2006年VOA标准英语-Hundreds of Thousands in LA Protest Immigr

By Mike O'Sullivan
Los Angeles
26 March 2006

Hundreds of thousands of marchers crowded the streets of Los Angeles Saturday to protest proposals to toughen enforcement of U.S. immigration laws. Similar demonstrations¹ have taken place in other cities, but this was the largest.

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Demonstrators in Los Angeles gather to protest federal legislation that would build more walls along the U.S. - Mexico border and make helping² illegal immigrants a crime  
  

The marchers chanted "Si se puede," a Mexican-American rallying cry that means "yes, we can."

They hope to block a bill already passed by the House of Representatives that would make it a felony to be an illegal immigrant in the United States. The bill, which is not yet law, would also penalize³ those who help or hire illegal immigrants, and erect⁴ fences along one-third of the U.S.-Mexico border.

A spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department says about 500,000 people marched Saturday.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is the son of an immigrant, and he spoke⁵ in English and Spanish at the downtown rally. He later told reporters that people who come to his city to work are not committing a crime. "We cannot criminalize people who are working, people who are contributing to our economy, and contributing to the nation," he said.

Protesters say the United States needs workers and the unemployed⁶ in Mexico need jobs. One counter-protester said there are laws already in place for people to enter the country. "I'd like to see immigration laws being enforced," he said.

President Bush used his weekly radio address to repeat his call for a guest worker program that would provide legal status, but not citizenship⁷, for some illegal immigrants in the United States.

Some in his own Republican party, including Senate majority leader Bill Frist, say border security and enforcement should shape the debate over immigration reform. Some other Republicans, and many Democrats⁸, support some form of guest worker program. The Senate will begin debating the issue next week.

1 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

2 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

3 penalize   

vt.对…处以刑罚，宣告…有罪；处罚

参考例句：

• It would be unfair to penalize those without a job.失业人员待遇低下是不公平的。
• The association decided not to penalize you for the race.赛马协会决定对你不予处罚。

4 erect   

n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的

参考例句：

• She held her head erect and her back straight.她昂着头，把背挺得笔直。
• Soldiers are trained to stand erect.士兵们训练站得笔直。

5 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。

6 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

7 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

8 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》