VOA常速英语2013--聚焦华盛顿:重新关注“奥巴马医改”

 

Washington Week: Renewed Focus on 'Obamacare' 聚焦华盛顿:重新关注“奥巴马医改”

The coming week will see renewed focus on President Barack Obama’s signature health care law amid a reported end-of-year surge in people who have signed up for  coverage¹. The news constitutes the most concrete sign to date that technical problems plaguing the Affordable² Care Act have subsided³, although the long-term success of  the program remains⁴ in question.

President Obama is on vacation in Hawaii,

虽然奥巴马总统正在夏威夷度假,

but the administration says more than one million people have now enrolled⁵ for private insurance through federal health care exchanges established under the law, also  known as "Obamacare.

但是政府表示现在已经有超过一百万人通过依法成立的联邦卫生保健交易所, 也就是众所熟知的奥巴马医改网站注册私人保险。

Almost all of the new enrollees have signed up in December.

几乎所有的新人已经在12月注册。

Millions visited the federal website last week ahead of a deadline for health care coverage beginning January 1.

数百万人上周在医疗保险1月1日的最后期限前访问该联邦网站。

The enrollment⁶ surge offers the first glimmer⁷ of hope that the technical glitches⁸ that paralyzed the Affordable Care Act's rollout are a thing of the past.

网站注册人数的飙升为过去一经推出即遭技术故障瘫痪的可支付医疗法案带去了一线希望。

Until now, President Barack Obama has been on the defensive⁹ about the law's implementation¹⁰.

直到现在,美国总统巴拉克·奥巴马对该法律的实施一直采取守势。

“The fact is, it did not happen in the first month, the first six weeks, in a way that was acceptable.

“事实是,在第一个月,前六个星期内并没有发生,在某种程度上这是可以接受的。

And since I am in charge, obviously, we screwed it up,” Obama remarked.

而自从我负责以来,显然我们把它搞砸了,”奥巴马说道。

Republicans continue to call for Obamacare's repeal¹¹, contending that more Americans have had their existing health insurance policies cancelled than have benefitted  from the law.

共和党人继续呼吁废除奥巴马医改法案,声称相比来自法律，更多美国人的现有医疗保险政策的受益被取消。

Speaking on NBC's Meet the Press, Democratic Senator Charles Schumer predicts the criticism will fade over time.

而在接受美国全国广播公司《会见新闻界》采访时,民主党参议员查尔斯·舒默预测批评会随着时间消退。

“The bottom line is, there are a lot of good things in Obamacare that people like, and the more people see that, the more positive it is going to be.”

“底线是人们喜欢奥巴马医改中的很多美好事物,而且更多的人看到它会朝更好的方向发展。”

A million enrollees is far short of the seven million goal the Obama administration set for the initial phase of the Affordable Care Act.

一百万的注册人数远远低于奥巴马政府预测的可支付医疗法案目标设定的初始阶段的七百万人。

And it remains to be seen whether large numbers of younger, healthier Americans will sign up for coverage.

大量的年轻、健康的美国人是否注册还未可知。

Without them, the economics of Obamacare will collapse¹².

如果没有他们,奥巴马医改的经济将会瘫痪崩溃。

1 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

2 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

3 subsided   

v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的过去式和过去分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上

参考例句：

• After the heavy rains part of the road subsided. 大雨过后，部分公路塌陷了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• By evening the storm had subsided and all was quiet again. 傍晚， 暴风雨已经过去，四周开始沉寂下来。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 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。

5 enrolled   

adj.入学登记了的v.[亦作enrol]( enroll的过去式和过去分词 )；登记，招收，使入伍（或入会、入学等），参加，成为成员；记入名册；卷起，包起

参考例句：

• They have been studying hard from the moment they enrolled. 从入学时起，他们就一直努力学习。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He enrolled with an employment agency for a teaching position. 他在职业介绍所登了记以谋求一个教师的职位。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 enrollment   

n.注册或登记的人数；登记

参考例句：

• You will be given a reading list at enrollment.注册时你会收到一份阅读书目。
• I just got the enrollment notice from Fudan University.我刚刚接到复旦大学的入学通知书。

7 glimmer   

v.发出闪烁的微光；n.微光，微弱的闪光

参考例句：

• I looked at her and felt a glimmer of hope.我注视她，感到了一线希望。
• A glimmer of amusement showed in her eyes.她的眼中露出一丝笑意。

8 glitches   

n.小过失，差错( glitch的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Manufacturing glitches have limited the factory's output. 生产中的故障影响了该厂的产量。 来自辞典例句
• Another kind of period variation,\"Glitches,\" are seen in several pulsars. 在几个脉冲星中还看到了周期的另一种变化，即“自转突快”现象。 来自辞典例句

9 defensive   

adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的

参考例句：

• Their questions about the money put her on the defensive.他们问到钱的问题，使她警觉起来。
• The Government hastily organized defensive measures against the raids.政府急忙布置了防卫措施抵御空袭。

10 implementation   

n.实施，贯彻

参考例句：

• Implementation of the program is now well underway.这一项目的实施现在行情看好。

11 repeal   

n.废止，撤消；v.废止，撤消

参考例句：

• He plans to repeal a number of current policies.他计划废除一些当前的政策。
• He has made out a strong case for the repeal of the law.他提出强有力的理由，赞成废除该法令。

12 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。