英语新闻一起读25

标题:America's economy is starting to see cracks after closing out (终止)2014 with Superman strength.

The U.S. job market had its best year of gains last year since 1999, and economic activity hit a whopping（巨大的） 5% in the third quarter -- the best quarter since 2003.

★hit: 达到〔某一水平或数量〕:Sales have hit the 1 million mark .销售额达到 100 万; Temperatures hit 40° yesterday. 昨天气温高达 40 度；His career hit rock bottom/ hit peak.他的事业到了谷底/顶峰。

Three months later, the U.S. economy is looking a little tired (疲软). It's losing momentum in puzzling ways. Hiring is still strong, but experts are starting to scale back their growth forecasts.

momentum:势头

★scale back:减少，缩减(这个短语在考研英语最难的一年2010年的真题中出现，而且对正确解答一道题十分关键。)

看两个例句:

Carmakers in Japan and America have had to scale back

production.日本和美国的汽车制造商不得不缩减生产。

Set reasonable limits, scale back your to-do list and make time to do the things you enjoy.

设置合理的限度，相应减少你要做的事情并且花点时间做一些你喜欢的事情。

Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen summed it up well in a speech Friday: "If underlying(潜在的) conditions had truly returned to normal, the economy should be booming."

★booming:来自于boom(繁荣) 。

在考研真题中就出现过这样的专有名词 baby boom: 婴儿潮.出生率突然、大幅度的增长，尤指从1947年到1961年二次世界大战后美国的出生率。

外刊例句:As the Baby Boom generation grows older, the more elderly drivers there will be on the roads.

Economists say there are two main problems: Workers' wages aren't growing much, if at all. As a result, Americans aren't going out and spending much. On top of that, many foreign economies are slowing down, which puts pressure on the U.S.

★if at all:如果某事真的发生

★on top of that:除此之外，更重要的是

The question going forward is whether we're just in a blip(小的转折点) or a bigger shift(大的转变) is taking place.

With March's jobs report out on Friday, this economic head-scratcher will be in full focus this week.

★scratch:挠，抓→scratch head 挠头→head-scratcher 让人头疼的事