VOA慢速英语2012 IN THE NEWS - After Big Protests, Russians Vote for President

IN THE NEWS - After Big Protests, Russians Vote for President

This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.
Russians vote for a new president Sunday, and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is expected to win. There are five candidates on the ballot¹. The others include Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov and billionaire businessman Sergei Prokhorov.
Mr. Putin was president from two thousand to two thousand eight. By law, Russian presidents cannot serve more than two terms in a row.
There were reports of widespread cheating in the elections for parliament, the Duma, last year. Those claims led to the largest street demonstrations² in the country since the Soviet³ Union collapsed⁵ twenty years ago. Protesters say Mr. Putin controls Russia through a heavily controlled political system and corruption⁶.
Angela Stent is a Russia expert at Georgetown University in Washington. She was not surprised that the Prime Minister has blamed the United States in connection with the unrest.
ANGELA STENT: “He has really resorted to a tactic⁷ that, of course, has been used since he became president in two thousand -- and that is to invoke⁸ the United States [as the] enemy, to blame the United States for a lot of Russian problems. And as you saw, in the Duma elections, he then blamed Hillary Clinton, Secretary Clinton, for supporting the opposition⁹ and for trying to undermine Russian stability.”
President Obama has made better relations with Russia an important part of his foreign policy. His dealings with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev led to a major arms-control agreement known as New START. It also led to increased cooperation on issues like Afghanistan, Iran and Libya.
But Russia joined with China in vetoing a United Nations Security Council resolution on Syria.
Sasha -- a Russian in his twenties who did not want to use his last name -- says he is tired of Mr. Putin. He says he is voting for Mr. Prokhorov, the co-owner of the New Jersey¹⁰ Nets basketball team. Mr. Putin has already shown all that he can do, Sasha says, and he has enough money.
But Anya -- who did not want to use her last name either -- says she is looking forward to Mr. Putin returning to the presidency¹¹. She says he helped bring Russia out of economic collapse⁴ in the late nineteen nineties.
Another Russian, Natasha, says she is not even going her to vote because she knows the ruling United Russia party will cheat and Mr. Putin will win. She says she does not think the elections will be clean unless there are cameras in the voting stations, as Mr. Putin has promised.
In the December elections, United Russia won the most seats. After criticism of the vote, Prime Minister Putin announced a one-half-billion-dollar program to place two Web cameras at each voting center. Russia has nearly one hundred thousand polling stations.
The last public-opinion survey before the election by an independent group suggested that Mr. Putin will win with sixty-two to sixty-six percent. In two thousand four he was re-elected with seventy-one percent of the vote.
Mr. Medvedev is expected to become prime minister in a new government.
A win on Sunday will make Mr. Putin the longest-serving leader in Moscow since Josef Stalin ruled the Soviet Union.
Two hundred thousand Russians have volunteered to watch for cheating on Sunday. A group called Citizen Observer has been training volunteers. And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Bob Doughty¹².
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Contributing: James Brooke, Jessica Golloher and Andre de Nesnera

1 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。

2 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

3 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

4 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

5 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

6 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

7 tactic   

n.战略，策略；adj.战术的，有策略的

参考例句：

• Reducing prices is a common sales tactic.降价是常用的销售策略。
• She had often used the tactic of threatening to resign.她惯用以辞职相威胁的手法。

8 invoke   

v.求助于(神、法律)；恳求，乞求

参考例句：

• Let us invoke the blessings of peace.让我们祈求和平之福。
• I hope I'll never have to invoke this clause and lodge a claim with you.我希望我永远不会使用这个条款向你们索赔。

9 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

10 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

11 presidency   

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。

12 doughty   

adj.勇猛的，坚强的

参考例句：

• Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质：脾气倔强，性格刚强。
• The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。