VOA常速英语:US Congress Gets Conflicting Advice on Economy, Debt

短语讲解：

1. If lawmakers were hoping for consensus from the nation's intelligentsia on how best to navigate perilous economic waters threatening to sink America's financial ship, they have surely been disappointed.

hope for希望, 希望得到
例句：We hope for an early spring.
我们希望春天早早到来。

2. Just as members of Congress passionately disagree on what ails the nation and what will cure it, so too do academics and officials who have dedicated their careers to studying such matters.

dedicate to献(身)于…; 把(时间、精力等)用于…
例句：He dedicated his life to the cause of education.
他献身于教育事业。

3. Economists of all stripes agree that an expanding economy will put Americans back to work and reduce budget deficits.

put back拨回, 向后推; 放回原处
例句：You cannot put back the clock.
时间是不会倒转的。

4. Alice Rivlin, who served as a budget official during the Clinton administration and co-chaired President Barack Obama's deficit commission, urged lawmakers to embrace an active government role to get the economy moving.

serve as充当, 担任
例句：The general had served as a soldier in the earlier war.
在早期的战争中, 这位将军曾当过士兵。

5. "Unless employment accelerates sufficiently, we are doomed to stagnation and eroding standards of living," said Rivlin.

be doomed to注定
例句：Some poems are doomed to oblivion.
有些诗注定会被湮灭遗忘。

6. It will be worth some temporary increase in the near-term deficit to avoid getting into another downward spiral of falling jobs, sales, investment, and confidence.

get into陷入
例句：Again they got into difficulties.
他们再次陷入困境。

7. "The economy abounds in opportunities for growth," said Foster.

abound in富于
例句：The English language abounds in idioms.
英语中有大量的成语。

8. But turning potential into reality requires c

turn into(使)变成
例句：Her bitter experience has turned her into a stronger person.
痛苦的经历使她变得更坚强了。

9. Picking up on that theme was Carnegie Mellon University economist Allan Meltzer, who took aim at the Obama administration's call for higher taxes on the wealthy and some corporations.

pick up on同…熟悉起来；懂得，了解，理解；意识到；注意到
例句：He has picked up on her.
他已同她熟悉起来。

10. Public policy groups, like the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, say, whatever policies or programs Washington adopts, lawmakers need to keep an eye on the main prize: stabilizing and ultimately reducing a national debt that has grown to the size of America's entire yearly economic output.

keep an eye on照看, 照管; 留心; 注意
例句：Basking on the balcony, Granny can still keep an eye on the children.
老奶奶一面在阳台上晒太阳, 一面还能照看孩子们。