VOA常速英语2016--克利夫兰的贫困居民对共和党大会期待不高

Poor Residents in Cleveland Not Feeling High Hopes of Republican Convention 克利夫兰的贫困居民对共和党大会期待不高

CLEVELAND—

With the Republican Party's National Convention underway in Cleveland, Ohio, delegates and visitors are gathered in the host city's downtown - waiting to hear from the party's presidential candidate, Donald Trump¹, how he will attract the voter support he needs to win the presidency² in November.  But a few kilometers from the convention's venue³, Cleveland's poorest residents are not convinced Trump or his policies will make a difference in their lives.

Helen Martin’s Mt. Pleasant home is just 10 kilometers southeast of downtown Cleveland.

海伦·马丁在芒特普林森的家处在克利夫兰市中心东南部仅10公里。

But unlike the glittering scene outside the Republican National Convention, this neighborhood is filled with hundreds of vacant and crumbling⁴ homes.

但是不像共和党大会之外光鲜的场景，这一邻近地区充斥着数百栋空闲而颓圮的房屋。

“Our infrastructure⁵ is falling apart in this country.It’s... Look how old it is.”

“我们的基础设施在国内落后，看看这些有多老旧。”

Republican presidential nominee⁶ Donald Trump has vowed⁷ to improve the nation’s crumbling infrastructure, including cities like Cleveland, and to create jobs.

共和党总统提名人唐纳德·特朗普誓言要改善本国支离破碎的基础设施，包括像克利夫兰在内的一些城市，以及创造就业。

His supporters at the convention say Trump’s business credentials⁸ make their party best equipped to address these problems.

他在大会的支持者说特朗普的商业资质让他们的党能够很好地解决这些问题。

“It’s about jobs, jobs, jobs… The platform is economic development, creating jobs will then create infrastructure. So it’s a Catch-22. We’ve got to do both.”

“就是关于工作、工作、工作……平台是经济发展，创造就业将会创造基础设施。因此这是一个进退两难的局面，我们要两者兼顾。”

“So much of it begins right with the local leadership. You’ve got have leaders in those communities that understand economic development and what has to be done to make job opportunities for these folks.”

“有太多工作要从地方的领导开始。需要在这些社区有领导人，理解经济发展，以及知道要做什么为国民创造就业机会。”

But many in Cleveland’s poorest neighborhoods aren’t convinced.

但是许多在克利夫兰的最贫穷居民却不能被说服。

“The real message that I get from him is like, you know, like, ‘If you’re down, I’m going to keep you down but if you’re up I’m going to look out for you.’”

“我从他那里得到的真正的信息就像是，‘如果你不如意，那我就要让你继续不如意，如果你如意了，那我就得小心了。’”

They’re not alone. African Americans in Ohio overwhelmingly reject Donald Trump. An opinion poll last week indicated less than one percent of black voters in the state support the Republican nominee.

他们并不孤单。俄亥俄州的非裔美国人大规模反对唐纳德·特朗普。在上周的一份民调中显示低于1%的该州黑人选民支持这位共和党提名人。

Marie Kittredge runs an organization helping⁹ to develop an impoverished¹⁰ part of Cleveland. She doesn’t believe either Trump or the Democratic Party’s presidential contender, Hillary Clinton, fully¹¹ understand urban issues.

玛丽·基特里奇运营一家帮助发展克利夫兰贫困地区的组织。她既不相信特朗普也不相信民主党总统竞争者，希拉里·克林顿，完全理解了城市问题。

“We’re not a nation that values public investment at this point… So that makes those little mistakes, those little problems — even something like, you know, demolishing¹² houses, fixing sidewalks — that’s a big struggle.”

“在这点上，我们不是一个重视公共投资的国家……因此，所犯的那些小错误，那些小问题——甚至拆除房屋、修缮人行道都成了大问题。”

Back in Mount Pleasant, Helen Martin - a strong Clinton supporter - wants action to revive her neighborhood.

回到芒特普林森，希拉里的忠实支持者海伦·马丁希望有法案能够重振她所在的社区。

“You’re always raising money for this or taxes for that. You can build these stadiums, you can give money to the football people, to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Do it for us.”

“你们总是因为这个筹集资金，因为那个收取税金。你们可以建设这些体育馆，你们可以把钱给那些玩足球的人，把钱投到摇滚名人堂。那也为我们做些什么吧。”

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 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。

3 venue   

n.犯罪地点，审判地，管辖地，发生地点，集合地点

参考例句：

• The hall provided a venue for weddings and other functions.大厅给婚礼和其他社会活动提供了场所。
• The chosen venue caused great controversy among the people.人们就审判地点的问题产生了极大的争议。

4 crumbling   

adj.摇摇欲坠的

参考例句：

• an old house with crumbling plaster and a leaking roof 一所灰泥剥落、屋顶漏水的老房子
• The boat was tied up alongside a crumbling limestone jetty. 这条船停泊在一个摇摇欲坠的石灰岩码头边。

5 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。

6 nominee   

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。

7 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

8 credentials   

n.证明，资格，证明书，证件

参考例句：

• He has long credentials of diplomatic service.他的外交工作资历很深。
• Both candidates for the job have excellent credentials.此项工作的两个求职者都非常符合资格。

9 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

10 impoverished   

adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化

参考例句：

• the impoverished areas of the city 这个城市的贫民区
• They were impoverished by a prolonged spell of unemployment. 他们因长期失业而一贫如洗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

12 demolishing   

v.摧毁( demolish的现在分词 )；推翻；拆毁（尤指大建筑物）；吃光

参考例句：

• The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings. 这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。 来自《用法词典》
• Conventional demolishing work would have caused considerable interruptions in traffic. 如果采用一般的拆除方法就要引起交通的严重中断。 来自辞典例句