法，已经解决了包括材料的或几何的非线性问题。 来自辞典例句

9 panacea   

n.万灵药；治百病的灵药

参考例句：

• Western aid may help but will not be a panacea. 西方援助可能会有所帮助，但并非灵丹妙药。
• There's no single panacea for the country's economic ills. 国家经济弊病百出,并无万灵药可以医治。

10 incentives   

激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 )； 刺激； 诱因； 动机

参考例句：

• tax incentives to encourage savings 鼓励储蓄的税收措施
• Furthermore, subsidies provide incentives only for investments in equipment. 更有甚者，提供津贴仅是为鼓励增添设备的投资。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

11 hybrids   

n.杂交生成的生物体( hybrid的名词复数 )；杂交植物（或动物）；杂种；（不同事物的）混合物

参考例句：

• All these brightly coloured hybrids are so lovely in the garden. 花园里所有这些色彩鲜艳的杂交花真美丽。 来自辞典例句
• The notion that interspecific hybrids are rare is ill-founded. 有一种看法认为种间杂种是罕见的，这种看法是无根据的。 来自辞典例句

12 authorize   

v.授权，委任；批准，认可

参考例句：

• He said that he needed to get his supervisor to authorize my refund.他说必须让主管人员批准我的退款。
• Only the President could authorize the use of the atomic bomb.只有总统才能授权使用原子弹。