VOA标准英语2010年-Obama Prepares for State of Union in E

U.S. President Barack Obama is preparing to deliver his State of the Union Address at a time of political turmoil¹ in Washington.  Voter anger is high, and a Republican Senate victory in Massachusetts has sent shock waves through the president's Democratic Party. 

White House officials say they understand why emotions are running high.  The president's top political aide says President Obama has had to take unpopular action to deal with an economic crisis far worse than anyone expected when he took office.

David Axelrod says he warned the president early on that his public approval ratings were likely to drop. "I said to him a year ago, Mr. President your numbers are going to be considerably² worse a year from now than they are today because you can not govern in an economy like this without great disaffection," he said.

Axelrod told the ABC television program This Week that he believes the president did the right thing. "I have no regrets about that.  I think history will look back and say the President of the United States met his responsibilities," he said.

But Republicans say the win by Scott Brown in usually reliably Democratic Massachusetts shows the public vehemently³ disagrees with the president's policies - most notably⁴ his drive to get legislation through Congress to overhaul⁵ the nation's health care system.

On NBC's Meet the Press, the top Republican in the U.S. Senate, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, said polls show the vote in Massachusetts was largely about health care reform. "The American people had a victory in Massachusetts.  And they were sending us the message - stop and start over," he said.

One of the president's chief advisors⁶, Valerie Jarrett, makes clear Mr. Obama is not about to give up.

She also appeared on Meet the Press, saying, "What the president is always going to do is push hard for the American people.  He is not going to give up on that because of one election in Massachusetts."

But there are already small incremental⁷ signs of change at the White House and the Democratic Party headquarters following the Massachusetts election.

The man who led the successful Obama presidential campaign, David Plouffe, will help the party prepare for Congressional elections in November.  And President Obama is making a greater effort to show the American people that his policies can change their lives for the better - particularly when it comes to creating jobs. 

Jarrett indicates that will be a focus of the State of the Union Address, saying "he will be able to set forward his priorities and they will be focusing on the middle class - our middle class is struggling out there, they are frustrated⁸, they are angry."

The president will deliver his State of the Union Address to Congress and the American people on Wednesday.

 

1 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。

2 considerably   

adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上

参考例句：

• The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
• The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。

3 vehemently   

adv. 热烈地

参考例句：

• He argued with his wife so vehemently that he talked himself hoarse. 他和妻子争论得很激烈，以致讲话的声音都嘶哑了。
• Both women vehemently deny the charges against them. 两名妇女都激烈地否认了对她们的指控。

4 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

5 overhaul   

v./n.大修，仔细检查

参考例句：

• Master Worker Wang is responsible for the overhaul of this grinder.王师傅主修这台磨床。
• It is generally appreciated that the rail network needs a complete overhaul.众所周知，铁路系统需要大检修。

6 advisors   

n.顾问，劝告者( advisor的名词复数 )；（指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• The governors felt that they were being strung along by their advisors. 地方长官感到他们一直在受顾问们的愚弄。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• We will consult together with advisors about her education. 我们将一起和专家商议她的教育事宜。 来自互联网

7 incremental   

adj.增加的

参考例句：

• For logic devices, the incremental current gain is very important. 对于逻辑器件来说，提高电流增益是非常重要的。 来自辞典例句
• By using an incremental approach, the problems involving material or geometric nonlinearity have been solved. 借应用一种增量方法，已经解决了包括材料的或几何的非线性问题。 来自辞典例句

8 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》