VOA常速英语2007年-Number of Female Leaders Around World Growing

By Stephanie Ho
Washington, D.C.
27 November 2007
 

Until relatively¹ recently, female world leaders have been few and far between.  But, as VOA's Stephanie Ho reports, their ranks are growing, with a number of prominent women in several countries stepping up to the world stage.

The small club of female world leaders is about to get a new member: Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, the president-elect of Argentina.

Fernandez called on her compatriots to get used to the idea of having a "presidenta," a woman, leading the country.

And she is not alone in Latin America.  Last year, Michelle Bachelet was the first woman to be elected president in neighboring Chile.

Some experts think one reason there are more women in high office around the world is because women have been actively² increasing their political involvement over the past several decades.  Sarah Brewer³ is at American University's Women and Politics Institute.  She says, "Since the development of the modern women's rights movement, the global women's movement, and changes in gender⁴ relations since the mid⁵ 1960s, 1970s, we're seeing more women having careers in public life."

Women also are emerging in Africa, including President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in Liberia. "I stand before you today as the first woman elected to lead an African nation," said Sirleaf upon her election.

President Bush recently presented Ms. Sirleaf with the presidential Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian⁶ award.

In Asia, Gloria Arroyo⁷ in the Philippines and Pratibha Patil in India hold the presidency⁸. And former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has returned to the political mainstream⁹ in Pakistan.

In August, Forbes business magazine put German Chancellor¹⁰ Angela Merkel at the top of its list of the world's 100 most powerful women.  Forbes senior editor Elizabeth McDonald says, "She is the first female chancellor of Germany since Germany became a nation state in 1871, and she's increasingly wielding¹¹ her clout¹² around the globe."

Female politicians sometimes have the reputation for toughness -- notably¹³ Golda Meir in Israel and Margaret Thatcher¹⁴ in Britain.

Andrew Pierce is a political commentator¹⁵ with Britain's Telegraph newspaper. "In public, she [Thatcher] was always the ‘iron lady.’  She was tough. They have to be tough.  They have to be strong and be tough as the men, probably tougher," says Pierce.

U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton is demonstrating that toughness in her campaign for the American presidency.

But is the United States ready for its first female president?  American University's Sarah Brewer thinks it is. "But one of the things that's challenging, I think, for women, is this assumption around needing to do it better, needing to sort of raise the bar," says Brewer.

She also says that women who seek high office should be judged for their talents and merits, and not feel they somehow have to be better, or stronger, than men. 

1 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

2 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

3 brewer   

n. 啤酒制造者

参考例句：

• Brewer is a very interesting man. 布鲁尔是一个很有趣的人。
• I decided to quit my job to become a brewer. 我决定辞职，做一名酿酒人。

4 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

5 mid   

adj.中央的，中间的

参考例句：

• Our mid-term exam is pending.我们就要期中考试了。
• He switched over to teaching in mid-career.他在而立之年转入教学工作。

6 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

7 arroyo   

n.干涸的河床，小河

参考例句：

• She continued along the path until she came to the arroyo.她沿着小路一直走到小河边。
• They had a picnic by the arroyo.他们在干枯的河床边野餐过。

8 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

9 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

10 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。

11 wielding   

手持着使用（武器、工具等）( wield的现在分词 )； 具有； 运用（权力）； 施加（影响）

参考例句：

• The rebels were wielding sticks of dynamite. 叛乱分子舞动着棒状炸药。
• He is wielding a knife. 他在挥舞着一把刀。

12 clout   

n.用手猛击；权力，影响力

参考例句：

• The queen may have privilege but she has no real political clout.女王有特权，但无真正的政治影响力。
• He gave the little boy a clout on the head.他在那小男孩的头部打了一下。

13 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

14 thatcher   

n.茅屋匠

参考例句：

• Tom Sawyer was in the skiff that bore Judge Thatcher. 汤姆 - 索亚和撒切尔法官同乘一条小艇。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险
• Mrs. Thatcher was almost crazed; and Aunt Polly, also. 撒切尔夫人几乎神经失常，还有波莉姨妈也是。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险

15 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。