Italians want to have a say in the way their country is run

 　　MILAN, Italy, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- After traveling his country far and wide for years, Italian Paolo Galimberti stepped back as head of young entrepreneurs of Confcommercio business association in order to "give a helping¹ hand to the upswing of national economy.""I was one of the thousands small and medium entrepreneurs oppressed by record-high taxes, labyrinthine² bureaucracy and credit crunch³. I could not stand seeing the backbone⁴ of Italy's economy going into such a decline, thus I decided⁵ to enter politics," he told Xinhua on Thursday.

　　Galimberti highlighted that he wanted to have a say in the way his country is run by the next government due to replace the technocratic⁶ cabinet of caretaker premier⁷ Mario Monti.

　　He will compete for a seat in parliament with former premier Silvio Berlusconi's center-right coalition⁸ in the Feb. 24-25 election.

　　As parties formally filed their lists earlier this week, contenders from the center-left led by former industry minister Pier⁹ Luigi Bersani, which is ahead in polls, to the Berlusconi formation and the Monti centrists, all raced to present a range of aspiring¹⁰ politicians chosen from a variety of professional fields including journalism¹¹, magistrature¹² and the sports world.

　　Explaining his reasons for running with Bersani's Democratic Party (PD), Massimo Mucchetti, a well-known economic commentator¹³ of Italy's largest circulation newspaper Corriere della Sera, said that he felt the urgent need of "new faces" to put an end to the "20-year unfortunate Berlusconi's season.""I think anyone who has accumulated working skills that may be useful to the country has a civic¹⁴ duty to participate in the governance of public affairs," he told Xinhua.

　　Electoral analysts¹⁵ said that, in fact, over the past weeks Italians have started to show increasing interest in politics, after appearing detached for months from their scandal-hit leaders.

　　"The mounting electoral debate as well as the PD primaries to select candidates, held with the help of more than 100,000 volunteers, especially contributed to make grow interest," a political science professor at the University Carlo Bo of Urbino and one of leading experts on voting trends, Ilvo Diamanti, told Xinhua.

　　"When Italians were called to take part, their response was very positive," he said.

　　Meanwhile, the number of those undecided or not intended to go to the polls, though still around 37 percent, has continued to decrease among the 51 million citizens who will be called on to vote next month.

　　Valentina Vezzali, winner of six Olympic gold medals in foil competitions and who will be on the Monti list, said that she was brought close to politics by a renewed sense of responsibility.

　　"I could not passively accept scandals, dishonesty and above all a way of doing politics which was far away from its deepest meaning, thus decided to adhere to a great reform project," she told Xinhua.

　　Other dozens of candidates across the entire political spectrum¹⁶ were chosen from among the world of associationism, from crime-fighting groups to cultural and environmental organizations, showing that "openness to society can be an antidote¹⁷ to anti-politics," wrote La Repubblica national newspaper.

　　Even the portion of voters, around 14 percent according to most recent polls, supporting the anti-establishment Five Star Movement led by Beppe Grillo indicated "a certain form of political mobilization based on strong criticism," Diamanti added.

　　Grillo, a former comedian¹⁸ turned activist¹⁹, has mustered²⁰ thousands of disillusioned²¹ people via the web and social media. They are part of the "political community" counting as many as 29 percent of the nearly 36 million Italians surfing the internet, a survey by Demos & Pi research institute showed.

1 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

2 labyrinthine   

adj.如迷宫的；复杂的

参考例句：

• His mind slid away into the labyrinthine world of doublethink.他的思绪，早滑进到双重思想迷宫般的世界里去。
• The streets of the Old City are narrow and labyrinthine.老城区的街道狭促曲折，好似迷宫一般。

3 crunch   

n.关键时刻；艰难局面；v.发出碎裂声

参考例句：

• If it comes to the crunch they'll support us.关键时刻他们是会支持我们的。
• People who crunch nuts at the movies can be very annoying.看电影时嘎吱作声地嚼干果的人会使人十分讨厌。

4 backbone   

n.脊骨，脊柱，骨干；刚毅，骨气

参考例句：

• The Chinese people have backbone.中国人民有骨气。
• The backbone is an articulate structure.脊椎骨是一种关节相连的结构。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 technocratic   

adj.由技术专家官员组成的；受技术官僚影响的

参考例句：

• But there is method in Europe's technocratic madness, the official went on. 但欧洲的专家政治论者的愤怒是有原因的，这个位官员接着说道。 来自互联网
• Mr Juppé was floored in part by his contemptuous, technocratic attitude towards union leaders. 朱佩对工会领导蛮横与不屑，是导致他一败涂地的部分原因。 来自互联网

7 premier   

adj.首要的；n.总理，首相

参考例句：

• The Irish Premier is paying an official visit to Britain.爱尔兰总理正在对英国进行正式访问。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。

8 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

9 pier   

n.码头；桥墩，桥柱；[建]窗间壁，支柱

参考例句：

• The pier of the bridge has been so badly damaged that experts worry it is unable to bear weight.这座桥的桥桩破损厉害，专家担心它已不能负重。
• The ship was making towards the pier.船正驶向码头。

10 aspiring   

adj.有志气的；有抱负的；高耸的v.渴望；追求

参考例句：

• Aspiring musicians need hours of practice every day. 想当音乐家就要每天练许多小时。
• He came from an aspiring working-class background. 他出身于有抱负的工人阶级家庭。 来自辞典例句

11 journalism   

n.新闻工作，报业

参考例句：

• He's a teacher but he does some journalism on the side.他是教师，可还兼职做一些新闻工作。
• He had an aptitude for journalism.他有从事新闻工作的才能。

12 magistrature   

长官的职位，地方行政长官

参考例句：

13 commentator   

n.注释者，解说者；实况广播评论员

参考例句：

• He is a good commentator because he can get across the game.他能简单地解说这场比赛，是个好的解说者。
• The commentator made a big mistake during the live broadcast.在直播节目中评论员犯了个大错误。

14 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。

15 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

16 spectrum   

n.谱，光谱，频谱；范围，幅度，系列

参考例句：

• This is a kind of atomic spectrum.这是一种原子光谱。
• We have known much of the constitution of the solar spectrum.关于太阳光谱的构成，我们已了解不少。

17 antidote   

n.解毒药，解毒剂

参考例句：

• There is no known antidote for this poison.这种毒药没有解药。
• Chinese physicians used it as an antidote for snake poison.中医师用它来解蛇毒。

18 comedian   

n.喜剧演员；滑稽演员

参考例句：

• The comedian tickled the crowd with his jokes.喜剧演员的笑话把人们逗乐了。
• The comedian enjoyed great popularity during the 30's.那位喜剧演员在三十年代非常走红。

19 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

20 mustered   

v.集合，召集，集结（尤指部队）( muster的过去式和过去分词 )；（自他人处）搜集某事物；聚集；激发

参考例句：

• We mustered what support we could for the plan. 我们极尽所能为这项计划寻求支持。
• The troops mustered on the square. 部队已在广场上集合。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 disillusioned   

a.不再抱幻想的，大失所望的，幻想破灭的

参考例句：

• I soon became disillusioned with the job. 我不久便对这个工作不再抱幻想了。
• Many people who are disillusioned in reality assimilate life to a dream. 许多对现实失望的人把人生比作一场梦。