VOA标准英语2009年-Obama Calls for Financial Sector Reform in Wake

U.S. President Barack Obama is in the midst of his first trip in office to California - one of the states hardest hit by the economic recession. Mr. Obama planned the visit to highlight his strategy to rebuild the economy, but the trip is being overshadowed by the latest tales of abuse in the ailing¹ financial sector².
　
President Barack Obama (file photo)

The president says he inherited the mess in the financial sector. But he says he takes responsibility for cleaning it up. "It is my job to make sure that we fix these messes even if I don't make them," he said.

He says the public has a right to be angry about the latest tale of abuse: the decision by insurance giant AIG to hand out big bonuses to executives, even though taxpayer³ dollars are keeping the company afloat.

Mr. Obama - known for his usually calm demeanor⁴ - says he is angry too. "It goes against our most basic sense of what is fair and what is right. It offends our values," he said.

The president says the goal now must be to ensure that these kinds of abuses do not happen again, and that regulations are imposed that prevent the kind of risky⁵ deals that drove AIG to the verge⁶ of bankruptcy⁷ in the first place.

"These bonuses, outrageous⁸ as they are, are a symptom of a much larger problem. And that is the system and culture that made them possible - a culture where people made enormous sums for taking irresponsible risks that have now put the entire economy at risk," he said.

The president spoke⁹ at a community meeting in Costa Mesa, a suburban¹⁰ town in southern California that is reeling from the affects of the economic recession.

Mr. Obama took questions from some of the roughly 1,300 people in the audience. And while much has been made of the public anger over the AIG bonuses, no one asked the president about them.

Instead, most of the questions dealt with prospects¹¹ for the economic recovery. One man wanted to know if California could get its hands on money from the president's stimulus¹² package turned down by other states. Several other participants who had lost their jobs wanted to know when and how things would get better.

All in all, it was a campaign-style event. And the president seemed to relish¹³ the cheers from the crowd. One woman even asked him if he would commit now to running for a second term.

"If I could get done what I think needs to get done in four years, even if it meant that I was only president for four years, I would rather be a good president taking on the tough issues for four years, than a mediocre¹⁴ president for eight years," he said.

Mr. Obama won California in November by a wide margin¹⁵. But even though he got a warm welcome, the region he visited Wednesday - Orange County - remains¹⁶ a Republican bastion. An overwhelming majority there voted in the last presidential election for John McCain.

1 ailing   

v.生病

参考例句：

• They discussed the problems ailing the steel industry. 他们讨论了困扰钢铁工业的问题。
• She looked after her ailing father. 她照顾有病的父亲。

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 taxpayer   

n.纳税人

参考例句：

• The new scheme will run off with a lot of the taxpayer's money.这项新计划将用去纳税人许多钱。
• The taxpayer are unfavourably disposed towards the recent tax increase.纳税者对最近的增加税收十分反感。

4 demeanor   

n.行为；风度

参考例句：

• She is quiet in her demeanor.她举止文静。
• The old soldier never lost his military demeanor.那个老军人从来没有失去军人风度。

5 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

6 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

7 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

8 outrageous   

adj.无理的，令人不能容忍的

参考例句：

• Her outrageous behaviour at the party offended everyone.她在聚会上的无礼行为触怒了每一个人。
• Charges for local telephone calls are particularly outrageous.本地电话资费贵得出奇。

9 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。

10 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

11 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

12 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

13 relish   

n.滋味，享受，爱好，调味品；vt.加调味料，享受，品味；vi.有滋味

参考例句：

• I have no relish for pop music.我对流行音乐不感兴趣。
• I relish the challenge of doing jobs that others turn down.我喜欢挑战别人拒绝做的工作。

14 mediocre   

adj.平常的，普通的

参考例句：

• The student tried hard,but his work is mediocre. 该生学习刻苦，但学业平庸。
• Only lazybones and mediocre persons could hanker after the days of messing together.只有懒汉庸才才会留恋那大锅饭的年代。

15 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

16 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。