(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
US House Speaker Announces His Retirement
Paul Ryan, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, says he will not seek another term in Congress.
Ryan is the top Republican Party lawmaker in the House. His announcement came as Congressional Republicans face worries over losing their majority in elections later this year.
All 435 members of the House are required to seek re-election every two years. Republicans currently hold 237 House seats. The Democratic Party controls 192 seats.
Ryan joined a growing list of lawmakers who have decided against seeking re-election. Thirty-seven Republican House members are leaving office when their term ends in January 2019. On the Democratic side, 17 House members chose not to seek another term.
The Democratic Party was more popular among likely voters in recent opinion studies. The survey data found that the Democrats are between 5 to 11 percentage points higher than the Republicans.
Speaking in Washington on Wednesday, Ryan said his decision to retire was not based on a fear of losing his party's majority in the House. He said he wanted to spend more time with his wife and three children.
Ryan said that he has accomplished a lot in a short time as speaker. He added, "We're going to have a great record to run on." Ryan will leave Congress when his term ends.
Years in the House
Ryan was first elected to Congress in 1998. At the age of 28, he became known as one of the "Young Guns" in the Republican Party.
In 2012, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney asked Ryan to serve as the party's candidate for vice president. They lost the election to then-President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.
Three years ago, Ryan accepted the job of House Speaker after the sudden retirement of speaker John Boehner.
Ryan has long sought for tax cuts and reforms to government entitlement programs. He also wants to overturn the Affordable Care Act, which expanded the nation's health care system. In 2010, President Obama signed the act into law. Today, both supporters and opponents of the law call it Obamacare.
Late last year, Ryan and the Republican-controlled Congress approved tax cuts, but were unable to end Obamacare.
The house speaker announced his plans at a closed-door meeting of Republican lawmakers Wednesday morning. Ryan told them that serving as speaker has been the professional honor of his life, and he thanked them for the trust they placed in him.
Ryan's spokesman said in a statement, "After nearly 20 years in the House, the speaker is proud of all that has been accomplished and is ready to devote more of his time to being a husband and a father."
重点解析
1.presidential candidate 总统候选人
Many of the delegates then wanted Reagan to be the party's vice presidential candidate.
许多代表都想让里根担任党派的副总统候选人。
2.serve as 担任；充当
He volunteered to serve as the manager of our department store.
他自荐当我们商场的经理。
3.tax cuts 减税
The President promised across-the-board tax cuts if re-elected.
总统许诺如果能再次当选将采取全面的减税措施。
4.leave office 离任；辞职
His opponents have no intention of letting him off the hook until he agrees to leave office immediately.
在他同意马上离职之前，他的对手不打算放过他。
5.Ryan said that he has accomplished a lot in a short time as speaker.
in a short time 不久；短时间的
It's so difficult work that we can't finish it in a short time.
这个工作太难了，我们不能在短时间内完成它。
With passion, I can be more efficiently, and I can do more in a short time.
有了激情，做事会更有效率，我可以在短时间内做更多的事情。
6.Ryan joined a growing list of lawmakers who have decided against seeking re-election.
a list of 一列的
We had to write out a list of ten jobs we'd like to do.
我们得列出10种我们想做的工作。
We are making a list of the top ten men we would not want to be married to.
我们正在列一份我们最不愿意嫁的十大男人的名单。
参考译文
美众议院议长保罗·瑞安：将不寻求连任
美国众议院议长保罗·瑞安（Paul Ryan）表示，他将不会在国会寻求连任。
瑞安是众议院中职位最高的共和党议员。他宣布该消息时，国会共和党人正面临着今年的中期选举中失去多数优势的担忧。
众议院所有的435名议员每两年必须重新选举一次。共和党目前拥有237个众议院席位，而民主党控制了192个席位。
保罗·瑞安加入了越来越多从美国国会辞职的议员行列。有37名共和党众议员将在2019年1月任期届满时离任。民主党有17位众议员选择不再寻求连任。
最近的民意调查显示，民主党在潜在选民中更受欢迎。调查数据显示，民主党比共和党高出了5到11个百分点。
周三，瑞安在华盛顿发表讲话表示，并不是担心在众议院中失去多数党优势而作出退休决定。他说，想花更多时间陪伴妻子和3个孩子。
瑞安表示，作为议长的短暂时间里，他完成了很多工作。他补充说，“我们将创下一项伟大记录。”瑞安将在任期结束后离开国会。
在众议院的岁月
1998年，瑞安首次当选国会议员。他以28岁的年龄成为共和党的“少壮派”一员。
2012年，共和党总统候选人米特·罗姆尼（Mitt Romney）力邀瑞安担任该党副总统候选人。他们在选举中惜败给时任总统的奥巴马以及副总统拜登。
3年前，瑞安在前议长约翰·博纳（John Boehner）仓促离职后接任众议院议长一职。
长期以来，瑞安一直寻求减税和改革政府福利。他还希望推翻“平价医疗法”，该法案扩大了美国的医保体系。2010年，奥巴马总统签署了这项法案。如今，这项法案的反对者和支持者都称其为“奥巴马医改方案”。
去年年底，瑞安和共和党控制的国会批准了减税，但是未能废除奥巴马医改方案。
周三，这位众议院议长在共和党议员的闭门会议上宣布了他的计划。瑞安表示，担任议长是他毕生的荣誉并感谢大家对他的信任。
瑞安的发言人在一份声明中表示：“在众议院任职近20载，瑞安为完成的所有成就感到自豪，他准备花更多时间来履行丈夫和父亲的职责。”
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
