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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
Now the breaking news on the death of a world leader who made America see red, as in Fidel Castro red, Venezuela's Socialist1 president Hugo Chavez. He knew how to push hot buttons, which may explain why, on getting news of his passing, the chairman of House Foreign Affairs Committee, said, quote, "Good riddance to this dictator". President Obama tonight was more diplomatic, saying the U.S supports the Venezuelan people at this challenging time.
Now Hugo Chavez fought and lost a long battle with cancer, for a longer battle to reshape Venezuela to suit his own idiosyncratic and often eccentric vision, adding a star to the flag, changing Venezuela's time zone, ordering the nation's coat of arms altered on suggestion of his then young daughter.
And beyond those eccentricities2, he's spent 14 years challenging American influences in Latin America and the world and embracing global crisis like North Korea and Iran. In a moment, I'm gonna talk to Christiane Amanpour and Larry King, who both spent time with the late president. But, first, Jim Clancy on his turbulent years in power.
The roar of applause was music, the surging crowd his dance partner. And for Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, politics was performance art. The script came easily to Chavez, anything that might warrant outrage3 in Washington wasn't a cause for a concerned, but rather the measure of success. Chavez beamed and embraced Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the Iranian leader toured leftist Latin America, knowing well the global concerns Tehran was aiming to devote the bomb. Chavez's joked, a nearby grassy4 knoll5 would suddenly open up and a nuclear warhead would spurt6 out. What Chavez really relished7 was playing on the world stage.
Yesterday, the devil came here, and it smells of sulfur8 still today. Standing9 at the lectern, the president George W.Bush used the day before Hugo Chavez sniff10 the air and made it personal. Accusing the American leader of talking as if he were the owner of the world.
When an earthquake rocked Haiti, Chavez claimed it was the result of U.S weapons testing, an excused to send American troops into the country. Chavez, of course, had humanitarian11 and aid programs of his own.
When cashed-strapped Americans were shivering in the winter cold, Chavez volunteered Venezuelan oils to heat homes in the Bronx for free, local politicians and local media turned out too.
Chavez was never afraid to wield12 his oil wealth against his foes13 or he'd use it to win friends and influence his neighbors He once rewarded his three millionth tweeter follower14 with a new home, she was thrilled. So what if, as his critics said, the other 2,999,000 didn't get a thing. Online and in the streets, the crowds cheered.
In the end, Hugo Chavez even suggested that his cancer could be a result of an American conspiracy15. He quoted Fedel Castro's warnings, to be careful what he ate and watch out for small needles.
The images of Hugo Chavez rallying the crowds, hurling16 insults and ridiculing17 his enemies survive and a facial portrait of the Venezuelan leader.
Even his staunchest rivals admit that he could be reelected again and again, that bombastic18 rhetoric19 embraced by his supporters, embraced as the courage to stand up to the power that be, it elevated him and he knew it, courageous20, outrageous21, it's what made Hugo Chavez larger than life.
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1 socialist | |
n.社会主义者;adj.社会主义的 | |
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2 eccentricities | |
n.古怪行为( eccentricity的名词复数 );反常;怪癖 | |
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3 outrage | |
n.暴行,侮辱,愤怒;vt.凌辱,激怒 | |
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4 grassy | |
adj.盖满草的;长满草的 | |
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5 knoll | |
n.小山,小丘 | |
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6 spurt | |
v.喷出;突然进发;突然兴隆 | |
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7 relished | |
v.欣赏( relish的过去式和过去分词 );从…获得乐趣;渴望 | |
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8 sulfur | |
n.硫,硫磺(=sulphur) | |
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9 standing | |
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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10 sniff | |
vi.嗅…味道;抽鼻涕;对嗤之以鼻,蔑视 | |
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11 humanitarian | |
n.人道主义者,博爱者,基督凡人论者 | |
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12 wield | |
vt.行使,运用,支配;挥,使用(武器等) | |
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13 foes | |
敌人,仇敌( foe的名词复数 ) | |
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14 follower | |
n.跟随者;随员;门徒;信徒 | |
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15 conspiracy | |
n.阴谋,密谋,共谋 | |
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16 hurling | |
n.爱尔兰式曲棍球v.猛投,用力掷( hurl的现在分词 );大声叫骂 | |
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17 ridiculing | |
v.嘲笑,嘲弄,奚落( ridicule的现在分词 ) | |
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18 bombastic | |
adj.夸夸其谈的,言过其实的 | |
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19 rhetoric | |
n.修辞学,浮夸之言语 | |
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20 courageous | |
adj.勇敢的,有胆量的 | |
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21 outrageous | |
adj.无理的,令人不能容忍的 | |
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