VOA常速英语2013--本周聚焦华盛顿继续关注奥巴马医改网站

 

Washington Week: Focus Will Continue on Health Care Website 本周聚焦华盛顿继续关注奥巴马医改网站

WASHINGTON — This week will bring a renewed focus on the flawed U.S. government website where Americans are supposed to sign up for private health care insurance. The  so-called “Obamacare” website is apparently¹ functioning better, but far from perfectly², after the November 30 deadline for major improvements promised by the  administration.

Two months after healthcare.gov's unveiling, the problem-plagued website remains³ a work in progress despite President Barack Obama's assurances weeks ago.

医疗保健政府网站自从开始运作已经过去了两个月,尽管美国总统巴拉克·奥巴马几个星期前就已经做出保证，但这一问题缠身的网站仍然在开展工作当中。

“By the end of this month we anticipate that it is going to be working the way it is supposed to,” he said.

“这个月底我们预期网站运营将会走上正轨,”他说道。

The Affordable⁴ Care Act's troubled rollout has been a major embarrassment⁵ for an administration that had been regarded as technologically-savvy.

可支付医疗法案陷入困境一直是被视为技术娴熟政府的最大尴尬。

“There is no question the rollout on the Affordable Care Act was much tougher than we expected," Obama said.

“毫无疑问可支付医疗法案的推出比我们预期的更为严苛,”奥巴马说道。

"But I want everybody here to understand: I am going to see this through.”

“但是我希望每个人都能够理解:我会亲眼见证它读过难关。”

Obama's approval ratings have sunk in recent weeks, and congressional Republicans, who opposed Obamacare from the start, have been energized⁶.

总统的支持率已经在最近几周陷入低迷,反观国会一开始就反对奥巴马医改的共和党人们则精力十分充沛。

“I do not believe you can fix this law to lower the cost and increase access," said Representative Kevin McCarthy.

“我不相信你能解决降低成本和增加访问量的这项法律,”众议员凯文·麦卡锡说道。

"We have to scrap⁷ it and start anew.”

“我们必须放弃它然后重新开始。”

“I do not think Obamacare has failed,” said Democratic lawmakers like Steny Hoyer, who continue to defend the law.

“我认为奥巴马医改并没有失败,”继续捍卫这一法律的众议院民主党议员斯蒂尼·霍耶说道。

“Access to Obamacare has been a failure at this point in time.

“在这个时间点上谈论奥巴马医改一直是失败。

And it needs to be fixed⁸.

而且因为它需要被修复。

So from that standpoint, the substance of Obamacare has yet to be tested.

所以从这个角度来看,奥巴马医改的实质还有待考验。

And to the extent it has been tested, it has been a success for millions of people.”

而在某种程度上它已经过测试,数以百万计的人从它身上获益。”

The House of Representatives gets back to work this week after a Thanksgiving break, the Senate next week.

感恩节假期后众议院将于本周回到工作岗位上,而参议院则在下周。

Lawmakers have until the middle of the month to agree on a federal budget.

直到这月中旬议员才能达成联邦预算一致。

Spending authority expires in January, and the United States risks another partial government shutdown unless it is extended.

而财务开支授权即将在1月份到期, 除非扩展，否则美国将面临另一个部分政府关闭的风险。

1 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

2 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

3 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。

4 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。

5 embarrassment   

n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫

参考例句：

• She could have died away with embarrassment.她窘迫得要死。
• Coughing at a concert can be a real embarrassment.在音乐会上咳嗽真会使人难堪。

6 energized   

v.给予…精力，能量( energize的过去式和过去分词 )；使通电

参考例句：

• We are energized by love if we put our energy into loving. 如果我们付出能量去表现爱意，爱就会使我们充满活力。 来自辞典例句
• I am completely energized and feeling terrific. 我充满了活力，感觉非常好。 来自辞典例句

7 scrap   

n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废

参考例句：

• A man comes round regularly collecting scrap.有个男人定时来收废品。
• Sell that car for scrap.把那辆汽车当残品卖了吧。

8 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。