美国有线新闻 CNN 2012-09-20

 First up today, there is no slowdown in protests against an online film that’s offensive to Islam. Thousands of Muslims from North Africa to the Middle East to Southeast Asia have turned out to demonstrate against this movie. This happened yesterday in Lebanon, where people spoke¹ out against the U.S. Even though the film was made privately², the U.S. government had nothing to do with it, some protesters accuse Washington of approving the movie. That’s because some other countries’ governments approve all films. Some nations also don’t allow the same freedom of speech as the U.S., so Pakistan, for instance, can and did, block YouTube. The same thing happened in Afghanistan, and Google India has blocked the video on its own. 

 

 

Another big story we’ve been following is the Chicago teacher strike. 350,000 students in America’s largest school district are not back in class today. The earliest that could happen is Wednesday, and the standoff between the Chicago Teachers Union and the school board has not been resolved. School officials took legal action on Monday trying to force teachers off the picket³ lines and in the classrooms. The city calls the dispute dangerous and says it’s against the law while the Teachers Union accused Chicago Mayor Rahm Emaneul of trying to bully⁴ teachers into accepting a deal. Now, there is a deal. It’s a tentative one, but many members of the Chicago Teachers Union aren’t happy with it, and they want more time to look it over before they sign on. The big issue is here, how long the school day is, how teachers are valuated, and how secure their jobs are. 

 

 

One of the biggest U.S. news stories of the year hasn’t happened yet. Election day is November 6th when Americans will choose their leader for the next four years. Yesterday, out reporter Tom Foreman explored the history of the United States Republican Party. You can see that report at cnnstudentnews.com. Look in our archives. Today, we are looking at the Democratic Party, so once again, Tom Foreman. 

 

 

 

The Democratic Party is a fair bit older than the Republican Party, but just where the heck did it come from? The Democrats⁶ can trace their history back to the lights of Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson, who really didn’t want the federal government getting too power hungry. In the 1820s, Jackson became the first president known as a Democrat⁵. He was a fierce, cane-swinging, dueling⁷ war hero type of president who fiercely defended the rights of slave owners out across the country, farmers, by and large, saying if they wanted to have slaves, that was effectively none of Washington’s business. In the still young country, it was a popular and powerful idea, and the Democrats quickly became known as the Party of the People. Jackson’s foes⁸, by the way, said he was as stubborn as a jackass in defending his position and ever since the donkey has been the symbol of the Democratic Party. 

 

 

As the years moved on, and the slavery issue was settled by the Civil War, the Democratic sense of supporting regular working class people evolved into and aggressive agenda of supporting security and individual rights and freedoms. For example, Democrats championed the idea of women being allowed to vote. In the 1930s, during the Great Depression and afterward⁹, President Franklin Roosevelt launched many of the programs that Democrats are still most proud of, Social Security assured old people they would not go broke. Rural electrification¹⁰ took power lines out into the countryside. The G.I. bill guaranteed education for those who served in our military, and there was much more. In modern times, Democrats have championed civil rights, labor¹¹ reform laws, and most recently health care reform. 

 

The Republicans, in recent decades, have proven more adept¹² at winning the White House, but the Democrats still produced plenty of chief executives with landmark¹³ legacies¹⁴, the moon programs, the Civil Rights Act and Medicare, the Departments of Education and Energy and on and on. And of course, the current occupant of the Oval Office, Barack Obama, he is a Democrat.

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

3 picket   

n.纠察队；警戒哨；v.设置纠察线；布置警卫

参考例句：

• They marched to the factory and formed a picket.他们向工厂前进,并组成了纠察队。
• Some of the union members did not want to picket.工会的一些会员不想担任罢工纠察员。

4 bully   

n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮

参考例句：

• A bully is always a coward.暴汉常是懦夫。
• The boy gave the bully a pelt on the back with a pebble.那男孩用石子掷击小流氓的背脊。

5 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。

6 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》

7 dueling   

n. 决斗, 抗争(=duelling) 动词duel的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• More light-hearted But somewhat puzzled, Vladimir prepared to meet Eugene on the dueling ground. 弗拉基米尔心里轻松了一些，但仍感到有些困惑，在这种心情下，他准备去决斗场地迎战叶甫盖尼。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 文学
• They had been dueling for hours and finally called a draw. 他们一直决斗了数小时，最后打成平局。

8 foes   

敌人，仇敌( foe的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They steadily pushed their foes before them. 他们不停地追击敌人。
• She had fought many battles, vanquished many foes. 她身经百战，挫败过很多对手。

9 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

10 electrification   

n.充电，电气化；起电；电化；带电

参考例句：

• Electrification of the countryside--yes, that, too, is impressive. 是的。农村电气化也是了不起的事。 来自演讲部分
• After electrification, it will readily stick to a wall or a ceiling. 起电后，它立即吸附到墙壁上或天花板上。 来自辞典例句

11 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

12 adept   

adj.老练的，精通的

参考例句：

• When it comes to photography,I'm not an adept.要说照相，我不是内行。
• He was highly adept at avoiding trouble.他十分善于避开麻烦。

13 landmark   

n.陆标，划时代的事，地界标

参考例句：

• The Russian Revolution represents a landmark in world history.俄国革命是世界历史上的一个里程碑。
• The tower was once a landmark for ships.这座塔曾是船只的陆标。

14 legacies   

n.遗产( legacy的名词复数 )；遗留之物；遗留问题；后遗症

参考例句：

• Books are the legacies that a great genius leaves to mankind. 书是伟大的天才留给人类的精神财富。 来自辞典例句
• General legacies are subject to the same principles as demonstrative legacies. 一般的遗赠要与指定数目的遗赠遵循同样的原则。 来自辞典例句