VOA常速英语2021--美联储缩减购债规模（在线收听）

This is VOA News. Reporting by remote, I'm David Byrd.

这里是美国之音新闻。我是大卫·伯德，为您远程报道。

President Joe Biden saw firsthand the striking devastation in two Kentucky towns rendered unrecognizable by deadly tornadoes as he offered prayers and comfort Wednesday to residents left homeless with their lives uprooted.

美国总统乔·拜登周三向无家可归的居民——他们的生活被连根拔起——致以祈祷与慰问，同时亲眼目睹了肯塔基州的两个城镇遭到的惊人破坏，这两个城镇已因致命龙卷风而变得面目全非。

AP's Jennifer King reports.

美联社记者詹妮弗·金带来报道。

President Biden has seen firsthand the devastating storm damage in Kentucky.

拜登总统亲眼目睹了风暴在肯塔基州造成的令人震惊的破坏。

"...I'm here to listen."

“……我是到这里来倾听的。”

From a helicopter, he viewed neighborhoods in the town of Mayfield pockmarked by piles of debris and homes without roofs.

坐在直升飞机上，他看到了梅菲尔德镇的一些社区，那里到处是成堆的瓦砾和没有屋顶的房屋。

"As you fly over here, as I've done in the past, I've not seen this tornado, this much damage from a tornado.

“当你坐飞机从这里经过，就像我过去做过的那样，我从未没过这么大的龙卷风，从没见过龙卷风造成的这么大的破坏。

You know, you think, but for the grace of God, why was I not 100 yards outside that line?"

你会想，要不是上帝保佑，为什么我没有在那条线外100码的地方？”

The president met with local officials at an airport briefing and said federal aid would continue flow.

总统在机场新闻发布会上会见了当地官员，并表示联邦援助将持续抵达。

"There's no red tornadoes and blue tornadoes.

“没有红州龙卷风和蓝州龙卷风。

There's no red states or blue states when the stuff starts to happen."

当灾难开始发生，没有红色州或蓝色州的分别。”

More than 30 tornadoes tore through eight states over the weekend, killing at least 88 people.

周末，30多场龙卷风席卷了美国8个州，造成至少88人死亡。

Thousands of residents lost their homes or without utilities.

成千上万的居民失去了家园或者处于没有水电的状态。

I'm Jennifer King.

我是詹妮弗·金。

With inflation in the United States surging, the Federal Reserve is pulling back its support for the economy at a quicker pace.

随着美国通胀率飙升，美联储正在以更快的速度收回对经济的支持。

AP's Ben Thomas reports.

美联社的本·托马斯带来报道。

In an abrupt policy shift, the Fed announced it would shrink its monthly bond purchases at twice the pace it previously announced, likely ending them in March.

在一项突然的政策转变中，美联储宣布将缩减月度债券购买规模，缩减速度是之前宣布的两倍，可能会在3月份结束购债。

The monthly bond purchases were intended to hold down long-term interest rates, but the Fed says they are no longer needed with unemployment falling and inflation at a near-40-year high.

月度购买债券计划的目的是压低长期利率，但美联储表示，随着失业率下降和通胀处于近40年来的最高水平，将不再需要购债计划。

That accelerated timetable puts the Fed on a path to start raising interest rates in the first half of next year, and the Fed's new forecast suggests the central bank will raise its benchmark short-term rate, now pinned near zero, three times next year up from just one rate hike projected in September.

这一加速的时间表为美联储在明年上半年开始加息铺平了道路，并且美联储的最新预测表明，央行明年将上调基准短期利率（目前已固定在接近于零的水平）三次，而9月份预计的加息次数仅为一次。

Ben Thomas, Washington.

本·托马斯，于华盛顿。

This is VOA News.

这里是美国之音新闻。