VOA慢速英语2016 爱荷华州选民：“真是够了！”

AS IT IS 2016-02-02 Iowa Voters Say ‘Enough, Already!’ 爱荷华州选民：“真是够了！”

Voters in Iowa say they are ready for their life to return to normal.

爱荷华州选民表示他们已经做好让生活回归正常的准备了。

Iowa is the first state to hold caucuses².These meetings let supporters of the two main parties – Democrat³ and Republican – state who they would like for president. The Iowa caucus¹ results may suggest who will be each party’s candidate for president.But there will be other caucuses and primary elections in the weeks to come.

爱荷华州是第一个进行预选会议的州。预选会议上，两大党派（民主党和共和党的）的支持者们将陈述支持谁人担任总统。爱荷华州的预选会议最终会产生每个党派的总统候选人。但下周还会举行其他预选会议和初选。

Iowans, as they are called, say they are proud to hold the first caucus.But they say they also will be happy for things to return to normal.

爱荷华州州民因能够举行第一次预选会议而感到自豪。但他们也因生活重归正常而开心。

James Uren owns a restaurant in Elk⁴ Horn, Iowa."During the political season," he notes, "you just know you’re going to have to answer the telephone five times every night. And the problem with that is that you just don’t get a chance to relax."

James Uren在爱荷华州埃尔克霍恩有家餐馆。他说道：“政治热季中，你知道每晚上都要接5次电话。这样一来的问题就是根本找不到机会放松一下。”

The 3 million residents of Iowa receive telephone calls from candidates and from groups that measure public opinion.

爱荷华州300万居民会接到候选人以及民意测试团体的电话。

Before the voting on Monday, media and political campaign vehicles filled parking spots in towns and cities across the state. Iowa voters learned a lot about the candidates from newspaper ads and television commercials.

周一投票之前，爱荷华州各城各镇的停车位都停满了媒体和政务车辆。爱荷华州的选民通过报纸广告和电视广告了解了很多与候选人相关的信息。

Darren Zitterich told VOA: "I feel like pulling my hair out, with all the (political) commercials. I swear, there’s more commercials than TV shows."

Darren Zitterich接受VOA采访时表示：“这么多的（政治）广告，我愁得直抓头发。我发誓，这里的广告比电视上还多。”

Many text messages were sent out in an effort to influence Democratic and Republican voters.

为了对民主党选民和共和党选民造成影响，还发送了很多短信息。

Many Iowans say they are ready for the political candidates, media workers and pollsters to leave town.

很多爱荷华州州民都表示已经做好了政治候选人、媒体工作人员以及民意测验者离开爱荷华的准备。

For Patty, a Des Moines resident who would not provide her last name, the text messages bothered her the most.

对于不愿透露姓氏的得梅因居民Patty来说，短信对她造成的影响最大。

"They even text my husband, who doesn’t know how to text," she said.

她表示：“他们甚至还给我丈夫发了信息，而我的丈夫根本不知道如何发短信。”

Patty added that she is looking forward to Monday night when the caucuses will be finished.“Tuesday is going to feel so good,“ she said,“Except then we’ll have five days now of who won.“

Patty补充道期待周一晚上预选会的结束。“周二将好多了。”她说道，“但现在还有5天时间才知道谁能胜出。”

Words in This Story

caucus – n. a meeting of members of a political party for the purpose of choosing candidates for an election

proud – adj. very happy and pleased because of something you have done

relax – v. to become or to cause something to become less tense, tight or stiff

parking – n. the act of leaving a car, truck, motorcycle in a particular place

pollster – n. someone who develops questions for a public opinion survey, asks questions and presents the findings

commercial – n. advertising⁵ on radio or television

bother – v. to cause someone to feel troubled, worried or concerned

1 caucus   

n.秘密会议；干部会议；v.（参加）干部开会议

参考例句：

• This multi-staged caucus takes several months.这个多级会议常常历时好几个月。
• It kept the Democratic caucus from fragmenting.它也使得民主党的核心小组避免了土崩瓦解的危险。

2 caucuses   

n.（政党决定政策或推举竞选人的）核心成员( caucus的名词复数 )；决策干部；决策委员会；秘密会议

参考例句：

• Republican caucuses will happen in about 410 towns across Maine. 共和党团会议选举将在缅因州的约410个城镇进行。 来自互联网

3 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。

4 elk   

n.麋鹿

参考例句：

• I was close enough to the elk to hear its labored breathing.我离那头麋鹿非常近，能听见它吃力的呼吸声。
• The refuge contains the largest wintering population of elk in the world.这座庇护所有着世界上数量最大的冬季麋鹿群。

5 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。