VOA标准英语2010年-US Candidates Reach Out to Arab-Americ

With less than three weeks to go before election day, candidates around the country are stepping up their efforts to reach voters.

In northern Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C., Congressional candidates attended a forum¹ which was organized for Arab-American voters.

Civil, religious freedoms

The controversy² over the proposed Islamic Cultural Center in New York City was a hot topic at the candidates night, and one that Democratic and Republican candidates agreed on. They assured Arab-American voters that they back civil and religious freedoms. The audience responded to Democratic Rep. Jim Moran's statement with a standing³ ovation⁴.

"I felt so strongly that the Islamic Center which was headed by a very moderate thoughtful Imam, which would have housed places of worship for all the major Abrahamic religions, should have been located exactly where it was going to be located because that is the message we send to the rest of the world," he said.

 
VOA - M. Elshinnawi
Republican Robert Gasiewicz expressed support for the building of an Islamic cultural center in New York City.
Moran's challenger for his seat in Congress is Republican Patrick Murray, who sent his campaign media director, Robert Gasiewicz, to the event on his behalf.

"No government should be stepping in to tell one religion or another what they should and should not do, what they should and should not build," said Gasiewicz. "And, quite frankly⁵, it has been part of our heritage that people came across the ocean to escape religious persecution⁶ in England. They wanted to worship freely here."

Favoring Democrats⁷

Virginia's Arab-American Candidates Night has been a tradition since 1987. It is a bi-partisan event, but a recent survey of Arab-American voters shows they favor Democratic candidates by a two to one margin⁸.

 
VOA - M. Elshinnawi
Saba Shami (left), founder⁹ of the Arab American Democratic Caucus¹⁰, speaks with Virginia Congressman¹¹ Jerry Connolly (right).
Jamil Elshami, founder of Arab American Republicans of the Greater Washington area, acknowledged that Arab-American still support President Barack Obama's efforts to reach out to the Arab and Muslim world:

"President Obama talked about issues that both Arab-American Republicans and Arab-American Democrats related to," he said. "And therefore, even though our view is that his intentions have been obstructed¹², Arab-Americans still have the hope that in the second half of his administration hopefully he can do something."

According to Elshami, Arab-Americans tend to vote on the issues and not for one political party or the other. However, Democratic Rep. Gerry Connolly argued that there is a shift towards his party.

"In recent years, the Arab-American community has re-assessed its political alignment," said Connolly. "Frankly, it has found a much more welcoming home in the Democratic party in terms of appreciation¹³ for diversity, tolerance¹⁴ - whether it be religious tolerance, whether it be tolerance for different ethnicities - so I think we have seen a real sea-change in the Arab-American community attitudes about the two parties and a lot more affinity¹⁵ for the Democratic party."

 
VOA - M. Elshinnawi
The bipartisan effort to mobilize Arab-American voters is called 'Yalla Vote,' which means, 'Come on, Vote.'
'Yalla Vote'

Voter turnout is traditionally low for a midterm election, when presidential candidates are not on the ballot¹⁶. Arab-American political activists¹⁷ are doing their part to mobilize voters.

"Calling people by doing phone banks. We print flyers, multi-lingual flyers. We do Arabic and English because some elements of our community are not proficient¹⁸ in Arabic," said Saba Shami, founder of the Arab American Democratic Caucus. "And we use some of the media available to us. In the past we used to have a local TV station, but currently there is not one, but there is a newspaper so that is another venue¹⁹. We publish it in the form of an ad so we can talk about the campaigns as information for the community."?

Arab-American activists are hosting similar candidates nights all over the country. In some states, they're also organizing events to show Arab-American voters how to use new voting machines.

Their slogan, three weeks before the mid-term election, is "Yalla Vote", which means, "Come on, Vote."
 

1 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

2 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

3 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

4 ovation   

n.欢呼，热烈欢迎，热烈鼓掌

参考例句：

• The hero received a great ovation from the crowd. 那位英雄受到人群的热烈欢迎。
• The show won a standing ovation. 这场演出赢得全场起立鼓掌。

5 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

6 persecution   

n. 迫害,烦扰

参考例句：

• He had fled from France at the time of the persecution. 他在大迫害时期逃离了法国。
• Their persecution only serves to arouse the opposition of the people. 他们的迫害只激起人民对他们的反抗。

7 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》

8 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

9 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

10 caucus   

n.秘密会议；干部会议；v.（参加）干部开会议

参考例句：

• This multi-staged caucus takes several months.这个多级会议常常历时好几个月。
• It kept the Democratic caucus from fragmenting.它也使得民主党的核心小组避免了土崩瓦解的危险。

11 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

12 obstructed   

阻塞( obstruct的过去式和过去分词 )； 堵塞； 阻碍； 阻止

参考例句：

• Tall trees obstructed his view of the road. 有大树挡着，他看不到道路。
• The Irish and Bristol Channels were closed or grievously obstructed. 爱尔兰海峡和布里斯托尔海峡或遭受封锁，或受到了严重阻碍。

13 appreciation   

n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨

参考例句：

• I would like to express my appreciation and thanks to you all.我想对你们所有人表达我的感激和谢意。
• I'll be sending them a donation in appreciation of their help.我将送给他们一笔捐款以感谢他们的帮助。

14 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。

15 affinity   

n.亲和力，密切关系

参考例句：

• I felt a great affinity with the people of the Highlands.我被苏格兰高地人民深深地吸引。
• It's important that you share an affinity with your husband.和丈夫有共同的爱好是十分重要的。

16 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

17 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 proficient   

adj.熟练的，精通的；n.能手，专家

参考例句：

• She is proficient at swimming.她精通游泳。
• I think I'm quite proficient in both written and spoken English.我认为我在英语读写方面相当熟练。

19 venue   

n.犯罪地点，审判地，管辖地，发生地点，集合地点

参考例句：

• The hall provided a venue for weddings and other functions.大厅给婚礼和其他社会活动提供了场所。
• The chosen venue caused great controversy among the people.人们就审判地点的问题产生了极大的争议。