NPR边听边练284：美正式削减50亿美元食品券

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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。

　　The Treasure Department is making flexible spending account for healthcare more attractive by _1_ some of the money to roll over at the end of year. As NPR's Julie Rovner reports until now, consumers who did not use the all of the money they set aside had to forfeit¹ it.

　　美国财政部将使用于支付医保的灵活开支计账更具吸引力，方法是允许一些钱在年底得以保留。据NPR新闻的朱莉·罗夫纳报道，目前，消费者存到帐户中未消费的钱会被罚没。

　　The account a popular way for people to save for unreimbursed medical expenses like deductibles and co-payments, and things that often _2_ like eye glasses. But the fact, the money was used or lose it meant the account have been less attractive to those with more moderate incomes, and they often led to frantic² and sometime wasteful³ end of year's spending as consumers trying to avoid losing money deducted⁴ from their pay checks. Under the new rules, employers will have the options of letting people carry over up to 500 dollars to use through the next year or providing a 2.5 months grace period. They cannot do both however. Julie Rovner NPR News, Washington.

　　这个账户通常是民众预存一定量的钱来支付未来的医疗开支所用，这些开支包括自付额和共同支付额等不包括在保险中的部分，比如配眼镜等。但是事实上，这笔钱"到底是用了还是损失了"，意思是这种机制对那些中等收入群体来说没有太大的吸引力，他们经常在年底时会手忙脚乱，或是大笔挥霍，因为消费者要避免他们工资中扣除的钱被没收。而新法规规定，雇主可以选择让雇员保有500美元以内的钱在下一年继续使用，或是为雇员提供两个半月的宽限期。当然这两种只能选其一。NPR新闻，朱莉·罗夫纳华盛顿报道。

　　Beginning today, tens of millions of Americans who get food stamps will see their benefits start to decrease as NPR's Alice Chen reports, a short-term increase in funding for the program from 2009 stimulus⁵ is expiring.

　　今天开始，数千万领取食品券的美国民众会发现他们的福利将开始缩减。据NPR新闻的艾丽丝·陈报道，这个2009年为刺激经济而实施的短期增加援助金额的项目已经到期。

　　Since the recession hit, the number of people who _3_ on food stamps has ballooned. The 2009 stimulus package provided a temporary boost to the food stamp program but beginning today that program _4_ hit with five-billion-dollar cut. Farm bills passed by both House and Senate would make further cuts. And the negotiations⁶ between the two chambers⁷ have just begun as to how big the cut should ultimately be. The house bill will reduce funding by additional four billion dollars annual while _5_ the senate bill will amount to about a tenth of that. Today's blow to the food stamps program comes just as other parts of stimulus package have ended as well, like the two-year payroll⁸ tax holiday. Alice Chen, NPR News, the Capitol.

　　遭遇经济衰退以来，依赖食品券生活的美国民众数量激增。2009年实施的经济刺激方案暂时将食品券项目的援助金额提高，但是从今天开始，该项目的援助金额将缩减50亿美元。由众议院和参议院共同通过的食品券法案可能还会继续缩减。两院之间就该法案进行的协商刚刚开始，协商将决定该法案最终应缩减的幅度。众议院的法案是每年将该项目的金额再缩减40亿美元，而参议院法案的削减金额约为众议院的十分之一。今天不仅食品券项目遭遇了打击，经济刺激方案的其他福利也同样被终止，包括实施了两年的工薪税减税政策。NPR新闻，艾丽丝·陈国会山报道。

　　词汇解析：

　　1. set aside

　　留作…之用；留出…用于；放弃（信仰、原则或情感）；置…于不顾

　　eg. Some doctors advise setting aside a certain hour each day for worry.

　　一些医生建议每天留出一点时间来解决烦心事。

　　eg. ?130 million would be set aside for repairs to schools.

　　将划拨1。3 亿英镑用于学校的修缮。

　　eg. He urged them to set aside minor⁹ differences for the sake of peace.

　　他敦促他们为了和平抛开一些小的分歧。

　　2. avoid sth./doing sth.

　　避免做某事；

　　eg. By borrowing from dozens of banks, he managed to avoid giving any of them an overall picture of what he was up to.

　　他向许多银行借款，使得任何一家都搞不清楚他到底要做什么。

　　eg. He was always careful to avoid embarrassment¹⁰.

　　他总是小心谨慎地避免尴尬。

　　3. have the option of doing sth.

　　选择；有选择权；

　　eg. The buyer has the option of canceling the contract.

　　买主有权撤消合同。

　　eg. Students have the option of studying abroad in their second year.

　　学生在二年级时可以选择出国学习。

　　4. a blow to sb./sth.

　　打击；挫折；

　　eg. That ruling comes as a blow to environmentalists.

　　那项裁决对环境保护论者来说如同一记闷棍。

　　eg. His death dealt a severe blow to the army's morale¹¹.

　　他的死严重打击了军队的士气。

　　参考答案：

　　1、allowing 2、are uncovered 3、are relying

　　4、is getting 5、cuts in

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