VOA常速英语2014--Obama Secures Commitments on Hiring Long-Term Unemployed 奥巴马政府出台政策雇佣长期失业人员

 

Obama Secures Commitments on Hiring Long-Term Unemployed¹ 奥巴马政府出台政策雇佣长期失业人员

WHITE HOUSE — President Barack Obama met with top American CEOs at the White House Friday to discuss commitments their companies have made to help the long-term unemployed find jobs. The White House says 300 companies have agreed to do their part.

白宫 -- 总统巴拉克.奥巴马星期五在白宫接见美国著名企业的首席执行官们，商讨委托这些企业为长期失业者提供就业机会。白宫发言人说有300家公司同意参与其中。

In his State of the Union Address, the president spoke² of the need to help the long-term unemployed get what he called a "fair shot" at finding a job. "Tonight, I ask every business leader in America to join us and do the same because we are stronger when America fields a full team," he said.

在国情咨询中，总统说需要帮助长期失业人员，在找工作时给他们一个“公平的机会”。“今晚，我请求美国的每一位商业领袖加入其中，同心同力，因为当全美成为一个团队时我们会变得更加强大。”他呼吁道。

On Friday, Obama met with CEOs from some of the 300 companies -- including McDonald's, Boeing and Bank of America -- the White House says are committing to "best practices" for hiring. In other words, they've agreed to revamp their hiring practices to make sure those out of work for long periods get a fair shot at a job.    

星期五，奥巴马会见了这300个公司中的一些首席执行官，包括麦当劳、波音公司和美国银行，白宫说他们将为在雇佣中提供“最好的实践”负责，换句话说，他们同意改进他们的雇佣实践以保证那些长期失业人员有一个公平的就业机会。

The long-term unemployed have been out of work for 27 weeks or more. The government says they currently number 3.9 million.

长期失业人员指的是失业达27周或以上的人，政府说这类人员目前达三百九十万人。

That's nearly 40 percent of all unemployed Americans.

这占美国所有失业人员的百分之四十。

Erick Varela, a former combat infantryman who introduced Obama at a related White House event Friday, described the experience of prolonged joblessness. "With no luck, I was motivated to work and I wanted to work and I knew I could contribute to society, like I had in my military service. But I felt helpless, lost and more importantly, a disappointment and a failure to my family," he said.

埃里克.瓦列拉，一名前步兵，于星期五在白宫的一场相关活动中为奥巴马作序，讲述了他长期失业的经历。“没有运气，我很想工作，我知道自己还可以象在军队时一样为社会做贡献，但我感到无助和迷失，更重要的是，面对家庭我感到失望和失败。”

Varela was re-trained and now has a job.

瓦列拉得到了重新培训，现在有了工作。

Obama called that a success story, but one that also demonstrates the challenge. "Folks who have been unemployed the longest often have the toughest time getting back to work. It’s a cruel Catch-22 [paradox] -- the longer you’re unemployed, the more unemployable you may seem. Now, this is an illusion, but it’s one that unfortunately we know statistically³ is happening out there."

奥巴马说这是一个成功的故事，但也说明这是一个挑战。“失业时间越长，回去工作时就越难适应。这是一个残酷的隐情 -- 22 [反论] -- 你失业越久，似乎就越会失业。现在，这只是一个假象，但不幸的是，从统计数字上来看是这样。”

The pledges by the CEOs are a downpayment on future progress, said Secretary of Labor⁴ Tom Perez.

那些首席执行官们的保证是对将来的一份订金，劳动局汤姆佩雷斯的秘书如是说。

"When you're talking about Fortune 100 companies, you're talking about force multipliers. And when you are talking about force multipliers, you're talking about helping⁵ thousands of people," said Perez.

“当你谈及财富100的公司时，也就在谈及力量的乘数效应；当你谈及力量的乘数效应时，也就意味着可以帮助成千上成万的人。”佩雷斯说。

Obama signed an order to ensure that government agencies consider long-term unemployment when making hiring decisions. He criticized Congress for allowing unemployment benefits for the long term unemployed to lapse⁶.

奥巴马签署了一份命令，确保政府部门在招聘人员时会考虑长期失业者。他批评国会允许长期失业人员的失业救济金失效。

"Each week that Congress fails to restore that insurance, roughly 72,000 Americans will join the ranks of the long-term unemployed who have also lost their economic lifeline," said the president.

“每个星期，国会不同意恢复该保险，就意味着大约有七万两千美国人将加入长期失业的行列，他们没有经济救生索。”总统说。

Republicans in Congress have argued that extended benefits create a disincentive for people to find work.

国会中的共和党员已为延长救济而发生争论，认为这样会不利于人们积极寻找工作。

 

The White House is not saying how many unemployed Americans might benefit from Obama's outreach to companies, but he hopes it brings many more on board.

白宫没有说有多少失业人员会从奥巴马所洽谈的公司中受惠，但他希望这将会为失业者带来更多的机遇。

1 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。

2 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。

3 statistically   

ad.根据统计数据来看，从统计学的观点来看

参考例句：

• The sample of building permits is larger and therefore, statistically satisfying. 建筑许可数的样本比较大，所以统计数据更令人满意。
• The results of each test would have to be statistically independent. 每次试验的结果在统计上必须是独立的。

4 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

5 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。

6 lapse   

n.过失，流逝，失效，抛弃信仰，间隔；vi.堕落，停止，失效，流逝；vt.使失效

参考例句：

• The incident was being seen as a serious security lapse.这一事故被看作是一次严重的安全疏忽。
• I had a lapse of memory.我记错了。