西部落：如果联邦政府关门

A budget impasse¹ between the White House and Congressional Republicans could force the federal government to shut down on Friday when the current budget law allowing the government to spend money expires. The Republican-led House passed the bill of 61 billion dollars in cuts, but of course it was rejected by the Democrat-controlled Senate. Sources are saying negotiators are now looking at a package of cuts for the rest of the fiscal² year of between 33 billion and 40 billon dollars. President Barack Obama hosted the Senate and House leaders at the White House at a rare late night meeting on Wednesday, but so far there's still no deal.

白宫和以共和党为主的国会之间在预算案上的分歧持续，这可能迫使联邦政府于星期五关闭。临时的财政法案规定了政府开销的期限。由共和党领导的众议院通过了这项削减支出610亿美元的财政法案，当然遭到由民主党控制的参议院的反对。据消息称，谈判代表试图将剩余财政年的财政削减缩小至330亿美元至400亿美元之间。奥巴马总统于星期三深夜在白宫召见参议院和众议院领导，但目前为止仍然没有达成一致协议。

"A shutdown could have real effects on everyday Americans. It means that small business owners who are counting on that loan to open their business, to make payroll³, to expand, suddently they cann't do it; it means folks who are potentially processing a mortgage, they may not be able to get it; it means that hundreds of thousands of workers across the country suddenly would work without paycheck—their families are counting on their being able to go to work and do a good job."

“联邦政府关闭会对美国人民造成实实在在的影响。这就意味着那些指望贷款开张，支付员工薪水，扩大经营的小企业老板们突然就经营不下去了，这意味着那些准备抵押贷款的人，可能就拿不到贷款了；这意味着全国成百上千辛勤工作的工人突然就拿不到薪水了——他们的家庭还指望着他们好好工作。”

Now if the government shuts down, that means thousands of workers will be off the job. The White House estimates that 800,000 workers could be asked to stay home. So what else does a government shutdown mean? Well, here are some of the possible outcomes if the U.S. government closes the shop temporarily: the military would still function, but paychecks would be delayed until after April 8th, because the government just wouldn't have the funds for payroll; national parks and national museums would close; passport applications could also be delayed; and tax audits⁴ would be suspended--keep in mind that Tax Day in the U.S. is in a week, on April 15th, but vital services like national defense⁵, law enforcement, emergency medical care and air traffic control would still continue.

如果联邦政府关门，这意味着数千名工人将下岗。白宫预计有80万雇员将失去工作，在家待业。政府关门还意味着什么呢？这里有一些可能的后果：如果美国政府临时关掉兵工厂，军方仍然要履行职责，但是薪酬则要推迟到4月8号，因为政府没有资金周转；国家公园和博物馆也会关掉；申请护照也会延期，税收审计将推迟；牢牢记住美国的报税季是在4月的一个星期，4月15日截止。但是像国防部，执法部门，急救部门，空中交通管制部门这样的重要部门还是要照常运转。

1 impasse   

n.僵局；死路

参考例句：

• The government had reached an impasse.政府陷入绝境。
• Negotiations seemed to have reached an impasse.谈判似乎已经陷入僵局。

2 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

3 payroll   

n.工资表，在职人员名单，工薪总额

参考例句：

• His yearly payroll is $1.2 million.他的年薪是120万美元。
• I can't wait to get my payroll check.我真等不及拿到我的工资单了。

4 audits   

n.审计，查账( audit的名词复数 )v.审计，查账( audit的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Requires that use of all bond funds is subject to independent audits. 需要使用的所有债券基金是受独立审计。 来自互联网
• Support the locations during customer-visits, audits and quality-improvement programs. 支持客户参观，稽核和提高品质等项目。 来自互联网

5 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。