Obama on Jobs: 'We’ve Got To Do More'

 　　The U.S. economy added fewer jobs than expected in April, marking the second straight month of slow growth.  President Barack Obama is putting the best face on the jobs numbers, one day before the official start of his re-election campaign.

　　U.S. job growth has slowed considerably¹ in the last few months.

　　The economy added 115,000 jobs in April, according to the Labor² Department, and the unemployment rate edged down from 8.2 percent to 8.1 percent.  But economists³ say part of the improvement in the rate is due to people giving up looking for jobs and leaving the work force.

　　At a high school near Washington Friday, President Obama said more than a million jobs have been created in the last six months, but he acknowledged that more growth is needed.

　　“So that is the good news.  But there are still a lot of folks out of work, which means that we have got to do more," he said.

　　Mitt⁴ Romney, the president’s likely Republican opponent in the November, election, called the jobs report “terrible” and “very disappointing.”

　　“The American people are wondering why this recovery isn't happening faster, why it's taking years for the recovery to occur,” he said.

　　The economy is one of the top issues on voters’ minds this election year, and the president has been stressing middle-class issues.

　　Mr. Obama spoke⁵ to high school students and their parents in Virginia, one of the states where analysts⁶ believe the election is likely to be decided⁷. He returned to a familiar theme, urging Congress to prevent the interest rate on subsidized loans to college students from doubling in July.

　　“In the 21st century, it also means higher education cannot be a luxury.  It is an economic imperative⁸ that every American should be able to afford," the president said.

　　Republicans want to pay for the rate freeze by cutting spending on health care.  Democrats want to pay for it by raising taxes.

　　While Mr. Obama’s campaign does not officially begin until Saturday, he has made numerous visits to so-called swing states, concentrated on campaign issues, and sharply criticized his political opponents.

　　“The Republicans in the House just voted to keep giving billions of taxpayer⁹ dollars every year to big oil companies raking in record profits," he said.  "They just voted to let millionaires and billionaires keep paying lower tax rates than middle-class workers.  They even voted to give an average tax cut of at least $150,000 to every millionaire in America.  And they want you to pay an extra $1,000 a year for college.”

　　The president marks the official start of his campaign Saturday with rallies in the capitals of two swing states - Columbus, Ohio and Richmond, Virginia.

　　A Washington Post poll released Thursday shows Mr. Obama with a significant (51 percent to 44 percent) lead over Governor Romney in Virginia.  Another poll on Thursday indicates that the two candidates are practically even (Obama 44 percent, Romney 42 percent) in Ohio.

1 considerably   

adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上

参考例句：

• The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
• The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。

2 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

3 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 mitt   

n.棒球手套，拳击手套，无指手套；vt.铐住，握手

参考例句：

• I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日，我送给他一只棒球手套。
• Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。

5 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。

6 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

7 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。

8 imperative   

n.命令，需要；规则；祈使语气；adj.强制的；紧急的

参考例句：

• He always speaks in an imperative tone of voice.他老是用命令的口吻讲话。
• The events of the past few days make it imperative for her to act.过去这几天发生的事迫使她不得不立即行动。

9 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。