时间:2019-01-13 作者:英语课 分类:VOA标准英语2010年(十二)月


英语课

Tens of thousands of African American farmers and Native Americans will soon receive compensation for discrimination and mismanagement they allegedly suffered at the hands of the federal government. President Barack Obama is expected to sign a $4.5 billion bill just passed by the U.S. Congress to settle these long-standing claims.




Black farmers settled their lawsuit 1 against the U.S. Department of Agriculture more than a decade ago over claims of racial discrimination in federal loans and other programs that USDA administers, but disputes over who was eligible 2 and Congressional wrangling 3 over funding for the settlement delayed final resolution.


The new law makes nearly 80,000 black farmers eligible to apply for compensation that amounts to about $50,000 each.


'Bittersweet' victory


John Boyd, president of the National Black Farmers Association, described Congressional passage of the Claims Settlement Act as long-overdue justice.


"It's very, very good that black farmers will finally have the opportunity to have their cases heard, based on their merit," he said.


But Boyd said the victory as bittersweet, because many black farmers who suffered discrimination have died before their cases could be resolved.


USDA is also taking steps to resolve claims of discrimination involving Hispanic and women farmers along the same lines as the settlement with black farmers.


Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said, "There has been a concerted effort to do what has not been done in many cases for 10, 15, 20, in some cases 30 years, which is to try to resolve as many of these cases in as fair and equitable 4 a way as possible."


Native American land, water


In addition to the settlement with black farmers, the new law also provides $3.4 billion to settle a variety of claims made by Native Americans. They include mismanagement by the Department of the Interior of hundreds of thousands of trust funds intended to compensate 5 Native Americans for the use of their lands and resources.


Deputy Secretary of the Interior David Hayes says the new law also makes historic progress on four water-rights cases in the arid 6 American West long pursued by Native American groups.


"These four matters have been, in fact, in litigation for cumulatively 7 over 100 years of litigation," he said. "We brought all of them to settlements."


In a written statement, Jefferson Keel, president of the National Congress of American Indians, said the law settles historic injustices 8 and starts the U.S. government on a course to make Native American lands more productive for future generations.



n.诉讼,控诉
  • They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
  • He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。
adj.有条件被选中的;(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的
  • He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
  • Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。
v.争吵,争论,口角( wrangle的现在分词 )
  • The two sides have spent most of their time wrangling over procedural problems. 双方大部分时间都在围绕程序问题争论不休。 来自辞典例句
  • The children were wrangling (with each other) over the new toy. 孩子为新玩具(互相)争吵。 来自辞典例句
adj.公平的;公正的
  • This is an equitable solution to the dispute. 这是对该项争议的公正解决。
  • Paying a person what he has earned is equitable. 酬其应得,乃公平之事。
vt.补偿,赔偿;酬报 vi.弥补;补偿;抵消
  • She used her good looks to compensate her lack of intelligence. 她利用她漂亮的外表来弥补智力的不足。
  • Nothing can compensate for the loss of one's health. 一个人失去了键康是不可弥补的。
adj.干旱的;(土地)贫瘠的
  • These trees will shield off arid winds and protect the fields.这些树能挡住旱风,保护农田。
  • There are serious problems of land degradation in some arid zones.在一些干旱地带存在严重的土地退化问题。
adv.累积地,渐增地
  • Mind has become self-reproducing through man's capacity to transmit experience and its products cumulatively. 通过传递生活经验和积累创造的产品,人类的智慧在不断地进行着自我丰富。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • At first, the drug does no harm, but cumulatively its effects are bad. 这药开始对人没有害处,但连续服用后果就坏了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
不公平( injustice的名词复数 ); 非正义; 待…不公正; 冤枉
  • One who committed many injustices is doomed to failure. 多行不义必自毙。
  • He felt confident that his injustices would be righted. 他相信他的冤屈会受到昭雪的。
学英语单词
Abdel
acceleration of ripening
additional advance
anecdotically
antiriot ammunition
apical bud
arecaceaes
augelli
average repair
Bankia spengler
bankruptcy administrator
basic lead sulphate
bilge logs
booster inoculation
bored shitless
boringly
chain and sprocket drive
Chalkedon
checking off symbol
CLMW
course-stability
cross rod
Curley
damper segment
declaratory judgments
deflection calculation
delivered free to destination
dietary-supplement
dress in
dust crops with an insecticide
emince
enterouterine anus
equitangential
faralatrioside
farbs
finely divided scale
folia vermis
heavy work
helius (helius) minusculus
Hose Connectors
hyperhomocysteinemic
intermolecular respiration
lava column
lead number
lends out
lenticel(le)
lywallzyme
macnee
magnitude spectrum
master screw
max sth out
mellower
memory error report analysis
movable appendage
naked-flame mine
nickel-vanadium steel
nominal ocular hazard area
oculometry
one pack
ordinary wheel
organizational climate index
over-grateful
over-indulged
overtowered
pattern representation
phenoxathin
phenylphosphine
pick-up attachment
pilot flame burner
pipeline stopcock
plash
pot-holder
preservative substance
pressure admission chamber
pressure of blast
Prohepes
pseudodiploidy
r.d
ramming up
rankine thermometric scale
riborg
righi-leduc effect
roricon
sclenchyma
self-illuminating sight
selfcontradictory
sniper
sousant
Subhanallah
sukhooei
Swap Curve
tahsildars
thermo anelasticity
three stages fluidized-bed dryer
toner concentration
unkissing
unvote
upright drill
visual agnosia
Wiener schnitzel
with a swing in it
worldless