2006年VOA标准英语-US Politically Divided Five Years Post-9/11

By Jim Malone
Washington
08 September 2006

Five years later, the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States continue to have a far-reaching impact on national politics.

Hours after the attacks on September 11, 2001, members of Congress gathered on the steps of the Capitol building in a rare display of bipartisan unity¹ to sing "God Bless America."

But in the five years since the 9/11 attacks, political differences within the country seem to have sharpened, especially over the war in Iraq.

With congressional elections looming² in November, President Bush is refocusing national attention on the threat of terrorism on the five-year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

President Bush delivers a speech on the global war on terror at a Georgia Public Policy Foundation event at the Cobb Galleria Center in suburban³ Atlanta, Thursday, Sept. 7, 2006  
  
"We are fighting for our way of life and our ability to live in freedom," said Mr. Bush.  "We are fighting for the cause of humanity against those who seek to impose the darkness of tyranny and terror upon the entire world."

Opposition⁴ Democrats⁶ largely supported the Bush administration's military campaign against al-Qaida and the Taleban in Afghanistan, immediately after the terrorist attacks.  Many Democrats also voted to authorize⁷ the use of military force prior to the Iraq war, based on the president's contention⁸ that Iraq was developing weapons of mass destruction.

But the continuing bloodshed and difficulties in Iraq have taken a toll⁹ on support for the war in public opinion polls, and many Democrats have now broken with the president, and believe the Iraq effort is going in the wrong direction.

Retired¹⁰ Army General Wesley Clark is a leading Democratic critic of the president's handling of Iraq.

 
Retired General Wesley Clark 
  
"Invading Iraq was an unnecessary war," said General Clark.  "It distracted us from what we were trying to accomplish in Afghanistan, and it has been counterproductive in winning the war on terror."

The political divide over Iraq is the latest example of how the country is sharply polarized on a range of issues, from immigration to abortion¹¹ to homosexual marriage.  It also stems from the hard-fought 2000 presidential election, in which Mr. Bush narrowly defeated Democrat⁵ Al Gore¹².

Opinion polls suggest Democrats might be in a position to retake control of one or both chambers¹³ of Congress in the November elections.  Both have have been controlled by Republicans since 1994.

Experts say this fierce competition for voters is sharpening the political divide.

Thomas Mann is a political scholar at the Brookings Institution in Washington.

"We have talked about the ideological¹⁴ polarization of the parties, but the other important factor is parity¹⁵.  That is, that they are so evenly balanced now, narrow majorities.  That means almost a desperation on both sides to either hold or gain majority status," said Mr. Mann.

Experts say there is plenty of blame to go around for the quick evaporation¹⁶ of bipartisanship following the 2001 attacks, with the war in Iraq as the major flashpoint.

Lawrence Korb was an assistant secretary of defense¹⁸ during the Reagan administration and now is a foreign policy and defense analyst¹⁹ at the Center for American Progress in Washington.

"I think the real thing that created this partisanship¹⁷ was that the president deliberately²⁰, or inadvertently, or incompetently²¹ gave us the wrong reasons for going into Iraq, and those who tried to raise questions about that were considered weak or unpatriotic," he explained.

Others put more responsibility on congressional Democrats.

Danielle Pletka is an expert on foreign and defense policy at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington.

"I think it is enormously unfortunate on foreign policy to see the kind of venomous attacks that we have seen on Iraq, on Iran and a variety of issues, in the Congress, and from others," she said.  "But at the end of the day, it should be very clear that politics is a market like everything else.  If the people are not interested in tolerating violent partisanship, then they will not put up with it."

President Bush's public approval ratings have suffered over the past two years, in large part because of dissatisfaction with the Iraq war and with the administration's response to the devastation²² wrought²³ by Hurricane Katrina last year.

But the president and his Republican supporters in Congress running for re-election are pinning their political hopes on the long-standing public perception that they would do a better job than the Democrats of prosecuting²⁴ the war on terror.

David Rohde is a political expert at Duke University in North Carolina.

"The Republicans are going to focus on the war on terror, and Democrats are going to focus on everything else.  The only issue on which the Republicans have an advantage is terror," he said.

Analysts²⁵ point out that President Bush and the Republicans have used the terror argument to good effect in the two other elections since the 9/11 attacks, the 2002 congressional elections and Mr. Bush's re-election campaign in 2004.

