VOA常速英语2013 本周华盛顿仍然关注移民改革法案

 

 

Washington Idle, But Immigration Battle Continues 本周华盛顿仍然关注移民改革法案

 

The President and First Lady Michelle Obama had a more casual look as they arrived at a Massachusetts island resort town.

 

在到达马萨诸塞州岛度假小镇后奥巴马总统和夫人米歇尔·奥巴马看起来颇为休闲。

 

Meanwhile, members of Congress are in their home districts, where they face intense pressure on immigration reform from a broad range of activists¹. Some are demanding a path to citizenship² for 11 million undocumented immigrants.

 

与此同时,国会成员们身处自己的选区面临着一大批积极分子对于移民改革的巨大压力。一些人为1100万非法移民要求获得公民身份的途径。

 

“There are people here who just want to live this American dream that you live every day that some of us are not so lucky to see," said demonstrator Miguel Porfirio.

 

“这里有人只是憧憬你们每一天都能实现的美国梦,但我们中的一些人就不是那么的幸运,”示威者米格尔·普尔奥说道。

 

Others are telling lawmakers to focus on stemming illegal immigration once and for all. “Just trying to reinforce that we want the borders secure without blanket amnesty [for the undocumented]," said Terry Moench.

 

其他人告诉议员们关注一次了结地阻止非法移民。“只是想强调我们希望边界安全，对于非法移民没有特赦。”特里·莫恩科说道。

 

A Senate-approved bill that would boost enforcement and provide a path to citizenship faces significant opposition³ in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.

 

一项加强执法并为公民提供合法途径的参议院批准法案在共和党控制的众议院面临明显的反对。

 

Before departing on vacation, President Obama urged lawmakers to find consensus⁴. “I would urge, when they get back [from recess], to do something - put forward a bill that has an opportunity to actually pass. Our economy would be $1 trillion stronger if we got immigration reform done," he said.

 

在出发度假前,奥巴马总统敦促国会议员们寻求共识。“我会在他们返回的时候要求,做一些事情—提出一项实际上有机会通过的法案。如果有了移民改革,我们的经济将是更为强势的1万亿美元。”他说道。

 

Obama also promised to work with Congress to address privacy concerns about the federal government’s vast data collection capabilities⁵ that were exposed by fugitive⁶ former National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden. “It is right to ask questions about surveillance, particularly as technology is reshaping every aspect of our lives," he said.

 

奥巴马还承诺将与国会共同努力,解决关于流亡的前国家安全局泄密者爱德华·斯诺登暴露出来联邦政府庞大的数据收集功能的隐私问题。“提出监测方面的问题非常正确,尤其是随着技术正在改变我们生活的方方面面,”他说道。

 

Lawmakers of both parties have crafted NSA reform proposals. Democratic Senator Mark Udall said, “My bill, which I want to push as hard as I possibly can, would limit the ways in which the intelligence community accesses average Americans’ - innocent Americans’ - phone records. That is the way to go forward.”

 

两党议员们精心设计了NSA改革提案。民主党参议员马克·尤德尔说道:“我想尽可能坚持的自己的提案,会限制智能社区访问普通美国人—无辜美国人电话记录的的方式。这就是前进。”

 

But the president and many members of Congress stress that America must retain a robust⁷ intelligence-gathering ability, as evidenced by last week’s terror alert that prompted a global travel warning and the closing of numerous U.S. diplomatic outposts. 

 

但是总统和许多国会议员强调美国必须维持一种健全的情报收集能力,正如上周促使全球旅行警告及关闭众多美国外交前哨站的恐怖警报一样。

 

 

 

1 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

3 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

4 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

5 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

6 fugitive   

adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者

参考例句：

• The police were able to deduce where the fugitive was hiding.警方成功地推断出那逃亡者躲藏的地方。
• The fugitive is believed to be headed for the border.逃犯被认为在向国境线逃窜。

7 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。