VOA慢速英语--Americans to Vote Amid Violence, Anger

 

Americans learned last week of pipe bombs sent by mail to Democratic Party political leaders and other critics of President Donald Trump¹.

The leaders included former President Barack Obama and his Vice² President Joe Biden, former Secretary of State and 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and several current lawmakers. No bombs exploded and no one was hurt.

On Friday, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that Cesar Sayoc of Florida was arrested and charged with the crimes. He added that the suspect, a 56-year-old Republican Party member and Trump supporter, in Sessions' words, “appears to be a partisan³.”

News of the arrest seemed to give the country a moment to breathe before the Nov. 6 mid-term elections. The voting could change the balance of power in Congress.

However, not even 24 hours later, a mass shooter killed 11 people in a Jewish religious center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The gunman, Robert Bowers⁴, said “all Jews must die” as he surrendered to police.

The Hunger Games

“It’s like our country is becoming ‘The Hunger Games,’” Elisa Karem Parker, an independent voter from Kentucky told the Associated Press. The book and film series “The Hunger Games,” is set in a future in which citizens watch on television as young people hunt and kill one another in a survival competition.

The mail-bomb plot is the latest in a series of attacks against members of both political parties.

In June 2017, a liberal activist⁵ attacked Republican Party lawmakers and supporters on a ballfield near Washington. The gunman shot and injured Congressman⁶ Steve Scalise of Louisiana and several other people.

A couple months later, a white supremacist killed a 32-year-old woman and wounded 19 other people in Charlottesville, Virginia. The attacker drove his car into a crowd that had gathered to protest a white supremacist demonstration⁷.

More recently, officials accused a former Navy serviceman of mailing letters filled with the poison ricin to President Trump, Defense⁸ Secretary Jim Mattis, and other members of the administration.

“I just can’t believe the kind of violence that we’re experiencing in our country,” Cindy Jennings of Pittsburgh told the AP at a ceremony to honor the victims of Saturday’s shooting. “I feel like the leadership in our country right now is just encouraging violence, and I wish that that would stop.”

Robb Willer is a sociology professor at Stanford University. He said, “That is the question of our time: Are we going to choose to continue the war, or are we going to choose peace?”

Willer suggested that most Americans disliked the political divisions but feel trapped in them. He said, “It will get worse before it gets better.”

Political divisions growing

A Pew Research Center study this month of Republican and Democratic voters shows just how wide the political divisions in America have grown.

Democratic voters say the most important issues facing the country are mistreatment of minorities, climate change, the divide between rich and poor, gun violence and racism⁹.

In contrast, Republicans view illegal immigration, terrorism, crime, federal budget deficit¹⁰ and drug dependence¹¹ as the biggest problems for the U.S.

Seventy-nine percent of voters who support Republicans say they also support the National Rifle Association, a gun rights group. Only 12 percent of Democratic Party voters express support for the NRA.

Sixty percent of Democrats¹² describe themselves as “feminist¹³.” The percentage of Republicans who do so is 14. A little more than 75 percent of Democratic voters call themselves “environmentalist,” while only 44 percent of Republicans describe themselves as such.

Something both Democrats and Republicans agree about? Having their own party in control of Congress after the elections “really matters.”

I’m Caty Weaver¹⁴.

Words in This Story

partisan - n. a person who strongly supports a particular leader, group or cause

encourage - v. to make someone likely to do something

contrast - n. a difference between people

feminist - n. the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities

1 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。

2 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。

3 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

4 bowers   

n.（女子的）卧室( bower的名词复数 )；船首锚；阴凉处；鞠躬的人

参考例句：

• If Mr Bowers is right, low government-bond yields could lose their appeal and equities could rebound. 如果鲍尔斯先生的预计是对的，那么低收益的国债将会失去吸引力同时股价将会反弹。 来自互联网

5 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

6 Congressman   

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。

7 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

8 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

9 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。

10 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。

11 dependence   

n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属

参考例句：

• Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
• He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。

12 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》

13 feminist   

adj.主张男女平等的，女权主义的

参考例句：

• She followed the feminist movement.她支持女权运动。
• From then on,feminist studies on literature boomed.从那时起，男女平等受教育的现象开始迅速兴起。

14 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。