California Recall Election

By Cynthia Kirk

Broadcast: October 4, 2003
This is Bob Doughty¹ with In the News, from VOA Special English.
Voters in California will decide Tuesday whether to remove Governor Gray Davis from office. If he is recalled, public opinion studies show the leading candidate to replace him is actor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Mister Davis is a Democrat², Mister Schwarzenegger is a Republican. The two have been going city to city in a final effort for votes. Both are leading television campaigns critical of each other.
Yet the two men are not really 1)opponents on the ballot³ Tuesday. Mister Davis is the only name on the first question. Voters are asked to decide if the governor should stay in office or be recalled. He needs fifty-percent of the votes plus one to stay.
The second question asks voters who support the recall to choose a replacement⁴. One-hundred-thirty-five candidates are listed. One of them is Mister Schwarzenegger. Another is Lieutenant⁵ Governor Cruz Bustamante. He is considered the leading Democratic candidate. If Mister Davis is recalled, the candidate with the most votes will become governor.
Republicans worry that another Republican on the ballot, state Senator Tom McClintock, could take votes away from Mister Schwarzenegger. Mister McClintock, however, was refusing to withdraw. Republican Congressman⁶ Darryl Issa financed the recall effort. He said he would urge people to vote NO on the recall unless one of the Republicans withdrew to avoid 2)splitting the vote.
Opinion studies show that a majority of Californians want to recall Governor Davis. Many people say they are unhappy with the way he has dealt with a budget crisis. California has the largest population in the country and one of the largest economies in the world.
Critics of the recall effort say it is an undemocratic way to try to remove an elected governor from office. Mister Davis is in his second term. He says the recall is a Republican effort to seize power in California and possibly other states.
Eighteen of the fifty states permit special elections to recall the governor. Six of those states say the governor must be guilty of some 3)wrongdoing. California is not one of them. It has some of the easiest rules for recall elections.
Several civil rights groups tried to delay the vote this Tuesday. They said there could be problems with older voting machines in some areas with large numbers of minorities. Those efforts failed.
In developments late this week, the Los Angeles Times reported 4)accusations by six women. They said Mister Schwarzenegger had touched them in a sexual way without permission. On Thursday he apologized for having, in his words, "behaved badly sometimes." He said he would be a "champion for women" as governor.
The Austrian-born actor also reacted to reports that he once expressed praise for Adolf Hitler. Mister Schwarzenegger said he had no memory of such comments and that he hated 5)the Nazi⁸ dictator.
In the News, from VOA Special English, was written by Cynthia Kirk. This is Bob Doughty.

注释：
1) opponent [ E5pEunEnt ] n.对手, 反对者
2) split [ split ]v.分裂, 分离
3) wrongdoing [`rCN`dU:iN] n.坏事, 不道德行为
4) accusation⁷ [ Akju(:)5zeiFEn ] n.谴责, （律）指控
5) the Nazi dictator  纳粹独裁者

1 doughty   

adj.勇猛的，坚强的

参考例句：

• Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质：脾气倔强，性格刚强。
• The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。

2 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。

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 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。

5 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

6 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

7 accusation   

n.控告，指责，谴责

参考例句：

• I was furious at his making such an accusation.我对他的这种责备非常气愤。
• She knew that no one would believe her accusation.她知道没人会相信她的指控。

8 Nazi   

n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的

参考例句：

• They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻，并出面求和。
• Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。