Whether than happens again in 2006 will depend on what issues the voters deem most important.

Chuck Todd is editor of the Hotline political newsletter.

"If the voter goes into the polls thinking about Iraq, then Democrats will have a big night," he said.  "If voters are going to the polls and thinking about terrorism, then Republicans have a fighting chance."

Opinion polls suggest many Americans would like to bring back some of the bipartisan national unity evident in the days following the September 11 attacks.

But political experts say that is unlikely anytime soon, given the fierce competition between the parties for control of Congress in November and a wide-open race for president in 2008.

1 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。

2 looming   

n.上现蜃景（光通过低层大气发生异常折射形成的一种海市蜃楼）v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的现在分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• The foothills were looming ahead through the haze. 丘陵地带透过薄雾朦胧地出现在眼前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then they looked up. Looming above them was Mount Proteome. 接着他们往上看，在其上隐约看到的是蛋白质组山。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望

3 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

4 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

5 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。

6 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》

7 authorize   

v.授权，委任；批准，认可

参考例句：

• He said that he needed to get his supervisor to authorize my refund.他说必须让主管人员批准我的退款。
• Only the President could authorize the use of the atomic bomb.只有总统才能授权使用原子弹。

8 contention   

n.争论，争辩，论战；论点，主张

参考例句：

• The pay increase is the key point of contention. 加薪是争论的焦点。
• The real bone of contention,as you know,is money.你知道，争论的真正焦点是钱的问题。

9 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

10 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

11 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

12 gore   

n.凝血，血污；v.（动物）用角撞伤，用牙刺破；缝以补裆；顶

参考例句：

• The fox lay dying in a pool of gore.狐狸倒在血泊中奄奄一息。
• Carruthers had been gored by a rhinoceros.卡拉瑟斯被犀牛顶伤了。

13 chambers   

n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅

参考例句：

• The body will be removed into one of the cold storage chambers. 尸体将被移到一个冷冻间里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mr Chambers's readable book concentrates on the middle passage: the time Ransome spent in Russia. Chambers先生的这本值得一看的书重点在中间：Ransome在俄国的那几年。 来自互联网

14 ideological   

a.意识形态的

参考例句：

• He always tries to link his study with his ideological problems. 他总是把学习和自己的思想问题联系起来。
• He helped me enormously with advice on how to do ideological work. 他告诉我怎样做思想工作，对我有很大帮助。

15 parity   

n.平价，等价，比价，对等

参考例句：

• The two currencies have now reached parity.这两种货币现已达到同等价值。
• Women have yet to achieve wage or occupational parity in many fields.女性在很多领域还没能争取到薪金、职位方面的平等。

16 evaporation   

n.蒸发，消失

参考例句：

• Be careful not to lose too much liquid by evaporation.小心不要因蒸发失去太多水分。
• Our bodies can sweat,thereby losing heat by evaporation.我们的身体能出汗，由此可以蒸发散热。

17 Partisanship   

n. 党派性, 党派偏见

参考例句：

• Her violent partisanship was fighting Soames's battle. 她的激烈偏袒等于替索米斯卖气力。
• There was a link of understanding between them, more important than affection or partisanship. ' 比起人间的感情，比起相同的政见，这一点都来得格外重要。 来自英汉文学

18 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

19 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

20 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

21 incompetently   

adv.无能力地

参考例句：

• He did the job rather incompetently. 这项工作他做的相当不好。 来自互联网
• When the Republicans have stuck by their principles, they have done so incompetently. 当共和党忠于其原则时，他们是如此无能。 来自互联网

22 devastation   

n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤

参考例句：

• The bomb caused widespread devastation. 炸弹造成大面积破坏。
• There was devastation on every side. 到处都是破坏的创伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

23 wrought   

v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的

参考例句：

• Events in Paris wrought a change in British opinion towards France and Germany.巴黎发生的事件改变了英国对法国和德国的看法。
• It's a walking stick with a gold head wrought in the form of a flower.那是一个金质花形包头的拐杖。

24 prosecuting   

检举、告发某人( prosecute的现在分词 )； 对某人提起公诉； 继续从事（某事物）； 担任控方律师

参考例句：

• The witness was cross-examined by the prosecuting counsel. 证人接受控方律师的盘问。
• Every point made by the prosecuting attorney was telling. 检查官提出的每一点都是有力的。

25 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。