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6月英语四级听力练习辅导
Changing Presidents Can Be a 'Very Stressful Process'
总统交接过程将会非常成功
The election may be over, but for President-elect Donald Trump, the work is just beginning.
The president-elect’s transition team now needs to choose who will work in his administration.
It is a big job. There are positions, such as cabinet secretaries, that must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. In all, there are about 4,000 jobs in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government.
They include everything from top-level advisers and cabinet members to ambassadors, agency directors, and people who answer the telephones.
Dorrance Smith knows about working at the White House. The former senior White House advisor has worked there two times, for Republican Presidents Gerald Ford and George Bush. Later, he was a senior advisor at the Defense Department for President George W. Bush, the son of President George Bush.
Smith says filling all those jobs is not as easy as saying, “I want this person in this job.” The Federal Bureau of Investigation and government lawyers first must investigate them.
“They will go through your background for the past 20 years to determine whether or not you are fit to serve… And you also are going to have to reveal publicly as a public servant your assets and many people would prefer not to have that be public information.”
If the person has financial investments in a related area, they may have to sell them before taking the job. Smith did when he took a media-related job in the administration.
“There are sacrifices and there are decisions that people of means are going to have to make in order to serve and they’ll have to make the determination if it's if it's worth it.”
Donald Trump: Untraditional
Traditionally, the incoming White House team hires people from their party who have worked at the top levels of government. However, Donald Trump is different. He ran a campaign that was not traditional.
Smith says there are Republicans who do not want to work in Trump’s administration.
Before the election, Trump did not have as many people working on a transition plan as democrat Hillary Clinton. Sources say she had more people chosen for government jobs. Shortly after his election, Trump also replaced Chris Christie as the head of his transition team. He named vice-president-elect Mike Pence as the leader of the team.
The president-elect has said he wants to “drain the swamp.” A swamp is a wet muddy area. By using that phrase, he may mean he wants to get rid of government workers he thinks are not doing a good job. But Smith says that not using people who already have strong government experience makes Trump’s job harder.
“Part of what he ran on was draining the swamp and part of being the fact that he's elected was the first step and pulling the plug on the swamp. But now he's got to fill the pond. And it's an overwhelmingly daunting task.”
White House Changes
Presidential elections mean big changes for many workers in the executive branch of the U.S. government.
In 1992, George Bush was not re-elected. So, Dorrance Smith had to decide what to do when he left the White House in January.
The same year, Democratic Congressional official John Angell was moving to the White House. His boss, Leon Panetta, had been named head of the White House budget office.
Angell explains, after the president’s inauguration speech and parade are over, he walks into the Oval Office of the White House. Then he is in charge of one of the world’s largest organizations.
“You don't know what's going to happen that afternoon. The next morning there could be a financial crisis. There could be a foreign policy crisis. So, you really have to be up and running is the phrase. On January 21st.”
For Angell, getting ready for that day meant many meetings in Washington to prepare a new budget for the Clinton presidency. It also meant flying down to Arkansas in a private jet to meet with then President-Elect Bill Clinton.
It is a “very stressful process” he says. As a government official with many years of experience, both in Congress and the White House, Angell says he thinks Trump is facing a very difficult transition. That is because of his lack to government experience.
Angell says preparing a budget at the beginning of the Clinton presidency was a very difficult experience.
“And we were working 18 hours a day, and throwing together two or three meetings a day for the president and the team. And it had to be done very quickly and in the end the worst thing was you didn't want to fail. Because you'd be failing at a level you've never failed at before.”
As a former top Congressional official , Angell says Trump faces hard choices about cutting government and cutting programs that are popular with Americans. Trump will be working with a Republican Congress. Some members will have their own ideas of what to cut, and what to keep.
Dorrance Smith gives a funny example of how these things can work.
After losing the 1992 election, President Bush’s administration wanted to cut the yearly “pardoning” of a live turkey at Thanksgiving time in November. In the ceremony, the president appears with a real turkey at the White House and says the turkey will be pardonednot killed for a meal.
But when they took the event off the president’s schedule, they were in for a surprise. Smith says The White House was “swamped” by turkey industry supporters demanding that the pardon ceremony continue.
“I guess there are a lot of turkeys in a lot of congressional districts with a very stronglobby because we had to put it back on. And the lame duck president had to go pardon the turkey one more time.”
