美国国家公共电台 NPR New York Republican Rep. Tom Reed Faces Angry Crowds, Deep In Trump Country

 

LOURDES GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

Over the past few weeks, angry constituents¹ have packed GOP town halls to voice their concerns on health care, the Trump² White House and more. Yesterday, it was Congressman³ Tom Reed's turn as he crisscrossed his southern New York district to attend four town halls. NPR's Jessica Taylor was there as Congressman Reed was met by overflow⁴ crowds who wanted answers and didn't always like the ones that they got.

JESSICA TAYLOR, BYLINE⁵: Constituents had already packed the senior center in the tiny hamlet of Ashville almost an hour before Reed's first town hall was set to start so his staff decided⁶ to move the whole event to the parking lot, where snow was just beginning to melt. The topic on most everyone's mind was health care, and Reed's initial statements to the crowd didn't go over so well.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

TOM REED: Well, first and foremost, we are going to repeal⁷ the Affordable⁸ Care Act, Obamacare.

UNIDENTIFIED CONSTITUENTS: (Booing).

TAYLOR: The problem for Republicans is that they haven't settled on one alternative. That's led to tense confrontations⁹ at other town halls in Utah and Tennessee. Some in the GOP have claimed the angry attendees are simply paid protesters. But people on Saturday argued they're simply using the same tactics tea party activists¹⁰ used eight years ago. Most of the constituents at Reed's two morning town halls were middle-aged¹¹ or senior citizens. And some carried signs with their ZIP code, saying they certainly weren't being paid. Judy Einach of nearby Westerfield (ph) bristled¹² at that idea.

JUDY EINACH: I don't think we're paid (laughter). No, we got up early in the morning. We're lucky if we got coffee and have been waiting here for a very long time for him.

TAYLOR: Wearing a red make America great again hat, Mel McGinnis was one of the handful of tea party faithful in the crowd frustrated¹³ with the progressive activists.

MEL MCGINNIS: Well, I thought this was going to be a town hall, but it was a mob hall. This was not democracy as it was mobocracy.

TAYLOR: There were other tense moments when several people in the crowd asked Reed about his vote against requiring President Trump to release his taxes.

UNIDENTIFIED CONSTITUENTS: (Chanting) Do your job. Do your job. Do your job.

TAYLOR: Still, the congressman kept a positive tone throughout the yelling and chants.

REED: What I have heard is passion. What I have heard is democracy. And what I have heard is hopefully a willingness by many - of each and every one of you - to come together and find solutions.

TAYLOR: From there, it was on to three more equally frustrated crowds.

Jessica Taylor, NPR News, Jamestown, New York.

1 constituents   

n.选民( constituent的名词复数 )；成分；构成部分；要素

参考例句：

• She has the full support of her constituents. 她得到本区选民的全力支持。
• Hydrogen and oxygen are the constituents of water. 氢和氧是水的主要成分。 来自《简明英汉词典》

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 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

4 overflow   

v.(使)外溢，(使)溢出；溢出，流出，漫出

参考例句：

• The overflow from the bath ran on to the floor.浴缸里的水溢到了地板上。
• After a long period of rain,the river may overflow its banks.长时间的下雨天后，河水可能溢出岸来。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 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。

7 repeal   

n.废止，撤消；v.废止，撤消

参考例句：

• He plans to repeal a number of current policies.他计划废除一些当前的政策。
• He has made out a strong case for the repeal of the law.他提出强有力的理由，赞成废除该法令。

8 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

9 confrontations   

n.对抗，对抗的事物( confrontation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• At times, this potential has escalated into actual confrontations. 有时，这一矛盾升级为实际的对抗。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• These confrontations and uncertainties were bing played out for the first time on a global scale. 所有这一切对抗和不稳定，第一次在全球范围内得到充分的表演。 来自辞典例句

10 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 middle-aged   

adj.中年的

参考例句：

• I noticed two middle-aged passengers.我注意到两个中年乘客。
• The new skin balm was welcome by middle-aged women.这种新护肤香膏受到了中年妇女的欢迎。

12 bristled   

adj. 直立的，多刺毛的 动词bristle的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• They bristled at his denigrating description of their activities. 听到他在污蔑他们的活动，他们都怒发冲冠。
• All of us bristled at the lawyer's speech insulting our forefathers. 听到那个律师在讲演中污蔑我们的祖先，大家都气得怒发冲冠。

13 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》