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VOA教育报道2024--Learn about US Presidential Campaigns

时间:2024-08-02 06:10来源:互联网 提供网友:nan   字体: [ ]
    (单词翻译:双击或拖选)

Every four years, the United States holds an election for the president in November. This lesson aims to help teachers and learners understand the political processes and expressions used during the election campaign.

The political parties

Let us begin with the expression, political party. In elections, parties organize candidates who share party members' ideas about how government should operate. They try to win elections to gain and keep political power.

There are two major political parties in the U.S. They are the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. There are other small political parties at the national level. These include the Libertarian and Green parties.

Primaries and caucuses2

Each of the U.S. states and territories holds votes early in the election year. In many states and territories, these votes are called primaries. You may know the word "primary" as an adjective meaning "happening or coming first" as in "primary school." When speaking of elections, it is a noun, but it has a similar meaning - it is the first election in a voting process that takes place over one year.

You might also hear the term caucus1. A caucus is also a kind of election, but it is held privately3 by the party and usually does not involve state election officials or equipment. The Iowa caucus was for a long time the first presidential contest during an election year.

In a primary or a caucus, voters choose the party's candidates for local and state offices as well as for national offices. The candidates who get the most votes become the candidates for the election in the fall.

Primaries can be "open" or "closed." Anyone can take part in an open primary election - even members of another party. Only registered party members can vote in a closed primary.

Delegates

In some states, voters choose delegates in the primaries. State party organizations have different rules for choosing them. Delegates are people who will attend their party's convention, or general meeting.

When a delegate is elected to choose a particular candidate, we say the delegate is pledged to the candidate. To pledge is to promise something.

Conventions

Each party holds a national convention - a large meeting where the delegates officially nominate the candidate that the party supports for the presidential election. The verb "nominate" means to officially choose someone as a candidate for a position. You will hear some other forms of the word in election news.

Nomination4

To describe the process of having the delegates choose a candidate, we use the noun form, "nomination." At the convention, the candidate who gains the majority of delegates is called the "nominee5." The nominee gives a speech to accept the nomination.

The party platform

The party platform is a statement of the ideology6 of the party and its candidate. At the party convention, the organizing committee shares its platform. The platform is a statement of the policies that the party hopes to put in place during its candidate's term in office.

The campaign trail

Presidential candidates travel the country speaking to voters at a series of events called rallies. Reporters use the expression "campaign trail" to describe these events. This is a metaphor7 for progressing along a path toward a goal. The election campaign is sometimes called a "race," another metaphor comparing the election campaign to a sporting competition.

Debates

Part of the campaign process is for the candidates to debate each other. These are televised events where a reporter asks questions that interest the public and gives each candidate a limited time to answer them. The form of the political debates is not the same as traditional academic debates, where teams compete under clear rules and time limits.

Donors8

Presidential candidates and others who run for public office must find money to pay for those rallies, television advertising9, and campaign workers. A common way to pay for a campaign is to ask for money. People who give to a candidate are donors. The Federal Election Commission makes rules about how much, when, and how donations can be made.

Polls and the Polls

Researchers get the opinions of voters in an effort to guess, or predict, the results of an upcoming election. They do this with polls, or public opinion studies. This word has two meanings in the elections. One is where a researcher might ask you about your party affiliation10 and which candidate you plan to support in a telephone call. Your party affiliation is the party you are registered with or that you support.

The other meaning of "poll" is the place where you go to vote on election day. We can also use "polling place." Schools, religious centers and public buildings can be polling places. In them, voters cast their ballot11 secretly. That means they fill out their ballot without pressure from others in the room and turn in their ballot to be counted by poll workers.

In the last two election years of 2020 and 2022, people could send in their ballots12 by mail. But polling places remain important for processing and counting ballots.

Privacy and politics

Now that you have some of the expressions used to talk about the presidential campaign, you should use them with some care. It is not normal to ask someone what party he or she is a member of although many people will offer that information freely.

In some situations, such as among close friends, you will hear Americans talk about the candidates and voice their opinions openly. But when talking with a new acquaintance or a stranger, it is best to avoid asking about political affiliation.

Also, know that some workplaces have rules against political activity, and, in government, most political activity is not legal although people often share their opinions.

Words in This Story

primary - n. an election in which members of the same political party run against each other for the chance to be in the general election

caucus -n. a political party meeting used to decide candidates and often delegates that is private and only open to party members

pledge - v. to formally promise to give or do (something)

platform - n. the official beliefs and goals of a political party

sustainable - adj. involving methods that do not completely use up or destroy natural resources

rally - n. a public meeting to support or oppose someone or something

metaphor -n. a word or term that means one thing that is used to represent a different thing usually because of a similarity

academic -adj. related to school or schooling13

poll - n. an activity in which several or many people are asked a question or a series of questions to provide information about what people think about something; a place for voting

affiliation - n. the state of belonging to a particular religious or political group

cast - v. to formally make (a vote)

acquaintance - n. someone who is known but who is not a close friend


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1 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。
2 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
3 privately IkpzwT     
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。
4 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。
5 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。
6 ideology Scfzg     
n.意识形态,(政治或社会的)思想意识
参考例句:
  • The ideology has great influence in the world.这种思想体系在世界上有很大的影响。
  • The ideal is to strike a medium between ideology and inspiration.我的理想是在意识思想和灵感鼓动之间找到一个折衷。
7 metaphor o78zD     
n.隐喻,暗喻
参考例句:
  • Using metaphor,we say that computers have senses and a memory.打个比方,我们可以说计算机有感觉和记忆力。
  • In poetry the rose is often a metaphor for love.玫瑰在诗中通常作为爱的象征。
8 donors 89b49c2bd44d6d6906d17dca7315044b     
n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 );献血者;捐血者;器官捐献者
参考例句:
  • Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去,请给我们发电子邮件。
  • About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》
9 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。
10 affiliation MKnya     
n.联系,联合
参考例句:
  • There is no affiliation between our organization and theirs,even though our names are similar.尽管两个组织的名称相似,但我们之间并没有关系。
  • The kidnappers had no affiliation with any militant group.这些绑架者与任何军事组织都没有紧密联系。
11 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。
12 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》
13 schooling AjAzM6     
n.教育;正规学校教育
参考例句:
  • A child's access to schooling varies greatly from area to area.孩子获得学校教育的机会因地区不同而大相径庭。
  • Backward children need a special kind of schooling.天赋差的孩子需要特殊的教育。
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