VOA Special English -  学习笔记：ECONOMICS REPORT - 4/18/2008

VAN ALLEN 站长注：通过长期与网友交流，发现有很多的人学习 VOA Special English 都只是停留上随便听听，随便看看的层次。以这样消极的方式学习越久，你就越会发现虽然自己花了相当的时间学习英语，但除了知识面有所增长，英语语言能力水平几乎没有提高，导致丧失学习兴趣，最后逐步放弃，以失败告终。学而不思则殆，事事洞明皆学问，细细品读、分析 VOA Special English 的每篇文章，我们学到了文章主题所透露的知识，更能学到了英语英语语言的词汇、短语、表达技巧等，关键还在于自己是否真正用心去学。 下面的这篇学习笔记，是我自己在学习时翻词典、查资料记下的，目的在于引导和示范，希望大家能以主动、积极的态度充分利用 VOA Special English 学习英语。学习笔记中标记为粗体的单词或短语是需要注意的知识点，用深红色文字写的是生词解释（来自牛津高阶英语词典/英文原版/第7版）和学习心得体会。 欢迎大家通过回帖的形式发表自己的学习笔记。 -------------------------------- This is the VOA Special English Economics Report. High food and fuel prices. Housing and credit problems. Job losses. Worries about a recession. No wonder the economy is a top issue for American voters. Senator John McCain says tax cuts are needed for growth. The Republican presidential candidate set out his economic plan in a speech this week in Pennsylvania. He would push Congress to make President Bush's tax cuts permanent. And he would aim to lower the top rate of income tax for businesses, from thirty-five percent to twenty-five percent. In all, Senator McCain proposes about two hundred billion dollars in new tax cuts for businesses and individuals. To help pay for them, he would cut earmarks, those special interest projects added to spending bills. He would also hold federal spending at most agencies to current levels and cut wasteful programs. But many experts say it is unlikely these cuts would equal the cost of the tax cuts. The campaigns of Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton dismissed the McCain plan as a continuation of George Bush's policies. Both Democrats say they are against tax cuts for the wealthy. They propose moderate tax cuts for the middle class. Right now, falling property values are a big worry for millions of families. Some people who borrowed more for houses than they should have, or took out loans with rising payments, may lose their homes. This week, researchers from the Pew Charitable Trusts predicted that three percent of all homeowners will be in foreclosure in the next few years. This would be the result of high-cost subprime loans made in two thousand five and two thousand six, and the effects on local property values. Problems can be found nationally, though some areas and neighborhoods are more affected than others. Hillary Clinton proposes to stop foreclosures for at least ninety days and freeze interest rates on adjustable-rate mortgages for five years. She also proposes thirty billion dollars in aid to help states prevent foreclosures. Barack Obama's plan calls for ten billion dollars for homeowner aid. Last month, John McCain said "it is not the duty of government to bail out and reward those who act irresponsibly, whether they are big banks or small borrowers." But he now proposes to let some homeowners replace their subprime mortgages with federally guaranteed loans. His campaign says the plan would help up to four hundred thousand homeowners. And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. I'm Steve Ember.