2007年VOA标准英语-Polls Show Clinton, Giuliani Lead US Presidenti

By Jim Malone
Washington
03 May 2007

The latest U.S. public opinion polls suggest there is good news and bad news for the two top contenders for president next year, Democrat¹ Hillary Clinton and Republican Rudy Giuliani. The latest survey was released only hours before the first Republican presidential debate in California (8:00 PM EDT, 5/3/07). VOA National Correspondent Jim Malone reports from Washington.

Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks at a news conference in San Diego (File)

A new survey conducted by Quinnipiac University in Connecticut has New York Senator Hillary Clinton leading the Democratic field with 32 percent support. Illinois Senator Barack Obama is in second place with 18 percent, followed by former Vice² President Al Gore³ at 14 percent and former North Carolina Senator John Edwards at 12 percent.

Gore draws well even though he has repeatedly said he will not be a candidate next year.

On the Republican side, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani remains⁴ in the lead with 27 percent, followed by Arizona Senator John McCain at 19 percent, former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson with 14 percent support and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt⁵ Romney at eight percent.

Thompson has said he will decide soon whether to enter the race for the Republican Party nomination⁶.

Another recent poll by Quinnipiac found Giuliani would defeat most of the top Democrats⁷ in head-to-head match-ups in three key states, Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. But the survey also shows Giuliani's once sizable lead among Republicans is shrinking.

"Obviously there is good news here for former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. He wins most of the match-ups in the three states against the various Democratic candidates. But his margin⁸ in the Republican primary [field] over Senator McCain seems to be dropping a bit from our last polls about a month ago," said Peter Brown of Quinnipiac University's Polling Institute.

Senator Clinton has been a consistent leader in the Democratic field. But pollster Peter Brown says despite Clinton's standing⁹ in the polls, she still draws the highest negative ratings of any presidential candidate from either party.

"She has persistently¹⁰ high unfavorable ratings. They average about 43 percent in all three of these states. That is pretty high for a candidate. You can get elected President of the United States with a 43 percent unfavorable [rating], but when it gets much higher, into the high 40's, it becomes a problem," added Brown.

Polls in some of the states that will hold early presidential contests also suggest there could be opportunities for challengers to upset the frontrunners.

In Iowa, for example, John Edwards leads among Democrats. In the Republican race, Senator McCain is leading in three early contest states including Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

1 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。

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 gore   

n.凝血，血污；v.（动物）用角撞伤，用牙刺破；缝以补裆；顶

参考例句：

• The fox lay dying in a pool of gore.狐狸倒在血泊中奄奄一息。
• Carruthers had been gored by a rhinoceros.卡拉瑟斯被犀牛顶伤了。

4 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

5 mitt   

n.棒球手套，拳击手套，无指手套；vt.铐住，握手

参考例句：

• I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日，我送给他一只棒球手套。
• Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。

6 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

7 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》

8 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

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 persistently   

ad.坚持地；固执地

参考例句：

• He persistently asserted his right to a share in the heritage. 他始终声称他有分享那笔遗产的权利。
• She persistently asserted her opinions. 她果断地说出了自己的意见。