What will happen next in the current presidential transition is hard to predict. Smith says Trump’s campaign and election “blew up all of the models.”
The Trump transition team will work on filling those 4,000 jobs. Their new administration will need to be ready for whatever happens on January 21, the first full day of the Trump presidency.
I’m Anne Ball.
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Words in This Story
transition n. a change from one group or state or condition to another
assets n. investments or other items worth money
swamp n. a wet and muddy place outside
pond n. a body of water
daunting adj. difficult
task n. a job for someone to do
inauguration n. the ceremony when the new president is sworn into office
pardon v. to be forgiven, so one will not face punishment
lobby v. to try to influence government officials to make decisions for or against something
The massive decline in sleep happened so slowly and quietly that few seemed to notice the trend. Was it because of the growing attraction of the Internet, video games and endless TV channels? Never disconnecting from work? No matter how it happened, millions of Americans are putting their health, quality of life and even length of life in danger.
New evidence shows why getting enough sleep is a top priority. Some 40% of Americans get less than 7 hours of shut-eye on week nights. “The link between sleep and health, and bad sleep and disease is becoming clearer and clearer.” says Lawrence Alberstaine, a sleep expert at Harvard University. For example, sleep duration has declined from some 8 hours in the 1950s to 7 in recent years. At the same time, high blood pressure has become an increasing problem. Blood pressure and heart rate are typically at their lowest levels during sleep. People who sleep less tend to have higher blood pressure, heart attack, diabetes, weight gain and other problems.
Sleeping better may help fight off illness. “When people are sleep-derived, there are higher levels of stress hormones in their bodies which can decrease immune function.” says Doctor Felice, of Northwestern University in Chicago. A university of Chicago study shows people who sleep well live longer. So say good night sooner and it may help you stay active and vital to a ripe old age.
Q16. What is the speaker mainly talking about?
Q17. What do we learn from the talk about today's Americans?
Q18. What does the speaker say will happen to people who lack sleep?
Parents and teachers will tell you not to worry when applying for a place at a university. But in the same breath will remind you that it is the most important decision of your life.
The first decision is your choice of course. It will depend on what you want to get out of university, what you are good at and what you enjoy. The next decision is where to apply. Aim high but within reason. Do you have the right combination of subjects and are your expected grades likely to meet entry requirements? The deadline is January 15th. But it is best to submit your application early because universities begin work as soon as forms start rolling in.
The most important part of the application is the much feared personal statement. This is your chance to convey boundless enthusiasm for the subject. So economy of expression is foremost. Omit dull and ineffective generalities and make sure you give concrete examples.
Admissions officers read every personal statement that arrives. It is not convincing if you say you have chosen the subject because you enjoy it. You have to get across what it is about a particular area that has inspired you. They will look for evidence that you have reflected and thought about the subject.
Applicants should be honest. There is no point saying you run marathons, if you are going to be out of breath arriving at the interview on the second floor.
Q19. What is the first decision you should make in preparing to apply for a place at a university?
Q20. What is the most important part of the application?
Q21. What must applicants do in their personal statements?
It is widely believed that German invented the first car in 1885. It was actually a tricycle with a petrol motor at the rear. Soon, members of the royal family and other wealthy people took up motoring as a sport. Many of the early cars had 2 seats. There were no petrol pumps and few garages, so every driver had to be his own engineer for the frequent breakdowns.
By 1905, cars began to look like cars of today, with head lamps, wind screen, rubble tires and number plates. Henry Ford's Model T introduced in America in 1909 was cheaper because it was made on the assembly line. It brought cars closer towards the reach of ordinary people. With the popularity of the car, registration became a must in 1903 with the motor car act. Competency tests were introduced in 1935.
Today, the legal driving age for a car in the UK is 17. You are not allowed to drive a car unsupervised until you have passed a driving test. In 1958, Britain celebrated the opening of its first motor way C the Preston Bypass. Until then, no one really understood what a motor way was, not even the laborers who were building it. The bypass held a new era in motor travel and was greeted with excitement and optimism. Service stations came with the motor way and the legend of the transport cafe was born. Of course, the service station has diversified greatly. But whether it’s an English-cooked breakfast or a coffee and a sandwich, one thing has remained the same: the prices.
Q22. What does the speaker say about the first motor car?
Q23. What was the problem with the early cars in Britain?
Q24. Why did Henry Ford's Model T cars cost less?
Q25. What do we learn about the Preston Bypass?
