英语六十分钟学习.docVIP

The death and life of Asheboro, N.C This week before the election there is a lot of arguing about the slowest recovery America has ever seen. We went to North Carolina, a state that went for the president last time but is swinging toward Mitt Romney now. And we found the story of the economy in the death and life of Asheboro. Asheboro grew up on manufacturing, its factories filled with generations of families who built their town near Purgatory Mountain. But in 2008, Asheboro was named one of Americas fastest dying towns. The folks there were never going to quit, but they are still struggling. Why are we stuck somewhere between recession and recovery? No one better to ask than those who live around Purgatory. In Randolph County, theres no escaping the second election since the great recession. Nonstop, the TV promises a better day or warns of a worse one. Folks around here have seen a lot of both. Those days start with the signature sound of Asheboro at the Acme-McCrary textile company. It opened the year that some of its workers helped put a Republican in the White House, William Howard Taft. It was 1909. One hundred and three years later, Bill Redding runs the place. Scott Pelley: At its peak how many employees did you have? Bill Redding: About 2,000. Scott Pelley: And today? Bill Redding: Six hundred. To see why its so hard to stitch together a recovery, look at the ladies hosiery business. Its been torn to shreds by cheap imports. Redding has kept the mill going two ways. One, a great idea. He took a chance on a new product: Spanx shapeware which became a sensation. And two, he moved 600 jobs to Honduras. Scott Pelley: The workers who are less-skilled in Honduras working for you, how much less are they making than the people who work on this floor? Bill Redding: Considerable. Scott Pelley: Fifty percent? Bill Redding: I probably dont wanna answer that. Scott Pelley: Okay. But its a considerable difference? Bill Redding: Oh, yeah. Scott Pelley: And its what kee