奥巴马每周电视讲话：总统将于下周二发布国情咨文演讲

Hi, everybody.
大家好！
Every day, we get thousands of letters and emails at the White House from Americans across the country-and every night, I read ten of them.
每天,我在白宫都会收到来自全国各地无数的来信,每天晚上,我都会选出其中的十封认真阅读。
They tell me about their hopes and their worries, their hardships and successes.
人们告诉我他们的期望和担忧，困难和成就。
They're the Americans I'm working for every day-and this year, several of these letter writers will join me at the Capitol when I deliver my annual State of the Union Address on Tuesday night.
他们是我为之服务的美国人民，今年，他们当中的一部分人将与我一起前往国会山，出席我在那里每年一度的国情咨文演讲，时间就在下周二的晚上。
Carolyn Reed wrote to me from Colorado to tell me she was able to expand her business, thanks to a loan from the Small Business Administration.
卡罗琳·里德从科罗拉多给我写信，告诉我他的生意规模又扩大了，这要感谢中小企业管理局给她提供的贷款。
Today, she and her husband own seven Silver Mine Sub Shops-and last year, they raised wages for all their hourly employees.
现在，她和她丈夫拥有7家银矿快餐店，去年，他们还给所有的计时工涨了工资。
Victor Fugate, from Butler, Missouri, wrote to tell me that he was unemployed¹ for a while a few years ago, but today he's earned his degree and found a full-time² job.
维克多·福盖特是密苏里州巴特勒人，他写信告诉我他几年前失业了，但现在他获得了一份学位并找到了一份全职工作。
Victor said that he and his wife were able to afford their student loans because our country offered millions of Americans the chance to cap their monthly payments as a percentage of their income-and, because of the Affordable³ Care Act, they now have the security and peace of mind of affordable health insurance.
维克多说他和他妻子之所以能够还得起助学贷款，正是因为国家给了他们机会，使得月度还款额限定在他们收入的一定比例之内。此外，由于有了《平价医疗保险法》，现在他们也有了医疗保险，内心也得到了安宁和平静。
While serving in Afghanistan, Jason Gibson was gravely wounded-he lost both his legs.
杰森·吉布森曾经在阿富汗战场服役，他光荣受伤，失去了双腿。
When I first met him in the hospital, he was just beginning his long, difficult road to recovery.
当我第一次在医院看到他时，他漫长而痛苦的康复治疗才刚刚开始。
But last year, Sergeant⁴ Gibson wrote to tell me that with the help of our extraordinary doctors and nurses, he's making extraordinary progress.
但就在去年，吉布森军士写信告诉我说，在优秀的医护人员的治疗和照顾下，他的身体恢复的很好。
He just moved into a new home, and he and his wife just had a baby girl.
现在他搬进了新家，跟他妻子也生下了一位千金。
Stories like these give us reason to start the new year with confidence.
这些故事让我们有信心开启新的一年。
2014 was the fastest year for job growth since the 1990s.
2014年是自上世纪90年代以来就业增长最快的一年。
Unemployment fell faster than any year since 1984.
失业率也下降到1984年以来的最低。
Our combat mission in Afghanistan has come to a responsible end, and more of our heroes are coming home.
我们在阿富汗的战争也正式结束，我们英勇的战士们正陆续回国。
America's resurgence⁵ is real.
美国复苏的步伐坚定而有力。
Our job now is to make sure that every American feels that they're a part of our country's comeback.
现在，我们的任务就是要确保每一个美国人都能感受到强大的美国回归的力量。
That's what I'll focus on in my State of the Union-how to build on our momentum⁶, with rising wages, growing incomes, and a stronger middle class.
这将是我在国情咨文中要重点阐述的内容，我们要形成我们的发展动力，提高工资水平，增加国民收入，打造壮大的中产阶级。
And I'll call on this new Congress to join me in putting aside the political games and finding areas where we agree so we can deliver for the American people.
我会呼吁新一届国会与我一起，搁置政治斗争，寻求共识，在诸多领域开展合作，为美国人民服务。
The last six years have demanded resilience and sacrifice from all of us.
过去的六年里，所有人都很不畏艰难，不怕牺牲。
All of us have a right to be proud of the progress America has made.
我们所有人都有权利为美国取得的成就而感到自豪。
And I hope you'll tune⁷ in on Tuesday to hear about the steps we can take to build on this progress, and to seize this moment together.
我希望大家能在周二的晚上收听我的演讲，我将阐述为实现这些目标，我们将采取的措施和需要共同把握的机遇。
Thanks everybody, and have a great weekend.
谢谢大家，祝周末愉快！

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 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。

3 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。

4 sergeant   

n.警官，中士

参考例句：

• His elder brother is a sergeant.他哥哥是个警官。
• How many stripes are there on the sleeve of a sergeant?陆军中士的袖子上有多少条纹？

5 resurgence   

n.再起，复活，再现

参考例句：

• A resurgence of his grief swept over Nim.悲痛又涌上了尼姆的心头。
• Police say drugs traffickers are behind the resurgence of violence.警方说毒贩是暴力活动重新抬头的罪魁祸首。

6 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

7 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。