(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
The United States Senate recently passed a measure called Trade Promotion Authority. Under the bill, the Congress can only vote for or against a trade agreement once it has been negotiated. This ability to "fast-track" such agreements would be important when Congress considers possible trade deals with Asian and Pacific countries and also Europe.
But the issue of free trade can fuel a debate about U.S. jobs. Many labor unions and Democratic Party members support a little-known federal program for American workers. It is called the Trade Adjustment Assistance Program. It provides financial assistance to those who lose their job because of increased foreign competition. Conservatives say the program is ineffective and costs too much.
However, a former steel worker who spoke with VOA says the program works and should be expanded. Michael Smith worked at the Bethlehem Steel Mill in Sparrows Point, Maryland. The mill was once a major producer of steel. It employed as many as 30,000 Americans. Mr. Smith was a crane operator with Bethlehem Steel for 13 years. Recently, he returned to the grounds.
"I remember what this place used to be. I remember the sights, the sounds, the tractors. It's actually hard physically standing here. I mean, my heart hurts."
The mill closed in 2012 as a result of a series of business decisions and increasing global competition. That left Mr. Smith and 2,500 mill workers with no jobs and few marketable skills.
"I was blessed enough to find a program called TRA ((Trade Readjustment Allowance)) and TAA ((Trade Adjustment Assistance)), which is a union bargain benefit that was provided to us."
The TAA program gave Mr. Smith a weekly stipend. He used his retraining assistance to pay for books and school tuition fees. He recently completed his college studies and graduated with a bachelor's degree in Psychology.
Michael Smith's experience with the program was good. However, many conservatives say TAA is wasteful and ineffective. Dan Ikenson studies trade policies for the Cato Institute research group. He says that for every job lost to trade, 30 jobs are lost for other reasons. He spoke to VOA on Skype.
"My first question is: why should we treat people who lose jobs or can tie their job loss in some way to trade any differently than we treat other people who lose their jobs?"
Dan Ikenson says trade creates more winners than losers. Instead of government aid, he says manufacturers are better equipped to retrain displaced workers.
"They complain a lot about the dearth of skilled workers, and if they were incentivized to hire people just to train them in exchange for them agreeing to work, maybe for a year or two afterwards, that might work a lot better than trade adjustment assistance does."
The Senate voted to extend the 400-million dollar program as part of a fast-track bill to speed pending free trade deals with Pacific countries. The House of Representatives has yet to vote on the trade legislation.
I'm Mario Ritter.
词汇解释
1.tractor n. 拖拉机；牵引机
Iron-ox is another name for tractor.
铁牛是拖拉机的别名。
2.marketable adj. 市场的；可销售的；有销路的
What began as an attempt at artistic creation has turned into a marketable commodity.
原本艺术创作上的一个尝试最终变成了一个可以出售的商品。
3.stipend n. 奖学金；固定薪金；定期津贴；养老金
This sum was nearly a third of his total stipend.
这笔钱几乎是他全部津贴的三分之一。
4.dearth n. 缺乏；饥馑；粮食不足
Construction had slowed because of a dearth of labourers.
建筑进程缓慢是因为劳动力不足。
5.pending adj. 未决定的；行将发生的 prep. 在…期间；直到…时为止；在等待…之际 v. 待定；悬而不决（pend的ing形式）
In 2006, the court had 600 pending cases.
2006年，该法院有600件未结的案子。
内容解析
1.Instead of government aid, he says manufacturers are better equipped to retrain displaced workers.
be equipped to 有能力做某事，有资格做某事
Universities were ill-equipped to meet the massive intake of students.
各大学设备不足，难以满足招入的大量学生的要求。
Some students have emotional problems that teachers feel ill equipped to handle.
一些学生的情感问题令老师们束手无策。
2.and if they were incentivized to hire people just to train them in exchange for them agreeing to work, maybe for a year or two afterwards,
in exchange for 作为…的交换
Tom gave Helen an apple in exchange for a piece of cake.
汤姆用一个苹果与海伦换一块蛋糕。
It is illegal for public officials to solicit gifts or money in exchange for favors.
公务员通过索要礼物或钱财作为为他人提供便利的交换是违法的。
参考译文
美国参议院最近通过一项名为“贸易促进授权”的法案，根据该法案，一旦一项贸易协定得到协商，国会就只能投票支持或反对它。当国会考虑与亚太国家和欧洲国家签署可能的贸易协议时，这种快速审批此类协议的能力会很重要。
但自由贸易问题可能引发对美国就业的辩论，很多工会和民主党成员支持一项少有人知的针对美国工人的联邦计划，该计划名叫“贸易调整援助计划”，该计划为那些因为外国竞争加剧而失业者提供财政支持，保守派称该计划无效且成本太高。
然而，一位曾经的钢铁工人在接受美国之音采访时说该计划起到了作用，且应该加以推广。迈克尔·史密斯曾在马里兰州斯帕罗斯角的伯利恒钢铁厂工作，该钢铁厂曾是一家重要的钢铁生产商，曾雇佣了3万美国人。史密斯在伯利恒钢铁厂做了13年的起重机操作员，最近他又回到这里。
“我还记得这里原来的样子，记得这里的情景、声音和牵引车，站在这里很艰难，我很心痛。”
由于一系列行业决定和国际竞争的加剧，这个钢铁厂于2012年关闭，这样史密斯和其他2500名工人就失业了，也没有市场所需要的技能。
“我幸运地发现了贸易调整津贴计划和贸易调整援助计划，这是工会通过讨价还价给我们争得的好处。”
贸易调整援助计划每周给史密斯一些津贴，他使用自己的再培训援助来买书和交学费，他最近完成了大学学业，并拿到了心理学学士学位。
迈克尔·史密斯对这个项目的体验很好，然而，很多保守派认为贸易调整援助计划费钱且无效，丹·艾肯森在加图研究所从事贸易政策研究，他说贸易每弄掉一个就业岗位，其他的原因就会弄掉30个岗位，他通过Skype接受了美国之音的采访。
“我的第一个问题是：为什么我们必须将因为贸易丢掉工作或工资受影响的人同其它失业者区别对待？”
丹·艾肯森说贸易所产生的赢家比输家多，与政府援助相比，制造商更有能力再培训失业工人。
“他们对技术工人的缺乏抱怨很多，如果能激励他们雇佣这些人并培训他们参加工作，那么可能一两年后，其效果比贸易调整援助计划要好得多。”
参议院投票推广了这个4亿美元的计划，作为快速审批法案的一部分来加快推进美国与太平洋国家悬而未决的自由贸易协定，众议院尚未就该贸易立法进行投票。
我是马里奥·利特。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
