VOA标准英语2009年-Obama Urges Global Economic Coordination

U.S. President Barack Obama is calling on America's allies to further coordinate¹ efforts to jump-start their economies. The president also is expected to sign a bill Wednesday to keep the U.S. government running through September, while calling for reforms in the budget process.

President Obama is warning that his initiatives to revive the U.S. economy will struggle without coordination² from other major economies.

"We can do a really good job here at home with a whole host of policies," he said. "But if you continue to see deterioration³ in the world economy, that is going to set us back."
　
President Barack Obama meets with Treasury⁴ Secretary Timothy Geithner, in the Oval Office of the White House, 11 Mar⁵ 2009

Mr. Obama spoke⁶ after receiving an Oval Office briefing from Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who goes to Britain this week to meet with the finance ministers of 20 advanced and developing nations.

"Everything we do in the United States will be more effective if we have the world moving with us," said Geithner. "You know, we are the most productive economy in the world, [with the] most productive workers in the world. But they need markets for their products that are expanding, and we have a lot of work to do. But I think we can make a lot of progress."

The president said his goals for the finance ministers' meeting are to ensure that there is a "concerted effort around the globe to jump-start the economy," and to move forward on regulatory reform, to prevent future crises.

The leaders of the "G-20" nations will meet in London early next month, to discuss the global financial situation.

Meanwhile, Mr. Obama is signing a $410 billion spending bill to keep the U.S. government functioning through September. The legislation contains billions of dollars for projects in lawmakers' home districts - a practice Mr. Obama says he wants to limit.

"Projects have been inserted at the 11th hour, without review, and sometimes without merit, in order to satisfy the political or personal agendas of a given legislator, rather than the public interest," he said.

Mr. Obama has promised to force Congress to limit spending on projects for lawmakers' home districts or states. But the budget is estimated to contain almost 8,000 "earmarks," worth $5.5 billion.

It includes $485,000 for a boarding school for native students in Alaska, for example, and $1.2 million to allow the nonprofit organization, Helen Keller International to give eyeglasses to students with poor vision.

Despite his opposition⁷ to some of the expenditures⁸ in the bill, the president says he is signing the legislation so the government will continue functioning.

"We cannot have Congress bogged⁹ down at this critical juncture¹⁰ in our economic recovery," Mr. Obama said. "But I also view this as a departure point for more far-reaching change."

The 1,100-page budget pays for the operations of every Cabinet department except Defense¹¹, Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs.

1 coordinate   

adj.同等的，协调的；n.同等者；vt.协作，协调

参考例句：

• You must coordinate what you said with what you did.你必须使你的言行一致。
• Maybe we can coordinate the relation of them.或许我们可以调和他们之间的关系。

2 coordination   

n.协调，协作

参考例句：

• Gymnastics is a sport that requires a considerable level of coordination.体操是一项需要高协调性的运动。
• The perfect coordination of the dancers and singers added a rhythmic charm to the performance.舞蹈演员和歌手们配合得很好，使演出更具魅力。

3 deterioration   

n.退化；恶化；变坏

参考例句：

• Mental and physical deterioration both occur naturally with age. 随着年龄的增长，心智和体力自然衰退。
• The car's bodywork was already showing signs of deterioration. 这辆车的车身已经显示出了劣化迹象。

4 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

5 mar   

vt.破坏，毁坏，弄糟

参考例句：

• It was not the custom for elderly people to mar the picnics with their presence.大人们照例不参加这样的野餐以免扫兴。
• Such a marriage might mar your career.这样的婚姻说不定会毁了你的一生。

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 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

8 expenditures   

n.花费( expenditure的名词复数 )；使用；（尤指金钱的）支出额；（精力、时间、材料等的）耗费

参考例句：

• We have overspent.We'll have to let up our expenditures next month. 我们已经超支了，下个月一定得节约开支。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The pension includes an allowance of fifty pounds for traffic expenditures. 年金中包括50镑交通费补贴。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 bogged   

adj.陷于泥沼的v.（使）陷入泥沼， （使）陷入困境( bog的过去式和过去分词 )；妨碍，阻碍

参考例句：

• The professor bogged down in the middle of his speech. 教授的演讲只说了一半便讲不下去了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The tractor is bogged down in the mud. 拖拉机陷入了泥沼。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 juncture   

n.时刻，关键时刻，紧要关头

参考例句：

• The project is situated at the juncture of the new and old urban districts.该项目位于新老城区交界处。
• It is very difficult at this juncture to predict the company's future.此时很难预料公司的前景。

11 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。