美国国家公共电台 NPR Looking Ahead At Trump's First 100 Days In Office

 

RAY SUAREZ, HOST:

It's shaping up to be a very busy week in American politics, too. President Trump¹ heads toward his 100th day in office as he and the Congress approach a deadline for keeping the government open Friday night. That could hinge on a showdown over the president's desire to fund the building of a border wall. NPR senior editor and correspondent Ron Elving is with us now. Hi, Ron.

RON ELVING, BYLINE²: Good to hear your voice, Ray.

SUAREZ: Mr. Trump was elected with a pretty robust³ agenda for what he would do in his first 100 days but much of it has been stalled. Now the president calls that 100-day mark a ridiculous standard. Does he have a point?

ELVING: What's ridiculous is the level of anticipation⁴ for what is essentially⁵ an imaginary mark on the calendar. But look, the president wants it both ways here. He says it's silly, and then he says he's accomplished⁶ more in just 90 days than any administration in history. And he says he's going to have a big celebration next Saturday in Pennsylvania on the night of the 99th day.

SUAREZ: Congress also has to vote to keep the government open before the end of the day Friday. How's that fight shaping up?

ELVING: It had been going pretty well actually, enough so for Congress to take their usual two weeks off around Easter. But late in the day, the White House weighed in with fresh demands for the border wall, as you say, and more money for the military and immigration enforcement. There may also be a showdown over subsidies⁷ for health insurance under Obamacare. So now the suspense⁸ of the deadline is back, and they may need another extension on that deadline for a week or so into the month of May.

SUAREZ: The president also made news in the last couple of days by announcing he would lay out a big tax plan on Wednesday. What do we know about that?

ELVING: We know that they're not yet ready to lay out a comprehensive plan for rewriting the whole tax code. So the president may just talk about giving the whole country a big tax cut. He says it'll be the most massive in history for individuals and corporations alike. And this is a rather classic case of eating dessert first, but it will provide a big high in the middle of what may otherwise be a difficult week.

SUAREZ: Even if the president isn't able to achieve big legislative⁹ victories in short order, how important is it for him to demonstrate that he's busy working hard leading up to this 100-day milestone¹⁰?

ELVING: It's important, and there should be no doubt that he's been busy. We've had dozens of bills signed into law and a blizzard¹¹ of executive orders. And whatever you think of the president's work product or his work style, you have to say he's trying to deliver on at least some of his agenda.

SUAREZ: The future of the Affordable¹² Care Act is still an open question. Congress's inability to pass a replacement¹³ probably wasn't the last word. Now the president is hinting at blocking the funds necessary to keep the law working, while different members of Congress are hinting at ways to revisit, revise, repeal¹⁴. Was there some talk about the issue coming up again this week? Is that still on the table?

ELVING: Yes, there have been negotiations¹⁵ between the House moderates and the House Freedom Caucus¹⁶ - that's the hardcore group on the right that shot down the first effort at repeal last month. They think they have a deal to please that caucus, and it would restore coverage¹⁷ of what are called essential health benefits under Obamacare but allow states to get waivers to opt¹⁸ out of that. So this could add some votes over the March tally¹⁹. Still, so far at least, Speaker Paul Ryan has not scheduled a new vote to repeal Obamacare.

SUAREZ: That's NPR's Ron Elving. Thanks, Ron.

ELVING: Thank you, Ray.

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 robust   

adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的

参考例句：

• She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
• China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。

4 anticipation   

n.预期，预料，期望

参考例句：

• We waited at the station in anticipation of her arrival.我们在车站等着，期待她的到来。
• The animals grew restless as if in anticipation of an earthquake.各种动物都变得焦躁不安，像是感到了地震即将发生。

5 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。

6 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

7 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 suspense   

n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑

参考例句：

• The suspense was unbearable.这样提心吊胆的状况实在叫人受不了。
• The director used ingenious devices to keep the audience in suspense.导演用巧妙手法引起观众的悬念。

9 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

10 milestone   

n.里程碑；划时代的事件

参考例句：

• The film proved to be a milestone in the history of cinema.事实证明这部影片是电影史上的一个里程碑。
• I think this is a very important milestone in the relations between our two countries.我认为这是我们两国关系中一个十分重要的里程碑。

11 blizzard   

n.暴风雪

参考例句：

• The blizzard struck while we were still on the mountain.我们还在山上的时候暴风雪就袭来了。
• You'll have to stay here until the blizzard blows itself off.你得等暴风雪停了再走。

12 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

13 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。

14 repeal   

n.废止，撤消；v.废止，撤消

参考例句：

• He plans to repeal a number of current policies.他计划废除一些当前的政策。
• He has made out a strong case for the repeal of the law.他提出强有力的理由，赞成废除该法令。

15 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

16 caucus   

n.秘密会议；干部会议；v.（参加）干部开会议

参考例句：

• This multi-staged caucus takes several months.这个多级会议常常历时好几个月。
• It kept the Democratic caucus from fragmenting.它也使得民主党的核心小组避免了土崩瓦解的危险。

17 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

18 opt   

vi.选择，决定做某事

参考例句：

• They opt for more holiday instead of more pay.他们选择了延长假期而不是增加工资。
• Will individual schools be given the right to opt out of the local school authority?各个学校可能有权选择退出地方教育局吗？

19 tally   

n.计数器，记分，一致，测量；vt.计算，记录，使一致；vi.计算，记分，一致

参考例句：

• Don't forget to keep a careful tally of what you spend.别忘了仔细记下你的开支账目。
• The facts mentioned in the report tally to every detail.报告中所提到的事实都丝毫不差。