voa标准英语2008年-Large Segments of Arabs in Mideast Support Obam

A large segment of popular opinion, across the Middle East, appears to be supporting Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Barak Obama in Tuesday's contest against Republican John McCain. But, as Edward Yeranian reports from Cairo, portions of the political elite¹ in the Gulf², as well as many Christians⁴ in Lebanon and Egypt appear to favor the latter.
　

Coffee mugs with a picture of Barack Obama and President Abbas shaking hands during Obama's visit to the Middle East are see for sale in a shop in Gaza City, 02 Nov 2008

Elections in the United States are a major topic of interest for Arab audiences. Popular satellite TV networks Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya are devoting large portions of their coverage⁵ to the subject. Political commentators⁶ on both networks say that Arab public opinion, across much of the Middle East, is widely in favor of Democratic candidate Barak Obama.

The Arab daily Asharqalawsat is running a caricature, in Monday's edition, of Obama and McCain wielding⁷ clubs and preparing to beat up an Arab man, who is supposed to represent the Middle East, in a subtle indication that the paper thinks neither candidate will be good for Arabs.

The Syrian government, which has made no secret it would prefer to see Barak Obama as the next American president, continues to blast John McCain in the official government media. The Syrian daily Techrine went to so far as to accuse the Bush Administration of mounting an alleged⁸ raid against the Syrian border town of Sukkariya to "help get McCain elected."

Meanwhile, a number of Gulf leaders are reported to prefer Republican candidate John McCain, because they think he will better for their business interests, in addition to continuing the Bush Administration's policy of isolating⁹ Iran, which is perceived as a threat by various Gulf States.

Professor Paul Salem, who heads Carnegie Center for Middle East Peace in Beirut, says that Obama is the favorite of popular opinion, but not of all Arab leaders:

"I am in Kuwait, now, for a couple of days, talking to people from the Gulf region and also following the Arab press, both television and print, and certainly the vast majority of the media and sort of the general public you talk to definitely liked Obama and favored him, whereas some sort of the elite and decision-makers in the Gulf countries, in particular, some of the government people liked McCain because he is tough on Iran, Syria and strong on Iraq - things that they care about," he said. "So, I would say public opinion is very much with Obama and some of the elite opinion might be with McCain."

In Lebanon, many Christians say that they favor McCain over Obama, because McCain will better represent their interests. Dany Beyrouthi, who supports the Christian³ Lebanese Forces Party, says that McCain represents the part of America that he admires most:

"John McCain, I think, is a good president because he is Christian and I am Christian, too. I like about McCain his fight in Vietnam and I fight here in Lebanon with the Lebanese Forces. I think that any man who fights for freedom in his country, I think he knows very well what he wants," he said.

Dr. Hassan Nafae, who is professor of political science at Cairo University and heads the Amman-based Arab Thought Forum¹⁰, says that Obama is the clear favorite of the Arab public, and that he, too, hopes Obama will win:

"I think there is no question at all that most Arab people in all the region support Barak Obama, but they do not think he will be able to change radically¹¹ the American foreign policy, but at least he will not commit again the same mistakes that have been done by Bush. America now needs the world much more than ever," said Nafae.

Nafae argues that many Islamic extremists in the Middle East are hoping that John McCain will win, because they think he will continue many of the same policies that President Bush has followed in the Middle East, which have made the United States unpopular. He says they are rooting for America's demise¹² and that they think that McCain will take America to its final downfall.

1 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

2 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

3 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

4 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

5 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

6 commentators   

n.评论员( commentator的名词复数 )；时事评论员；注释者；实况广播员

参考例句：

• Sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 体育解说员翻来覆去说着同样的词语，真叫人腻烦。
• Television sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 电视体育解说员说来说去就是那么几句话，令人厌烦。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 wielding   

手持着使用（武器、工具等）( wield的现在分词 )； 具有； 运用（权力）； 施加（影响）

参考例句：

• The rebels were wielding sticks of dynamite. 叛乱分子舞动着棒状炸药。
• He is wielding a knife. 他在挥舞着一把刀。

8 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

9 isolating   

adj.孤立的，绝缘的v.使隔离( isolate的现在分词 )；将…剔出（以便看清和单独处理）；使（某物质、细胞等）分离；使离析

参考例句：

• Colour filters are not very effective in isolating narrow spectral bands. 一些滤色片不能很有效地分离狭窄的光谱带。 来自辞典例句
• This became known as the streak method for isolating bacteria. 这个方法以后就称为分离细菌的划线法。 来自辞典例句

10 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

11 radically   

ad.根本地，本质地

参考例句：

• I think we may have to rethink our policies fairly radically. 我认为我们可能要对我们的政策进行根本的反思。
• The health service must be radically reformed. 公共医疗卫生服务必须进行彻底改革。

12 demise   

n.死亡；v.让渡，遗赠，转让

参考例句：

• He praised the union's aims but predicted its early demise.他赞扬协会的目标，但预期这一协会很快会消亡。
• The war brought about the industry's sudden demise.战争道致这个行业就这么突然垮了。