2007年VOA标准英语-Celebrations, Protests Greet Sarkozy Victory in

By Anita Elash
Paris
07 May 2007

French voters celebrated¹ Nicolas Sarkozy's presidential election victory well into the night, as thousands of people gathered in central Paris, for a party sponsored by Mr. Sarkozy. But there were also protests in some parts of France, with nearly 400 cars burned. Anita Elash reports for VOA.

French President elect Nicolas Sarkozy, right, gestures as he delivers a speech before supporters on Concorde square 06 May 2007

The Place de Concorde in central Paris is usually filled with tourists. Sunday night, it was teeming² with fans of French President-elect Nicolas Sarkozy, who had invited voters to a victory rock concert. Thirty-thousand people came. Most of them were young, and most were optimistic about Mr. Sarkozy's victory.

A lot of young people support Nicolas Sarkozy, said one student from Paris. He said students think he can make the changes France needs.

But there were also anti-Sarkozy protests in some parts of the country. Nearly 400 cars were reported burned in cities across France.

But police said there was little violence in the places where it had been most feared - the multi-ethnic neighborhoods where Mr. Sarkozy is blamed for inflaming³ tensions between the police and youth. Instead, police blamed the incidents mostly on right and left-wing extremists.

Mr. Sarkozy, a conservative, won 53-percent of the vote. That gave him a comfortable majority over his opponent, socialist⁴ Segolene Royal, and a strong mandate⁵ to pursue the economic reforms he has proposed. They include changes to France's generous unemployment benefit and to standard work contracts that protect worker security.

One of his proposed measures would ensure a minimum train service. That would stop rail workers from shutting down the country to protest his reforms. Mr. Sarkozy is taking a few days off before he takes office on May 16.

1 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

2 teeming   

adj.丰富的v.充满( teem的现在分词 )；到处都是；（指水、雨等）暴降；倾注

参考例句：

• The rain was teeming down. 大雨倾盆而下。
• the teeming streets of the city 熙熙攘攘的城市街道

3 inflaming   

v.（使）变红，发怒，过热( inflame的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• And, by inflaming the liver, hepatitis can adversely affect dozens of life processes. 而肝脏的炎症又会对数十种生命过程产生有害影响。 来自辞典例句
• Your throat are inflaming. 你的喉部发炎了。 来自互联网

4 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。

5 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。