VOA慢速英语2012 IN THE NEWS - Obama Says His Path 'Leads to a Better Place'

 

IN THE NEWS - Obama Says His Path 'Leads to a Better Place'

This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

Thursday night, at the Democratic National Convention, President Barack Obama accepted his party's nomination¹ for a second term.

BARACK OBAMA: "If you believe in a country where everyone gets a fair shot and everyone does their fair share and everybody plays by the same rules, then I need your vote in November!"

Mr. Obama said he supports the middle class while Republican nominee² Mitt³ Romney favors the wealthy. He said the differences between them give voters "the clearest choice of any time in a generation."

"Over the next few years," he said, "big decisions will be made in Washington on jobs, the economy, taxes and deficits⁴, energy, education, war and peace." And he added, those decisions "will have a huge impact on our lives and on our children's lives for decades to come."

Mr. Obama told the convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, that he was mindful of his "failings."

BARACK OBAMA: "But know this, America. Our problems can be solved. Our challenges can be met. The path we offer may be harder, but it leads to a better place. And I'm asking you to choose that future."

On foreign policy, he said that "for all the progress we've made, challenges remain."

BARACK OBAMA: "Terrorist plots must be disrupted. Europe's crisis must be contained. Our commitment to Israel's security must not waver, and neither must our pursuit of peace. "

What did delegates think after the speech?

DELEGATES: "I do think he's going to win the important states, maybe by squeakers, but that's all that it takes!" "We are very confident as Democrats⁵ as to what's ahead of us, and we are confident as to what we must do, and we are confident as to what we know is going to happen, so we're happy. I'm excited."

Mr. Obama spoke⁶ after Vice⁷ President Joe Biden accepted the Democratic nomination for a second term. Mr. Biden offered two examples that he said showed the president's bravery. One was approving the operation that killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin⁸ Laden⁹. The other was deciding to rescue the American auto¹⁰ industry.

JOE BIDEN: "We can now proudly say what you have heard me say the last six months: Osama bin Laden is dead and General Motors is alive!"

On Wednesday night, former President Bill Clinton urged Americans to elect Mr. Obama to another four years.

BILL CLINTON: "We believe that 'we're all in this together' is a far better philosophy than 'you are on your own.'"

MICHELLE OBAMA: "Barack knows the American Dream because he's lived it."

On Tuesday, Michelle Obama spoke to the delegates on the first night of the convention.

MICHELLE OBAMA: "For Barack, success isn't about how much money you make. It's about the difference you make in people's lives."

For the first time a Latino gave one of the major speeches at the Democratic convention. Julian Castro is the mayor of San Antonio, Texas, and a son of Mexican immigrants.

JULIAN CASTRO: "When it comes to getting the middle class back to work, Mitt Romney says, 'No.' When it comes to respecting women's rights, Mitt Romney says, 'No.'"

The election is November sixth. Opinion surveys have being showing a close race.

On Friday morning, the government released the jobs report for August. It showed that the economy added just ninety-six thousand jobs. The unemployment rate remained above eight percent for the forty-third month in a row.

Mitt Romney, on a campaign visit to Iowa, said the report shows that Mr. Obama "hasn't lived up to his promises and his policies haven't worked."

Mr. Obama, campaigning in New Hampshire, said the report was "not good enough." But he noted¹¹ that the economy has added jobs for the past thirty months. It was losing eight hundred thousand jobs a month when he took office.

And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember.

___

Contributing: Kane Farabaugh, Jim Malone and Carolyn Presutti

1 nomination   

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。

2 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。

3 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。

4 deficits   

n.不足额( deficit的名词复数 )；赤字；亏空；亏损

参考例句：

• The Ministry of Finance consistently overestimated its budget deficits. 财政部一贯高估预算赤字。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Many of the world's farmers are also incurring economic deficits. 世界上许多农民还在遭受经济上的亏损。 来自辞典例句

5 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》

6 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。

7 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。

8 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。

9 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。

10 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

11 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。