NPR边听边练259：美政府陷财政僵局

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　　一、泛听建议：

　　1、完整听一遍，掌握大意。

　　2、继续听，特别注意关键信息。遇到相似的词，写下来。

　　Texas freshman¹ Republican Senator Ted² Cruz finally called it quits this morning after his 21-hour, 19-minute talkathon on the floor of the US Senate. Cruz spoke³ in favor of _1_ President Obama's health care law. Senate Majority Leader Harry⁴ Reid called Cruz's marathon speech "a waste of time."

　　今天早上，得克萨斯州新当选共和党参议员泰德·克鲁兹在美国参议院进行了21个小时零19分钟的冗长演讲后终于决定结束。克鲁兹的演讲内容为支持取消奥巴马总统的医改法。参议院多数党领导人哈利·里德称克鲁兹马拉松式的演讲为“浪费时间。”

　　"The things he talked about _2_ about before on a number of occasions; in fact, endlessly."

　　“他谈论的事情之前已经在许多场合谈论过了；实际上，一直在谈论。”

　　The Senate moved ahead with a test vote on the measure, would allow for a possible vote Friday on the bill over the government shutdown. While the House passed a version the measure contains a provision to gut⁵ the health care law,the Senate _3_ to remove that.

　　参议院已对法案进行试验投票，允许周五就避免政府关门的法案进行投票。而众议院已经通过了一项法案，其中包括取消奥巴马医改法的条款，预计参议院将去除这项条款。

　　One of the departments that stand to be severely⁶ affected⁷ by the budget impasse⁸ in Washington is Treasury⁹. Treasury Secretary Jack¹⁰ Lew says as of October 17th,Treasury will be powerless to avoid a default on US government debt if Congress does not act to raise the debt celling. NPR's John Ydstie reports the warning came in a letter to all members of Congress.

　　华盛顿受预算僵局影响最严重的部门之一是财政部。财政部长杰克·卢表示，如果国会不采取行动提高债务上限，自10月17日开始，财政部将无力避免美国政府陷入债务违约。据NPR新闻的约翰·伊斯蒂报道，这份警告来自卢写给国会所有成员的信件。

　　In his letter, Lew _4_ that by October 17th, Treasure may have only about 30 billion dollars on hand to honor a daily obligation that could exceed 60 billion dollars. He urged members of Congress to act immediately to raise the borrowing limit. He reminded them that a last-minute fight over the debt celling

　　issue in 2011 caused significant harm to the economy and the downgrade to the credit rating of the United States. Lew said legislation recently passed by the House of Representatives, which would prioritize debt payments honoring some obligations but not others, is "simply default by another name." He said there

　　is no way of _5_ the damage that the default might cause to the economy and financial markets. John Ydstie, NPR News, Washington.

　　卢在信中表示，自10月17日开始，财政部手上可能只剩300亿美元来履行每天超过600亿美元的债务。他敦促国会成员立即采取行动提高债务上限。他提醒国会成员，2011年与债务上限斗争到最后一分钟已经严重损害了经济，而且降低了美国的信誉评级。卢表示，众议院近期通过的法案优先考虑债务支付一些而不是其他义务，“简直是另一种方式的违约。”他表示，目前无法知晓违约可能给经济和金融市场造成的损害。NPR新闻，约翰·伊斯蒂华盛顿报道。

　　词汇解析：

　　1. call it quits

　　决定结束；就此了结；

　　eg. They raised $630,000 through listener donations, and then called it quits.

　　他们通过听众捐款的方式筹集了63万美元后宣告结束。

　　eg. You can decide whether there is hope in working for mutual¹¹ happiness, or if you should call it quits.

　　你可以决定是否有希望为双方共同的幸福努力，或者就此一刀两断。

　　2. in favor of

　　支持；赞成；

　　eg. The judge decided¹² in favor of the plaintiff.

　　法官作出了有利于原告的裁决。

　　eg. I wouldn't be in favour of income tax cuts.

　　我不会支持削减所得税。

　　3. a waste of

　　浪费；

　　eg. Trying to be perfect is a waste of time and energy. Perfection is an illusion.

　　努力变得完美是在浪费时间和精力。完美是一种幻觉。

　　eg. I think that is a total waste of money.

　　我认为那完全是浪费金钱。

　　参考答案：

　　1、dismantling 2、have been talked 3、is expected

　　4、estimated 5、knowing

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