VOA标准英语2008年-Cries for Independence in US States Sometimes S

One of the interesting diversions related to the nomination¹ of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as the Republican vice-presidential candidate is the revelation that she had been sympathetic to, and possibly even involved in, a secessionist, or independence, movement in her home state. She has addressed two conventions of the Alaskan Independence Party, which wants Alaskans to vote on breaking the far-northern state away from the American Union. The leader of that party says Palin was a member in the 1990s. She denies it, but Palin's husband Todd was a member for seven years beginning in 1995.

This caused a minor² stir, and it called to mind other breakaway movements in U.S. history that never went anywhere.

The most notable secession effort was mounted by 10 southern slaveholding states in the mid-1800s. It resulted in their defeat in a bloody³, four-year-long Civil War.
　
If the independent Republic of Absaroka had become a reality, this might have been the main street of its capital, in Sheridan, Wyoming

In 1939, some wealthy citizens on the prairie that spills across parts of the western states of Wyoming, Montana, and South Dakota fanned the idea of creating a new state called Absaroka. [Absaroka is a native name for the Crow Indian tribe, one of the Plains tribes. It is now centered primarily in Montana.]

These independence-minded westerners were angry because other parts of their three states got railroad lines that brought some prosperity at the height of the Great Depression, while the railroad passed the Absaroka region by. A. R. Swickard, a street commissioner⁴ in the town of Sheridan, Wyoming, even proclaimed himself governor of Absaroka, and someone issued Absarokan license⁵ plates for automobiles⁶.

A New York Times account notes that Absaroka even got a state visit from the king of Norway, who was traveling in the area. Nothing became of the independent Absaroka idea, and its rump governor left Sheridan and moved to Arizona.
　
The Second Vermont Republic movement is serious but a longshot. Several local and statewide candidates have run on a platform that supports independence for the state

In our own times in the New England state of Vermont, which was briefly⁷ an independent republic before becoming the nation's 14th state, there's talk of a "Second Vermont Republic." Supporters, who don't think much of U.S. corporations or meddling⁸ by the federal government in Vermont affairs have held meetings and adopted a flag. But all indications are that independence for Vermont is a distant, if not irrational⁹, possibility.

Other secession movements that have popped up in unlikely places have withered¹⁰ and died because they couldn't demonstrate how a little corner of Kansas, or some disgruntled community in Colorado, could make a go of it all by itself, surrounded by an enormous and unsympathetic United States.

 

1 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。

2 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。

3 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

4 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

5 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

6 automobiles   

n.汽车( automobile的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• When automobiles become popular,the use of the horse and buggy passed away. 汽车普及后，就不再使用马和马车了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Automobiles speed in an endless stream along the boulevard. 宽阔的林荫道上，汽车川流不息。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

8 meddling   

v.干涉，干预（他人事务）( meddle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He denounced all "meddling" attempts to promote a negotiation. 他斥责了一切“干预”促成谈判的企图。 来自辞典例句
• They liked this field because it was never visited by meddling strangers. 她们喜欢这块田野，因为好事的陌生人从来不到那里去。 来自辞典例句

9 irrational   

adj.无理性的，失去理性的

参考例句：

• After taking the drug she became completely irrational.她在吸毒后变得完全失去了理性。
• There are also signs of irrational exuberance among some investors.在某些投资者中是存在非理性繁荣的征象的。

10 withered   

adj. 枯萎的，干瘪的，（人身体的部分器官）因病萎缩的或未发育良好的 动词wither的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The grass had withered in the warm sun. 这些草在温暖的阳光下枯死了。
• The leaves of this tree have become dry and withered. 这棵树下的叶子干枯了。