奥巴马和国会都失去公众的支持

 　　WASHINGTON, July 24 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama and the U.S. Congress are both seeing a decline in support as rising frustration¹ over the political gridlock in Washington has damaged public faith in them, according to a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll released on Wednesday.

　　Obama's job-approval rating fell to 45 percent, the lowest level since late 2011, showed the poll, conducted on July 17-21 through phone calls with a random² sample of 1,000 American adults.

　　Meanwhile, approval rating for the lawmakers on Capitol Hill slipped to 12 percent, the lowest level in the history of the poll.

　　A combined 44 percent of the respondents said that they are either "optimistic" or "satisfied" about how the president will do during the rest of his second term in office, down 7 percentage points from January, when he just began his second term.

　　By contrast, a combined 56 percent of Americans surveyed said that they are either "uncertain" or "pessimistic" about the remainder of Obama's second term, up 8 percentage points since January.

　　The poll findings came before Obama on Wednesday made the first of a series of speeches seeking to bring economy back in spotlight³.

　　The Republicans, however, were trying to deliver blows to Obama 's priorities and revive the budget battle. House Speaker John Boehner said on Tuesday that spending cuts must accompany any measures to raise the federal government's borrowing limit, known as the debt ceiling.

1 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

2 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

3 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。