This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.
这里是美国之音慢速英语新闻报道。
In the American presidential campaign, Ohio is considered one of the battleground or swing states. These are states where the race is close and could decide the winner this November.
在美国总统竞选中，俄亥俄州被认为是主战场或摇摆州之一。美国有些州在竞选中的选情非常接近，这些州能够决定大选的最终结果。
President Obama and Mitt Romney, the Republican Party's likely candidate, both gave speeches in Ohio on Thursday. The president has been helped by falling unemployment rates in Ohio. The state's jobless rate dropped from over ten percent in twenty-ten to less than seven and a half percent.
本周四，奥巴马总统和共和党最有可能的候选人罗姆尼同时在俄亥俄州发表了演讲。奥巴马总统受益于俄亥俄州失业率的下降。该州的失业率从2010年的10%以上，降到了现在的7.5%以下。
But President Obama has had a difficult few weeks that began with a disappointing jobs report. The nation's unemployment rate rose to 8.2 percent in May.
但奥巴马总统刚度过了艰难的几周，这源于一份令人失望的就业报告。今年5月，美国失业率上升到了8.2%。
Then, last week at the White House, Mr. Obama made the statement that "The private sector is doing fine." A reporter had asked him about claims that he is blaming the Europeans for failures in his own policies.
奥巴马上周在白宫发言称“私营企业表现不错”。一名记者曾问奥巴马有关于他将自己政策的失败归咎于欧洲人的这一主张。
Mr. Obama answered that more than four million jobs have been created over the past twenty-seven months. He said that where weaknesses are being seen in the economy is in cuts by state and local governments. But his statement that private employers are "doing fine" quickly came under attack.
奥巴马先生回答说，过去27个月里创造了超过400万个就业岗位，各州和地方政府正在减少当前经济中不足。但他所说的私营企业“表现不错”很快遭到了攻击。
Mr. Obama, speaking in Cleveland, Ohio, talked about a need to continue investing in manufacturing, the energy industry and education. He also called for economic fair play to help the middle class.
奥巴马在俄亥俄州克利夫兰市的演讲中谈到了继续投资于制造业、能源行业及教育业的必要性。他还呼吁经济公平竞争以帮助中产阶级。
BARACK OBAMA: "The economic vision of Mr. Romney and his allies in Congress was tested just a few years ago. We tried this. Their policies did not grow the economy, they did not grow the middle class, they did not reduce our debt. Why would we think that they would work better this time?"
奥巴马：“罗姆尼先生及其国会中的盟友的经济观点在几年前被验证过了。美国当时试过这么做。但他们的政策无法让经济增长，无法让中产阶级增加，无法让债务减少。我们为什么会认为，这次他们会做得更好呢？”
Mr. Romney, speaking in Cincinnati, said Mr. Obama's policies have hurt job growth.
罗姆尼先生在俄亥俄州辛辛那提市发表演讲时说，奥巴马的政策损害了就业增长。
MITT ROMNEY: "Talking to small employers and big employers, I hear day in and day out they feel this administration sees them as their enemy. They feel that the Obama policies have made it harder for them to put people back to work."
罗姆尼：“在和大、小企业的谈话中，我成天听到他们说这届政府将他们视为敌人。他们认为奥巴马的政策使得他们更难以让人们重新就业。”
This week, the Federal Reserve, the central bank, reported on changes in family finances from two thousand seven to two thousand ten. Part of that three-year period has been called the Great Recession. So how much wealth did the recession and slow recovery destroy? The report says the median net worth of families in twenty-ten was close to the same levels as in nineteen ninety-two.
本周，美联储报告了2007年到2010年美国家庭经济状况的变化。这三年的部分阶段被称为大萧条。那么经济衰退和复苏缓慢造成了多大的财富损失呢？该报告称，2010年美国家庭净资产平均值接近于1992年的水平。
Median means the point where half the families were higher and half were lower. Net worth is what remains after removing debts from the value of homes, bank savings and other assets.
平均值是指中间值。净资产是指房产、存款和其它资产减去债务后的剩余资产。
Median net worth was one hundred twenty-six thousand four hundred dollars in two thousand seven. Three years later it was down to seventy-seven thousand three hundred dollars. The numbers are corrected for inflation.
2007年，美国家庭净资产平均值为126,400美元，3年后下降到了77,300美元。这是修正通货膨胀影响后的数字。
The report says falling home prices as a result of the collapse of the housing market caused most of the drop in wealth.
报告称，住房市场崩溃导致的房价下跌造成了财富的大幅缩水。
Lawrence Yun is chief economist of the National Association of Realtors. He says falling home prices make families less willing to spend money.
劳伦斯·云（Lawrence Yun）是美国房地产经纪人协会首席经济学家。他说，房价下跌使得家庭消费意愿下降。
LAWRENCE YUN: "A decline in home value has a major impact on the economy because for most homeowners the largest wealth holding is in their housing. And, therefore, if the home values decline, it makes the homeowners much more conservative about their spending outlook."
云：“房价下跌对经济产生了重大影响，因为对大多数房主来说，房产是他们最大的财产。因此，如果房价下跌，就会使得房主对他们的支出前景更为保守。
Mr. Yun says there are signs that the housing market is improving.
云先生表示，有迹象表明，住房市场正在好转。
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