NPR邊聽邊練259：美政府陷財政僵局

以下段落是摘自新聞里的一些重要信息,并不是一個段落的聽寫。空內(nèi)信息可在本新聞中全部找到,大家可以根據(jù)這些信息復述新聞。

一、泛聽建議：

1、完整聽一遍，掌握大意。

2、繼續(xù)聽，特別注意關鍵信息。遇到相似的詞，寫下來。

Texas freshman Republican Senator Ted Cruz finally called it quits this morning after his 21-hour, 19-minute talkathon on the floor of the US Senate. Cruz spoke in favor of _1_ President Obama's health care law. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid called Cruz's marathon speech "a waste of time."

今天早上，得克薩斯州新當選共和黨參議員泰德·克魯茲在美國參議院進行了21個小時零19分鐘的冗長演講后終于決定結(jié)束?？唆斊澋难葜v內(nèi)容為支持取消奧巴馬總統(tǒng)的醫(yī)改法。參議院多數(shù)黨領導人哈利·里德稱克魯茲馬拉松式的演講為“浪費時間。”

"The things he talked about _2_ about before on a number of occasions; in fact, endlessly."

“他談論的事情之前已經(jīng)在許多場合談論過了;實際上，一直在談論。”

The Senate moved ahead with a test vote on the measure, would allow for a possible vote Friday on the bill over the government shutdown. While the House passed a version the measure contains a provision to gut the health care law,the Senate _3_ to remove that.

參議院已對法案進行試驗投票，允許周五就避免政府關門的法案進行投票。而眾議院已經(jīng)通過了一項法案，其中包括取消奧巴馬醫(yī)改法的條款，預計參議院將去除這項條款。

One of the departments that stand to be severely affected by the budget impasse in Washington is Treasury. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew says as of October 17th,Treasury will be powerless to avoid a default on US government debt if Congress does not act to raise the debt celling. NPR's John Ydstie reports the warning came in a letter to all members of Congress.

華盛頓受預算僵局影響最嚴重的部門之一是財政部。財政部長杰克·盧表示，如果國會不采取行動提高債務上限，自10月17日開始，財政部將無力避免美國政府陷入債務違約。據(jù)NPR新聞的約翰·伊斯蒂報道，這份警告來自盧寫給國會所有成員的信件。

In his letter, Lew _4_ that by October 17th, Treasure may have only about 30 billion dollars on hand to honor a daily obligation that could exceed 60 billion dollars. He urged members of Congress to act immediately to raise the borrowing limit. He reminded them that a last-minute fight over the debt celling

issue in 2011 caused significant harm to the economy and the downgrade to the credit rating of the United States. Lew said legislation recently passed by the House of Representatives, which would prioritize debt payments honoring some obligations but not others, is "simply default by another name." He said there

is no way of _5_ the damage that the default might cause to the economy and financial markets. John Ydstie, NPR News, Washington.

盧在信中表示，自10月17日開始，財政部手上可能只剩300億美元來履行每天超過600億美元的債務。他敦促國會成員立即采取行動提高債務上限。他提醒國會成員，2011年與債務上限斗爭到最后一分鐘已經(jīng)嚴重損害了經(jīng)濟，而且降低了美國的信譽評級。盧表示，眾議院近期通過的法案優(yōu)先考慮債務支付一些而不是其他義務，“簡直是另一種方式的違約。”他表示，目前無法知曉違約可能給經(jīng)濟和金融市場造成的損害。NPR新聞，約翰·伊斯蒂華盛頓報道。

詞匯解析：

1. call it quits

決定結(jié)束;就此了結(jié);

eg. They raised $630,000 through listener donations, and then called it quits.

他們通過聽眾捐款的方式籌集了63萬美元后宣告結(jié)束。

eg. You can decide whether there is hope in working for mutual happiness, or if you should call it quits.

你可以決定是否有希望為雙方共同的幸福努力，或者就此一刀兩斷。

2. in favor of

支持;贊成;

eg. The judge decided in favor of the plaintiff.

法官作出了有利于原告的裁決。

eg. I wouldn't be in favour of income tax cuts.

我不會支持削減所得稅。

3. a waste of

浪費;

eg. Trying to be perfect is a waste of time and energy. Perfection is an illusion.

努力變得完美是在浪費時間和精力。完美是一種幻覺。

eg. I think that is a total waste of money.

我認為那完全是浪費金錢。

參考答案：

1、dismantling 2、have been talked 3、is expected

4、estimated 5、knowing