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VOA慢速英语 2008 0204b

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(单词翻译)

VOICE ONE:

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I'm Faith Lapidus.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Steve Ember. This week our subject is the presidential campaign, heading into the biggest day of the nominating season: Super Tuesday.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

 
People wait in line to vote at a Hollywood, Florida, polling site
This presidential election is creating unusual interest and excitement across America, especially with young people and Democrats1.

The Democrats hope to reclaim2 the White House after eight years of Republican presidency3. Yet candidates from both parties are promising4 change.

VOICE TWO:

There are major issues facing Americans. The weakening economy. The Iraq war. Other concerns include the troubled housing market, high costs of health care and energy, and the debate over illegal immigration.

But interest in the election is also being driven by the candidates themselves.

Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama would become America's first female or first black president. Republican John McCain would become, at age seventy-two, the oldest president elected to a first term. Or if the Republicans nominate Mitt5 Romney and he wins, he would become the nation's first Mormon president.

VOICE ONE:

Americans will choose their next president in general elections on November fourth. The names on the ballot6 will be the result of a nominating process that began just after New Year's Day.

Each state has its own process for choosing presidential candidates. But for candidates the goal is the same: to secure enough delegates to win their party's nomination7.

State nominating elections will be held through June. Most of these votes take place in the form of primary elections. Other take place at meetings known as caucuses9, or at state conventions.

VOICE TWO:

The Democratic Party will hold its national nominating convention in August in Denver, Colorado. The Republican National Convention will take place in September in Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Minnesota. 

To win nomination, candidates will need a simple majority of their party's delegates. The rules for awarding delegates, though, are anything but simple.

Democrats and Republicans are the two major political parties in the United States. Small, so-called third parties like the Green Party also nominate candidates for president.                                                                      

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

 
Counting votes for Clinton with a show of hands at an Iowa caucus8
The nominating season began January third with the caucuses in Iowa. At caucuses, voters gather in local places like schools, libraries or even people's homes. Some caucuses use secret ballots10 like traditional elections. But others require voters to gather in different areas of a room to show their support for their favorite candidate.

The main difference between a primary and a caucus is the process involved. A primary is more like a traditional election. The majority of states hold primary elections.

VOICE TWO:

More than forty states will be holding primaries this year. Some are open primaries. That means independent voters can take part. Others are closed primaries: only members of a party can vote.

The ability to win a closed primary can be an important test of party support for a candidate.

For example, the first two primaries that John McCain won, in New Hampshire and South Carolina, were open. The Arizona senator won them on the strength of independent voters. His victory last week in Florida was his first win with only Republicans voting.

VOICE ONE:

 
Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney greets supporters standing11 outside polling station, in Las Vegas, Nevada
He defeated Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, thirty-six percent to thirty-one percent. Winning Florida put John McCain into the lead in Republican delegates.

Hillary Clinton won the Democratic primary in Florida. But none of the Democratic candidates campaigned there. National party officials are refusing to seat Florida's delegates at the convention this summer. The dispute is over the decision to hold Florida's Democratic primary before February fifth -- Super Tuesday. 

VOICE TWO:

This is the week for Super Tuesday. The name is used for the day when the largest number of states hold presidential nominating elections. Super Tuesday is so big this time, "Super Duper Tuesday," it seems closer to a national primary than ever before.

VOICE ONE:

Primaries did not become an important part of the nominating process until the nineteen sixties. Before then, only some states held them. Nominees13 were mainly decided14 at the conventions by party leaders.

Many Americans disliked that system. Pressure to end the political deal making led to more primaries. But that led to a new criticism: that states with early primaries have too much influence on presidential races. Candidates give more attention to small states with early contests than big states with later ones.

This time, many states moved their nominating elections earlier in the year. Super Tuesday will include big states like California and New York, which have hundreds of delegates.

In all, twenty-four of the fifty states will hold primaries or caucuses, with one exception. Republicans in West Virginia will hold a convention.

VOICE TWO:

Alex Keyssar is a political historian and professor at Harvard University. He says having almost half the states vote on a single day puts greater importance on raising money for television advertising15 and travel.

It also put more pressure on candidates to do well early in the primary season or drop out, as several already have.

Last Wednesday, former North Carolina senator John Edwards left the race for the Democratic nomination. And former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani left the Republican race. Neither had won any states.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

The Democratic race has narrowed to two candidates: Senator Hillary Clinton of New York and Senator Barack Obama of Illinois. Former president Bill Clinton has campaigned for his wife. But his recent attacks on Barack Obama brought strong criticism within the party.

