2007年VOA标准英语-Republican Presidential Contenders More Aggress

By Jim Malone
Washington
16 May 2007

After months of relatively¹ gentle debate, the 10 Republicans running for president are getting more aggressive with each other in the 2008 campaign for the White House.  VOA national correspondent Jim Malone has more from Washington.

Mitt2 Romney, left, embraces former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, as Senator John McCain walks by after the Republican debate, 15 May 2007" hspace="2" src="/upimg/allimg/070606/0828590.jpg" width="210" vspace="2" border="0" />

Republican presidential hopefuls former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, left, embraces former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, as Senator John McCain walks by after the Republican debate, 15 May 2007

In the latest debate held in South Carolina and televised by the Fox News Channel, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani may have helped himself with a statement on the 2001 terrorist attacks on the U.S.

Giuliani responded to a comment from Texas Congressman³ Ron Paul about the roots of the 9/11 attacks.  Paul is the only Republican candidate who opposes the war in Iraq.

PAUL:  "They attack us because we have been over there.  We have been bombing Iraq for 10 years.  We have been in the Middle East.  I think [former President Ronald] Reagan was right.  We do not understand the irrationality⁴ of Middle Eastern politics."

GIULIANI:  "That is an extraordinary statement.  As someone who lived through the attack of September 11th, [to say that] we invited the attack, because we were attacking Iraq, I do not think I have ever heard that before.  And I have heard some pretty absurd explanations for September 11th."

There were other examples of a more aggressive tone among the Republican contenders.  Arizona Senator John McCain was asked about his opposition⁵ to torture in the questioning of terrorism suspects and his vow⁶ to close the terrorist detention⁷ camp at the U.S. naval⁸ base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

"The use of torture, as much as we would gain from torture, we would lose in world opinion," said Senator McCain.  "We do not torture people."

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney also opposed the use of torture to obtain information about an impending⁹ terrorist attack.  But Romney said he would favor keeping the Guantanamo Bay prison open and doubling the number of terrorist suspects held there.

Former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore said some of the frontrunners in the Republican field are trying to portray¹⁰ themselves as more conservative than they actually are.

Gilmore cited Giuliani's support for abortion¹¹ rights and the fact that Romney was once a supporter of abortion, but now opposes it.  Gilmore also noted¹² that McCain initially¹³ opposed President Bush's tax cut program.

Gilmore also repeated concerns about Iran that several of the Republican contenders expressed in their earlier debate in California.

"There is no choice at this point other than to join up with people across the world in order to put on serious, mandatory¹⁴ sanctions against Iran," he said.

Another of the lesser¹⁵ known Republican contenders, Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo, accused Giuliani, McCain and Romney of being weak on the issue of stopping illegal immigration into the U.S.

University of Virginia political analyst¹⁶ Larry Sabato said the second Republican debate demonstrated a new willingness on the part of several candidates to challenge each other.

"They have not been attacking one another until tonight, and this time they decided¹⁷ to unsheathe the short knives," he said.  "They went after each other, at least a bit and they drew some blood.  I think McCain was bleeding a bit, I think Romney was bleeding a bit.  Some of the minor¹⁸ candidates [as well], but they do not matter."

Public-opinion polls show Giuliani in the lead for the Republican nomination¹⁹, followed by McCain and Romney, with the seven other active candidates trailing far behind.

But the polls also show support for two Republicans who are considering a White House run, but who have not declared their candidacies, former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia.

Craig Crawford of Congressional Quarterly magazine says none of the Republican candidates has yet captured the imagination of the party's social conservative wing, a crucial constituency in the nominating process.

"I think one of the biggest reasons the Republican race is wide open is that no one has a claim on the conservative chair, the social conservative chair in the Republican Party," he explained.

Thompson is expected to decide whether to enter the race in the next few weeks while Gingrich says he will make a decision by September.

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 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。

3 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

4 irrationality   

n. 不合理，无理性

参考例句：

• Such stoppages as are observed in practice are thus attributed to mistakes or even irrationality. 在实际情况中看到的这些停工，要归因于失误或甚至是非理性的东西。
• For all its harshness and irrationality, it is the only world we've got. 尽管它严酷而又不合理，它终究是我们具有的唯一的世界。

5 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。

6 vow   

n.誓(言)，誓约；v.起誓，立誓

参考例句：

• My parents are under a vow to go to church every Sunday.我父母许愿，每星期日都去做礼拜。
• I am under a vow to drink no wine.我已立誓戒酒。

7 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

8 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

9 impending   

a.imminent, about to come or happen

参考例句：

• Against a background of impending famine, heavy fighting took place. 即将发生饥荒之时，严重的战乱爆发了。
• The king convoke parliament to cope with the impending danger. 国王召开国会以应付迫近眉睫的危险。

10 portray   

v.描写，描述；画(人物、景象等)

参考例句：

• It is difficult to portray feelings in words.感情很难用言语来描写。
• Can you portray the best and worst aspects of this job?您能描述一下这份工作最好与最坏的方面吗？

11 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

12 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

13 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

14 mandatory   

adj.命令的；强制的；义务的；n.受托者

参考例句：

• It's mandatory to pay taxes.缴税是义务性的。
• There is no mandatory paid annual leave in the U.S.美国没有强制带薪年假。

15 lesser   

adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地

参考例句：

• Kept some of the lesser players out.不让那些次要的球员参加联赛。
• She has also been affected,but to a lesser degree.她也受到波及，但程度较轻。

16 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

17 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

18 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

19 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。