奥巴马每周电视讲话：回首过去的4年半的经济起伏

Hi, everybody.

嗨，大家好。

Over the past four and a half years,

回首过去的4年半，

we've been fighting our way back from an economic crisis and punishing recession that cost millions of Americans their jobs,

我们用自己的方式击退了经济危机，惩罚了造成衰退的人，此次危机让数百万人失去工作、

their homes, and the sense of security they'd worked so hard to build.

失去家园、失去了他们勤劳工作换来的安全感。

And thanks to the grit¹ and determination of the American people,

而且正因为的美国人的刚强和坚决，

our businesses have now created nearly 7 million new jobs over the past 38 months.

我们的企业才能在过去38个月里创造近700万个工作岗位。

An auto² industry that was flat lining³ is once again the heartbeat of American manufacturing，

曾经濒临死亡的汽车产业再次成为美国制造业的核心，

with Americans buying more cars than we have in five years.

美国人民买的车比过去5年买的还要多。

Within the next few months,

在未来几个月，

we're projected to begin producing more of our own crude oil at home than we buy from other countries，

我们计划在国内开采更多原油，超过我们从其他国家的进口量，

the first time that's happened in 16 years.

这在16年来还是第一次。

Deficits⁴ that were growing for years are now shrinking at the fastest rate in decades.

连续增长多年的财政赤字现在也以10年来最快的速度下降。

The rise of health care costs is slowing, too.

医保成本的疯涨也在减缓。

And a housing market that was in tatters is showing new signs of real strength.

而且破败的房地产市场现在呈现先出强劲的增长势头。

Sales are rising.

销售上涨，

Foreclosures are declining. Construction is expanding.

强制抵押下降。新的工程也正在动工。

And home prices that are rising at the fastest rate in nearly seven years are helping⁵ a lot of families breathe a lot easier.

房屋价格也正以近7年来最快的速度上涨，这给了大量家庭更多喘息之机。

Now we need to do more.

但我们还需要做的更多。

This week, my administration announced that we're extending a program to help more responsible families modify their mortgages so they can stay in their homes.

本周政府宣布实施一项计划，帮助更多负责任的家庭调整房屋抵押贷款保留其房产。

But to keep our housing market and our economy growing, Congress needs to step up and do its part.

但为了保持房地产市场和经济继续增长，国会需要站出来做好自己的工作。

Members of Congress will be coming back next week for an important month of work.

议员们下周就将重返岗位开始一个月的重要工作。

We've got to keep this progress going until middle-class families start regaining⁶ that sense of security.

我们要继续保持这样的进展，直到中产家庭重新感到安全感。

And we can't let partisan⁷ politics get in the way.

而不能让党派之争成为我们前进的绊脚石。

Congress should pass a law giving every responsible homeowner the chance to save about $3, 000 a year on their mortgage by refinancing at historically low interest rates.

国会应该通过一项法律，让每一位有责任心的房主有机会利用难得的低利率重新转按揭贷款，这样每年可节约近3000元。

Congress should put more Americans to work rebuilding our crumbling⁸ roads and bridges,

国会还应让更多美国人重返工作岗位，重建我们破败不堪的道路和桥梁，

like the one that collapsed⁹ last week in Washington state.

在上周华盛顿州的一座桥梁就塌了。

We'd all be safer, and the unemployment rate would fall faster.

我们会更安全，也能让失业率更快下降。

And Congress should fix our broken immigration system by passing commonsense¹⁰ reform that continues to strengthen our borders;

而且国会还应通过改革修补漏洞百出的移民体系，这包括继续巩固边境巡逻安保；

holds employers accountable;

让雇主负起责任；

provides a pathway to earned citizenship¹¹;

提供公民获得身份的途径；

and also modernizes¹² our legal immigration system so that we're reuniting families and attracting the highly-skilled entrepreneurs and engineers who will help our economy grow.

适应形势调整合法移民体系，让众多家庭团聚，吸引高技能的企业家和工程师促进我们的经济增长。

So there are a lot of reasons to feel optimistic about where we're headed as a country-especially after all we've fought through together.

因此我们有太多理由因为国家前进的方向感到乐观，尤其是通过我们的团结奋战。

We've just got to keep going.

我们要继续前进。

Because we've got more good jobs to create.

因为我们还要创造更多工作岗位。

We've got more kids to educate.

让更多孩子接受教育。

We've got more doors of opportunity to open for anyone who's willing to work hard enough to walk through those doors.

让任何一个希望通过自身的努力的人获得通向成功之门的机会。

And if we work together, I'm as confident as I've ever been that we'll get to where we need to be.

只要共同努力，我相信我们一定能达到新目标。

Thanks and have a great weekend.

谢谢大家，祝你们周末愉快！

1 grit   

n.沙粒，决心，勇气；v.下定决心，咬紧牙关

参考例句：

• The soldiers showed that they had plenty of grit. 士兵们表现得很有勇气。
• I've got some grit in my shoe.我的鞋子里弄进了一些砂子。

2 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

3 lining   

n.衬里，衬料

参考例句：

• The lining of my coat is torn.我的外套衬里破了。
• Moss makes an attractive lining to wire baskets.用苔藓垫在铁丝篮里很漂亮。

4 deficits   

n.不足额( deficit的名词复数 )；赤字；亏空；亏损

参考例句：

• The Ministry of Finance consistently overestimated its budget deficits. 财政部一贯高估预算赤字。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Many of the world's farmers are also incurring economic deficits. 世界上许多农民还在遭受经济上的亏损。 来自辞典例句

5 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

6 regaining   

复得( regain的现在分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地

参考例句：

• She was regaining consciousness now, but the fear was coming with her. 现在她正在恢发她的知觉，但是恐怖也就伴随着来了。
• She said briefly, regaining her will with a click. 她干脆地答道，又马上重新振作起精神来。

7 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

8 crumbling   

adj.摇摇欲坠的

参考例句：

• an old house with crumbling plaster and a leaking roof 一所灰泥剥落、屋顶漏水的老房子
• The boat was tied up alongside a crumbling limestone jetty. 这条船停泊在一个摇摇欲坠的石灰岩码头边。

9 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

10 commonsense   

adj.有常识的；明白事理的；注重实际的

参考例句：

• It is commonsense to carry an umbrella in this weather.这种天气带把伞是很自然的。
• These results are no more than a vindication of commonsense analysis.这些结果只不过是按常理分析得出的事实。

11 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

12 modernizes   

现代化事物( modernize的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• It modernizes the game while lowering the learning curve for newer players. 它让游戏更为现代化，降低了对新手的入门要求。
• In time to come, as a society modernizes, people's rights and responsibilities should be balanced. 从发展的角度看，一个社会越是具有现代性，它的公民的权利和义务就越是平衡。