Going into Super Tuesday, Hillary Clinton has more delegates than Barack Obama. But even winning all twenty-two states holding Democratic votes would not give either of them enough delegates to secure the nomination.

About one thousand seven hundred Democratic delegates will be awarded. Two thousand twenty-five are needed for nomination.

VOICE TWO:

Going into the primary season, many experts predicted that clear front-runners would be known by the close of Super Tuesday. Now they are not so sure.

Tom Mann, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, says delegates could end up split among candidates. But he thinks it is likely that the parties will want to gather their support around one candidate.

At the national nominating conventions, delegates are generally expected to support the candidate who sent them. But some delegates have a right to vote for another candidate.

In a tight race, the nominee12 could be decided by hundreds of delegates known as superdelegates. These are party leaders and elected officials. Superdelegates are free to choose any candidate, but they often vote for the candidate who wins their home state.

VOICE ONE:

The Democrats award delegates proportionally. For example, if candidates win forty percent of the popular vote in a state, they win forty percent of that state's delegates.

The Republicans generally use the winner-takes-all system. The candidate with the highest percentage of votes in a state wins all of that state’s delegates.

As a result, Super Tuesday is more likely to produce a commanding front-runner for the Republicans than for the Democrats.

One thousand one hundred ninety-one delegates are needed to win the Republican nomination. More than one thousand will be awarded on Tuesday.

VOICE TWO:

Republican candidate Mike Huckabee won the Iowa caucuses. That gave him a strong start. But now the former Arkansas governor is low on campaign money. Last week he finished fourth in Florida, behind John McCain, Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani.

Ron Paul, a Republican congressman16 from Texas, finished fifth.

VOICE ONE:

John McCain, a former prisoner of war in Vietnam, says the biggest issue of the twenty-first century is "radical17 Islamic extremism." Mitt Romney presents himself as the true conservative. And he says his experience in business prepares him to deal with the economy.

Hillary Clinton says she has the experience to deal with America's problems from her first day as president. Barack Obama, forty-six years old and a first-term senator, says experience is important. But, he said at a California debate last week, "it is important to be right on day one."

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Our program was written and produced by Brianna Blake. I’m Steve Ember.

VOICE ONE: 

And I’m Faith Lapidus. For election news, and for transcripts18 and MP3s of our programs, go to voaspecialenglish.com. Join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.

 


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1 democrats 655beefefdcaf76097d489a3ff245f76     
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》
2 reclaim NUWxp     
v.要求归还,收回;开垦
参考例句:
  • I have tried to reclaim my money without success.我没能把钱取回来。
  • You must present this ticket when you reclaim your luggage.当你要取回行李时,必须出示这张票子。
3 presidency J1HzD     
n.总统(校长,总经理)的职位(任期)
参考例句:
  • Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
  • Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。
4 promising BkQzsk     
adj.有希望的,有前途的
参考例句:
  • The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
  • We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。
5 mitt Znszwo     
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。
6 ballot jujzB     
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。
7 nomination BHMxw     
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。
8 caucus Nrozd     
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。
9 caucuses d49ca95184fa2aef8e2ee3b613a6f7dd     
n.(政党决定政策或推举竞选人的)核心成员( caucus的名词复数 );决策干部;决策委员会;秘密会议
参考例句:
  • Republican caucuses will happen in about 410 towns across Maine. 共和党团会议选举将在缅因州的约410个城镇进行。 来自互联网
10 ballots 06ecb554beff6a03babca6234edefde4     
n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 );选举;选票;投票总数v.(使)投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )
参考例句:
  • They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》
11 standing 2hCzgo     
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。
12 nominee FHLxv     
n.被提名者;被任命者;被推荐者
参考例句:
  • His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
  • Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。
13 nominees 3e8d8b25ccc8228c71eef17be7bb2d5f     
n.被提名者,被任命者( nominee的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • She's one of the nominees. 她是被提名者之一。 来自超越目标英语 第2册
  • A startling number of his nominees for senior positions have imploded. 他所提名的高级官员被否决的数目令人震惊。 来自互联网
14 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
15 advertising 1zjzi3     
n.广告业;广告活动 a.广告的;广告业务的
参考例句:
  • Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
  • The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。
16 Congressman TvMzt7     
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。
17 radical hA8zu     
n.激进份子,原子团,根号;adj.根本的,激进的,彻底的
参考例句:
  • The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
  • She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。
18 transcripts 525c0b10bb61e5ddfdd47d7faa92db26     
n.抄本( transcript的名词复数 );转写本;文字本;副本
参考例句:
  • Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样,都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
  • You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书,你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句

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