奥巴马每周电视讲话：总统呼吁采取措施激励航空工业竞争（01）

Hi everybody. I'm going to be honest with you – one of the best parts of being President is having your own really nice plane.

大家好。我要诚实地告诉你--当总统,最好的一点儿是有自己的飞机。

And I'm going to miss it. A lot. Because up until I ran for this office, I was mostly flying coach.

我将要失去这一特权。很多时候。因为直到我竞选,我大部分时候是在做长途汽车。

So I know what a pain the whole process can be – from searching for the best prices to that feeling you get when the baggage carousel¹ stops and yours still hasn't come out.

所以我知道整个过程是多么的痛苦--从找最优的价格,到当行李传送带已经停了,你的行李仍没有出来时,你的感觉。

Now, our airlines employ a lot of hardworking folks – from pilots and flight attendants to ticket agents and baggage handlers

当下,我们的航班雇佣了大量辛勤工作的人们--从飞行员,空乘服务人员到票务代理和行李装卸工

all who take pride in getting us to our destinations safely, and on time.

他们以让我们按时安全到达目的地而自豪。

They do good work, and we're proud of them.

他们提供着优良的服务,我们也以他们而骄傲。

But I think we all know that the system can work a little better for everybody.

但我认为,我们所有人都知道,这一体系能为每个人服务得更好。

That's why, over the last eight years, my Administration has taken some commonsense² steps to do just that.

也因此,在过去的8年里,我的政府采取了一些常识性措施来做这些事情。

We've put in place rules that virtually eliminated excessive delays on the tarmac.

我们已经采取措施,几乎根除了在停机坪上的过度拖延。

We've required airlines to grant travelers more flexibility³ on cancellations;

我们曾要求航空公司将航班取消对乘客更加灵活;

to provide refunds⁴ to anyone who cancels within 24 hours of purchases;

向在购买24小时内取消订单的任何人都提供退款服务;

and to give you better compensation if you got bumped off your flight because it was oversold.

如果因为航班超卖你无法登机,你将得到更好的赔偿。

And this week, I was proud to build on that progress with even more actions to save you money,

本周,我很自豪,在现有进展的基础上,能够实施更多的措施来节省你的费用,

create more competition in the marketplace, and make sure that you're getting what you pay for.

在市场中创造更多的竞争,确保你能获得你付款而获得的服务。
 

1 carousel   

n.旋转式行李输送带

参考例句：

• Riding on a carousel makes you feel dizzy.乘旋转木马使你头晕。
• We looked like a bunch of awkward kids riding a slow-moving carousel.我们看起来就像一群骑在旋转木马上的笨拙的孩子。

2 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。

3 flexibility   

n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性

参考例句：

• Her great strength lies in her flexibility.她的优势在于她灵活变通。
• The flexibility of a man's muscles will lessen as he becomes old.人老了肌肉的柔韧性将降低。

4 refunds   

n.归还，偿还额，退款( refund的名词复数 )v.归还，退还( refund的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Tomorrow he would return them to the store and claim refunds. 明天他要把它们退还给商店并要求退款。 来自辞典例句
• The new method means that taxpayers get refunds much faster. 这种新办法意味着纳税人可以较快地领到退还款。 来自辞典例句