VOA标准英语2012--Automakers Marketing More Fuel Efficient, Compact Cars

Automakers Marketing² More Fuel Efficient, Compact Cars

After 15 years on the assembly line, Detroit autoworker Nicole Current is about to become unemployed³.
“I make truck axles, so as the auto¹ industry tries to get away from the larger size vehicles, and tries to get to more fuel efficient, more economical vehicles, and gas prices being where they are with what product we make, it makes it extremely difficult when in the actual economy, people aren’t buying trucks,” Current said.
People are instead buying cars like the gasoline electric hybrid⁴ Toyota Prius. Toyoto Communications Manager Greg Thome says it is one of the automaker's most popular models.
“The Prius has done really well. We expect our sales this year to grow incrementally⁵ as far as Prius is concerned, because we are growing from one Prius model to a family of four models,” Thome said.
Toyota debuted⁶ the more compact Prius C at the 2012 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Michigan.
Thome says the Prius C reflects post-recession customer demand for cheaper vehicles that don’t cost as much to fill up.
“The recession certainly hit all models. Now we’re starting to see a lot of people come back to the market, including for new technology like hybrids⁷ and so forth," Thome said.
Almost every manufacturer on the floor of this year’s Detroit Auto Show - from low-end to luxury -- is now marketing fuel-efficient models.
Just as sales of General Motors widely publicized, electric-powered Chevrolet Volt⁸ enters a second year, the company is concentrating more on the green vehicle market.
GM’s director of regulatory affairs Mary Beth Stanek says shifting the company's focus away from less fuel-efficient trucks and sport utility vehicles is part of GM’s overall strategy.
“The green aspect has been coming along for some time. Naturally, we want to make sure we have alternatives to petroleum⁹ as well. Our business doesn’t want to be dependent on one particular type of energy source. So it moves us as a company to make sure we have a lot of offerings and that we kind of ride out the instability of petroleum pricing,” Stanek said.
Customer demand for smaller and more fuel-efficient cars continues to redefine the U.S. auto economy. That demand is re-opening shuttered facilities, and bringing jobs back to an industry that shed tens of thousands of workers in the last decade.
But it comes as bittersweet news for workers like Nicole Current.
“Although I am losing my job, as a union member, I’m just still one piece of that pie. I definitely believe that we are going in the right direction with the leadership we’ve got in place,” Current said.
Current hopes that leadership can help her find employment in one of the thousands of new positions created by Detroit’s burgeoning¹⁰ green car industry.

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 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。

3 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

4 hybrid   

n.(动，植）杂种，混合物

参考例句：

• That is a hybrid perpetual rose.那是一株杂交的四季开花的蔷薇。
• The hybrid was tall,handsome,and intelligent.那混血儿高大、英俊、又聪明。

5 incrementally   

adv.逐渐地

参考例句：

• Incrementally update the shared dimensions used in this cube. 增量更新此多维数据集中使用的共享维度。 来自互联网
• Grand goals are inspiring, but be sure to approach them incrementally. 辉煌的目标令人鼓舞，但一定要逐步实现。 来自互联网

6 debuted   

初次表演，初次登台（debut的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• In late 2003 a full-size SUV, the Pathfinder Armada, debuted. 2003年末，全尺寸SUV的探路者无敌舰队，推出。
• The album debuted at number two and quickly went platinum. 专辑一亮相就荣登排行榜第二名，很快就取得了白金销量。

7 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

8 volt   

n.伏特，伏

参考例句：

• You may use 100 and 110 volt appliances in your room.您可以在房间使用100及110伏特的电器。
• The common service voltage of electric power in our country is 220/380 volt.我国普通供电电压为220/380伏。

9 petroleum   

n.原油，石油

参考例句：

• The Government of Iran advanced the price of petroleum last week.上星期伊朗政府提高了石油价格。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

10 burgeoning   

adj.迅速成长的，迅速发展的v.发芽，抽枝( burgeon的现在分词 )；迅速发展；发（芽），抽（枝）

参考例句：

• Our company's business is burgeoning now. 我们公司的业务现在发展很迅速。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• These efforts were insufficient to contain the burgeoning crisis. 这些努力不足以抑制迅速扩散的危机。 来自辞典例句