VOA慢速英语2011--Protests Against Big Business Spread in

IN THE NEWS - Protests Against Big Business Spread in US

新闻报道 - 美国占领华尔街运动蔓延至全国

This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

这里是美国之音慢速英语新闻报道。

Protests that began last month near Wall Street in New York have now spread to other American cities. The Occupy movement differs from the Tea Party movement. Tea Partiers blame big government for the country's economic problems. Occupiers blame big business. One young activist 1 puts it this way.

上月开始在纽约华尔街附近发生的示威活动现在已经蔓延到了美国其它城市。这一“占领运动”与茶党运动不同，茶党将美国经济问题归咎于“大政府”。占领运动则将其归咎于大企业。一位年轻活动家这么形容。

MAN: "I feel like the middle class has been almost completely wiped out now. Now, you have got the bottom class and the top class."

男子：“我觉得中产阶级现在已几近被完全消灭。现在只有底层阶级和上层阶级。”

Susan Arnett came from California to attend an Occupy DC rally in Washington on Thursday.

来自加州的苏珊·阿内特（Susan Arnett）周四参加了“占领华盛顿”示威活动。

SUSAN ARNETT: "It is about the war. It is about the corruption 2. It is about the greed."

阿内特：“这次示威活动和战争、腐败、贪婪有关。”

Many protesters said they were inspired by the Arab Spring movement and protests in Europe.

Lourdes Parallobre of Miami says she is about to graduate from a university and owes twenty thousand dollars in student loans.

迈阿密的Lourdes Parallobre表示，她即将大学毕业，欠了2万美元助学贷款。

LOURDES PARALLOBRE: "I have an endless amount of friends who have master's degrees, bachelor's degrees, and are working in restaurants. And I am terrified that is going to happen to me."

LOURDES PARALLOBRE：“我有数不清的拥有硕士学位、学士学位的朋友正在餐厅工作。我很害怕这会发生在我身上。”

The protesters marched to the United States Chamber 3 of Commerce and denounced the business interests that the group represents.

示威者游行到美国商会声讨该组织代表的商业利益。

WOMAN: "They are sitting on two trillion dollars in profits right now, corporations are. Their taxes are at their lowest level in fifty years. Our unemployment rate is at nine percent."

示威女子：“这些大公司现在坐拥两万亿美元利润，税收正处于五十年以来的最低水平。而我们的失业率已经达到了9%。”

The marchers also stopped outside the White House. Inside, at a news conference, a reporter asked President Obama about the movement.

示威者还停留到白宫外。在白宫里的一场新闻发布会上，有记者问及奥巴马总统对这次运动的看法。

BARACK OBAMA: "Obviously I’ve heard of it. I’ve seen it on television. I think it expresses the frustrations 5 that the American people feel, that we had the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression, huge collateral 6 damage all throughout the country, all across Main Street, and yet you’re still seeing some of the same folks who acted irresponsibly trying to fight efforts to crack down on abusive practices that got us into this problem in the first place. So, yes, I think people are frustrated 7, and the protestors are giving voice to a more broad-based frustration 4 about how our financial system works."

奥巴马：“很显然我已经听说了，也通过电视看到了这次示威。我认为它表现出了民众的挫败感，美国经历了大萧条以来最严重的金融危机，全国各地各行业都遭受了严重的连带损害，但你仍然可以看到同样一些人不负责任地试图和那些打击将我们陷入这个问题的滥用行为的措施相对抗。所以我认为民众非常诅丧，示威者对美国金融系统的运作表达了更大范围的不满。

(SINGING: "Wall Street is full of clowns, Wall Street is full of clowns.")

（唱道：“华尔街到处是小丑，华尔街到处是小丑。”）

Occupy Wall Street protesters have camped in New York’s financial district since the middle of September. Police have made hundreds of arrests for blocking traffic.

自九月中旬以来，“占领华尔街”运动的示威者已在纽约金融区安营扎寨。警方以阻碍交通为由逮捕了数百名示威者。

On Wednesday members of labor 8 unions and community groups joined the demonstrations 10.

上周三，工会和社会团体成员也加入了这次示威活动。

SPEAKER: "They said they needed to rescue Wall Street and the Big Three automakers to stimulate 11 the economy and that meant jobs. Three years later, there is still no jobs!"

演说者：“他们说需要拯救华尔街和三大汽车制造商以刺激经济，这些意味着工作。但三年过去了，还是没有工作！”

The rally included truck drivers, teachers, nurses and transportation workers.

集会中包括卡车司机、教师、护士和运输工人。

Protesters say the wealthiest one percent of Americans control too much of the nation's wealth. The protesters say they represent the other ninety-nine percent.

示威者表示，美国最富有的1%控制了太多的国家财富。示威者表示他们代表了剩下的99%。

Jason Ahmadi, an organizer, says the movement’s demands are still a work in progress.

组织者之一的贾森·艾哈迈迪（Jason Ahmadi）表示，这次运动仍在发展中。

JASON AHMADI: "Everybody is coming here for their own reason, and we're still shaping unity 9, and we're coming together, but we're also constantly growing. So it's very difficult to, you know, to make a claim about a demand of the ninety-nine percent."

艾哈迈迪：“每个人来到这里都有自己的理由，我们仍在构建一个团结的整体。我们走到了一起，但我们也在不断发展。所以很难就这99%提出一个具体诉求。”

He notes some of the other cities where protests have taken place.

他注意到了发生示威活动的其他一些城市。

JASON AHMADI: "You know, occupy Los Angeles just happened the other night with three hundred and fifty people, I hear. In San Francisco, in Boston, in Chicago. A lot of us are, you know, inspired by things going on in North Africa, in Spain, in Greece, in London. So, you know, I think this is really something I'd like to see as a global movement that's starting."

And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Alex Villarreal.

___

Contributing: Selah Hennessy, Dan Robinson, Jerome Socolovsky and Carolyn Weaver

点击收听单词发音  






1
activist

  
 


n.活动分子，积极分子


参考例句：





He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。












2
corruption

  
 


n.腐败，堕落，贪污


参考例句：





The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。












3
chamber

  
 


n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所


参考例句：





For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。












4
frustration

  
 


n.挫折，失败，失效，落空


参考例句：





He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。












5
frustrations

  
 


挫折( frustration的名词复数 )； 失败； 挫败； 失意


参考例句：





The temptation would grow to take out our frustrations on Saigon. 由于我们遭到挫折而要同西贡算帐的引诱力会增加。
Aspirations will be raised, but so will frustrations. 人们会产生种种憧憬，但是种种挫折也会随之而来。












6
collateral

  
 


adj.平行的；旁系的；n.担保品


参考例句：





Many people use personal assets as collateral for small business loans.很多人把个人财产用作小额商业贷款的抵押品。
Most people here cannot borrow from banks because they lack collateral.由于拿不出东西作为抵押，这里大部分人无法从银行贷款。












7
frustrated

  
 


adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧


参考例句：





It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》












8
labor

  
 


n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦


参考例句：





We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。












9
unity

  
 


n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调


参考例句：





When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。












10
demonstrations

  
 


证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威


参考例句：





Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。












11
stimulate

  
 


vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋


参考例句：





Your encouragement will stimulate me to further efforts.你的鼓励会激发我进一步努力。
Success will stimulate the people for fresh efforts.成功能鼓舞人们去作新的努力。