时间:2019-01-14 作者:英语课 分类:VOA标准英语2014年(七月)


英语课

 


Oil Boom Tests North Dakota Legislative 1 Tradition 石油繁荣考验北达科他州的立法传统


BISMARCK, NORTH DAKOTA —


North Dakota is one of four U.S. states with a legislature that meets only once every two years.  But, the energy boom in Western North Dakota -- and everything that comes with it - is challenging the state government’s ability to respond rapidly to the changing environmental and economic landscape.


An abundance of jobs spurred by the extraction of oil in what's known as the "Bakken Formation" has fueled rapid population expansion in Williston, North Dakota, a town at the center of the oil boom.


That expansion has forced the state and local governments to play catch-up, including the Williston Public Schools.


Superintendent 2 Viola LaFontaine says she’s dealing 3 with a surge of new students on a budget outdated 4 by at least a year.


“So if I get 300 more kids this year, I don’t get paid for them until the following year," she said. "There’s a year lapse 5 when you get reimbursed 6 for your students.  So I have to come up with all the funding now to support my students I have in the system.”


One way to resolve this funding issue would be through the North Dakota State legislature, which meets in the state capital, Bismarck.


But most days throughout the year… this is the scene at the North Dakota state house: an empty chamber 7, and quiet hallways.


Lawmakers only meet once every two years, for an 80-day legislative session.


“There are a number of infrastructure 8 issues that probably require more frequent addressing on a more frequent basis than every two years,” said Dean Bangsund, a scientist at North Dakota State University.   He points out that as drilling technology changes, and more wells go into the ground, the state's oil development situation also changes.


 “So every time the legislature meets, we have a new story to tell,” Bangsund said.


“Major issues that come up cannot be decided 9 or worked on really for a final decision, other than during a legislative session,” Jay Buringrud, director of Legal Service for the North Dakota State Legislature. 


Buringrud says the state gets around the gap in meetings by granting more authority to legislative committees and the state's governor.


“There are committees that are working on these issues on energy development, the impact of energy development and the governor is also working on issues that come up between legislative sessions,” he said.


Earlier this year, Democratic party lawmakers in the Republican-controlled legislature wanted to address some of those challenges.  They urged Governor Jack 10 Dalrymple to hold a special legislative session to address funding issues related to the oil boom.  That request was rejected.


“If you look at it in its entirety, the state is responding, but many people would feel that the state hasn’t responded sufficiently,” Bangsund said.


Williston Superintendent Viola LaFontaine is one of those people.


“Maybe they need longer sessions than what they do," she said. "Some people say 'yeah they’d be better to meet every year.'  I think just make better decisions on the two years you’re there!  And help out western North Dakota.”


LaFontaine could wait until January of 2015 to get the help she seeks.  That’s the next scheduled meeting of the North Dakota legislature.



n.立法机构,立法权;adj.立法的,有立法权的
  • Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
  • Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。
n.监督人,主管,总监;(英国)警务长
  • He was soon promoted to the post of superintendent of Foreign Trade.他很快就被擢升为对外贸易总监。
  • He decided to call the superintendent of the building.他决定给楼房管理员打电话。
n.经商方法,待人态度
  • This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
  • His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。
adj.旧式的,落伍的,过时的;v.使过时
  • That list of addresses is outdated,many have changed.那个通讯录已经没用了,许多地址已经改了。
  • Many of us conform to the outdated customs laid down by our forebears.我们许多人都遵循祖先立下的过时习俗。
n.过失,流逝,失效,抛弃信仰,间隔;vi.堕落,停止,失效,流逝;vt.使失效
  • The incident was being seen as a serious security lapse.这一事故被看作是一次严重的安全疏忽。
  • I had a lapse of memory.我记错了。
v.偿还,付还( reimburse的过去式和过去分词 )
  • Any out-of-pocket expenses incurred on the firm's business will be reimbursed. 由公司业务产生的开销都可以报销。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Employees are reimbursed for any legal fees incurred when they relocate. 员工调往异地工作时,他们可以报销由此产生的所有法律服务费用。 来自《简明英汉词典》
n.房间,寝室;会议厅;议院;会所
  • 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。
n.下部构造,下部组织,基础结构,基础设施
  • We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
  • We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设,发展各类群众文化。
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
n.插座,千斤顶,男人;v.抬起,提醒,扛举;n.(Jake)杰克
  • I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
  • He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。
学英语单词
-odon
a bird dog
Adapa
air duct design
Alcmene
anatomical reference
aquerts
arithmetic quotient
arm sprue cut
as clear as noon
auditory sensation area
be out of the bounds of possibility
beeshes
Bentley College
better growing conditions
bighas
bournebasic
buff-brown
capillary embolism
cephalostatins
clinounconformity
Codabar
code Thora
colored sheet glass
commissioners l.
compound journal entry
conductive flooring
controller data channel
crested orioles
crocodile rivers
cucculolidine
cultivate the acquaintance of
cytoproct
dark ground illuminations
deslanatoside
doping shot
eisenburg
eructate
eutopium chelate laser
extensible stylesheet language transformations
flyboat
genus Ursus
glycuronide
hardening of the arteries
hashish oil
ilio-inguinal nerve
internet capability
jet engine inlet
ketene diacetal
kugurus
laughtrack
leaf architecture
like a moth to the flame
littoral sea
Llandellian
lower jiao
make on
maneuver
maritime mobile service
mascarade
melanobasidium cyclobalanopsidis
moist detector
MS-DOS shell
Musculus abductor
MYZAPODIDAE
nondreaming
nonsuspendable subsystem
Oberhofen
oligodendrocytes
olmer
pafumi
panel on complaints
Petriidae
protochondral
quite little
radial resistivity variation
reclosable
relative clauses
religious mystic
Reproduction-period
reserve against inventory valuation
sandwich-interleaved coil
sea-shore
seasonal operation mode
spade tag
stojanovic
sub-sets
T.O.F.C.
Taeja-ri
tetraclade
transgranular failure
truncated form
Tuileries Gardens
unfastness
unfictitious
unmatrimonial
unmoderly
wheelmaking
wire stretcher
Y-search
Zairese