VOA标准英语2015--Debate Ignites Over Government Benefits, Training for Displaced Workers

Debate Ignites Over Government Benefits, Training for Displaced Workers

WASHINGTON—

As debate intensifies¹ over whether to give Congress and the president the ability to "fast-track" proposed free trade agreements with Pacific and European countries, many Democrats² and labor³ unions continue to champion a little-known program that provides financial assistance to American workers laid off as a result of increased international competition.

Conservatives say the Trade Adjustment Assistance program is ineffective, costs too much and should be abolished. But a former steel worker who spoke⁴ with VOA said not only does the program work, it should be expanded.

Sparrows Point -- in southeast Baltimore -- former home of the Bethlehem Steel Mill --  is a major steel producer that once employed as many as 30 thousand Americans.

Michael Smith was a crane operator here for 13 years. It’s the first time he’s been back in two years.

"I remember what this place used to be.  I remember the sights, the sounds, the tractors," said Smith. "It’s actually hard physically⁵ standing⁶ here. I mean, my heart hurts."

The mill shut down in 2012 -- the victim of a series of business decisions made worse by increasing global competition.

That left Smith and 2,500 plant workers with no jobs and few marketable skills.

“I was blessed enough to find a program called TRA [Trade Readjustment Allowance] and TAA [Trade Adjustment Assistance], which is a union bargain benefit that was provided to us.”

The program gave Smith a weekly stipend⁷ -- and he used his retraining allowance to pay for books and tuition fees. He graduated from college in May with a bachelors degree in Psychology⁸.

"I want to be a counseling psychologist, and I’m hoping that all of the pain and hurt that I experienced by losing my job of 13 years here at the steel mill – I’m hoping I can channel that into helping⁹ others in the community," he said.

Despite Smith's success with the program, many conservatives say TAA is wasteful¹⁰ and ineffective.

CATO Institute trade policy analyst¹¹ Dan Ikenson said that for every job lost to trade, 30 jobs are lost for other reasons. He spoke to VOA on Skype.

“My first question is, why should we treat people who lose jobs or can tie their job loss in some way to trade any differently than we treat other people who lose their jobs?” asked  Ikenson.

Ikenson insisted that trade creates more winners than losers. Instead of government assistance, he said manufacturers are better suited to retrain displaced workers.

“They complain a lot about the dearth¹² of skilled workers, and if they were incentivized to hire people just to train them in exchange for them agreeing to work, maybe for a year or two afterwards, that might work a lot better than trade adjustment assistance does.”

The Senate is scheduled to vote on whether to extend the $400-million program as part of a fast-track bill to expedite pending¹³ free trade deals with Pacific countries. But it's likely to face stiff opposition¹⁴ from the Republican majority in Congress.

1 intensifies   

n.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的名词复数 )v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• A clear atmosphere intensifies the blue of the sky. 纯净的空气使天空变得更蓝。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Blowing on fire intensifies the heat. 吹火使热度加强。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 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。

4 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。

5 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

6 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

7 stipend   

n.薪贴；奖学金；养老金

参考例句：

• The company is going to ajust my stipend from this month onwards.从这一个月开始公司将对我的薪金作调整。
• This sum was nearly a third of his total stipend.这笔钱几乎是他全部津贴的三分之一。

8 psychology   

n.心理，心理学，心理状态

参考例句：

• She has a background in child psychology.她受过儿童心理学的教育。
• He studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge.他在剑桥大学学习哲学和心理学。

9 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。

10 wasteful   

adj.（造成）浪费的，挥霍的

参考例句：

• It is a shame to be so wasteful.这样浪费太可惜了。
• Duties have been reassigned to avoid wasteful duplication of work.为避免重复劳动浪费资源，任务已经重新分派。

11 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

12 dearth   

n.缺乏，粮食不足，饥谨

参考例句：

• There is a dearth of good children's plays.目前缺少优秀的儿童剧。
• Many people in that country died because of dearth of food.那个国家有许多人因为缺少粮食而死。

13 pending   

prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的

参考例句：

• The lawsuit is still pending in the state court.这案子仍在州法庭等待定夺。
• He knew my examination was pending.他知道我就要考试了。

14 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。