VOA常速英语2013--美国人对预算困境各抒已见

 

Americans Sound Off on Budget Woes 美国人对预算困境各抒已见

WASHINGTON — In the past three years, Americans have endured three threatened government shutdowns, two legislative¹ brawls² over raising the debt limit, and another fight over automatic tax hikes and spending cuts. Fiscal³ drama has become the norm in Washington, but Americans are of many different minds on the lurch⁴ to crisis governance.

华盛顿—在过去的三年里，美国经历了三次政府倒闭的威胁，两次是关于提高债务上限的立法争吵，另一次是为了自动增税和削减开支的争吵。财政闹剧已经成为美国一种常态，但美国人民对处理危机的管理困境各有看法。

Far removed from the formality of Washington, Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles is distant geographically⁵ and culturally from the nation’s capital. Tony, a tattoo⁶ artist, said he refuses to lose sleep over yet another episode of dysfunction in Washington."I can't do anything about it, so I'm not going to stress over something I can't change. So I just take care of myself and my family, and that's all I can do," he said.

由于没有华盛顿地区那么多的繁文缛节，洛杉矶好莱坞林荫大道地理上远离华盛顿，文化上也和首都华盛顿大有不同。托尼，一位纹身师，说他不会为了华盛顿政府职能失调的又一个插曲这事而睡不着。“我对此什么也做不了，我也不想对我无法改变的东西而给自己压力。所以我只想照顾好我自己和我的家人，这就是我能做的。”

Others hope for yet another last-minute deal to avert⁷ a government shutdown.

有些人则盼望再一次在最后一刻达成协议，来避免政府倒闭。

“They're not going to let it go. This is America. They have to do something,” said Gregg Donovan, a Hollywood greeter.

一位好莱坞迎宾格雷多·多诺万这样说，“他们不会让事情这样发展下去的。这是美国。他们必须做些什么来挽救当下局面。”

“I mean, the Republicans are nuts,” said Perry Mann, a street actor.

一个街头表演者，佩里·曼说，“共和党就是一群疯子。”

Some blame Republicans for near-constant fiscal drama.

一些人指责共和党永不停止的财政闹剧。

“They're wasting their time and they're threatening to shut down the government. I mean, they don't care about anybody but themselves,” said Mann.

曼宁说，“他们在浪费时间，他们威胁着政府倒闭。他们从不关心别人，只关心他们自己。”

Others blame President Barack Obama and his signature health care law.

另一些人则归咎于总统奥巴马和他签名的医疗保健法。

“I support defunding Obamacare. I think Obamacare is a disaster. When they say government shutdown, it doesn't mean that everything is going to stop,” said Larry Green, a tour industry worker.

一位旅游业从业者拉瑞·格瑞说到，“我支持对奥巴马医改撤资。我认为奥巴马医改是场灾难。当他们谈到政府倒闭时，并不是说每件事都会停止。”

And some prefer not to follow the news in Washington.

一些人则不愿意关注华盛顿新闻。

"Not as much as I should, I admit, and I probably represent quite a few people. But about the budget impasse⁸, I think it happened so many times before,” said Julie Mammano, a children's author.

一位儿童作家朱莉·马马诺说，“我承认我一般不看新闻，可能有不少人和我一样不关注新闻。但是关于预算僵局的事情，我记得之前发生过好多次了。”

With fiscal showdowns common, some Americans may shrug⁹ at Washington’s current impasse. But that will change if the federal government closes on October 1, according to analyst¹⁰ Stan Collender.

随着财政较量变得常见，一些美国人对华盛顿目前僵局只是耸耸肩，不屑一顾。但是分析家斯坦·柯伦德说，如果联邦政府在十月一号关闭，那一切都会改变。

“This will start to have an impact on people’s thinking when it has an impact on their lives - not when they are hearing about the possibility on the news, but when they call the Department of Education and no one is there to answer the phone. Or when they need a visa or a passport and no one is there to process it," said Collender.

柯伦德说，“如果这影响到人们的生活，那将会影响人们的思想—而不仅仅是他们听到新闻，得知事件发生的可能性，而是当他们给教育部打电话的时候，没有人接听；或当他们需要签证或护照的时候，没有人帮忙办理。”

Collender thinks this time a shutdown is more likely than not, and that Americans are suffering from what he calls “crisis fatigue¹¹.”

柯伦德认为这次政府倒闭很可能发生，并且美国人会遭受他称之为“危机疲劳”之苦。

No one should underestimate consequences of a shutdown, according to Democratic Senator Charles Schumer. “I think the American people get very aware when the stock market goes down 2,000 points.”

任何人都不应低估政府倒闭的后果，民主党参议员查理·舒默说。“当股市下跌2000点的时候，我想美国人民会很清楚地意识到这个后果。”

In New York, some urge consequences for members of Congress. "I think they should all be fired,” said Linda, a visitor to New York.

在纽约，一些人强烈要求国会议员注意政府倒闭的后果。一个纽约到访者琳达说，“我认为他们都应该被炒掉。”

From New York to Los Angeles, Americans could do just that in next year’s congressional elections. 

从纽约到洛杉矶，美国人也只能在下一年的国会选举中做些什么了。

1 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

2 brawls   

吵架，打架( brawl的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Whatever brawls disturb the street, there should be peace at home. 街上无论多么喧闹，家中应有宁静。
• I got into brawls in the country saloons near my farm. 我在离我农场不远的乡下沙龙里和别人大吵大闹。

3 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。

4 lurch   

n.突然向前或旁边倒；v.蹒跚而行

参考例句：

• It has been suggested that the ground movements were a form of lurch movements.地震的地面运动曾被认为是一种突然倾斜的运动形式。
• He walked with a lurch.他步履蹒跚。

5 geographically   

adv.地理学上，在地理上，地理方面

参考例句：

• Geographically, the UK is on the periphery of Europe. 从地理位置上讲，英国处于欧洲边缘。 来自辞典例句
• All these events, however geographically remote, urgently affected Western financial centers. 所有这些事件，无论发生在地理上如何遥远的地方，都对西方金融中心产生紧迫的影响。 来自名作英译部分

6 tattoo   

n.纹身，(皮肤上的)刺花纹；vt.刺花纹于

参考例句：

• I've decided to get my tattoo removed.我已经决定去掉我身上的纹身。
• He had a tattoo on the back of his hand.他手背上刺有花纹。

7 avert   

v.防止，避免；转移(目光、注意力等)

参考例句：

• He managed to avert suspicion.他设法避嫌。
• I would do what I could to avert it.我会尽力去避免发生这种情况。

8 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。

9 shrug   

v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等)

参考例句：

• With a shrug,he went out of the room.他耸一下肩，走出了房间。
• I admire the way she is able to shrug off unfair criticism.我很佩服她能对错误的批评意见不予理会。

10 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

11 fatigue   

n.疲劳，劳累

参考例句：

• The old lady can't bear the fatigue of a long journey.这位老妇人不能忍受长途旅行的疲劳。
• I have got over my weakness and fatigue.我已从虚弱和疲劳中恢复过来了。