美国经济改善或有助于奥巴马

 　　美国经济改善或有助于奥巴马

　　WASHINGTON — As President Obama prepares to give a key annual address to the nation, he faces political problems that have hurt his approval ratings. Experts say he may get some political help over the next year, as a gradually improving U.S. economy helps heal the battered¹ housing sector² and reduces unemployment.

　　Severe problems in the housing sector contributed to the recession that threw millions of Americans out of work and out of their homes.

　　Without jobs, they could not pay mortgages, so banks evicted³ families and tried to sell houses to recover the loan money. A glut⁴ of unsold homes pushed down prices, hurting homeowners, banks, and the overall economy.

　　But now the economy is growing again, and home sales are up, according to RealtyTrac Vice⁵ President Daren Blomquist, who spoke⁶ to VOA via Skype. "We saw a great bounceback in the housing market in 2013 in terms of prices, home price appreciation⁷, and sales," he said.

　　Blomquist said prices rose as investors⁸ bought houses, and families got back into the market, though he expects the market to improve more slowly this year.

　　The president may talk about gains in the housing market and the improving unemployment situation in this year's State of the Union speech.

　　When he took office, unemployment centers were busy and the jobless rate was headed above 10 percent.

　　It took years for the unemployment rate to fall to the current 6.7 percent, which still leaves more than 10 million people out of work. Four million of them have been jobless for six months or longer, which is worse than previous recessions.

　　But recent economic reports show growth, construction, manufacturing, consumer confidence and other important measures mostly improving. They also show the jobless rate heading down in the future.

　　Aparna Mathur, who researches the economy at the American Enterprise Institute, said, "The long-term trend suggests we are heading in the right direction. We might reach pre-recession [unemployment] levels of five percent over the next couple of years “

　　Many economists¹⁰ say presidents usually get too much blame when the economy goes badly - and too much credit when things go well.

　　The chief economist⁹ for the Associated General Contractors¹¹, Ken¹² Simonson, said it is mostly private business, rather than the government, that drives the economy. But he said things have gotten better on Obama's watch. "I'm sure that he will take credit for the sharp drop in unemployment rates that we have seen in recent months and for the gradual, but always positive, change in jobs over the last three and a half years."

　　Simonson pointed¹³ out, though, that the president's Republican rivals certainly will be quick to offer a rebuttal -- and point out that the jobless rate remains¹⁴ higher than what most Americans view as normal.

1 battered   

adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损

参考例句：

• He drove up in a battered old car.他开着一辆又老又破的旧车。
• The world was brutally battered but it survived.这个世界遭受了惨重的创伤,但它还是生存下来了。

2 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

3 evicted   

v.（依法从房屋里或土地上）驱逐，赶出( evict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• A number of tenants have been evicted for not paying the rent. 许多房客因不付房租被赶了出来。
• They had evicted their tenants for non-payment of rent. 他们赶走了未交房租的房客。

4 glut   

n.存货过多，供过于求；v.狼吞虎咽

参考例句：

• The glut of coffee led to a sharp drop in prices.咖啡供过于求道致价格急剧下跌。
• There's a glut of agricultural products in Western Europe.西欧的农产品供过于求。

5 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

6 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

7 appreciation   

n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨

参考例句：

• I would like to express my appreciation and thanks to you all.我想对你们所有人表达我的感激和谢意。
• I'll be sending them a donation in appreciation of their help.我将送给他们一笔捐款以感谢他们的帮助。

8 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

9 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

10 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 contractors   

n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Contractors winning construction jobs had to kick back 2 per cent of the contract price to the mafia. 赢得建筑工作的承包商得抽出合同价格的百分之二的回扣给黑手党。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

13 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

14 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。