正文

奥巴马夫妇"钱途"远大 09年赚550万

2010-04-17来源:和谐英语

President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle earned $5.5 million (£3.5 million) in 2009, more than twice their income in 2008, despite the economic recession.

Mr Obama has managed to develop a political career far more lucrative than those of his predecessors.

After the first year of his first term, President George W. Bush earned $894,800 and in his last year $936,111.

In his final year in office, President Bill Clinton netted just $417,467.

The Obamas' tax return, released by the White House on Thursday - the day all Americans have to file their tax returns - showed that the Obamas earned $5.5 million last year and paid nearly $1.8 million (£1.16 million) in federal income tax.

In 2008, the Obamas made just under $2.5 million. The White House said that the increase was due to increased sales of Mr Obama's books.

Mr Obama's books "Dreams From My Father" and "The Audacity of Hope" were on sale in 2008, but his winning the White House appears to have boosted sales considerably.

Mr Obama, whose "principal business or profession" was listed in his tax return as "author", and the First Lady gave $329,000 (£213,000) to charities.

That included $50,000 (£32,000) each to CARE and the United Negro College Fund.

The President also donated his $1.4 million (£900,000) Nobel Peace Prize award to 10 different charities. The president's official annual salary is $400,000 (£258,000), which was raised from half that amount in 2001.

尽管过去的一年经济不景气，但美国总统贝拉克．奥巴马和夫人米歇尔一年的收入仍高达550万美元（350万英镑），为2008年的两倍多。

奥巴马政治生涯的“钱途”远超过他的前任们。

前总统小布什在其首届任期的第一年共赚得894800美元，在任最后一年的收入为936111美元。

而前总统比尔．克林顿执政最后一年的收入仅为417467美元。

根据本周四美国“纳税日”当天白宫公布的纳税申报单显示，奥巴马夫妇去年的总收入达550万美元，向联邦政府缴纳个人所得税近180万美元（116万英镑）。

2008年，奥巴马夫妇的收入不到250万美元。白宫方面表示，他们收入的增加主要是因为奥巴马两本书的大卖。

奥巴马的新书《我父亲的梦想》和《无畏的希望》于2008年上架销售，但他当选总统似乎大大推动了两本书的销量。

在奥巴马纳税申报单的“主营业务或职业”这一项，填写的内容是“作者”。奥巴马夫妇去年共向慈善机构捐款32.9万美元（21.3万英镑）。

其中包括向美国援外组织和黑人学院联合基金会各捐的5万美元（3.2万英镑）。

奥巴马还将其所获得的140万美元（90万英镑）的诺贝尔和平奖奖金捐给了10家慈善机构。奥巴马的年工资为40万美元（25.8万英镑），2001年以前，这一数字为目前的一半。

Vocabulary:

lucrative：profitable; moneymaking; remunerative（赚大钱的；获利多的）