VOA慢速英语--拜登首次与竞选搭档哈里斯共同亮相

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and vice¹ presidential running mate, Kamala Harris, appeared together for the first time Wednesday. The two held a campaign event in the northeastern state of Delaware.

The former vice president introduced Harris as a smart, tough and experience person who is, in his words, "ready to do this job on day one." He called her life story "America's story."

Biden went on to say, "And this morning, all across the nation, little girls woke up, especially little Black and brown girls that feel overlooked and undervalued in their communities, but today — today just maybe they're seeing themselves for the first time in a new way as president and vice presidents."

There was no crowd. There were no cheers. The two Democrats² stood several meters away from each other in a nearly empty high school gymnasium.

When it was her turn to speak, Harris thanked "all the ambitious women before me, whose sacrifice, determination and resilience makes my presence here today even possible."

Harris criticized President Donald Trump³. She said the United States leads the world with more than 5 million coronavirus cases "because of Trump's failure to take it seriously from the start."

She criticized: "His refusal to get testing up and running, his flip-flopping on social distancing and wearing masks. His delusional⁴ belief that he knows better than the experts. All of that is reason and the reason that an American dies of Covid-19 every 80 seconds."

Historic moment

Harris makes history as the first Black woman and first person of Asian ancestry⁵ to be the nominee⁶ for vice president of a major party. She talked about how her parents met while protesting for civil rights in the 1960s.

"My mother and father, they came from opposite sides of the world to arrive in America. One from India and the other from Jamaica in search of a world-class education. But what brought them together was the civil rights movement of the 1960s," she said.

She added: They met "marching and shouting for this thing called justice in a struggle that continues today."

Harris's parents ended their marriage when she was seven. As a child, she went to both Black and Hindu religious centers. Harris said her mother knew Americans would consider her and her sister as Black girls. She wrote in her autobiography⁷, "she [her mother] was determined⁸ to make sure we would grow into confident, proud black women."

Melanie Campbell is head of the National Coalition⁹ on Black Civic¹⁰ Participation¹¹. She said she wished her late mother could have lived to see the historic moment.

Campbell said. "This moment is more than about the VP slot. It affirms Black women and all we did for this country."

In a speech in 2018, Harris recalled visits to her grandparents near the Bay of Bengal in southern India. "I was not conscious of it at the time, but it was those walks on the beach with my grandfather in Besant Nagar that had a profound impact on who I am today," Harris said.

Her grandfather was among those who worked for India's independence. He later became a high-ranking government official.

Her uncle Gopalan Balachandran told reporters outside his New Delhi home, "I knew she was quite ambitious in the sense that she always wanted to run for public office..."

On social media, users joked about how Indian parents in the United States will now push their children to aim even higher. One wrote, "Beta (son) what are you doing these days? Oh, just a Harvard professor? Not even a mayor yet?"

I'm Mario Ritter, Jr.

Words in This Story

ambitious –adj. having great desire to succeed

resilience –n. the ability to recover from something bad that happens

delusional –adj. believing in things that are not true

confident –adj. believing you can do something well

conscious –adj. awake and able to understand what is happening

impact –n. an strong or notable influence

1 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。

2 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》

3 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。

4 delusional   

妄想的

参考例句：

• You became delusional and attacked several people trying to escape. 你产生了错觉并攻击了许多人还试图逃走。 来自电影对白
• He is incoherent, delusional, suffering auditory hallucinations. 他出现无逻辑的，妄想的，幻听的症状。 来自电影对白

5 ancestry   

n.祖先，家世

参考例句：

• Their ancestry settled the land in 1856.他们的祖辈1856年在这块土地上定居下来。
• He is an American of French ancestry.他是法国血统的美国人。

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 autobiography   

n.自传

参考例句：

• He published his autobiography last autumn.他去年秋天出版了自己的自传。
• His life story is recounted in two fascinating volumes of autobiography.这两卷引人入胜的自传小说详述了他的生平。

8 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

9 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

10 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。

11 participation   

n.参与，参加，分享

参考例句：

• Some of the magic tricks called for audience participation.有些魔术要求有观众的参与。
• The scheme aims to encourage increased participation in sporting activities.这个方案旨在鼓励大众更多地参与体育活动。