英语博客(A cup of English):007 The upcoming elections.

　　The upcoming elections.
Advanced.
With the upcoming elections just around the corner, the United States is abuzz with discussions, arguments, accusations¹, and predictions. I think that it is actually a good thing. Whenever people get together and air their opinions in a civilized² manner, a lot can be accomplished³. Many people, I have found, particularly in rural areas, do not talk regularly about politics, or critique political agendas. Perhaps they are too caught-up in personal affairs to give the news and the issues the time. Following national, political events takes time, and so, it seems to follow that if people are too busy, they will generally be uninformed. That is precisely⁴ why I say that the political 'buzz' is a good thing.Unfortunately the candidates, John McCain and Barak Obama, have not exactly been the examples of civility and good manners towards eachother. One would hope that they could demonstrate to the country how to politely disagree, and perhaps even find common ground. Is that idealism, pie in the sky? I hope not. I would have thought, that with the whole world watching, the candidates would show the greatest dignity, and spend more time talking about issues rather than pointing a negative finger at eachother. What do you think?
Grammar notes.
Verbs: to vote, to elect, to point the finger, to critique.
Useful expressions: just around the corner, actually, particularly, precisely, common ground, pie in the sky.
Subjunctive: Ex. If I were the President, I would + infinitive⁵.
If she was the Queen, she would + infinitive.
Beginners.
It is election time again. It happens every four years. Two or three people decide that they would like to be President. Then the 'race' starts. How is it in your country? Do you have regular elections? Which political party do you support? There are always lots of decisions to be made. I am excited that I can vote. I am glad that what I think can add to the country's destiny. In England, where I come from, we have a similar election process, but we do not have a Presidential race. We simply vote for the political party that we prefer. Then, the winning party decides who is the best person to be Prime Minister. I wonder if a perfect system will be made one day.
Grammar notes.
Verbs: to happen = to take place/ to occur. To support (a political party). To make a decision. To vote (for).
Thematic vocabulary: political, vote, party, Prime Minister, President, country, system, elections, candidates.

1 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

2 civilized   

a.有教养的，文雅的

参考例句：

• Racism is abhorrent to a civilized society. 文明社会憎恶种族主义。
• rising crime in our so-called civilized societies 在我们所谓文明社会中日益增多的犯罪行为

3 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

4 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

5 infinitive   

n.不定词；adj.不定词的

参考例句：

• The use of the split infinitive is now generally acceptable.分裂不定式的用法现在已被广泛接受。
• Modal verbs generally take the bare infinitive.情态动词通常用不带to的不定式。