2006年VOA标准英语-Democrat Nancy Pelosi Could Become First Woman

Representatives
By Dan Robinson
Washington
24 October 2006 

Nancy Pelosi

If Democrats² win control of the House of Representatives in the November 7 congressional elections, a Democratic lawmaker from the state of California could become the first woman to become Speaker of the House.

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November 8, 2002, the day after the first mid-term Congressional election of the Bush presidency³, a little more than a year after the September 2001 terrorist attacks, and just a few months before the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

Democrats had suffered a discouraging loss to Republicans who held on to the House and Senate. Nancy Pelosi was about to become Minority Leader.

The challenge for Democrats, she told reporters, was to unite around a leader able to build coalitions⁴, while drawing a clear contrast with the policies of President Bush and Republicans. "As far as the Republicans are concerned, and the administration, the Democrats must seek our common ground for the good of the American people. But where we do not have our common ground, we must stand our ground," she said.

After the 2002 losses, Democrats were forced to do a lot of soul-searching. In Pelosi's view, the defeat could be attributed to a failure to clearly define their key messages. "If the public does not think that they have received a message, we should get a message from that too. It doesn't mean that we weren't trying to convey one, it doesn't mean that we didn't have one, but if they didn't think they received one we have to be clearer in the future about our distinctions, our differences, between the Democrats and Republicans," he said.

In 2004, Democrats endured another mid-term election defeat, as Republicans again held the House and Senate, and President Bush defeated Democratic presidential nominee⁵ John Kerry.

By then, the war in Iraq was becoming an overriding⁶ concern for Americans, and remains⁷ so today as Democrats under Pelosi's leadership face brighter prospects⁸, and Republicans fighting for survival in key congressional races.

At 66, Pelosi, who got her first taste of politics as a child in the city of Baltimore, Maryland where her father was mayor, is poised⁹ to become the first woman House Speaker, should Democrats prevail on November 7.

Her liberal political background has become fodder¹⁰ for Republican candidates, and for President Bush and others in his administration.

The president made these remarks about Pelosi in a recent appearance for a Republican congressional candidate. "The Speaker of the House, the official third in line for the presidency, would be a congresswoman who voted against renewing the Patriot¹¹ Act, against creating the Department of Homeland Security, against removing Saddam Hussein from power, against continuing the terrorist surveillance program, and against questioning terrorists in the CIA program. The Speaker would be a congresswoman who has called liberating¹² 25 million Iraqis a grotesque¹³ mistake. The Speaker would be a congresswoman who said capturing Osama bin-Laden would not make America any safer," he said.

On the congressional campaign trail, the president, his key political advisor¹⁴, Karl Rove, as well as Vice¹⁵ President Dick Cheney repeat these allegations almost word for word on a daily basis.

Pelosi, for her part, appears to draw energy from such attacks, attributing her strength as a politician to her upbringing in a politically-active Italian-American family, and her experiences as a mother, grandmother and woman on the political battlefield. "For a woman in politics, it is very important to have a victory that is hard-fought so that no one thinks that just was given to you," she said.

Although Democrat¹ colleagues credit her with clarifying and sharpening their positions, some worry that Pelosi's communication style, often stiff and uncomfortable, gets in the way of the message she tries to deliver.

As the election approaches, there is also concern that Republican attacks portraying¹⁷ her as weak on national security and terrorism, and a big-spending Democrat who favors higher taxes, will harm Democratic candidates.

Pelosi has gone out of her way to emphasize that her potential House speaker ship will not usher¹⁸ in a period of extremist or retaliatory¹⁹ rule by Democrats, even though she would play a key role in determining which Democrat lawmakers receive powerful committee chairmanships.

On calls from some party radicals²⁰ for impeachment²¹ proceedings²² against President Bush over Iraq pre-war intelligence, she makes clear that won't be on the agenda, saying it would only provide Republicans with precisely²³ the ammunition²⁴ they need to portray¹⁶ Democrats as politically-vindictive.

If they gain the 15 seats necessary to take control of the House, Pelosi would have to be formally elected House speaker by Democrats. Maryland Democrat Steny Hoyer, the current House Whip, is in line to become majority leader.

