VOA标准英语10月-Asian-American Vote Crucial in Some Key States

Asian Americans make up just five percent of the U.S. population, but they may play an important role in Tuesday's presidential election in such key states such as Virginia and Nevada. Mike O'Sullivan reports from Los Angeles, both major political parties and community activists¹ are working to get out the Asian American vote.
　

Don Nakanishi

MARGIN³-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px">UCLA Asian-American Studies Center Director Don Nakanishi says Asian-American voters are important to both presidential campaigns.

"Asian Americans now number nearly 15 million across the country, and they are concentrated in electorally rich states - California, New York, Texas, as well as in Hawaii, New Jersey², and places like Virginia," Nakanishi said.

Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders total five percent of the population of Virginia and six percent in Nevada. Both are hotly contested states in this election, and under the U.S. presidential election system individual state votes decide the winner.
　

Los Angeles Chinatown

In California, Asian Americans are 12 percent of the population, with heavy concentrations in places like Westminster. This city of 90,000 is home to an immigrant neighborhood called Little Saigon.

A recent festival and parade offered both parties a chance to get out their message. Volunteers handed out balloons with campaign fliers, and local politicians took part in the parade.
　

Tri Ta

Vietnamese immigrant Tri Ta is a Westminster city councilman and supporter of Republican presidential candidate John McCain. He says for him and others in his community, issues in their homeland are important.

"We are really concerned with issues of human rights and democracy," he said. "That is one of the top concerns that the Vietnamese-American community has."

He says McCain, who was a prisoner during the Vietnam War, understands Vietnam's communist government and knows how to deal with it.

A survey of Asian-American voters released in early October showed that two-thirds of Vietnamese Americans support McCain, but other Asian Americans preferred Barack Obama by varying margins⁴. Chinese, Japanese and Indian Americans backed Obama by more than a three to one ratio. Filipino and Korean Americans also supported Obama over McCain, but by a narrower margin.

The study found that among Asian-Americans, Democrats⁶ outnumber Republicans by more than a two to one. But half of Asian-American voters are non-partisan or independent.
　

Lily Nguyen

Both parties are reaching out to Asian-Pacific voters. Their efforts are limited by the problem of dealing⁷ with multiple languages. Asian-American volunteers are helping⁸. Vietnamese-American Lily Nguyen supports Democrat⁵ Barack Obama for president and backs local Democratic candidates in the city of Garden Grove⁹, California. She says ethnic¹⁰ voters must make their voices heard.

"You know, we have a small ethnic community group here and we have another small community, ethnic group there," she said. "How can we make sure that they are all involved?"

Nguyen came to a local park to canvass¹¹ for her Democratic member of Congress, Loretta Sanchez, a Latina whose political support cuts across ethnic lines.

Independent Asian-American organizations are also helping with the effort to get out the vote. Lisa Thong¹² of the Center for Asian Americans United for Self Empowerment oversees¹³ a telephone information line, where volunteers answer voter questions.

"About what to do if you want to vote by mail, if you have not received your voting information what you should do," she said. "We are answering all types of questions in English and Mandarin¹⁴ and Cantonese."
　

Christine Lai

Housewife Christine Lai is responding to the phone calls. An immigrant from Taiwan, she says Asian-American voters are interested in the election.

"Especially since right now, people know how important voting is to make power in the Asian community and make change," she said.

Don Nakanishi of UCLA says many Asian Americans are recent immigrants and are new to the U.S. political process. But he says that year by year, more are getting active in politics.
　

Handing out campaign literature in Little Saigon

"Whether that is in terms of getting people to register to vote and to actually vote, whether it means contributing to candidates in terms of monetary¹⁵ contributions, or more importantly, I think for Asian Americans, for Asian Americans to actually be encouraged and to feel confident enough to run for political office," he said.

Nakanishi's center compiles an annual list of Asian Americans who hold major elected or appointed office. He says the number has grown to more than 2,000 office holders¹⁶ in 38 states.

Many Asian-American voters have been slow to make a decision on the presidential election. The recent survey showed that in the past month of the campaign, one third were undecided. The study showed that 80 percent of Asian Americans who are likely voters list the economy as a pressing problem, followed by the war in Iraq.

1 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

3 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

4 margins   

边( margin的名词复数 )； 利润； 页边空白； 差数

参考例句：

• They have always had to make do with relatively small profit margins. 他们不得不经常设法应付较少的利润额。
• To create more space between the navigation items, add left and right margins to the links. 在每个项目间留更多的空隙，加左或者右的margins来定义链接。

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 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

8 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

9 grove   

n.林子，小树林，园林

参考例句：

• On top of the hill was a grove of tall trees.山顶上一片高大的树林。
• The scent of lemons filled the grove.柠檬香味充满了小树林。

10 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。

11 canvass   

v.招徕顾客，兜售；游说；详细检查，讨论

参考例句：

• Mr. Airey Neave volunteered to set up an organisation to canvass votes.艾雷·尼夫先生自告奋勇建立了一个拉票组织。
• I will canvass the floors before I start painting the walls.开始粉刷墙壁之前，我会详细检查地板。

12 thong   

n.皮带；皮鞭；v.装皮带

参考例句：

• He fastened the dog to the post with a thong.他用一根皮带把狗拴到柱子上。
• If I switch with Harry,do I have to wear a thong?如果我和哈里调换，我应该穿皮带吗？

13 oversees   

v.监督，监视( oversee的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She oversees both the research and the manufacturing departments. 她既监督研究部门又监督生产部门。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Department of Education oversees the federal programs dealing with education. 教育部监管处理教育的联邦程序。 来自互联网

14 Mandarin   

n.中国官话，国语，满清官吏；adj.华丽辞藻的

参考例句：

• Just over one billion people speak Mandarin as their native tongue.大约有十亿以上的人口以华语为母语。
• Mandarin will be the new official language of the European Union.普通话会变成欧盟新的官方语言。

15 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

16 holders   

支持物( holder的名词复数 )； 持有者； （支票等）持有人； 支托（或握持）…之物

参考例句：

• Slaves were mercilessly ground down by slave holders. 奴隶受奴隶主的残酷压迫。
• It is recognition of compassion's part that leads the up-holders of capital punishment to accuse the abolitionists of sentimentality in being more sorry for the murderer than for his victim. 正是对怜悯的作用有了认识，才使得死刑的提倡者指控主张废除死刑的人感情用事，同情谋杀犯胜过同情受害者。