This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.
这里是美国之音慢速英语经济报道。
Student loans and the interest millions of Americans pay on them have been getting a lot of attention recently. Student loan payments and interest are a financial reality for men and women in many different kinds of jobs across the United States.
数百万美国人需要偿还的助学贷款及其利息最近获得了众多关注。助学贷款还贷和利息是美国各地就职于不同行业的男男女女共同面临的财务现状。
The Department of Education says interest rates for Direct Subsidized Student Loans will double to just under seven percent on July first. Five years ago, Congress passed a measure that lowered interest rates for the government loans. But the law is set to expire.
美国教育部表示，7月1日，直接助学贷款的利率将翻一番，提高到接近7%。5年前，美国国会通过了一项法案，降低了政府助学贷款的利率。但该法案即将到期。
注：美国目前最盛行的国家助学贷款被称为“斯坦福贷学金”，它分为两种形式：一种形式是资金直接来自政府，政府承担风险；另一种形式是由银行或其他金融机构提供贷款，由州政府进行担保，联邦政府进行再担保。
The president has called for the lower, three point four percent interest rate in his new budget. But if Congress does not act, new student borrowers will pay more. Other borrowing-related costs will also go up. The Obama administration says this will cost each student borrower an additional one thousand dollars on average.
奥巴马总统在他的新预算案中主张将利息维持在3.4%的低水平。但如果国会不采取行动，新的学生借贷人将需要偿付更多。另一些借贷相关的成本也将上涨。奥巴马政府表示，这将使得每个学生借贷人平均额外多支出1000美元。
Higher education in the United States is costly. The Department of Education says the average yearly cost of attending a public college was about twelve thousand eight hundred dollars in twenty ten. The total for private schools was over thirty-two thousand.
美国高等教育费用极其昂贵。美国教育部表示，2010年就读公立大学平均每年的费用为12800美元，私立学校总额超过3.2万美元。
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York collects financial information. It says Americans owed eight hundred forty-five billion dollars in student loans last year. Some reports say the amount is now near one trillion dollars.
收集财务信息的纽约联邦储备银行称，美国人去年欠下的助学贷款达到了8450亿美元。有报道称，目前该数额已接近1万亿美元。
The administration says seven point four million students will be affected without a new law. This week, President Obama traveled to several college campuses. At the University of North Carolina, he talked about his own experience.
政府表示，如果没有新法案出台，740万学生将受到影响。本周，奥巴马总统前往了几个学校。在北卡罗莱纳大学，他谈到了自己的经历。
BARACK OBAMA: "We didn't come from wealthy families. So when we graduated from college and law school, we had a mountain of debt. When we married, we got poor together."
奥巴马：“我俩（指奥巴马及其妻子）并非出身富裕家庭。所以当我俩从大学及法学院毕业后，面临的债务堆积如山。我俩结婚时便一起陷入了贫困。”
Supporters of low student loan interest rates have promised a campaign to get new legislation. An extension is estimated to cost the government six billion dollars. Mitt Romney, the Republican Party's likely presidential candidate, supports an extension. Republican leaders in the House of Representatives say they like the popular program. They just differ on how to pay for it. Republicans want the money to come from the new health care reform law.
低利率助学贷款支持者已经承诺进行游说使得新法案出台。延长该法案预计将耗费政府60亿美元。共和党可能的总统候选人罗姆尼支持延长这一法案。众议院共和党领导人表示，他们支持这个极受欢迎的方案。他们只是对如何掏这笔钱存在分歧。共和党人希望这笔钱来自新医保改革法案。
The Democratic Party has proposed increasing taxes on some businesses, including oil and gas companies. Last Tuesday, President Obama put his argument to music on a late-night television program.
民主党提出增加一些企业的税收，包括石油和天然气公司。上周二，奥巴马总统在一个深夜电视节目中把他的观点改编成了音乐。
BARACK OBAMA: (Music Under) "Now is not the time to make school more expensive for our young people."
奥巴马：（背景音乐）“现在不是让年轻人上学要掏更多钱的时候。”
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