(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
The United States will spend $37.9 billion on foreign aid in 2016.
That is about $2 billion more than 2014. But it still amounts to less than 1 percent of the U.S. government's $4 trillion budget.
Most Americans believe the percentage is far greater.
The Kaiser Family Foundation last year asked 1,500 Americans what portion of the federal budget goes to foreign aid. The average answer was 25 percent, Kaiser said.
That is 25 times the correct percentage.
Which nation gets the most aid?
A new breakdown from the State Department shows the top 15:
Israel, $3.1 billion
Afghanistan, $1.51 billion
Egypt, $1.45 billion
Jordan, $1 billion
Pakistan, $803 million
Nigeria, $607 million
Also on the top 15 list are Tanzania, Ukraine, Uganda and the West Bank and Gaza. Others include Ethiopia, South Africa, Iraq, South Sudan and Somalia.
You can see how much the United States provides in foreign aid to countries and territories at this U.S. State Department website.
Foreign aid is not a big issue in the 2016 presidential race. The top issues are terrorism, immigration and how to improve the U.S. economy.
But members of Congress often debate whether foreign aid is effective. They also debate whether the foreign aid budget is divided up in a smart and fair way.
The Congressional Research Service says it is hard to tell.
"In most cases, the success or failure of U.S. foreign aid programs is not entirely clear, in part, because historically most aid programs have not been evaluated," the research service says.
The United States first offered foreign aid after World War II, helping to rebuild Europe. The programs have continued ever since.
Still, the Kaiser Family Foundation said Americans remain doubtful about foreign aid.
Kaiser said nearly half believe the United States spends more than its fair share on international health problems. As an example, Kaiser cites the Ebola crisis in Western Africa during 2014 and 2015.
Hillary Clinton, a Democratic presidential candidate, strongly supported foreign aid as U.S. Secretary of State and continues to do so.
"The 1 percent of our budget we spend on all diplomacy and development is not what is driving our deficit," Clinton said.
Democratic opponent Bernie Sanders has not made campaign statements on foreign aid. But as a senator, he tried – unsuccessfully – to cut funding for the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He said he wanted the money for the IMF to go to foreign aid for poor nations.
On the Republican side, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida said a lot of foreign aid has been wasted. But if spent effectively, he said, foreign aid can advance U.S. foreign policy goals.
Presidential candidate Donald Trump has not spoken in detail about foreign aid. But Trump said he would send U.S. funding to create a safe area for Syrians displaced by the civil war.
He sees that as an alternative to accepting more Syrian refugees in the United States.
"I would help them economically, even though we owe $19 trillion," Trump said, referring to the current U.S. deficit.
Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, another Republican presidential candidate, said the United States must "stop sending foreign aid to nations that hate us."
I'm Mario Ritter.
词汇解释
1.fair share 公平分配；公平共享
Women must receive their fair share of training for good-paying jobs.
女性必须获得她们理应得到的高薪工作培训。
2.advance n. 发展；前进；增长；预付款 vt. 提出；预付；使……前进；将……提前 vi. 前进；进展；上涨 adj. 预先的；先行的
When not producing art of his own, Oliver was busy advancing the work of others.
没有创作自己的艺术品时，奥利弗就在忙于促成他人的作品。
3.displace vt. 取代；置换；转移；把…免职；排水；使背井离乡
More than 600,000 people were displaced by the tsunami.
超过60万人被海啸搞得背井离乡。
内容解析
1.They also debate whether the foreign aid budget is divided up in a smart and fair way.
divide up 瓜分；分割；分配
We divided up the money.
我们把钱分了。
Now that the work has been divided up, let each one get on with his own job.
分好了工就各干各的去吧。
2.Presidential candidate Donald Trump has not spoken in detail about foreign aid. But Trump said he would send U.S. funding to create a safe area for Syrians displaced by the civil war.
in detail 逐一处理；逐一地，详细地；个别地，一部分一部分地；【军事】各个(击破)，分别(歼灭)
It wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision. We discussed it in detail beforehand.
这可不是头脑一热作出的决定。我们事先仔细地讨论过。
We examine the wording in detail before deciding on the final text.
我们彻底仔细地检查了措词后才最终定稿。
参考译文
2016年美国将在对外援助上花费379亿美元。
这比2014年要多20亿美元，但占美国政府4万亿美元的预算只有不到1%的比例。
大多数美国人原以为这个比例要更大。
凯塞家庭基金会去年向1500名美国人做调查，问题是联邦预算有多大比例是用于对外援助的，回答的平均数字是25%。
这是正确答案的25倍。
哪个国家获得的援助最多呢？
国务院对此进行的最新分类表明列出了前15个国家：
以色列 31亿美元
阿富汗 15.1亿美元
埃及 14.5亿美元
约旦 10亿美元
巴基斯坦 8.03亿美元
尼日利亚 6.07亿美元
同时前15个国家还包括坦桑尼亚、乌克兰、乌干达和西岸及加沙，以及埃塞俄比亚、南非、伊拉克、南苏丹和索马里。
你还可以在美国国务院网站上看到美国给各个国家和领土提供的援助情况。
对外援助并不是2016年总统大选的重点问题，重点问题是恐怖主义、移民和改善美国经济。
但国会议员们经常会辩论对外援助是否有效，还辩论对外援助预算的分配是否合理明智。
国会研究中心称这一点很难说。
“大多数情况下，美国对外援助项目的成败并不是很清晰，因为从历史上来看大多数援助项目没有得到评估。”
美国最早是在二战后开始提供对外援助的，是为了帮助欧洲重建，从那时候起该项目一直在继续。
凯塞家庭基金会还说，美国人对对外援助仍表示怀疑。
该基金会称近一半的美国人认为美国在国际卫生问题上提供的援助比应该提供的要多，该基金会援引2014年到2015年西非的埃博拉危机作为例子。
民主党总统候选人希拉里·克林顿做担任国务卿期间强烈支持对外援助，现在仍是如此。
“我们用于外交和发展上的1%的预算并不是导致出现赤字的原因。”
她的民主党对手伯尼·桑德斯尚未就对外援助发表公开声明，但作为一名参议员，他曾试图切断给联邦货币基金会提供的资金，但没有成功，他说他希望给IMF的资金能用于对穷国的对外援助。
在共和党阵营里，参议员马克·鲁比奥说大量的对外援助被浪费，但如果得到有效利用，对外援助可以推动美国对外政策目标的实现。
总统候选人唐纳德·特朗普尚未对对外援助发表过具体言论，但他说过，他会用美国的资金来为叙利亚内战流离失所者建立一个安全区。
他认为这可以作为美国接纳更多叙利亚难民的另选方案。
“我会在经济上帮助他们，即使我们自己还有19万亿美元的欠款，”特朗普在提到美国目前的赤字时说。
另一位共和党候选人、参议员泰德·科鲁兹说美国必须“停止向那些仇恨我们的国家提供援助”。
我是马里奥·利特。
