2006年VOA标准英语-Canadians to Elect New Parliament

By Craig McCulloch
Vancouver
23 January 2006
 
 
(15 December, 2005) 
  
Voters in Canada are heading to the polls Monday in the country's general election. What started out with a comfortable lead for the reigning¹ Liberals has turned into a possible win for the opposition² Conservatives.

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The election campaign was one the of longest in Canadian history.

The process started in late November, when the minority government of Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin lost a non-confidence motion in parliament. The confidence vote was triggered by a public inquiry³ that found Liberal politicians in Quebec had taken kickbacks⁴ in return for government contracts. 
 

Paul Martin talks with the media Sunday, January 22, 2006  
  
Despite the turmoil⁵, Mr. Martin's party enjoyed a comfortable lead. Now, recent opinion polls suggest that Conservative opposition leader Stephen Harper will win at least a minority government and become Canada's next prime minister.

Finishing his campaign in Vancouver late Sunday night, Stephen Harper told a crowd of boisterous⁶ supporters that if elected prime minister, he would move government beyond the scandals and investigations⁷ and corruption⁸.

"A new government that will stop being distracted by scandals and will get on with standing⁹ up for accountability. Friends, the first of legislation will be the federal accountability act," he said. "We will act to restore the faith and trust of Canadian citizens in their national government my friends. If I am elected your prime minister, I will do everything in my power to make sure the scandals we've endured from this government never can happen again in this country." 

 
Stephen Harper (December 15, 2005) 
  
During the last few weeks, the Liberal Party has been running a series of negative ads, attacking the conservative leader over several issues including his anti-abortion stance and plans for privately¹⁰ funding health care. The Liberals have also said that Harper, if elected, will reject the Kyoto agreement on clean air and reverse Canada's legalization of same-sex marriage.

Speaking at his last rally of the campaign, again in Vancouver, Mr. Martin continued the attack on his conservative opponent.

"Clearly you and I and Mr. Harper have two very different ideas of Canada," he said. "And so I simply say directly to Canadians, if you don't share Stephen Harper's narrow vision and his values, if you don't want Canada to go down that road, then you have to ask yourself a question. What can I do to stop him? What can I do to ensure that come Tuesday morning, Stephen Harper is not prime minister of Canada? There is only one answer to that question (Audience: Vote Liberal!) The only party that shares your values, you got the answer, vote liberal!"

 
Paul Martin talks with voters in a Vancouver area coffee shop
  
For University of Victoria political scientist Ron Cheffins, what made this election unique and different is the improvement in the Conservative campaign.  

"Marvelous campaign run by the Conservatives, one of the best ever," he said. "Their 2004 campaign was probably one of the worst campaigns ever run by a party. So they went from one of the worst campaigns in history to one of the best. The Liberal Party thought they could run the same campaign demonizing Mr. Harper, not having any real policy proposals. But, Mr. Harper appeared this time, was intelligent, clear, organized [and] thoughtful. The demonization didn't work."

In Canada, voters cast ballots¹¹ for local members of parliament. The party with the most elected MPs, as they are called, usually forms a minority or a majority government, and the party leader becomes prime minister. There are 308 members of parliament.

1 reigning   

adj.统治的，起支配作用的

参考例句：

• The sky was dark, stars were twinkling high above, night was reigning, and everything was sunk in silken silence. 天很黑，星很繁，夜阑人静。
• Led by Huang Chao, they brought down the reigning house after 300 years' rule. 在黄巢的带领下，他们推翻了统治了三百年的王朝。

2 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。

3 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

4 kickbacks   

n.激烈反应( kickback的名词复数 )；佣金，回扣

参考例句：

• Everyone at City Hall is receiving kickbacks. It's the only way to get anything done there. 市政府里的每个人都收回扣，在那里只有送红包，事情才办得成。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• G raft or kickbacks paid to officials or law enforcem ent authorities. 暗中付给官员或执法人员的回扣。 来自互联网

5 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。

6 boisterous   

adj.喧闹的，欢闹的

参考例句：

• I don't condescend to boisterous displays of it.我并不屈就于它热热闹闹的外表。
• The children tended to gather together quietly for a while before they broke into boisterous play.孩子们经常是先静静地聚集在一起，不一会就开始吵吵嚷嚷戏耍开了。

7 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

8 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

9 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

10 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

11 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》