If they prevail, Democrats vow²⁵ to use their first 100 days in power, to push through legislation that would implement²⁶ all recommendations of the September 11 Commission, and increase the minimum wage, issues they say Republicans failed to address.

Meanwhile, Republicans are taking daily aim at Pelosi over her positions on the war in Iraq, national security, and the economy, hoping they can remove some of the momentum²⁷ opinion polls show is currently on the side of Pelosi and Democrats.

1 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。

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 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。

4 coalitions   

结合体，同盟( coalition的名词复数 )； （两党或多党）联合政府

参考例句：

• History testifies to the ineptitude of coalitions in waging war. 历史昭示我们，多数国家联合作战，其进行甚为困难。
• All the coalitions in history have disintegrated sooner or later. 历史上任何联盟迟早都垮台了。

5 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。

6 overriding   

a.最主要的

参考例句：

• Development is of overriding importance. 发展是硬道理
• My overriding concern is to raise the standards of state education. 我最关心的是提高国民教育水平。

7 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。

8 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

9 poised   

a.摆好姿势不动的

参考例句：

• The hawk poised in mid-air ready to swoop. 老鹰在半空中盘旋，准备俯冲。
• Tina was tense, her hand poised over the telephone. 蒂娜心情紧张，手悬在电话机上。

10 fodder   

n.草料；炮灰

参考例句：

• Grass mowed and cured for use as fodder.割下来晒干用作饲料的草。
• Guaranteed salt intake, no matter which normal fodder.不管是那一种正常的草料，保证盐的摄取。

11 patriot   

n.爱国者，爱国主义者

参考例句：

• He avowed himself a patriot.他自称自己是爱国者。
• He is a patriot who has won the admiration of the French already.他是一个已经赢得法国人敬仰的爱国者。

12 liberating   

解放，释放( liberate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Revolution means liberating the productive forces. 革命就是为了解放生产力。
• They had already taken on their shoulders the burden of reforming society and liberating mankind. 甚至在这些集会聚谈中，他们就已经夸大地把改革社会、解放人群的责任放在自己的肩头了。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

13 grotesque   

adj.怪诞的，丑陋的；n.怪诞的图案，怪人（物）

参考例句：

• His face has a grotesque appearance.他的面部表情十分怪。
• Her account of the incident was a grotesque distortion of the truth.她对这件事的陈述是荒诞地歪曲了事实。

14 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

15 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。

16 portray   

v.描写，描述；画(人物、景象等)

参考例句：

• It is difficult to portray feelings in words.感情很难用言语来描写。
• Can you portray the best and worst aspects of this job?您能描述一下这份工作最好与最坏的方面吗？

17 portraying   

v.画像( portray的现在分词 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• The artist has succeeded in portraying my father to the life. 那位画家把我的父亲画得惟妙惟肖。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Ding Ling was good at portraying figures through careful and refined description of human psychology. 《莎菲女士的日记》是丁玲的成名作，曾引起强烈的社会反响。 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

18 usher   

n.带位员，招待员；vt.引导，护送；vi.做招待，担任引座员

参考例句：

• The usher seated us in the front row.引座员让我们在前排就座。
• They were quickly ushered away.他们被迅速领开。

19 retaliatory   

adj.报复的

参考例句：

• The process can take years before the WTO approves retaliatory action. 在WTO通过此行动之前，这个程序恐怕要等上一阵子了。 来自互联网
• Retaliatory tariffs on China are tantamount to taxing ourselves as a punishment. 将惩罚性关税强加于中国相当于对我们自己实施课税惩罚。 来自互联网

20 radicals   

n.激进分子( radical的名词复数 )；根基；基本原理；[数学]根数

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals. 一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The worry is that the radicals will grow more intransigent. 现在人们担忧激进分子会变得更加不妥协。 来自辞典例句

21 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。

22 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

23 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

24 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。

25 vow   

n.誓(言)，誓约；v.起誓，立誓

参考例句：

• My parents are under a vow to go to church every Sunday.我父母许愿，每星期日都去做礼拜。
• I am under a vow to drink no wine.我已立誓戒酒。

26 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

27 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。