美债大限即至 谈判仍陷僵局

 　　美债大限即至 谈判仍陷僵局

　　美国错过提高其16.7万亿美元债务上限截止日期的可能性昨日增加。为结束华盛顿僵局而达成协议的努力在国会不了了之。

　　Talks to end impasse¹ falter²

　　The chances of the US missing the deadline to raise its $16.7bn borrowing limit increased yesterday, as efforts to strike a deal to end the impasse in Washington faltered³ in Congress.

　　美国错过提高其16.7万亿美元债务上限截止日期的可能性昨日增加。为结束华盛顿僵局而达成协议的努力在国会不了了之。

　　Republicans in the House of Representatives failed to rally around their leaders’ plan to end the shutdown and avert⁴ a default.

　　众议院共和党人不支持该党领导人出台的结束政府关门并避免违约的计划。

　　As the US lurched towards its debt default deadline, House Republicans failed to embrace a compromise being crafted in the Senate by lawmakers from both parties.

　　美债大限即将来临之际，众议院共和党人拒绝接受参议院两党议员拟定的一项妥协。

　　Instead they presented their conservative caucus⁵ with a fresh proposal that was immediately rejected by Democrats⁶ and the White House, and which faced scepticism from rank-and-file Republicans.

　　相反，他们向保守的党团会议提交了一份新的提议，这一提议立即遭到民主党人和白宫的反对，在共和党党内也遭到普遍怀疑。

　　John Boehner, the Republican Speaker, emerged from a closed-door meeting with party members without any concrete plan to solve the crisis.

　　共和党籍的众议院议长约翰·博纳(John Boehner)在与本党成员举行闭门会议后，没有拿出解决危机的任何具体计划。

　　“There are a lot of opinions about what direction to go – there have been no decisions about what exactly we will do but we are going to continue to work with our members on both sides of the aisle,” Mr Boehner said.

　　博纳说：“人们对前进的方向有很多观点——究竟该怎么做，现在还没有决定，但我们将继续与两党议员合作。”

　　Senate talks between Republicans and Democrats – close to being finalized⁷ on Monday – were put on hold until House Republicans settled their own position.

　　在众议院共和党人明确立场之前，参议院共和党和民主党之间的协商（周一已接近敲定）被搁置。

　　Mr Boehner was either expected to modify his own plan to make it more palatable⁸ to the right flank of his party, and hope to pass it with a Republican-only majority, or to concede defeat and accept a bipartisan plan that could pass with Democratic votes.

　　预计博纳要么调整自己的提案，使其更符合本党右派的胃口，从而获得共和党多数通过，要么承认失败并接受一个有望在民主党票数支持下获得通过的两党协议。

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 falter   

vi.(嗓音)颤抖，结巴地说；犹豫；蹒跚

参考例句：

• His voice began to falter.他的声音开始发颤。
• As he neared the house his steps faltered.当他走近房子时，脚步迟疑了起来。

3 faltered   

（嗓音）颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 )； 支吾其词； 蹒跚； 摇晃

参考例句：

• He faltered out a few words. 他支吾地说出了几句。
• "Er - but he has such a longhead!" the man faltered. 他不好意思似的嚅嗫着：“这孩子脑袋真长。”

4 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。

5 caucus   

n.秘密会议；干部会议；v.（参加）干部开会议

参考例句：

• This multi-staged caucus takes several months.这个多级会议常常历时好几个月。
• It kept the Democratic caucus from fragmenting.它也使得民主党的核心小组避免了土崩瓦解的危险。

6 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 finalized   

vt.完成（finalize的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The draft of this article has been finalized [done]. 这篇文章已经定稿。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The draft was revised several times before it was finalized. 稿子几经删改才定下来。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 palatable   

adj.可口的，美味的；惬意的

参考例句：

• The truth is not always very palatable.事实真相并非尽如人意。
• This wine is palatable and not very expensive.这种酒味道不错，价钱也不算贵。