时间:2018-12-16 作者:英语课 分类:VOA标准英语2012年(十一月)


英语课

 


US Presidential Election Has Global Implications



If the polls are right, the 2012 election will be decided 1 by a few crucial votes in a handful of hotly contested states. But far from being just a domestic ballot 2 - Bruce Stokes at the Pew research Center says the U.S. election will have global implications.


"Oh absolutely, the Americans get to vote in this election but the world gets to deal with the consequences," said Stokes.


With a gross domestic product equal to about a quarter of the world's total output, no other country has a larger economic footprint. A common refrain among economists 3 is that when the U.S. sniffles, the rest of the world catches a cold.


Desmond Lachman is a macroeconomist at the conservative leaning American Enterprise Institute.


"We saw that clearly in the 2008-2009 great economic recession, events that occurred in the United States banking 4 system reverberated 5 right through the globe," said Lachman.


On the campaign trail, both candidates agree a healthy U.S. economy is crucial to global stability. Both have assured Americans they have a plan to bolster 6 the economy - starting with Republican hopeful Mitt 7 Romney, who promises to level the playing field by getting tough on China.


"On day one, I will label China a currency manipulator, which will allow me as president to be able to put in place, if necessary, tariffs 8 where I believe that they are taking unfair advantage of our manufacturers," said Romney.


Fighting to win a second term, President Obama says U.S. trade has increased significantly under his leadership. So has China's undervalued currency, which he says has risen 11 percent since he took office.


The key to a strong economy says Obama is to bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. and he says Romney is the wrong person to do it.


"Keep in mind that Governor Romney invested in companies that were pioneers of outsourcing to China. Governor, you're the last person who is going to get tough on China," said President Obama.


But China is only part of a larger equation. The debt crisis in Europe has reduced demand for U.S. goods. Desmond Lachman says deepening problems in the 17-nation eurozone could further slow growth - worldwide.


"My expectation is that Europe, being the largest trading partner of the United States is going to pose real challenges to the United States in the years ahead," he said.


Lachman says Romney offers a more business friendly approach to solving the nation's chronically 9 high unemployment. But the Pew Center's Bruce Stokes says given Obama's popularity in many parts of the world, the image of the U.S. could suffer under a Romney presidency 10.


"China, very interesting. I do think given Romney's rhetoric 11, there could be a short term hit to America's image in China. The big hit is going to be in Europe," said Stokes.


A recent survey by the Pew Center shows Western Europe overwhelmingly in favor of a second term for Obama: 92 percent in France, 89 percent in Germany and 73 percent in Britain. However, the president scored poorly in Greece where only 22 percent approved of his handling of the global economy.


Whoever wins, Lachman says there's a lot at stake, particularly if a divided Congress is unable to agree on drastic spending cuts at the end of the year.


"If things go wrong in the United States that would certainly have huge global ramifications 12, particularly right now with the rest of the world not being in good shape, the last thing they need is for the United States to be stumbling," he said.


History suggests the world will adapt to whomever America chooses. What is clear say experts is that the outcome will shape economic and geopolitical attitudes around the world for years to come. 




1 decided
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。
2 ballot
n.(不记名)投票,投票总数,投票权;vi.投票
  • The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
  • The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。
3 economists
n.经济学家,经济专家( economist的名词复数 )
  • The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
  • Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》
4 banking
n.银行业,银行学,金融业
  • John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
  • He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。
5 reverberated
回响,回荡( reverberate的过去式和过去分词 ); 使反响,使回荡,使反射
  • Her voice reverberated around the hall. 她的声音在大厅里回荡。
  • The roar of guns reverberated in the valley. 炮声响彻山谷。
6 bolster
n.枕垫;v.支持,鼓励
  • The high interest rates helped to bolster up the economy.高利率使经济更稳健。
  • He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。
7 mitt
n.棒球手套,拳击手套,无指手套;vt.铐住,握手
  • I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日,我送给他一只棒球手套。
  • Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。
8 tariffs
关税制度; 关税( tariff的名词复数 ); 关税表; (旅馆或饭店等的)收费表; 量刑标准
  • British industry was sheltered from foreign competition by protective tariffs. 保护性关税使英国工业免受国际竞争影响。
  • The new tariffs have put a stranglehold on trade. 新的关税制对开展贸易极为不利。
9 chronically
ad.长期地
  • Similarly, any pigment nevus that is chronically irritated should be excised. 同样,凡是经常受慢性刺激的各种色素痣切勿予以切除。
  • People chronically exposed to chlorine develop some degree of tolerance. 人长期接触氯气可以产生某种程度的耐受性。
10 presidency
n.总统(校长,总经理)的职位(任期)
  • Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
  • Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。
11 rhetoric
n.修辞学,浮夸之言语
  • Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗?
  • Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后,他和军队的关系岌岌可危。
12 ramifications
n.结果,后果( ramification的名词复数 )
  • These changes are bound to have widespread social ramifications. 这些变化注定会造成许多难以预料的社会后果。
  • What are the ramifications of our decision to join the union? 我们决定加入工会会引起哪些后果呢? 来自《简明英汉词典》
学英语单词
alkali-resistant beaker
aphrophoras
automatic colour separation device
baer stapler
bandwidth hog
barkas effect
bedrockrockbottom
beer muscles
Beethoven exploder
bloodysputum
borduring
boron carbide fiber
brittlebush
buyable
centre control board
cereals and oilseeds processing machinery
chilladors
circuit contact
close one's ears to
collalto (hochgall)
come to town
constult
contact icing
cordless terminal
cornigera
country ham
cross-referencing system
deadener
decision for context free grammar
delocalized pi-bond
department hour rate method
dirt collector
double sampling mode
Dugong idae
folliott
free gas cap
gamma-function
generalized Green's function
genus hippocrepiss
giovans
give one's word of hono u r
gold auction
Gouin accumulator
gruard rail
high-titer
home sweet home
horizontal parabola dc control voltage
HSAM
hydropneumatic recoil system
imperialities
inflow entrance
interest-rate futures
kiddywinkle, kiddywinky
lattice continuity
limit of rollability
lock-in-clause
long-wavelength region
mabels
maugein
Maughold Head
mazonia
miscreates
moblog
moist cough
ne-yo
neo Impressionism
noncommitally
nuclear fuel fabrication plant
numinen
oil cells
oil rigs
onkilonite
organiza
orifice-metering coefficient
pay his attentions to
pedestrian barrier
physician-patient
Populus lancifolia
premium and bond issuance expense
printed works
qualified audit certificate
randonne
raw wounds
real analytic fiber bundle
rotating field type alternator
runaway collision
Salix gyirongensis
secure against
share the booty
side-tracking
silent agitators
skysurfing
socket base
Socratics
solanum wendlandiis
southern chernozem
squeezed fold
Stadol
valvular
wet-ink pen
without success
zone of pollution