VOA慢速英语-IN THE NEWS - Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska, Is Mc

This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.
　
Alaska Governor Sarah Palin with her husband Todd and two of their daughters, Piper, center, and Bristol, at the gathering¹ in Dayton, Ohio, where John McCain named Governor Palin his vice² presidential choice

On Friday, Republican candidate John McCain announced his choice for vice president: Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. She is forty-four years old and largely unknown in national politics. She was elected governor two years ago.

She will be the first woman on a Republican presidential ballot³. The Democrats⁵ nominated Geraldine Ferraro for vice president in nineteen eighty-four. Governor Palin praised Geraldine Ferraro and Hillary Clinton for their historic campaigns. And she said her own candidacy means that women still have a chance for the White House.

She appeared with John McCain in Ohio Friday, on the Arizona senator's seventy-second birthday. The Republican Party opens its nominating convention Monday in Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Minnesota.

On Thursday night, in Denver, Colorado, Democrat⁴ Barack Obama accepted his party's nomination⁶ to be the forty-fourth president.

BARACK OBAMA: "With profound gratitude⁷ and great humility⁸, I accept your nomination for the presidency⁹ of the United States."
　
Barack Obama accepting the Democratic Party nomination for president in Denver, Colorado

The first-term senator from Illinois is the first black nominee¹⁰ of a major American political party. He is forty-seven, the Hawaiian-born son of a father from Kenya and a white mother from Kansas. He narrowly defeated Hillary Clinton in the primary season. She received eighteen million votes.

The race against John McCain was very close heading into the conventions. In large part, this week's Democratic convention was aimed at uniting the party.

Hillary and Bill Clinton gave speeches in support of Barack Obama. And she called on delegates during a roll call vote of the states to vote for him "with one voice." They suspended the voting and declared him the nominee.

His running mate is Joe Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The longtime Delaware senator ran for president twenty years ago and again this year.

Barack Obama gave his acceptance speech before tens of thousands at an open-air sports stadium. He said America is at a defining moment, with the nation at war and the economy in great trouble. He said "the American promise" is threatened from eight years of what he called "the failed policies of George W. Bush."

Barack Obama said he does not think Senator McCain knows what is going on in the lives of Americans. The Democrat promised to cut taxes for ninety-five percent of working families. And he promised a goal to end dependence¹¹ on oil from the Middle East in ten years. He also said he would only send troops into harm's way with a clear mission.

BARACK OBAMA: "I will end this war in Iraq responsibly and finish the fight against al-Qaida and the Taliban in Afghanistan. I will rebuild our military to meet future conflicts. But I will also renew the tough, direct diplomacy¹² that can prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and curb¹³ Russian aggression¹⁴."

Barack Obama spoke¹⁵ on the anniversary of a major event in the American civil rights movement. Thursday was forty-five years since Martin Luther King Junior's "I Have a Dream" speech in Washington.

And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English, written by Brianna Blake. I'm Steve Ember.

 

1 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

2 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

3 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

4 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。

5 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

7 gratitude   

adj.感激，感谢

参考例句：

• I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
• She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。

8 humility   

n.谦逊，谦恭

参考例句：

• Humility often gains more than pride.谦逊往往比骄傲收益更多。
• His voice was still soft and filled with specious humility.他的声音还是那么温和，甚至有点谦卑。

9 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

10 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

11 dependence   

n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属

参考例句：

• Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
• He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。

12 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

13 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

14 aggression   

n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害

参考例句：

• So long as we are firmly united, we need fear no aggression.只要我们紧密地团结，就不必惧怕外来侵略。
• Her view is that aggression is part of human nature.她认为攻击性是人类本性的一部份。

15 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。