VOA常速英语2019--拜登领跑民主党民调

The former vice¹ president and candidate for president of the United States, Joe Biden. In Iowa, Joe Biden looks to solidify² his status as the Democratic front-runner by targeting President Donald Trump³. But folks, if we give him eight years, I really believe this from the bottom of my heart, he will forever change the character and nature of who we are. That’s why we have to defeat Donald Trump in 2020, period, period, period. Biden remains⁴ the top national and key state polls for now, but he faces strong competition from several rivals, including Massachusetts senator, Elizabeth Warren. 2020 is our chance. We can make this government work for all of America. Let’s do this, Democrats⁵. Dream big. Fight hard. Let’s win.

Despite the fact he is 76, Biden remains an energetic campaigner. But he’s also drawn⁶ scrutiny⁷ for a series of recent verbal gaffes⁸, including comments on helping⁹ the poor. Poor kids are just as bright and just as talented as white kids, wealthy kids, black kids, Asian kids. Biden has also become a frequent target for the man he would like to face in next year’s election, President Trump. Joe Biden is not playing with a full deck. This is not somebody you can have as your president. But if he got the nomination¹⁰, I’ll be thrilled. We all talk about these things. I did it. Biden has taken some hits in the first two debates, but has also shown some resiliency, says analyst¹¹ Vanessa Beasley. There’s still some good evidence the people in the Democratic Party think that he is the person with the best chance of beating Trump. I think there’s a lot of forgiveness in that crowd right now because they want him to maintain that status of the most name recognition, you know, the highest chance of beating Trump.

The first votes in the Democratic primary campaign do not come until February and that leaves plenty of time for rivals to gain on Biden, says Kyle Kondit. I think if Biden is still leading as we get into September or October after we’ve had a few debates, that will prove that he’s a more durable¹² front-runner. But it’s also possible that under this heightened amount of scrutiny, that some of his support may go to some other some of these other candidates and then maybe it’ll really turn into a truly wide open race. Democrats also remain split over whether to focus mostly on Trump or push for sweeping¹³ economic and social reforms, says analyst Daryl West. A lot of the current debate among the Democrats is do we need small changes and basically bringing America back to what it was like before Trump or do we need much more substantial changes. That dilemma¹⁴ will be on display again when Democrats gather for a third debate in Houston next month.

有请前副总统、总统候选人——乔·拜登。在爱荷华州，乔·拜登寻求巩固自己作为民主党领跑者的地位，他巩固地位的方式是针对特朗普。但是同志们啊，就算咱们给他8年时间，我依然真心认为，他永远不会改变我们的性格和本质。因此，我们必须在2020年击败特朗普，必须这样做。目前为止，拜登在全国和州际的重要民调中位居首位，不过，他面临着多位对手的激烈竞争，比如马萨诸塞州参议员伊丽莎白·沃伦。2020年是我们的机会。我们可以借此机会让美国政府为整个美国而努力。咱们干起来吧，民主党人们——敢于做梦，勇于努力。咱们要赢。

虽然今年已76岁，拜登依然活力焕发地参加活动。不过，他最近因为一系列口头失礼而受到了关注，包括他评论说要帮助穷人。穷人家的孩子跟白人孩子、黑人孩子、亚洲孩子一样聪明、一样有天赋。拜登也已成为明年大选中他极有可能面对的人的频繁攻击目标——特朗普。拜登不够机敏。这样的人是不能当总统的。但如果拜登得到了民主党提名，那么我会很激动。我们都讨论过共同的话题。我确实讨论过。拜登在前2轮辩论中受挫，但依然顽强不屈，分析师瓦内莎·比斯利如是说道。依然有一些详实的证据表明民主党人认为拜登是最有可能击败特朗普的。我觉得现在有很多民主党人存有宽容之心，因为他们希望拜登保持最高知名度，这样就有最高的几率击败特朗普。

民主党初选的第一轮投票要到2月才开始，这给拜登的诸多竞争对手留下了充足的时间，分析师凯尔·康迪特如是说道。我认为，如果九十月份的时候拜登依然领跑的话，在那之前，我们肯定已经进行过几轮辩论了，那么那时候就能证明拜登是更持久的领跑者。但也有可能他会因为受到大量关注而导致一些支持者流向其他候选人，如果是那样的话，这场竞选就会变成真正的公开竞选了。民主党人关于专注特朗普还是推进经济社会改革的问题，也持分化意见，分析师达里尔·韦斯特如是说道。目前民主党激辩的是进行小幅度变革，还是做大改变。这种进退维谷的境况会再次上演，那时候也就是下个月在休斯顿进行第三轮辩论的时候。

1 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

2 solidify   

v.(使)凝固，(使)固化，(使)团结

参考例句：

• Opinion on this question began to solidify.对这个问题的意见开始具体化了。
• Water will solidify into ice if you freeze it.水冷冻会结冰。

3 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

4 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

5 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》

6 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

7 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

8 gaffes   

n.失礼，出丑( gaffe的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The presidential candidate made three mistakes, or gaffes, during his speech. 校长候选人在演讲中出了三次错，或失态。 来自超越目标英语 第4册
• When the microphones were on, gaffes gushed from his lips. 而当电话响起，他却口无遮拦，屡屡失言。 来自互联网

9 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

10 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。

11 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

12 durable   

adj.持久的，耐久的

参考例句：

• This raincoat is made of very durable material.这件雨衣是用非常耐用的料子做的。
• They frequently require more major durable purchases.他们经常需要购买耐用消费品。

13 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

14 dilemma   

n.困境，进退两难的局面

参考例句：

• I am on the horns of a dilemma about the matter.这件事使我进退两难。
• He was thrown into a dilemma.他陷入困境。