VOA标准英语2009年-Obama Honors African-American Senate Trail

By Paula Wolfson
White House
28 October 2009

 
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (l), Senate Majority Leader Harry¹ Reid and President Barack Obama, present the Congressional Gold Medal to former Massachusetts Sen. Edward Brooke on Capitol Hill in Washington, 28 Oct 2009
The U.S. Congress has presented its highest civilian² honor to Edward Brooke - the first African-American elected by popular vote to the Senate. Brooke got the award two days after his 90th birthday.

Past and present members of Congress joined to pay tribute to Edward Brooke.

Among them: President Barack Obama, the third African-American popularly elected to the Senate.

The president called Brooke a trailblazer - a man who spent his life breaking barriers.

Mr. Obama said Brooke's path to the Senate was unlikely. He told the story of an African-American child raised near the Capitol in a neighborhood so fiercely segregated³ that black residents needed a note from a white person to pass through.

"Others might have become angry or disillusioned," he said. "They would have concluded that no matter how hard they worked their horizons would always be limited so why bother. But not Ed Brooke."

Brooke joined the military and went on to law school. He moved from Washington to Massachusetts and entered politics. In 1966 he achieved what some considered the impossible. A state where most of the voters tend to be white and Democratic elected a black Republican to the Senate.

"He ran for office, as he put it, to bring people together who had never been together before. And that he did," said the president.

The president described Ed Brooke as a senator who was bipartisanship personified - a man whose primary loyalty⁵ was not to an ideology⁶ or party, but his constituents⁷ and his country.

"He did not care whether a bill was popular or politically expedient⁸, Democrat⁴ of Republican. He cared if it helped people." he said.

In the months before his death, the late senior Senator from Massachusetts - Edward Kennedy - campaigned hard for a Congressional Gold Medal for Edward Brooke.

The gold medal is the highest honor bestowed⁹ by Congress for distinguished¹⁰ achievements and contributions to society. The award dates back to the nation's infancy¹¹. Previous medal recipients¹² include George Washington, Mother Teresa, composer Aaron Copland, athlete Jesse Owens, and Nelson Mandela.

1 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

2 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

3 segregated   

分开的； 被隔离的

参考例句：

• a culture in which women are segregated from men 妇女受到隔离歧视的文化
• The doctor segregated the child sick with scarlet fever. 大夫把患猩红热的孩子隔离起来。

4 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。

5 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

6 ideology   

n.意识形态，(政治或社会的)思想意识

参考例句：

• The ideology has great influence in the world.这种思想体系在世界上有很大的影响。
• The ideal is to strike a medium between ideology and inspiration.我的理想是在意识思想和灵感鼓动之间找到一个折衷。

7 constituents   

n.选民( constituent的名词复数 )；成分；构成部分；要素

参考例句：

• She has the full support of her constituents. 她得到本区选民的全力支持。
• Hydrogen and oxygen are the constituents of water. 氢和氧是水的主要成分。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 expedient   

adj.有用的，有利的；n.紧急的办法，权宜之计

参考例句：

• The government found it expedient to relax censorship a little.政府发现略微放宽审查是可取的。
• Every kind of expedient was devised by our friends.我们的朋友想出了各种各样的应急办法。

9 bestowed   

赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• It was a title bestowed upon him by the king. 那是国王赐给他的头衔。
• He considered himself unworthy of the honour they had bestowed on him. 他认为自己不配得到大家赋予他的荣誉。

10 distinguished   

adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的

参考例句：

• Elephants are distinguished from other animals by their long noses.大象以其长长的鼻子显示出与其他动物的不同。
• A banquet was given in honor of the distinguished guests.宴会是为了向贵宾们致敬而举行的。

11 infancy   

n.婴儿期；幼年期；初期

参考例句：

• He came to England in his infancy.他幼年时期来到英国。
• Their research is only in its infancy.他们的研究处于初级阶段。

12 recipients   

adj.接受的；受领的；容纳的；愿意接受的n.收件人；接受者；受领者；接受器

参考例句：

• The recipients of the prizes had their names printed in the paper. 获奖者的姓名登在报上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The recipients of prizes had their names printed in the paper. 获奖者名单登在报上。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》