VOA标准英语2013--民调认为政府关门归咎于共和党

 

Polls: Republicans Blamed for Government Shutdown 民调认为政府关门归咎于共和党

WASHINGTON — Public opinion polls suggest that congressional Republicans will get most of the political blame in the wake of the partial shutdown of the U.S. government.  The data also shows that Americans are growing tired of what they see as crippling political polarization and dysfunction coming from both major parties.

As the government shutdown began to take effect in Washington, President Barack Obama said Republicans were responsible - because they will not give up their fight to undermine his signature health care law.

“They have shut down the government over an ideological¹ crusade to deny affordable² health insurance to millions of Americans.  In other words, they demanded ransom³ just for doing their job,” said Obama.

Republicans, of course, have a different view - including House Speaker John Boehner who says congressional Democrats⁴ should be willing to negotiate a way to reopen the government.

“The only way these problems are going to be resolved is if we sit down amicably⁵ and keep the American people in mind and come to an agreement,” said Boehner.

The political chaos⁶ in Washington over funding the federal government seems to be stirring the public, says Quinnipiac pollster Peter Brown.

“Americans don’t like shutting down the government.  Even Americans who don’t like Obamacare don’t like shutting down the government,” says Brown.

Brown’s latest poll found that 72 percent of Americans oppose the government shutdown and a growing number put most of the blame on Republicans in Congress.

“Politics is a zero-sum game.  If it’s good for one side, it’s bad for the other, and right now it’s bad for the Republicans and good for the Democrats,” says Brown.

But Brown and other analysts⁸ see a deeper, more troubling impact of the political dysfunction in Washington.

Americans seem to be losing faith in the ability of the political parties and the government to function, says analyst⁷ Charlie Cook.

“They may end up blaming Republicans more than Democrats and more than the president.  But historically when you have these kinds of showdowns everybody looks bad,” says Cook.

U.S. voters are already cynical⁹.  And Peter Brown says a lengthy¹⁰ government shutdown would lead to even greater disillusion¹¹ among the public.

“The government can’t seem to get done what they think needs to get done. Whether they are for or against this program or that, they would like to see something positive come out of Washington.  And in their view they are not seeing it.”

Brown adds that frustration¹² will likely grow as the shutdown continues. 

1 ideological   

a.意识形态的

参考例句：

• He always tries to link his study with his ideological problems. 他总是把学习和自己的思想问题联系起来。
• He helped me enormously with advice on how to do ideological work. 他告诉我怎样做思想工作，对我有很大帮助。

2 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

3 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。

4 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》

5 amicably   

adv.友善地

参考例句：

• Steering according to the wind, he also framed his words more amicably. 他真会看风使舵，口吻也马上变得温和了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The couple parted amicably. 这对夫妻客气地分手了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

7 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

8 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

9 cynical   

adj.(对人性或动机)怀疑的，不信世道向善的

参考例句：

• The enormous difficulty makes him cynical about the feasibility of the idea.由于困难很大，他对这个主意是否可行持怀疑态度。
• He was cynical that any good could come of democracy.他不相信民主会带来什么好处。

10 lengthy   

adj.漫长的，冗长的

参考例句：

• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
• The professor wrote a lengthy book on Napoleon.教授写了一部有关拿破仑的巨著。

11 disillusion   

vt.使不再抱幻想，使理想破灭

参考例句：

• Do not say anything to disillusion them.别说什么叫他们泄气的话。
• I'd hate to be the one to disillusion him.我不愿意成为那个让他幻想破灭的人。

12 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。