voa标准英语2008-Ghanaian Opposition Leader Has Slim Lead in Pres

The opposition¹ candidate in Ghana's presidential election has a narrow lead over the ruling party candidate with more than 85 percent of districts reporting. But final results are not expected until Tuesday.

With official returns in from more than 200 of Ghana's 230 districts, opposition candidate John Atta-Mills has a slight lead over ruling party candidate Nana Akufo-Addo.
　

Ghana's opposition party candidate John Atta Mills (l) and Ruling party presidential candidate Nana Akufo-Addo in Accra, 09 Dec 2008

But the ruling party is disputing some of the vote tallies² announced so far. Both parties said their supporters were intimidated³ at polling stations.

Akufo-Addo defeated Atta-Mills in a first round of balloting⁴ earlier this month. But because neither candidate won more than 50 percent of the votes cast, they went head-to-head on Sunday to determine who will succeed out-going President John Kufuor.

Ghanian electoral officials expect to announce final results on Tuesday.

New Patriotic⁵ Party candidate Akufo-Addo is a 64-year-old former attorney general and foreign minister who campaigned on the strength of improvements in Ghana's economy, health care and infrastructure⁶ during the Kufuor administration.

Atta-Mills of the National Democratic Congress party is a 64-year-old tax law professor who campaigned against the ruling party saying it is time for a change after what he called eight years of "miserable⁷ failure".
　

Ghana's President John Kufuor, (file photo)

Atta-Mills was vice⁸ president to Ghana's former leader Jerry Rawlings who came to power in a coup⁹ 27 years ago. Mr. Rawlings introduced some economic and political reforms before handing over power to John Kufuor eight years ago.

Whoever wins the election will govern with a decidedly different parliament, as the ruling party lost its legislative¹⁰ majority in the first round, dropping 21 seats to finish with 107 of the 228 seats in parliament. The opposition NDC picked up 20 seats to finish with 114 seats.

Ghana's next presidential administration will likely enjoy a considerable new source of revenue following the discovery of off-shore oil fields that could produce as much as 150,000 barrels a day by 2010. That could ease the impact of higher food and fuel prices in an economy that is already Africa's second largest producer of gold and the world's second biggest exporter of cocoa.

1 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。

2 tallies   

n.账( tally的名词复数 )；符合；（计数的）签；标签v.计算，清点( tally的第三人称单数 )；加标签（或标记）于；（使）符合；（使）吻合

参考例句：

• Cash on hand tallies with the figure in the accounts. 现款跟账上的数目没有出入。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He tallies his own marks. 他把自己的得分记了下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 intimidated   

v.恐吓；威胁adj.害怕的；受到威胁的

参考例句：

• We try to make sure children don't feel intimidated on their first day at school. 我们努力确保孩子们在上学的第一天不胆怯。
• The thief intimidated the boy into not telling the police. 这个贼恫吓那男孩使他不敢向警察报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 balloting   

v.（使）投票表决( ballot的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Clark took a commanding leading in the early balloting. 在最初投票时，克拉克遥遥领先。 来自辞典例句
• The balloting had stagnated, he couldn't win. 投票工作陷于停顿，他不能得胜。 来自辞典例句

5 patriotic   

adj.爱国的，有爱国心的

参考例句：

• His speech was full of patriotic sentiments.他的演说充满了爱国之情。
• The old man is a patriotic overseas Chinese.这位老人是一位爱国华侨。

6 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

7 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

8 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。

9 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

10 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。