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1.VOA常速
【Hispanic Voters Could Play Key Role in US Election】
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TEXT:Luis Torres and Willie Fernandez run a Houston company that does completion work on construction projects.
But when it comes to politics, they differ, with Fernandez being more critical of President Obama, the Democratic Party candidate.
“Look at the deficit we are in now, economically,” Fernandez said.
“I don't think that is all due to Obama; it all came from before,” said Torres.
“No, but $15 billion in the first year...” noted Fernandez.
“Well, he has inherited a lot of this,” replied Torres.
But, while Torres defends President Obama, he is still not sure how he will vote in November.
“The last time I voted for Obama. I am disappointed in what he has done. I mean, he has really not done much. , I don't know if it is all due to the politics that are in play, but he has not fulfilled the promises that he made,” Torres said.
In recent speeches, President Obama has argued that he needs more time to deal with the nation's enormous problems.
“I know we have gone through some tough years and I know that for all the things we have done, we still have so much undone,” Obama said.
Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney discussed the economy in a recent speech in Washington to a group of Hispanic small business owners.
“I know your prosperity means greater opportunity, for you, for your families, for your employees, for your communities and for the nation,” Romney said.
What Romney did not mention was his hard-line policy on illegal immigration, which some Hispanic supporters, like Willie Fernandez, find troubling.
“Here you have to look at who is the worst of all evils, I mean the reality. Am I happy with him? No, I am not. Am I happy with Obama? No, I am not,” Fernandez said.
Both Torres and Fernandez are naturalized U.S. citizens; Torres came from Colombia, Fernandez from Cuba. They both favor some form of immigration reform and think it would be counterproductive to deport millions of laborers who are needed here.
Another issue of concern to Luis Torres is that the number of Hispanic elected officials does not match the size of the Hispanic population in many states and Hispanic voting rates are generally low.
“Hispanics have to get behind their candidates and get them elected so that they can have more representation,” Torres said.
But Willie Fernandez thinks the ethnicity of candidates is often over-emphasized.
“If you are elected by the people, you should represent the people, whoever you are. You can't bend it to one ethnic group or another, you have to represent the people,” Fernandez said.
Both men strongly believe in the democratic system and plan to vote in November, but neither one is entirely sure whom they will support.
2.VOA慢速
【How Gold Became the Gold Standard for Trade】
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TEXT:This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.
The best example of something is often called the "gold standard." It sets the standard against which other things are measured. In economics, the term describes how major trading nations once used gold to set currency values and exchange rates. Many nations continued to use the gold standard until the last century.
In the United States, people could exchange paper money for gold from the eighteen seventies until nineteen thirty-three. President Richard Nixon finally disconnect ed the dollar from the value of gold in nineteen seventy-one. Some politicians from time to time call for a return to the gold standard.
But in nineteen seventy-eight the International Monetary Fund ended an official gold price. The IMF also ended the required use of gold in transaction s with its member countries.
Since that time, gold prices have grown, but unevenly . Prices -- uncorrected for inflation -- are now at record highs. The current price is above fourteen hundred dollars an ounce.
But people keep buying. Neang Chan Nuon is a gold shop owner in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh.
NEANG CHAN NUON: "Some of my customers have even bought more as they believe the price will probably go higher. I sell more gold at these higher prices."
Some people are "gold bugs." These are investors who say people should buy gold to protect against inflation.
People have valued gold for thousands of years. The soft, dense metal polish es to a bright yellow shine and resist s most chemical reactions. It makes a good material for money, political power -- and, more recently, electrical power. If you own a device like a mobile phone or a computer, you might own a little gold in the wiring.
The gold standard was the subject of one of the best-known speeches in American political history. It took place at the eighteen ninety-six Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
William Jennings Bryan wanted the country to use both gold and silver as money. The idea was to devalue the dollar and make it easier for farmers pay their debts. Here is Bryan reading his speech much later, in nineteen twenty-one.
WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN: "You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns. You shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold."
The speech made William Jennings Bryan famous. He was a presidential candidate three times. But he never won.
And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. I'm Steve Ember.
参考译文：这里是VOA特别英语经济报道。
某种东西最好的范例通常被称作“金标准”，为其他事物提供了衡量标准。在经济中，这个词语表明过去贸易大国之间用黄金来设定货币价值和汇率。许多国家一直到上个世纪还在使用金本位。
在美国，从19世纪70年代到1933年之间都可以用纸币兑换黄金。1971年，尼克松总统最终宣布美元与黄金之间脱离关系。一些政客不时呼吁恢复金本位。
但是，1978年，国际货币基金组织终止了官方黄金价格。IMF还停止要求成员国之间使用黄金进行交易。
自那时起，黄金价格开始上涨，但是并不均衡。现在，未经通胀率校正的黄金价格已经达到创纪录的高度。目前的金价已经超过每盎司1400美元。
但是人们仍然在购买黄金。Neang Chan Nuon是柬埔寨首都金边一家金店的老板。
Neang Chan Nuon：“一些顾客购买的黄金甚至比以前更多，因为他们相信金价会上涨到更高水平。价格上涨之后，我销售的黄金反而更多。”
有一些人是黄金信徒(Gold Bug)，这些投资者认为人们应该购买黄金来预防通货膨胀。
几千年来，人们都非常重视黄金。这种质地细软的金属闪耀着黄色的光芒，能够抵抗大部分化学反应，是用作金钱和政治权利的良好材料——最近，还用作电子设备。如果你拥有手机或电脑等设备，这些设备的线路上也含有少量的金。
金本位是美国政治历史上最著名的讲话的其中一个话题。这次讲话发生在1896年芝加哥民主国民会议上。
布莱安(William Jennings Bryan)希望美国使用黄金和白银来作为货币。该想法是为了让美元贬值，让农民偿还债务更加容易。以下是1921年布莱安再次阅读他的讲话的录音。
布莱安(William Jennings Bryan)：“你们不该把带刺的王冠压在劳动人民的额头上；你们也不该将人类钉死在金制的十字架上！”
这次演讲使布莱安(William Jennings Bryan)声誉鹊起。他曾经三次成为总统候选人，但是从未赢得选举。
本VOA慢速译文由可可英语qihui提供。
