Obama, Romney Hit Campaign Trail

 Obama, Romney Hit Campaign Trail

WHITE HOUSE — President Barack Obama and his Republican challenger, Mitt¹ Romney, are campaigning in key states, with public opinion polls showing them virtually even. With both parties' conventions concluded, the two candidates are seeking an advantage in the final two months before the U.S. presidential election.

Obama began a two-day bus tour of the crucial state of Florida Saturday, with a rally near the city of St. Petersburg. "I honestly believe this is the clearest choice of any time in our generation.  Because it is a choice, not just between two candidates or two political parties.  This is a choice between two fundamentally different paths for America, two fundamentally different visions for our future," he said.

Florida is the fourth most populous² of the 50 states, and the largest of the so-called swing states, where experts believe the November 6 election will be decided³.

The economy is the main issue in this year's campaign, and Friday's disappointing report on job creation is not likely to help the president's cause.

Obama told supporters in Florida his plan for strengthening the economy and reducing unemployment is superior to Romney's. "All they have got to offer is the same prescriptions⁴ that they have had for 30 years: tax cuts, tax cuts, gut⁵ a few regulations, some more tax cuts.  Tax cuts when times are good, tax cuts when times are bad," he said.

Meanwhile, Romney campaigned Saturday in Virginia, another swing state.  At a rally in the city of Virginia Beach, the Republican nominee⁶ said the president's economic plan has not worked.

"And then he went to the Democrat⁷ convention and spoke⁸ at great length and had a lot of wonderful things to say.  But he did not say what he would do to help people get jobs, or come out of unemployment, or to get people that are poor back to the middle class.  He does not have a plan.  He does not have any ideas.  And we have got to make sure he does not have any more days in the White House after January," he said.

The area around Virginia Beach is home to a major U.S. Navy installation and thousands of shipbuilding jobs.  The former Massachusetts governor told the crowd he would abandon proposals to cut the military budget.  “We must have a commitment, not just to more ships and more aircraft, but also, in my view, to more members of our armed forces.  I will not cut our military.  I will maintain our military commitment," he said.

The president returns to the White House late Sunday, after four planned stops in Florida.

Obama Tuesday will lead observances of the 11th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States.

In his weekly address Saturday, the president highlighted the progress Americans have made since then.  He specifically mentioned the killing⁹ of al-Qaida leader Osama bin¹⁰ Laden¹¹ and the construction of a new skyscraper¹² at the location of the former World Trade Center in New York.

1 mitt   

n.棒球手套，拳击手套，无指手套；vt.铐住，握手

参考例句：

• I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日，我送给他一只棒球手套。
• Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。

2 populous   

adj.人口稠密的，人口众多的

参考例句：

• London is the most populous area of Britain.伦敦是英国人口最稠密的地区。
• China is the most populous developing country in the world.中国是世界上人口最多的发展中国家。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 prescriptions   

药( prescription的名词复数 )； 处方； 开处方； 计划

参考例句：

• The hospital of traditional Chinese medicine installed a computer to fill prescriptions. 中医医院装上了电子计算机来抓药。
• Her main job was filling the doctor's prescriptions. 她的主要工作就是给大夫开的药方配药。

5 gut   

n.[pl.]胆量；内脏；adj.本能的；vt.取出内脏

参考例句：

• It is not always necessary to gut the fish prior to freezing.冷冻鱼之前并不总是需要先把内脏掏空。
• My immediate gut feeling was to refuse.我本能的直接反应是拒绝。

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 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

8 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

9 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

10 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

11 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

12 skyscraper   

n.摩天大楼

参考例句：

• The skyscraper towers into the clouds.那幢摩天大楼高耸入云。
• The skyscraper was wrapped in fog.摩天楼为雾所笼罩。