万花筒 Kaleidoscope 2007-07-12&07-13, 美国人在巴黎

The Americans have come to Paris. Forget about freedom fries, American businessmen have come here to the Paris Air Show in full force. Some 200 years ago, Benjamin Franklin came to France seeking money for the American Revolution. today, American businessmen are following in his footsteps.

It started Saturday night when a delegation² from Alabama sponsored a reception for EADS Airbus. The two have formed a business relationship as Airbus is trying to land a 40-billion-dollar Pentagon contract to build aerial refueling tankers⁴. It will create jobs in the State of Alabama. The deal is hotly contested, and a big competitor is Boeing. But Alabama Governor Bob Riley is confident.

One of the biggest programs I guess the Department of Defense⁵ has ever had is the tanker³ program that is about to be bid in the next couple of months. What we are trying to do is-- focus congressional attention on that. We’ve brought senators, and congressmen over here, we've brought governors and their representatives over here. Essentially⁶ to say: look, base this, this decision on merit, if you do it on job capacity, on mission capability⁷, cargo⁸ whatever, if you will do that I think Alabama stands a great chance, I think North Al stands a great chance of winning this.

But Alabama is not the only state here. The US Pavilion at the Air Show has the size of 2.5 football fields, and 221 American companies have set up booths, touting⁹ their wares¹⁰. A VIP ribbon-cutting ceremony featured the American ambassador and senator Ted¹ Stevens of Alaska, the ranking member of the House Appropriations¹¹ Committee; they went out of their ways to stress US-French harmony. The ambassador began his remarks in French, all signs and displays were in French, and after the Star Spangled Banner, they even played the Marseillaise.

Kansas city Missouri is even pitching itself as "the Paris of the planes".

We decided¹² again to tie in where we are in the United States to the rest of the world. And most people understand that. And Paris, because Kan. City is known for great jazz, and so we made a jazz compilation¹³, we are handing out of all Kan. City jazz music. We've got barbecue sauce, coz' the French really don't understand what to do with that. They think it's ketchup¹⁴. We don't use this. And so we are just trying to tie all these things together to tell the world where we are and who we are and what we are trying to do.

A Harley-Davidson made in Kansas city has really drawn¹⁵ the crowds. Even the head of the Federal Aviation Administration Marion Blakey couldn't resist getting on board. Connecticut displayed a NASA space suit to make the point that 1000 aerospace¹⁶ jobs are located in one of the country’s smallest states. But behind all the high spirits here, business deals are taking place. The Pentagon budget is growing, and these companies are seeking a global market place for their products.

Not that long ago, "Buy American" signal isolationism. Today "Buy American" has a new meaning. They are saying: "Buy American and buy it for me". This is Leslie Wayne of the New York Times.

1 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

2 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

3 tanker   

n.油轮

参考例句：

• The tanker took on 200,000 barrels of crude oil.油轮装载了二十万桶原油。
• Heavy seas had pounded the tanker into three parts.汹涌的巨浪把油轮撞成三载。

4 tankers   

运送大量液体或气体的轮船[卡车]( tanker的名词复数 )； 油轮； 罐车； 油槽车

参考例句：

• They should stop offloading waste from oil tankers into the sea. 他们应当停止从油轮上往海里倾倒废弃物。
• The harbour admits large tankers and freighters. 这个港口容得下巨型油船和货轮。

5 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

6 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

7 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。

8 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

9 touting   

v.兜售( tout的现在分词 )；招揽；侦查；探听赛马情报

参考例句：

• He's been touting his novel around publishers for years. 他几年来一直到处找出版商兜售自己的小说。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Technology industry leaders are touting cars as a hot area for growth. 科技产业领袖吹捧为增长热点地区的汽车。 来自互联网

10 wares   

n. 货物, 商品

参考例句：

• They sold their wares at half-price. 他们的货品是半价出售的。
• The peddler was crying up his wares. 小贩极力夸耀自己的货物。

11 appropriations   

n.挪用（appropriation的复数形式）

参考例句：

• More commonly, funding controls are imposed in the annual appropriations process. 更普遍的作法是，拨款控制被规定在年度拨款手续中。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• Should the president veto the appropriations bill, it goes back to Congress. 假如总统否决了这项拨款提案，就把它退还给国会。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

12 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

13 compilation   

n.编译，编辑

参考例句：

• One of the first steps taken was the compilation of a report.首先采取的步骤之一是写一份报告。
• The compilation of such diagrams,is of lasting value for astronomy.绘制这样的图对天文学有永恒的价值。

14 ketchup   

n.蕃茄酱，蕃茄沙司

参考例句：

• There's a spot of ketchup on the tablecloth.桌布上有一点番茄酱的渍斑。
• Could I have some ketchup and napkins,please?请给我一些番茄酱和纸手巾？

15 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

16 aerospace   

adj.航空的，宇宙航行的

参考例句：

• The world's entire aerospace industry is feeling the chill winds of recession.全世界的航空航天工业都感受到了经济衰退的寒意。
• Edward Murphy was an aerospace engineer for the US Army.爱德华·墨菲是一名美军的航宇工程师。