美国国家公共电台 NPR In A Heated Campaign Season, French Politicians Flock To Paris Farm Fair

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Imagine an election-year Iowa State Fair but in the center of Paris. You know, instead of fried butter, you've got fried escargot. That is the scene in Paris now. And NPR's Eleanor Beardsley reports that, much like the Iowa fair, France's version is a bellwether¹.

ELEANOR BEARDSLEY, BYLINE²: Over 10 days every February, nearly a million people show up at a Paris convention center that's been turned into a piece of the French countryside.

(SOUNDBITE OF SHEEP BLEATING)

BEARDSLEY: In a massive hangar-like building, baby lambs scamper³ about their hay-filled stalls, and farmers tout⁴ their high-quality meats and cheeses.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: (Speaking French).

BEARDSLEY: Retired⁵ engineer Gilles Roque (ph) says farming holds a kind of mythic place in the French psyche⁶.

GILLES ROQUE: (Through interpreter) We French, even if we live in the city now, we have peasants and farmers in our ancestry⁷. Farming is part of our heritage. It's in the French soul.

BEARDSLEY: France holds a presidential election in May. And a stop at the Salon⁸ de l’Agriculture is a must for every candidate.

UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Speaking French).

BEARDSLEY: On Tuesday, it was front runner Marine⁹ Le Pen’s turn. Such a dense¹⁰ scrum of reporters, cameras and microphones surrounded her that all you could see was the top of her platinum¹¹ blonde head bobbing as she walked around talking to farmers. Roque says he's always voted socialist¹². But this year, he may vote for Le Pen.

ROQUE: Marine Le Pen...

(Through interpreter) She has completely changed the party from her father's day. She has created a solid base that's no longer extremist. And you see that in the simple, regular people who want to vote for her now.

BEARDSLEY: Le Pen took over the far right National Front Party from her father in 2011. He was seen as a xenophobic and racist¹³ firebrand. His daughter has worked to de-demonize the party and attract new voters. Today, Le Pen is leading the presidential race with 27 percent of the vote. And she's even more popular in the hard-working world of rural France.

But not every farmer here is enthusiastic about her. Thierry Chabot's (ph) Montbeliarde cows wear giant bells around their necks. Chabot makes the famous Comte cheese in the mountains near the Swiss border. He says he doesn't like Le Pen's ideas about leaving the European Union.

THIERRY CHABOT: (Through interpreter) Today, we can't live without Europe. We sell our products in the EU. We have a European currency. We can't go backwards¹⁴. And we see how the English regret their decision to leave.

BEARDSLEY: Chabot says most French farmers vote conservative. And their candidate was Francois Fillon. But he is under investigation¹⁵ for allegedly creating a fictitious¹⁶, well-paying government job for his wife. This morning, in a surprise and unheard of move, Fillon suddenly cancelled his visit to the farm show.

But Chabot says political turmoil¹⁷ in the U.S. after President Trump¹⁸'s election gives him pause about voting Le Pen. Three women nearby tell me Le Pen has nothing to do with Donald Trump. They say she is much smarter and savvier. One of the women, Martine Le Monze (ph), recently retired from a research job at a respected scientific institute.

MARTINE LE MONZE: (Through interpreter) We really hope she'll be elected because France is so low right now. And she's the only one who can bring us up. She has a program for the old, the young, the farmers. And it's the only viable¹⁹ plan.

BEARDSLEY: What's strikingly different about attitudes here since the last presidential election just five years ago is the typical Le Pen voter seems a thing of the past. And there is no shame in voting for the National Front. Eleanor Beardsley, NPR News, Paris.

1 bellwether   

n.系铃的公羊，前导，领导者，群众的首领

参考例句：

• University campuses are often the bellwether of change.大学校园往往引领变革的新潮。
• For decades the company was the bellwether of the British economy.几十年来，这家公司一直是英国经济的晴雨表。

2 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。

3 scamper   

v.奔跑，快跑

参考例句：

• She loves to scamper through the woods of the forest.她喜欢在森林里的树林中穿梭嬉戏。
• The flash sent the foxes scampering away.闪光惊得狐狸四处逃窜。

4 tout   

v.推销，招徕；兜售；吹捧，劝诱

参考例句：

• They say it will let them tout progress in the war.他们称这将有助于鼓吹他们在战争中的成果。
• If your case studies just tout results,don't bother requiring registration to view them.如果你的案例研究只是吹捧结果，就别烦扰别人来注册访问了。

5 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

6 psyche   

n.精神；灵魂

参考例句：

• His exploration of the myth brings insight into the American psyche.他对这个神话的探讨揭示了美国人的心理。
• She spent her life plumbing the mysteries of the human psyche.她毕生探索人类心灵的奥秘。

7 ancestry   

n.祖先，家世

参考例句：

• Their ancestry settled the land in 1856.他们的祖辈1856年在这块土地上定居下来。
• He is an American of French ancestry.他是法国血统的美国人。

8 salon   

n.[法]沙龙；客厅；营业性的高级服务室

参考例句：

• Do you go to the hairdresser or beauty salon more than twice a week?你每周去美容院或美容沙龙多过两次吗？
• You can hear a lot of dirt at a salon.你在沙龙上会听到很多流言蜚语。

9 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

10 dense   

a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的

参考例句：

• The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。
• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage. 小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。

11 platinum   

n.白金

参考例句：

• I'll give her a platinum ring.我打算送给她一枚白金戒指。
• Platinum exceeds gold in value.白金的价值高于黄金。

12 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。

13 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。

14 backwards   

adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地

参考例句：

• He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
• All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。

15 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

16 fictitious   

adj.虚构的，假设的；空头的

参考例句：

• She invented a fictitious boyfriend to put him off.她虚构出一个男朋友来拒绝他。
• The story my mother told me when I was young is fictitious.小时候妈妈对我讲的那个故事是虚构的。

17 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。

18 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。

19 viable   

adj.可行的，切实可行的，能活下去的

参考例句：

• The scheme is economically viable.这个计划从经济效益来看是可行的。
• The economy of the country is not viable.这个国家经济是难以维持的。