VOA慢速英语:Mitt Romney and Bain Capital

 
Private companies are rarely a major issue in American presidential election campaigns. But some observers say that could change this year because of Bain Capital.
私营公司很少成为美国总统竞选的主要议题。但一些观察家称，因为贝恩资本，今年的情况可能有所改变。

 
Bain Capital is an investment company with offices in Boston, Massachusetts. Mitt Romney, the likely Republican Party candidate for president, helped start the company. Profits from Bain Capital have made Mr. Romney very wealthy.
贝恩资本投资公司总部设在马萨诸塞州波士顿市。共和党最有可能的总统候选人罗姆尼帮忙创办了这家公司。来自贝恩资本的利润已经让罗姆尼先生很富裕。

 
Recently, President Obama has begun asking questions about Mister Romney’s involvement with the company. The two men are set to face each other in the November elections.
最近，奥巴马总统已经开始就罗姆尼参与这家公司提出质疑。这两人将在11月大选中成为对手。

Bain Capital is a private equity company. It uses money from wealthy individuals and financial organizations to buy other businesses. It then works to increase their profitability before selling them, often at a huge profit. Bain is one of America’s leading venture capital companies. Its partners reportedly manage sixty-five businesses said to be worth about sixty billion dollars.
贝恩资本是一家私人股权公司。该公司利用富人和金融机构的资金收购其它企业，然后努力提升所收购企业的盈利能力后卖出，这通常可以获得巨大利润。贝恩资本是美国领先的风险投资公司之一。据报道，其合作伙伴管理着65家企业，据称价值约600亿美元。

 
Mitt Romney helped to organize the company in nineteen eighty-four. Mister Romney led Bain until he left in nineteen ninety-nine. He says the businesses Bain bought and directed during his years with the company created about one hundred thousand jobs.
罗姆尼在1984年帮忙创办了这家公司，在1999年离开前一直负责贝恩资本。他说，他就职的那些年，贝恩资本购买和管理的企业创造了约10万个就业机会。

 
Mister Romney has said that his time at Bain was more important to him than his years as governor of Massachusetts. He says both jobs gave him the experience and skills necessary to help the American economy. The former governor spoke at a recent campaign event. He said Mister Obama has failed in his efforts to strengthen the economy.
罗姆尼先生说，他在贝恩资本的时候比当马萨诸塞州州长更为重要。他说，这两项工作给了他必要的经验和技能来帮助美国的经济。这位前任州长在一次竞选活动中说，奥巴马先生在他加强美国经济的措施上已经失败。

 
ROMNEY: “He has spent more and borrowed more. The time has come for a president, a leader, who will lead. I will lead us out of this debt and spending inferno.”
罗姆尼：“他花了很多，也借了很多。对于谁将成为领导者的时机已经到来。我将站出来带领大家走出债务和支出的火海！”

 
He also said that, if elected, he will change the way Washington operates.
他还表示，如果当选，他将改变华盛顿的运作方式。

 
ROMNEY: “We need a president who understands the power of free enterprise because he’s lived it.  And I have, and I will, and I’ll make sure that is part of our future.”
罗姆尼：“我们需要这样一位能明白自由企业力量的总统，因为他经历过。我会确保那是我们未来的一部分。”

 
Mister Obama and his campaign have sharply different ideas about Mister Romney’s time at Bain Capital. They have advertisements that describe how some of Bain’s investments failed. The ads say the company’s decisions cost thousands of workers their jobs, while Bain earned big profits on its investments.
奥巴马先生和他的竞选阵营对罗姆尼先生在贝恩资本的职业生涯有着截然不同的想法。他们刊登广告描述了贝恩资本的一些投资是如何失败的。该广告称，贝恩资本的决策牺牲了数千名工人的工作，而他们自己赚取巨额投资利润。

 
OBAMA: “I will say today, I think there are folks who do good work in that area and there are times where they identify the capacity for the economy to create new jobs or new industries. But understand that their priority is to maximize profits and that’s not always going to be good for communities or businesses or workers.”
奥巴马：“今天我会说说，我认为有些人在某些方面做得很好，很多时候，他们定义了经济创造新的就业机会和新产业能力。但要明白，他们的首要任务是实现利润最大化，但这并不总对社区、企业或员工有利。”

 
Mister Obama has dismissed Mister Romney’s claim that his years at Bain make him the right person to fix the economy.
奥巴马先生已经否认了罗姆尼先生声称的他在贝恩资本的经历使得他成为解决经济问题的合适人选。

Several studies show that the economy will be the top issue in the election campaign. That means the president will have to spend a lot of time defending his record. Democratic Party activists know many voters are unhappy about the economy. The president’s supporters will note some improvements in the economy as evidence that the country is moving in the right direction.
 
一些研究表明，经济将成为竞选活动的首要问题。这意味着奥巴马总统将不得不花费大量时间为自己的政绩辩护。民主党人士都知道，许多选民对经济不满。总统的支持者将会指出美国经济的一些进展，以证明国家正朝着正确方向前进。