VOA标准英语2010年-Obama Touts Plan to Boost US Exports

The Senate passed the bill Thursday with the help of two key votes from opposition¹ Republicans. It now heads to the U.S. House of Representatives, which is expected to pass the bill and send it to the president to become law.

President Obama says U.S. exports had a bigger-than-expected increase during the past year, which he says will help fight unemployment.

"Obviously working off a low baseline, given the crisis last year, exports are expected to be up, but we are very pleased to see that they are up 18 percent, to where they were a year ago," Mr. Obama said. "And manufacturing exports are up 20 percent, and that is helping² put a lot of our people back to work."

The U.S. unemployment rate remains³ mired⁴ at 9.6 percent, which has depressed⁵ Mr. Obama's public approval ratings and hampered⁶ candidates from his Democratic Party.

The president says one way out of the recession is to sell more American goods and services in other countries.

"The more American companies export, the more they produce," the president said. "And the more they produce, the more people they hire. And that means more jobs - good jobs that often pay as much as 15 percent more than average."

Mr. Obama spoke⁷ Thursday at a meeting of his recently formed export council.

He said his administration is working to resolve outstanding issues on free-trade agreements with South Korea and other countries, and seek congressional approval as soon as possible.

The United States signed free-trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama during the presidency⁸ of George W. Bush, but Congress has not approved them.

Earlier this year, President Obama called for the United States to double its exports within five years. He says that goal can be met.

"These are some of the steps we will pursue to double America's exports over the next five years," Mr. Obama said. "When I made this initial announcement some were skeptical⁹, but the truth of the matter is that if we are increasing our exports by 14 or 15 percent per year, something that is achievable, then we can meet our goal."

A government report says the United States can meet its goal by conducting more international trade missions, promoting American exports in emerging markets and making small businesses aware of export opportunities.

1 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

2 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。

3 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

4 mired   

abbr.microreciprocal degree 迈尔德（色温单位）v.深陷( mire的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The country was mired in recession. 这个国家陷入了经济衰退的困境。
• The most brilliant leadership can be mired in detail. 最有才干的领导也会陷于拘泥琐事的困境中。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

6 hampered   

妨碍，束缚，限制( hamper的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The search was hampered by appalling weather conditions. 恶劣的天气妨碍了搜寻工作。
• So thought every harassed, hampered, respectable boy in St. Petersburg. 圣彼德堡镇的那些受折磨、受拘束的体面孩子们个个都是这么想的。

7 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。

8 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

9 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。