VOA慢速英语2014 巴西下一任总统会是谁?

 

AS IT IS 2014-10-25 Who Will Be Brazil's Next President? 巴西下一任总统会是谁?

Brazilians will choose a president Sunday. Two candidates will be on the ballot¹ -- Dilma Rousseff and Senator Aecio Neves. President Rousseff won the most votes in the first round of voting earlier this month. But she did not win a majority of votes, so a runoff election is required.

Ms. Rousseff received almost 42 percent of the 112 million votes on October 5th. She received a majority of votes in 15 of Brazil’s 27 states. Mr. Neves received nearly 34 percent of the votes. He won in 12 states, including Sao Paulo, which has more people than any other state.

Experts say Ms. Rousseff was successful because of the popularity of her political party, called the Partido dos Trabalhadores, or Workers’ Party. The country’s low-wage workers strongly support her and her party. Many social welfare programs were created during the two terms of Workers’ Party president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. He is known as “Lula” in Brazil. He was very popular.

When Ms. Rousseff spoke² to her supporters after the announcement of the October 5 election results, she noted³ the popularity of her political party.

"Dear friends and companions, once again the Brazilian people have honored me with their confidence in giving me this victory in the first round. For the Workers’ Party, this is the seventh victory: two during the first election of President Lula, two during the second election of President Lula, two during my election, and now one in this first round of my re-election."

Her opponent is Aecio Neves. He is an economist⁴ and a senator. He served two terms as governor of the state of Minas Gerais. Mr. Neves is the candidate of the Partido da Social Democracia Brasileira, or Brazilian Social Democratic Party.

Both the Workers Party and the Brazilian Social Democratic party have competed for many years. But Mr. Neves says he wants to stop the fighting between the two parties.

He said he wants the support of Brazilians who are angry but dream of a better country. He urged Brazilians to believe, as he says he has always believed, that it is possible for the government to be both kind and able to reach its goals.

Former environment minister and senator Marina Silva placed third in the first round of elections. She received more than 21 percent of the votes. Ms. Silva became popular in public opinion polls after the death of Governor Eduardo Campos in a plane crash in August. Mr. Campos was the candidate of the Partido Socialista, or Socialist⁵ Party. She had belonged to the Worker’s Party for 25 years before joining the Socialist Party. But during the campaign the Worker’s Party strongly attacked her. Some political observers said it was the most negative campaign in Brazil since the country returned to democracy almost 30 years ago.

Ms. Silva has given her support to Aecio Neves. Her supporters may decide who wins the election.

President Rousseff has many issues to deal with. The Brazilian economy is in poor condition. Some observers say it has entered a recession. Experts say Ms. Rousseff lacks a clear plan to help the country’s economy improve. And the government-controlled oil company Petrobras is accused of making billions of dollars in illegal payments. Ms. Rousseff was the head of the company’s governing board during the administration of President Lula. She has reportedly said she did not know anything about the payments.

Voting in Brazil is required, or mandatory⁶, for all citizens between the ages of 18 and 70. This includes Brazilians living in other countries, including the United States.

Janete Callahan is a Brazilian citizen living in Washington, DC. She explains the process she and other Brazilians in the area went through to vote in the first round.

“We Brazilians that live here in the United States, we have to report to the Brazilian consulate⁷ or embassy. So the Brazilian consulate here in Washington, DC, they organized the election in a hotel. So I believe that’s where we are going this Sunday.”

Political experts say it is hard to predict which candidate will win the presidential race.  

Who do you think will win the election? Leave your prediction in the comments section below.

Words in This Story 

ballot – n. a ticket or piece of paper used to vote in an election

mandatory – adj. required by a law or rule

predict – v. to say that something will or might happen in the future

recession – n. a period of time in which there is a decrease in economic activity and many people do not have jobs                       

runoff – n.  an additional race, contest, or election that is held because an earlier one did not result in a winner

1 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。

2 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。

3 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。

4 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

5 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。

6 mandatory   

adj.命令的；强制的；义务的；n.受托者

参考例句：

• It's mandatory to pay taxes.缴税是义务性的。
• There is no mandatory paid annual leave in the U.S.美国没有强制带薪年假。

7 consulate   

n.领事馆

参考例句：

• The Spanish consulate is the large white building opposite the bank.西班牙领事馆是银行对面的那栋高大的白色建筑物。
• The American consulate was a magnificent edifice in the centre of Bordeaux.美国领事馆是位于波尔多市中心的一座宏伟的大厦。