VOA慢速英语2010年-IN THE NEWS - Yanukovych Is Greeted as

This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

World leaders have been congratulating Viktor Yanukovych as Ukraine's next president.

Among Western leaders, President Obama phoned on Thursday to welcome the opposition¹ leader. The White House said he called the election a peaceful expression of the political will of Ukrainian voters to strengthen democracy.

Viktor Yanukovych speaking on Election Day

Official results are expected by Wednesday. A final vote count showed that Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko lost by forty-five and a half percent to forty-nine percent last Sunday. But she refused to accept defeat and resisted calls to resign as prime minister. Her aides have said she planned to challenge the election results in court, and not concede defeat until appeals are completed.

She has accused Yanukovych supporters of cheating in Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine. On Thursday she told the cabinet that Viktor Yanukovych had already broken campaign promises to improve living conditions for Ukrainians. She criticized his party for missing a chance to vote in parliament to increase social spending.

His Party of Regions has been negotiating to form a new coalition² in parliament. A long political battle could worsen the economic troubles of the former Soviet³ republic. Last year the International Monetary⁴ Fund suspended sixteen billion dollars in lending to Ukraine over the issue of financial restraint.

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Friday that the elections were "free, fair and democratic." That was a change from past elections in Ukraine. A public opinion survey by the Horshenin Institute found that more than sixty-eight percent of Ukrainians trusted the results.

Outgoing President Viktor Yushchenko is pro-Western. He did not receive enough votes in the first round of elections last month to qualify for the run-off election last Sunday.

Six years ago, Viktor Yanukovych won the presidency⁵, then lost it. Official results showed him the winner over Viktor Yushchenko. But reports of election fraud led to huge protests known as the Orange Revolution. A new election took place and Viktor Yushchenko won.

Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko attending a cabinet meeting in Kyiv on Thursday

He took office in January of two thousand five with Yulia Tymoshenko as his prime minister. But their partnership⁶ ended in disputes over presidential powers.

Yulia Tymoshenko helped lead the Orange Revolution, named for the color worn by protesters. The protests brought Western-like democracy to Ukraine for the first time.

Some people say the results of Sunday's election suggest that Ukrainians have rejected the Orange Revolution. But others point to the reported fairness of the election itself as evidence that the spirit of the revolution lives on.

Viktor Yanukovych supports closer relations between Ukraine and Russia. Russia welcomed his election. But political observers noted⁷ that it was very different from the election of Dmitri Medvedev as Russia's president two years ago. In that election there was never any question who the winner would be.

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

 

1 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

2 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

3 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

4 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

5 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。

6 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

7 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。