2006年VOA标准英语-Benin Prepares to Cast Votes For Peace, Pr

By Joe Bavier
Cotonou
04 March 2006

On the eve of presidential elections in Benin, prosperity is one of the key issues for the country's four million voters.

Presidential candidate Yayi Boni seen during a rally in Cotonou, Thursday  
  
It is the day before Benin's presidential election and motorcycle taxi driver Isaac Kounnou, 45, has stopped off to fill up his gas tank.

At a stand that sells gasoline smuggled¹ in from neighboring Nigeria, Kounnou buys two liters, which arrive in old wine bottles, and cost him a little over a dollar.
 
Like many voters in Benin, Kounnou will go to the polls Sunday with two issues at the forefront of his thoughts: political stability and the economy.

"It's my duty to vote," he says, "and I hope election day is calm. I hope that it leads to peace, so that everyone has enough to eat and live well."

After decades of political turmoil², and years of single party rule, Benin emerged in 1990 as a democratic success story, becoming the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to make a peaceful changeover from military rule to multi-party democracy.
 
Sixteen years of stability followed, and, despite early worries he might change the constitution to run for a third term, outgoing President Mathieu Kerekou is not standing³ for re-election.
 
Kounnou says he respects the president, and is proud of his country's reputation as a bastion of peace in a region plagued by ethnic⁴ fighting and civil war. But he says something has to be done about the economy.

A group of a half dozen or so motorcycle taxi drivers gathered around all nod their heads in agreement.

"We're all just getting by," he says. "I start working as seven in the morning, and I don't finish until at least eight at night."
 
For his 13-hour day, Kounnou earns the equivalent of about $6. It is barely enough to feed his wife and four children, he says.
 
Economic growth, which the World Bank says averaged almost five percent between 1991 and 2003, has slowed, due to a drop in cotton output and restrictions⁵ on exports to neighboring Nigeria.  Food prices have risen.

Responding to widespread discontent stemming from rising food prices and high rates of unemployment, especially among young people, nearly all of the 26 candidates in the running Sunday have made the issue of the need for economic revival⁶ a key plank⁷ in their platforms.

As Kounnou finishes filling his tank, and gets ready to leave, he says political stability and prosperity must go hand in hand.

"I just hope that, whoever is elected," he says, "lives up to all these programs that have been promised, so that the peace remains⁸ in Benin."

1 smuggled   

水货

参考例句：

• The customs officer confiscated the smuggled goods. 海关官员没收了走私品。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Those smuggled goods have been detained by the port office. 那些走私货物被港务局扣押了。 来自互联网

2 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。

3 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

4 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

5 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

6 revival   

n.复兴，复苏，（精力、活力等的）重振

参考例句：

• The period saw a great revival in the wine trade.这一时期葡萄酒业出现了很大的复苏。
• He claimed the housing market was showing signs of a revival.他指出房地产市场正出现复苏的迹象。

7 plank   

n.板条，木板，政策要点，政纲条目

参考例句：

• The plank was set against the wall.木板靠着墙壁。
• They intend to win the next election on the plank of developing trade.他们想以发展贸易的纲领来赢得下次选举。

8 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。