奥运会临近但巴西总统面临参议院弹劾

As Olympics Near, Brazil's President Faces Senate Trial 奥运会临近但巴西总统面临参议院弹劾

From VOA Learning English, this is In The News.

Brazil is preparing to host the Olympic Games in August, but the South American nation may not be celebrating.

Political problems and other issues have drawn¹ attention away from the games in Rio de Janeiro and toward the country’s troubles.

This week, Brazil’s Senate voted to put President Dilma Rousseff on trial for manipulating the budget. She is suspended from office. Her replacement² as acting³ president, Michel Temer, had to pay a fine for violating campaign finance laws.

Olympic impact

Brazil won the right to host the Olympic games in 2009 under then-president Luis Ignacio Lula da Silva. The country is estimated to have spent more than $13 billion preparing for the games and the 2014 World Cup Soccer competition.

Brazil’s Olympic bid was expected to show the country’s strength as a developing world leader. For some nations, hosting the games is considered a chance to show the world a nation’s arrival on the world stage. It also can showcase national unity⁴.

Yet Brazil’s economy is in recession as oil and other commodity prices have dropped, hurting the nation’s exports. Many Brazilians blame Rousseff for the recession and for a corruption⁵ scandal at the state-owned Petrobras oil company.

BRICS have taken an economic hit

As South America’s biggest economy, Brazil is among the five BRICS nations. China, India, Russia and South Africa are the other members of the group. They account for 40 percent of the world’s population. They also combined to establish the New Development Bank in 2014 meant to fund infrastructure⁶ projects in the developing world.

A runner is dressed in a costume depicting⁷ the Rio 2016 Olympic torch, decorated with a figure of Jamaica's Usain Bolt and a pill, before the annual "Sao Silvestre Run" (Saint Silvester Road Race), an international race through the streets of Sao Paulo, B

The BRICS economies, however, have seen reversals as oil and other commodity prices have dropped sharply in the last two years. Brazil’s economy shrank by nearly four percent last year.

Brazil is a major exporter of raw materials such as sugar, soybeans, coffee and iron ore. Falling commodity prices have hurt its foreign trade. Brazil’s imports from trade partners also have dropped.

Prices Brazilians pay for goods and services have been rising. Inflation is about ten percent. The political turmoil⁹ in the country has not helped the economy, which is not likely to restart growth this year. Economists¹⁰ say Brazil needs to put in place economic reforms aimed at improving the business climate and limiting public spending.

It remains¹¹ unclear how the Olympics will affect the country’s struggling economy.

Many politicians touched by the Petrobras scandal

Brazil’s upper legislative¹² body now must decide whether to remove Rousseff from office during this intense period for the nation.

Rousseff denies any wrongdoing. She called the charges against her “fraudulent,” and has called the impeachment¹³ process a “coup¹⁴” against the country’s democracy.

Although Rousseff has been suspended from office for up to 180 days, other politicians face questions over their involvement in the Petrobras scandal.

Petrobras is Brazil’s huge state-owned oil company. Federal law enforcement officials are investigating payments made to politicians of the ruling Workers Party.

The man replacing Rousseff, Vice⁸ President Michel Temer, has been discussed in the Petrobras corruption investigation¹⁵ as well. He faces questions about his own conduct and is considered disloyal by Rousseff’s supporters.

Renan Calheiros, the leader of the Senate also has been named in the investigation as well. He is now second in the line of succession to the presidency¹⁶ according to AP news service.

Former House Speaker Eduardo Cunha had been a fierce critic of Rousseff. He had been second in line to the presidency, but he was suspended from office this month over charges of obstruction¹⁷ of justice and corruption.

Zika virus public health

As Brazil prepares for the huge sporting event, it faces not only the political storm in the capital, Brasilia. The nation has a public health crisis in the spread of the Zika virus.

Brazil reported its first case of Zika virus in May 2015. The World Health Organization (WHO) said the Zika virus could be linked to 4,000 suspected cases of microcephaly in Brazil. Microcephaly is when babies are born with extremely small heads. It causes severe brain damage. The virus is spread by mosquitoes and has caused infections in Brazil and many other countries in Latin America.

In February, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the spread of Zika a global public health emergency. It warned pregnant women not to travel to places were the Zika virus is active, including Brazil.

After the outbreak, Brazilian officials sent 200,000 troops to homes to deliver information on how to get rid of mosquitos. In areas that will be used for this year's Olympics, city workers sprayed chemicals to kill mosquitoes and their eggs.

An estimated 500,000 visitors are expected to come to Brazil for the Olympic Games. This has one public health official questioning in the Harvard Public Health Review whether the games should be moved or postponed¹⁸.

Words in This Story

impeachment –n. to charge a public official with a crime committed in office

coup –n. an attempt by a small group to seize the government of a country

conduct –n. the way that something is managed or directed

obstruction –n. to place barriers in the way of getting something done

commodity –n. a good that is widely traded, usually on markets

1 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

2 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。

3 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

4 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

5 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

6 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。

7 depicting   

描绘，描画( depict的现在分词 )； 描述

参考例句：

• a painting depicting the Virgin and Child 一幅描绘童贞马利亚和圣子耶稣的画
• The movie depicting the battles and bloodshed is bound to strike home. 这部描写战斗和流血牺牲的影片一定会取得预期效果。

8 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。

9 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。

10 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

12 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

13 impeachment   

n.弹劾；控告；怀疑

参考例句：

• Impeachment is considered a drastic measure in the United States.在美国，弹劾被视为一种非常激烈的措施。
• The verdict resulting from his impeachment destroyed his political career.他遭弹劾后得到的判决毁了他的政治生涯。

14 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

15 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

16 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。

17 obstruction   

n.阻塞，堵塞；障碍物

参考例句：

• She was charged with obstruction of a police officer in the execution of his duty.她被指控妨碍警察执行任务。
• The road was cleared from obstruction.那条路已被清除了障碍。

18 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。