VOA标准英语2008年-France's Sarkozy Faces Declining Popularity

By Lisa Bryant
Paris
11 January 2008

Recent surveys indicate French President Nicolas Sarkozy's popularity is declining. According to a poll to be published Saturday, his confidence rating is at less then 50 percent. From Paris, Lisa Bryant reports the president has responded to these negative trends with an ambitious 2008 agenda.

Anyone who believes France's energetic president may be running out of steam was proved wrong this week. During a Tuesday news conference, Nicolas Sarkozy outlined a raft of New Year proposals, from plans to ban advertising¹ on public television, to taxing the Internet and making the country's 35-hour work week more flexible.

President Sarkozy also proposed a less prosaic² goal, to establish what he calls a "policy of civilization" for France.

Mr. Sarkozy said human beings were the heart of politics and politicians should work to improve the world and people's lives.

The French leader has not clearly spelled out his so-called "civilization policy." But he did outline one surprising goal, to factor in happiness in measuring French growth.  And he has tapped two Nobel laureate economists³ to figure out how to do this.

Mr. Sarkozy's proposals come as he faces mediocre⁴ approval ratings, a change from last year when he coasted on widespread support.

A TNS-Sofres poll to be published Saturday in the weekly Le Figaro magazine finds only 49 percent of French have confidence in their president, a figure that has remained steady since last month.  Two other polls place his approval rating slightly higher.

The economy remains⁵ a top worry in France and most French do not believe Mr. Sarkozy is capable of improving one key issue, their declining purchasing power.

Political analyst⁶ Etienne Schweisguth says the president's short-term options are limited.

Schweisguth says Mr. Sarkozy does not have much to deliver to the French public in the short run, since many of his proposals will take time to be realized.  So instead, he is concentrating on the long run, with proposals like his so-called "civilization policy."

Mr. Sarkozy's approval ratings also appear to suffer from publicity⁷ about his private life. The French president's relationship with Italian singer Carla Bruni is much talked about in France, and surveys show many French worry it may overshadow Mr. Sarkozy's job as head of state.

But the president remained unapologetic this week, telling reporters that he wanted to be honest about his relationship. If journalists felt it was too publicized, he said, they did not have to send photographers to take pictures of the couple. And if he and Ms. Bruni got married, the press would be the last to know.

The leftist opposition⁸ has sharply criticized Mr. Sarkozy's new proposals and his eight months in power overall.  A senior member of the Socialist⁹ party, Pierre Moscovici, took particular aim at the president's proposed changes to France's 35-hour workweek, the shortest in Europe.

In an interview on France-Info radio, Moscovici acknowledged the 35-hour workweek was not a perfect solution.  But he said it was useful for a lot of employers and employees.  He accused Mr. Sarkozy as being only faithful to the conservative right that elected him.

Analyst Schweisguth says it is hard to say if Mr. Sarkozy's strategy of always offering new plans and new visions of the future will work. He says it will maintain Mr. Sarkozy's image as an active president. But he does not rule out a backlash down the road, and chances the French president's popularity will plummet¹⁰ well below the 50 percent mark.

1 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

2 prosaic   

adj.单调的，无趣的

参考例句：

• The truth is more prosaic.真相更加乏味。
• It was a prosaic description of the scene.这是对场景没有想象力的一个描述。

3 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 mediocre   

adj.平常的，普通的

参考例句：

• The student tried hard,but his work is mediocre. 该生学习刻苦，但学业平庸。
• Only lazybones and mediocre persons could hanker after the days of messing together.只有懒汉庸才才会留恋那大锅饭的年代。

5 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。

6 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。

7 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

8 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。

9 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。

10 plummet   

vi.(价格、水平等)骤然下跌；n.铅坠；重压物

参考例句：

• Mengniu and Yili have seen their shares plummet since the incident broke.自事件发生以来，蒙牛和伊利的股票大幅下跌。
• Even if rice prices were to plummet,other brakes on poverty alleviation remain.就算大米价格下跌，其它阻止导致贫困的因素仍然存在。