Obama touts building rising, thriving middle class

 　　WASHINGTON, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama on Saturday stressed the importance of building a rising and thriving middle class as the engine of U.S. economic growth.

　　The United States should endeavor to bring more manufacturing jobs back from overseas and launch manufacturing hubs across the nation to transform some regions into global centers of high-tech¹ jobs and manufacturing, Obama said in his weekly address.

　　"We need to invest in the research and technology that will allow us to harness more of our own energy and put more people back to work repairing our crumbling² roads and bridges," Obama said after wrapping up a three-day road trip to sell initiatives in his State of the Union address on Tuesday night.

　　"We need to make our tax code more competitive, ending tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas, and rewarding companies that create jobs here at home," he reiterated³ the message unveiled in his first of State of the Union address in his second term.

　　"No one in America should work full-time⁴ and raise their children in poverty," argued Obama, adding that the nation should raise federal minimum wage to 9 U.S. dollars per hour by 2015 from the current 7.25 dollars.

　　However, the proposal to raise federal minimum wage appeared to have little chance to pass the Republican-led House of Representatives, as top GOP lawmakers including U.S. House Speaker John Boehner opposed it.

1 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。

2 crumbling   

adj.摇摇欲坠的

参考例句：

• an old house with crumbling plaster and a leaking roof 一所灰泥剥落、屋顶漏水的老房子
• The boat was tied up alongside a crumbling limestone jetty. 这条船停泊在一个摇摇欲坠的石灰岩码头边。

3 reiterated   

反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• "Well, I want to know about it,'she reiterated. “嗯，我一定要知道你的休假日期，"她重复说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Some twenty-two years later President Polk reiterated and elaborated upon these principles. 大约二十二年之后，波尔克总统重申这些原则并且刻意阐释一番。

4 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。