VOA慢速英语--全球对美国总统辩论反应不一

People around the world have been reacting to the debate between the two main candidates for president in the United States.

President Donald Trump¹ and former Vice² President Joe Biden met Tuesday night in Cleveland, Ohio, for the first of three planned debates.

Many people overseas were critical of the language the candidates used during the 90-minute-long event. The two men insulted each other with name-calling and personal attacks.

Speaking to Biden, Trump said," I've done more things in 47 months [as president] than you've done in 47 years" as a U.S. senator and vice president under former President Barack Obama.

Biden described Trump as "the worst president America has ever had." Several times, the former vice president called him "a clown."

The Associated Press reports that the candidates' comments and actions could have a big effect on America's international image.

Observers from Asia and Australia to Europe and Africa looked for possible effects on financial markets.

Michael Hewson is chief market expert at investment service CMC Markets UK.

"If last night's presidential debate was supposed to inform and educate," he wrote, "all it did was merely confirm the credibility deficit³ in U.S. politics." Hewson accused the candidates of taking part "in what can only be described as a fact-free, name-calling contest."

A highly divided and possibly legally contested U.S. election is coming, warned Stephen Innes of AxiCorp, a foreign exchange trading services provider based in Sydney, Australia.

"With mail-in votes likely to be too high (and possibly questioned), there is a chance that we still will not know the result by Inauguration⁴ Day," he said.

By law, the winner of the election is to be sworn in on January 20. Innes warned of a possible constitutional crisis if the election results are questioned or delayed.

In Europe and Africa, people awoke Wednesday to news reports on the debate.

"The comments I've seen from various European press is basically: ‘I'm happy I'm not an American voter this year.' It's just a mess," said Jussi Hanhimaki. He serves as a professor of International History at the Graduate Institute in Geneva in Switzerland.

On Twitter, Kenyan commentator⁵ Patrick Gathara noted⁶: "This debate would be sheer comedy if it wasn't such a pitiful and tragic⁷ advertisement for U.S. dysfunction."

World leaders react to the debate

On Facebook, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen criticized all the time spent on arguments at the debate Tuesday night. "Fortunately, this is not the case in Denmark. And I never hope it will be like that," she wrote.

Other leaders followed the debate, but kept their distance from American politics. Steffan Seibert is spokesman for German Chancellor⁸ Angela Merkel. He said Merkel was "informed about what took place last night." But he refused to comment.

In Russia, a spokesman for President Vladimir Putin said he would not comment on the debate because it might be thought of as an attempt to interfere⁹. "The Russian Federation¹⁰ has never interfered¹¹ in the internal affairs of the United States and never will," he said.

Walter Veltroni writes opinion pieces for Italy's Corriere della Sera newspaper. Veltroni, a former mayor of Rome, says he has seen every U.S. presidential debate since 1960.

"I have never witnessed a spectacle similar to the one last night," he wrote on Wednesday. He said the debate showed how there are two Americas that appear unable to exist together without conflict.

Words in This Story

clown – n. a foolish person; a joker

merely – adj. just or only

contest – n. a competition; a struggle or conflict

mess – n. disorder¹² or when things are out of place

transfer – n. movement from one place to another

sheer – adj. complete and total

comedy – n. a show with jokes or funny situations

dysfunction – n. limited or less than full operation

spectacle – n. something unusual or notable; a special show

overarching – adj. something that affects everyone or everything

advantage – n. a condition that puts you in an improved or better position

pitiful – adj. causing feelings of dislike or disgust by not being enough or not being good enough

fortunately – adv. used to say that something good or lucky has happened

internal affairs– adj. issues existing or taking place within a country

1 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。

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 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

4 inauguration   

n.开幕、就职典礼

参考例句：

• The inauguration of a President of the United States takes place on January 20.美国总统的就职典礼于一月二十日举行。
• Three celebrated tenors sang at the president's inauguration.3位著名的男高音歌手在总统就职仪式上演唱。

5 commentator   

n.注释者，解说者；实况广播评论员

参考例句：

• He is a good commentator because he can get across the game.他能简单地解说这场比赛，是个好的解说者。
• The commentator made a big mistake during the live broadcast.在直播节目中评论员犯了个大错误。

6 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。

7 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

8 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

9 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

10 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

11 interfered   

v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 )；调停；妨碍；干涉

参考例句：

• Complete absorption in sports interfered with his studies. 专注于运动妨碍了他的学业。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I am not going to be interfered with. 我不想别人干扰我的事情。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。