在线英语听力室_免费在线英语听力学习网站

11月美大选 拉美裔选民举棋不定

Hispanics represent the fastest-growing minority in the United States and an increasingly important segment of the voting population, especially in so-called swing states like Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada, where they could play a decisive role in the U.S. presidential election in November. Recent opinion surveys show Hispanics favoring President Obama two-to-one over the presumptive Republican nominee¹, Mitt² Romney.

拉美裔是美国增长最快的少数族裔，也是一支日益重要的政治力量。在今年11月份总统大选中，拉美裔有可能在科罗拉多、新墨西哥、内华达这类所谓摇摆不定的州里起到举足轻重的作用。最近一项民调显示，拉美裔人口中支持奥巴马的人比支持罗姆尼的人要多一倍。

Luis Torres and Willie Fernandez run a Houston company that does completion work on construction projects.

路易斯.托瑞斯和威利.弗南德兹是志同道合的生意伙伴，合伙在德克萨斯州休斯顿开一家专作建筑工程收尾的公司。

But when it comes to politics, they differ, with Fernandez being more critical of President Obama, the Democratic Party candidate.

可是，一提到政治，两人就说不到一起了。

“Look at the deficit³ we are in now, economically,” Fernandez said.

威利说：“经济上，瞧瞧我们现在的赤字。”

“I don't think that is all due to Obama; it all came from before,” said Torres.

路易斯反驳道：“那也不能全怪奥巴马，赤字是上届政府传下来的。”

“No, but $15 billion in the first year...” noted⁴ Fernandez.

威利坚持说：“不是那么回事，头一年的150亿美元，那是很多钱。”

“Well, he has inherited a lot of this,” replied Torres.

路易斯不让步：“啊，上届政府留下很多赤字。”

But, while Torres defends President Obama, he is still not sure how he will vote in November.

虽然路易斯为奥巴马辩护，但他拿不定主意，今年的票要不要投给奥巴马。

“The last time I voted for Obama. I am disappointed in what he has done. I mean, he has really not done much. , I don't know if it is all due to the politics that are in play, but he has not fulfilled the promises that he made,” Torres said.

他说：“上次我投票给奥巴马，但我对他的所作所为很失望。他没做什么事情。我不清楚这是不是因为政治因素，但他没有兑现竞选诺言。”

In recent speeches, President Obama has argued that he needs more time to deal with the nation's enormous problems.

奥巴马总统在最近的讲话中为自己辩护说，他需要更多的时间来解决经济问题：

“I know we have gone through some tough years and I know that for all the things we have done, we still have so much undone,” Obama said.

“我知道我们渡过了一段艰难岁月，我们做了很多事情，但还有很多没有做。”

Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney discussed the economy in a recent speech in Washington to a group of Hispanic small business owners.

罗姆尼最近在华盛顿跟一些拉美裔小企业主讨论经济问题时说：

“I know your prosperity means greater opportunity, for you, for your families, for your employees, for your communities and for the nation,” Romney said.

“你们的成功意味着，你们本人、你们的家庭、雇员、社区、以至于整个国家将拥有更多的机会。”

What Romney did not mention was his hard-line policy on illegal immigration, which some Hispanic supporters, like Willie Fernandez, find troubling.

可是，罗姆尼没有跟他们提到他那强硬的移民政策。一些拉美裔选民并不完全认同罗姆尼，特别反对他的移民政策。

“Here you have to look at who is the worst of all evils, I mean the reality. Am I happy with him? No, I am not. Am I happy with Obama? No, I am not,” Fernandez said.

威利说：“你必须权衡这两个人，只能两害取其轻。我欣赏罗姆尼吗？不，我欣赏奥巴马吗？也不，我都不欣赏。”

Both Torres and Fernandez are naturalized U.S. citizens; Torres came from Colombia, Fernandez from Cuba. They both favor some form of immigration reform and think it would be counterproductive to deport⁵ millions of laborers⁶ who are needed here.

路易斯和威利都是第一代移民，路易斯来自哥伦比亚，威利来自古巴。他们都赞成进行一些移民改革，但认为遣返数百万非法劳工得不偿失，因为美国需要劳工。

Another issue of concern to Luis Torres is that the number of Hispanic elected officials does not match the size of the Hispanic population in many states and Hispanic voting rates are generally low.

“Hispanics have to get behind their candidates and get them elected so that they can have more representation,” Torres said.

But Willie Fernandez thinks the ethnicity of candidates is often over-emphasized.

“If you are elected by the people, you should represent the people, whoever you are. You can't bend it to one ethnic⁷ group or another, you have to represent the people,” Fernandez said.

Both men strongly believe in the democratic system and plan to vote in November, but neither one is entirely⁸ sure whom they will support.

路易斯和威利对美国的民主制度怀有坚定的信心，两人准备在11月大选中投票，但他们都还没有拿定主意，到底要投谁的票。