VOA标准英语2012--Hispanic Voters Could Play Key Role in US Election

 

Hispanic Voters Could Play Key Role in US Election

Luis Torres and Willie Fernandez run a Houston company that does completion work on construction projects.

But when it comes to politics, they differ, with Fernandez being more critical of President Obama, the Democratic Party candidate.

“Look at the deficit¹ we are in now, economically,” Fernandez said.

“I don't think that is all due to Obama; it all came from before,” said Torres.

“No, but $15 billion in the first year...” noted² Fernandez.

“Well, he has inherited a lot of this,” replied Torres.

But, while Torres defends President Obama, he is still not sure how he will vote in November.

“The last time I voted for Obama. I am disappointed in what he has done. I mean, he has really not done much. , I don't know if it is all due to the politics that are in play, but he has not fulfilled the promises that he made,” Torres said.

In recent speeches, President Obama has argued that he needs more time to deal with the nation's enormous problems.

“I know we have gone through some tough years and I know that for all the things we have done, we still have so much undone,” Obama said.

Former Massachusetts governor Mitt³ Romney discussed the economy in a recent speech in Washington to a group of Hispanic small business owners.

“I know your prosperity means greater opportunity, for you, for your families, for your employees, for your communities and for the nation,” Romney said.

What Romney did not mention was his hard-line policy on illegal immigration, which some Hispanic supporters, like Willie Fernandez, find troubling.

“Here you have to look at who is the worst of all evils, I mean the reality. Am I happy with him? No, I am not. Am I happy with Obama? No, I am not,” Fernandez said.

Both Torres and Fernandez are naturalized U.S. citizens; Torres came from Colombia, Fernandez from Cuba. They both favor some form of immigration reform and think it would be counterproductive to deport⁴ millions of laborers⁵ who are needed here.

Another issue of concern to Luis Torres is that the number of Hispanic elected officials does not match the size of the Hispanic population in many states and Hispanic voting rates are generally low.

“Hispanics have to get behind their candidates and get them elected so that they can have more representation,” Torres said.

But Willie Fernandez thinks the ethnicity of candidates is often over-emphasized.

“If you are elected by the people, you should represent the people, whoever you are. You can't bend it to one ethnic⁶ group or another, you have to represent the people,” Fernandez said.

Both men strongly believe in the democratic system and plan to vote in November, but neither one is entirely⁷ sure whom they will support. 

1 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

2 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

3 mitt   

n.棒球手套，拳击手套，无指手套；vt.铐住，握手

参考例句：

• I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日，我送给他一只棒球手套。
• Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。

4 deport   

vt.驱逐出境

参考例句：

• We deport aliens who slip across our borders.我们把偷渡入境的外国人驱逐出境。
• More than 240 England football fans are being deported from Italy following riots last night.昨晚的骚乱发生后有240多名英格兰球迷被驱逐出意大利。

5 laborers   

n.体力劳动者，工人( laborer的名词复数 )；（熟练工人的）辅助工

参考例句：

• Laborers were trained to handle 50-ton compactors and giant cranes. 工人们接受操作五十吨压土机和巨型起重机的训练。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Wage-labour rests exclusively on competition between the laborers. 雇佣劳动完全是建立在工人的自相竞争之上的。 来自英汉非文学 - 共产党宣言

6 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

7 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。