VOA常速英语2008年-Clinton Wins Critical Victories in Three States

By Greg Flakus
Houston
05 March 2008
 

Hillary Clinton made a stunning¹ comeback in Tuesday's primaries and caucuses², winning decisively in Ohio and Rhode Island and coming out on top of a close race in Texas. John McCain won all four states, to clinch³ the Republican nomination⁴, putting him in position to begin organizing for the November election, while his Democratic opponents continue to battle each other. VOA's Greg Flakus has more on the story from Houston.

After losing 11 straight contests to Barack Obama and being advised by some political pundits⁶ to drop out of the race, Hillary Clinton made a spectacular comeback on Tuesday, winning the popular vote in three of the four states holding primaries. Coming before cheering supporters in Ohio, she made it clear that she has no intention of quitting.

"You know what they say, as Ohio goes, so goes the nation. (cheers) Well, this nation is coming back and so is this campaign," she said.

Clinton also cast her gaze forward to the November election, presenting herself as the best candidate for the Democratic Party, based on her decisive win in Ohio.

"No candidate in recent history, Democrat⁵ or Republican, has won the White House without winning the Ohio primary," she said.

The other big winner of the evening was Republican John McCain, who beat challenger Mike Huckabee in all four states and clinched⁷ his party's nomination.

"Thank you, Texas, Ohio, Vermont and Rhode Island. Thank you," he said.

Huckabee congratulated McCain and announced his withdrawal⁸ from the race. McCain is now free to concentrate his time and money on preparing for the election in November. The decorated Vietnam War veteran will present himself as the more experienced candidate and the one who can best protect the nation from enemies abroad.

Clinton's recent campaigning included portrayals⁹ of her experience and good judgment¹⁰ and questions about the readiness of Barack Obama to be commander in chief. Obama responded by saying that she showed poor judgment when she voted in the Senate for the authorization¹¹ to wage war in Iraq. Although he was not yet in the Senate at the time, he spoke¹² out against the idea of going to war.

Speaking in San Antonio, Texas, after congratulating Clinton on her victories, Barack Obama concentrated his main rhetorical fire on John McCain.

"In this election, we will offer two very different visions of the America we see in the 21st Century, because John McCain may claim long history of straight talk and independent thinking and I respect that. But in this campaign he has fallen in line behind the very same policies that have ill served America," he said.

In the next few weeks there will be contests in small states, like Wyoming and Mississippi, where Obama is favored to win. The next large state battleground will be Pennsylvania, which holds its primary April 22. Clinton has strong support there, but she will be hard pressed to keep the momentum¹³ of her campaign going for the several weeks leading up to that contest. Obama holds a lead in delegates that will be difficult for Clinton to surpass. However, she could gain an edge among so-called super delegates before the Democratic convention in August. Party leaders hope the nomination can be decided¹⁴ long before that, so as not to give the Republicans the advantage of sitting on the sidelines while the Democrats¹⁵ continue to attack each other.

1 stunning   

adj.极好的；使人晕倒的

参考例句：

• His plays are distinguished only by their stunning mediocrity.他的戏剧与众不同之处就是平凡得出奇。
• The finished effect was absolutely stunning.完工后的效果非常美。

2 caucuses   

n.（政党决定政策或推举竞选人的）核心成员( caucus的名词复数 )；决策干部；决策委员会；秘密会议

参考例句：

• Republican caucuses will happen in about 410 towns across Maine. 共和党团会议选举将在缅因州的约410个城镇进行。 来自互联网

3 clinch   

v.敲弯，钉牢；确定；扭住对方 [参]clench

参考例句：

• Clinch the boards together.用钉子把木板钉牢在一起。
• We don't accept us dollars,please Swiss francs to clinch a deal business.我方不收美元，请最好用瑞士法郎来成交生意。

4 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。

5 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。

6 pundits   

n.某一学科的权威，专家( pundit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The pundits disagree on the best way of dealing with the problem. 如何妥善处理这一问题，专家众说纷纭。 来自辞典例句
• That did not stop Chinese pundits from making a fuss over it. 这并没有阻止中国的博学之士对此大惊小怪。 来自互联网

7 clinched   

v.（尤指两人）互相紧紧抱[扭]住( clinch的过去式和过去分词 )；解决（争端、交易），达成（协议）

参考例句：

• The two businessmen clinched the deal quickly. 两位生意人很快达成了协议。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Evidently this information clinched the matter. 显然，这一消息使问题得以最终解决。 来自辞典例句

8 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

9 portrayals   

n.画像( portrayal的名词复数 )；描述；描写；描摹

参考例句：

• And painters alluded to her eroticism in their bare breasted portrayals of the dying queen. 画家们把她描绘为裸胸垂死的贪欲的女王。 来自互联网

10 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

11 authorization   

n.授权，委任状

参考例句：

• Anglers are required to obtain prior authorization from the park keeper.垂钓者必须事先得到公园管理者的许可。
• You cannot take a day off without authorization.未经批准你不得休假。

12 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

13 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

14 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。

15 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》