托福阅读机经背：美国经济面临又一财政悬崖.docxVIP

智课网TOEFL备考资料 托福阅读机经背景：美国经济面临又一财政悬崖   The U.S. may have avoided the fiscal cliff, but analysts say the last minute Congressional agreement at the start of the year to raise taxes on wealthy Americans and avoid massive spending cuts was only a temporary fix. Now, even as President Barack Obama begins his second term, another financial crisis is looming - one with potentially severe implications for the worlds largest economy.  美国可能避免了上次财政悬崖，但是分析家说，国会今年初达成的向富人增税，避免大幅度裁减开支的协议只能暂时解决问题。现在，奥巴马总统开始了他的第二个任期，又一个财政危机正在悄悄降临，这个危机可能会对美国这个世界上最大的经济体带来严重影响。  The U.S. government has already reached the congressionaly imposed borrowing limit of $16.4 trillion and could run out of money by mid-February.  美国政府债务已经达到了国会设定的16万4千亿美元的债务上限，可能会在2月中出现无以支付账单问题。  New York trader Benedict Willis says the coming debate over raising the debt ceiling could be even more acrimonious.  纽约证交所的交易员本尼迪克特?威利斯说，即将展开的提高债务上限的争论可能会更加激烈。  Now well go from the talk of fiscal cliff, Im sure well start talking about the St. Valentines Day massacre because thats really the deadline well be looking at as far as the deficit reduction and the debt ceiling talks are concerned, Willis said.  本尼迪克特?威利斯是纽约证交所的交易员。他说：“现在我们不会再讨论财政悬崖了，要讨论的是情人节大屠杀，因为那天将是我们决定如何减少赤字和解决债务上限问题的最后期限。”  Republican House Speaker John Boehner is demanding major spending cuts in exchange for any agreement to raise the debt limit.  国会众议院议长共和党人贝纳要求大幅度减少开支，以换取任何提高债务上限的协议。  But President Barack Obama calls that - irresponsible.  可是奥巴马总统说，那是不负责任的做法。  If congressional Republicans refuse to pay Americas bills on time, Social Security checks and veterans benefits will be delayed. We might not be able to pay our troops or honor our contracts with small business owners, Obama said.  他说：“如果国会共和党人届时拒绝提高美国的债务上限，就会推迟发放社保支票和退伍军人福利，我们就可能无法支付我们军人的薪水，无法履行跟小企业签订的合同。”  The government would be unable to pay the interest on its debts -- creating massi