英语听力：奥巴马2012年8月18日电台演讲（双语）

英语自学网

       
       
                 
       

       
                Hi, everybody. This week, I spent some time traveling across Iowa talking with folks about rebuilding an economy where if you work hard, you and your family can get ahead.
       
       
                大家好。本周我抽了点时间在艾奥瓦州走了走，与当地人探讨了打造一个只要你努力工作，你的家庭就可以过得不错的经济的问题。
       
       
                And along the way, I stopped in at Cascade High School to thank the teachers there for doing such a great job – and wish them luck as they head back to the classroom for this school year.
       
       
                在途中，我访问了卡斯凯德高中，感谢那里的老师们，感谢他们的杰出贡献并祝愿他们有幸在本学年重返教室。
       
       
                There’s nothing more important to our country’s future than the education we give our kids. And there’s no one more important to that education than the person at the front of the classroom.
       
       
                对于我们国家的未来来讲，没有什么比给我们的孩子们教育更重要的了。对于这个教育来讲，没有任何一个什么比站在教室前面的人更重要了。
       
       
                Teachers matter. Most work tirelessly, with modest pay, sometimes digging into their own pocket for school supplies – just to make a difference. They give everything for our kids – and in return, we should invest in them.
       
       
                教师问题必须关注。他们中的大多数不知疲倦的工作，收入不高，有时还要自掏腰包购买教具—就是未来有所改变。他们为了孩子们呕心沥血—作为回报，我们应该投资于他们。
       
       
                But here’s the thing: this year, several thousand fewer educators will be going back to school. Since 2009, we’ve lost more than 300,000 education jobs, in part, because of budget cuts at the state and local level.
       
       
                但是现在的情况是：今年，比计划少几千名教育工作者将重返学校。自2009年以来，我们损失了300,000个教育工作各位，部分地因为州和地方教育预算削减。
       
       
                Think about what that means for our country. At a time when the rest of the world is racing to out-educate America; these cuts force our kids into crowded classrooms, cancel programs for preschoolers and kindergarteners, and shorten the school week and the school year.
       
       
                想一想这对我们国家意味着什么。在这个世界上其它国家都竞相在教育上超越美国的时候，这些削减迫使我们的孩子们拥挤在教室里，取消幼儿园和学前教育，减少周学时和学年长度。
       
       
                That’s the opposite of what we should be doing as a country. States should be making education a priority in their budgets, even in tough fiscal times. And Congress should be willing to help out – because this affects all of us.
       
       
                这与我们作为一个国家要做的恰恰相反。各州都应该把教育放在预算的首位，尽管现在财政困难。国会应该帮助教育摆脱困境—因为这影响我们所有人。
       
            
            

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                That’s why part of the jobs bill that I sent to Congress last September included support for states to prevent further layoffs and to rehire teachers who’d lost their jobs. But here we are – a year later with tens of thousands more educators laid off – and Congress still hasn’t done anything about it.
       
       
                这就是为什么我在去年九月提交给国会的就业议案中的一部分内容包括了支持各州防止更多裁员和从新雇佣失业教师。但是现在的局面是—一年以后成千上万的教师失业了—国会至今没有任何作为。
       
       
                In fact, the economic plan that almost every Republican in Congress voted for would make the situation even worse. It would actually cut funding for education – which means fewer kids in Head Start, fewer teachers in our classrooms, and fewer college students with access to financial aid – all to pay for a massive new tax cut for millionaires and billionaires.
       
       
                事实上，那个几乎每个共和党议员都赞同的经济计划会使局面更加恶化。它将削减教育投资—这意味着更少的孩子们能进入Head Start学校，更少的教师留在教室，更少的大学生能够获得金融支持—所有的资金都用于为百万富翁和千万富翁们大幅减税。
       
       
                That’s backwards. That’s wrong. That plan doesn’t invest in our future; it undercuts our future.
       
       
                这是倒退。这大错特错。这个计划不是投资于我们的未来，它毁坏我们的未来。
       
       
                If we want America to lead in the 21st century, nothing is more important than giving everyone the best education possible – from the day they start preschool to the day they start their career.
       
       
                如果我们想让美国领先21世纪，没有什么比给每个人尽可能好的教育更重要的了—从他们开始学前教育的那天到他们开始职业生涯那天。
       
       
                That’s why we launched a national competition to improve our schools. And for less than one percent of what our nation spends on education each year, we’ve encouraged almost every state to raise their standards – the first time that’s happened in a generation.
       
       
                这就是为什么我们启动了全国性的改进学校教育的竞赛。用不足每年国家教育经费的1%投入，我们鼓励了几乎所有各州提高他们的标准—这是三十年来的第一次。
       
       
                That’s why we’ve invested in math and science education, and given states more flexibility on No Child Left Behind.
       
       
                这就是为什么我们投资于数学和科学的教育，并且给各州在“不让一个孩子掉队”的活动中更多自主权。
       
       
                And that’s why we’ve reformed the student loan program to put students before big banks, and increased financial aid for millions of young people – because in America, higher education cannot be a luxury; it’s an economic necessity every family should be able to afford.
       
       
                这就是为什么我们改革了学生贷款项目，让学生们从大银行贷款，加大对几百万年轻人的金融支持—因为在美国，高等教育不能成为奢侈；它是每个家庭都能承受的经济必需。
       
       
                This is a country where no matter what you look like or where you come from, if you’re willing to study and work hard, you can go as far as your talents will take you. You can make it if you try. I am only the President of the United States today because of the chance my education gave me. I want every child in America to have that chance. That’s what I’m fighting for. And as long as I have the privilege of being your President, that’s what I’m going to keep fighting for.
       
       
                这是一个不管你长得什么样，来自何方，只要你愿意努力学习和工作，你就能达到你的天赋允许的最远距离的国家。只要你努力你就可以达到目标。我是仅仅靠教育提供的机会就任总统的第一人。我希望每一个美国孩子都有这样的机会。这就是我为之奋斗的目标。只要我还有幸担任你们的总统，这就是我继续为之奋斗的目标。
       
       
                Thanks, and have a great weekend.
       
       
                谢谢，周末愉快。