美国文化脱口秀 第398期:最Low的一届美国大选

 　　今天节目的标题，是Spencer和很多美国人的心声。也许我们多少怀着看热闹的心态看特朗普、希拉里之争。但对很多美国人来说，今年的大选让人很失望、很沮丧。Spencer就是其中之一，听听他的心声吧！

　　关键词：

　　Lose-Lose situation “双输”

　　No matter who gets elected, it's going to be a lose-lose situation: 不管他们谁当选，我觉得都是一场没有赢家的选举

　　Many people feel this is a sad and embarrassing election: 很多美国人觉得这是一次很悲哀、很让人羞愧的总统大选

　　We've stooped to a new low: 我们陷入了一个政治新低谷

　　Why does it make you sad and embarrassed? 这次的选举，为什么让你那么沮丧？

　　Well, where do I start? 我该从何说起啊？

　　Let's start with the basics: 那从最基本的说吧

　　美国选举基本英语

　　The presidential election: 总统大选

　　The two nominees¹ are running for president: 两位候选人竞选总统

　　The presidential campaign: 总统竞选 (名词)

　　Campaigning to be the president: 竞选总统 (动词)

　　What we heard at the begnning of the show aren't debate highlights: 我们节目开头放的那段可不是辩论精华

　　They are lowlights：我觉得是最让人羞耻的部分

　　Low blow: 低级的相互攻击

　　The debates don't seem presidential at all: 辩论没有一点总统风范

　　Trump² and Hillary are just going at it with each other: 特朗普和希拉里就是对骂、互撕

　　Insulting each other: 相互侮辱

　　Attack & Smear³ 攻击抹黑

　　Attack ads: 攻击广告

　　Smear campaign: 抹黑

　　He/she is the worst person in the world. Don't vote for him/her: 相互指责对方是世上最坏的人，你们千万别选他/她

　　The debates this year are a new low because they are not policy-focused: 今年的辩论创了新低点，因为都没好好谈政策、政见

　　They're just accusing each other of doing bad things and being even worse than their opponent: 两人就是相互指责对方比自己更糟

　　"I did something bad but you did something even worse": 我是做了错事，但你更差

　　Media and politics 政治娱乐化

　　Media and politics have merged⁴: 娱乐和政治的界限已经模糊

　　It's a huge problem: 是个大问题

　　The election is like a big TV show: 这次选举完全像个娱乐节目

　　Ads for the Presidential debates look like ads for boxing matches: 比如总统辩论的广告，风格就像拳击比赛

　　It's sensational⁵: 渲染、炒作

　　The media sensationalize things for ratings: 媒体为了收视率极力渲染

　　Moral issues for both 两人道德都成问题

　　If you're running for office, you have to have the moral fibres: 如果你出来选总统，那你要有基本的道德水准

　　Last week, there was a tape of Trump saying terrible things about women: 上周，爆出一则特朗普私下极不尊重女性言论的录影带

　　This kind of issues is important but it shouldn't be the focus of the debates: 这些道德问题当然重要，但是不应该是辩论的焦点

　　The focus should be on policies and how they would implement⁶ policies if elected: 焦点应该是政策，如果当选如何落实政策

　　Instead, Trump and Hillary just keep talking about how much the other person sucks: 但是，特兰普和希拉里都在互相对骂

　　最Low的一届美国大选

　　Many polls show that Trump and Hillary are the most unpopular candidates ever:

　　很多民调也显示特朗普和希拉里是美国史上最不受欢迎的两位候选人

　　Trump says a lot of inflammatory things: 特朗普有很多挑衅、煽动性的言论

　　It's somewhat easier to understand why he's unpopular: 比较容易理解为什么很多人不喜欢他

　　But why is Hillary so unpopular? 但为什么那么多人也不喜欢希拉里？

　　Why don't Americans like Hillary?

　　美国人为什么不喜欢希拉里？

　　There are a lot of issues with her: 她的问题很多啊

　　She's had a long political career: 她确实政治经验丰富

　　She's more fit to be running from that point: 这个角度说，她更具备总统的条件

　　Donald Trump is totally unfit to be the president of the United States: 特朗普是完全不够格的

　　But she's got her email server problem; Wallstreet speeches...: 但是希拉里有邮件门、给华尔街投行做高酬劳演讲等问题

　　Obama, don't go! 现在觉得奥巴马真好

　　You want your country to be progressing: 你当然希望自己的国家往积极的方向发展

　　I'm an idealist. I hope our next President will be better than the previous one: 我是个理想主义者，我希望下一届总统比上一届好

　　But it seems we have two people second or even third to Obama: 但是，现在看来两位候选人远不如奥巴马

　　That's just sad: 这多悲哀啊

　　We didn't want Hillary 8 years ago, we chose Obama: 我们8年前已经没有选择希拉里，而是奥巴马了

　　But we are choosing her because there's no other choice: 但是现在没其他选择，只好选她吗？

　　It's saddening: 真令人悲哀

　　Vote for nobody 这两个人，我谁都不想投

　　Many millennials who are more left-wing and more likely to vote Democrat⁷ don't want to vote for Hillary"：即使是比较倾向投民主党的年轻人也有很多不会给希拉里投票

　　They think she can't be trusted: 他们完全不信任她

　　She's not trustworthy: 她的诚信有问题

　　Many think she seems fake: 很多人觉得她很假，不诚实

　　They don't want to vote in this election: 很多人因此都不想投票了

　　They seem to be giving up on the system: 好像对体制绝望了

　　But that's not a good move either: 但这也不是个好方法

　　I feel it too. I'm definitely not voting for him, but I don't want to vote for her either: 我完全有这个体会。我既不想投他，也不想投她

　　But I don't have anyone else to vote for? 但是又能投给谁？

　　If I don't vote, I won't have any effect on the system. That's even worse: 如果不投，那起不到任何影响，不是更糟吗？

　　It's a Catch-22

　　It's a Catch-22: 真是左右为难、一条死胡同

　　Catch 22原来是一条美国军规。约瑟夫·赫勒的黑色幽默小说《第二十二条军规》出版后，由于小说巨大的影响，这个词成为了美语中的固定说法。

　　用来形容左右为难的境地，或者是一件事陷入了死循环，或者跌进逻辑陷阱。

　　相同的意思，还有另一个固定说法：

　　Damned if you do; damned if you don't: 你投票也不行、不投也不行

　　I love living in China. My life feels good here: 还好我在中国, 在这儿很快乐

　　It's a freightening time to be living in the US: 这段时期的美国让我觉得很恐怖

1 nominees   

n.被提名者，被任命者( nominee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She's one of the nominees. 她是被提名者之一。 来自超越目标英语 第2册
• A startling number of his nominees for senior positions have imploded. 他所提名的高级官员被否决的数目令人震惊。 来自互联网

2 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

3 smear   

v.涂抹；诽谤，玷污；n.污点；诽谤，污蔑

参考例句：

• He has been spreading false stories in an attempt to smear us.他一直在散布谎言企图诽谤我们。
• There's a smear on your shirt.你衬衫上有个污点。

4 merged   

（使）混合( merge的过去式和过去分词 )； 相融； 融入； 渐渐消失在某物中

参考例句：

• Turf wars are inevitable when two departments are merged. 两个部门合并时总免不了争争权限。
• The small shops were merged into a large market. 那些小商店合并成为一个大商场。

5 sensational   

adj.使人感动的，非常好的，轰动的，耸人听闻的

参考例句：

• Papers of this kind are full of sensational news reports.这类报纸满是耸人听闻的新闻报道。
• Their performance was sensational.他们的演出妙极了。

6 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

7 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。