英语口译：汽车业持续反弹，中小企业步履维艰

英语自学网

Hello everyone. I’m speaking to you from the GM auto plant here in Detroit, Michigan, where a hopeful story is unfolding in a place that’s been one of the hardest hit in America.
　　大家好。我在密歇根州底特律市的通用汽车工厂向大家发表演讲，这里是美国（在本次危机中）遭受重创的地方，但现在，这里正在展开一个充满希望的故事。
　　In the twelve months before I took office, American auto companies lost hundreds of thousands of jobs. Sales plunged 40 percent. Liquidation was a very real possibility. Years of papering over tough problems and failing to adapt to changing times – combined with a vicious economic crisis – brought an industry that’s been the symbol of our manufacturing might for a century to the brink of collapse.
　　在我主政前的十二个月里，美国的汽车公司有数十万人失业。销售也跳水40%。当时，倒闭清盘是一个很现实的选择。多年掩盖突出问题和不能适应时代变化的要求——再遭遇这次凶猛的经济危机——使得这个一个世纪以来曾是我们制造业标志的产业濒临崩溃的边缘。
　　We didn’t have many good options. On one hand, we could have continued the practice of handing out billions of taxpayer dollars to the auto industry with no real strings attached. On the other hand, we could have walked away and allowed two major auto companies to go out of business – which could have wiped out one million American jobs.
　　我们并没有太多好的选择。一方面，我们可以不带任何附加条件地给汽车工业分发数十亿纳税人的援助款。另一方面，我们可以不管不问，让两家最大的汽车公司关门歇业——这将导致一百多万美国人失业。
　　I refused to let that happen. So we came up with a third way. We said to the auto companies – if you’re willing to make the hard decisions necessary to adapt and compete in the 21st century, we’ll make a one-time investment in your future.
　　我拒绝让这些发生。因此我们选择了第三种方案。我们当时就对这些汽车公司说——如果你们愿意下决心做出调整改变，参与21世纪的竞争，我们将为你们的未来做一次性的投资。
　　Of course, if some folks had their way, none of this would be happening at all. This plant might not exist. There were leaders of the “just say no” crowd in Washington who argued that standing by the auto industry would guarantee failure. One called it “the worst investment you could possibly make.” They said we should just walk away and let these jobs go.
　　当然，如果有人有别的方案，这些也都不会发生了。这项计划也就不存在了。那些反对派的领头人们聚集在华盛顿，声称援助汽车工业注定要失败。有人甚至称其为“你们所能做的投资里面最糟糕的”。他们说我们就应该不管，让失业顺其自然的发生。
　　Today, the men and women in this plant are proving these cynics wrong. Since GM and Chrysler emerged from bankruptcy, our auto industry has added 55,000 jobs – the strongest period of job growth in more than ten years. For the first time since 2004, all three American automakers are operating at a profit. Sales have begun to rebound. And plants like this that wouldn’t have existed if all of us didn’t act are now operating maximum capacity.
　　今天，工厂里的男男女女们证明这些嘲笑者错了。自从通用汽车和克莱斯勒脱离破产以来，我们的汽车工业增加了55,000个岗位——这是10多年来最强劲的就业增长期。自2004年以来，三家汽车生产商也是首次都盈利了。销售也开始反弹。像这样的工厂如果当时我们什么都不做可能就不会存在了，现在它们正在满负荷运转。