VOA标准英语2011--Analysts Say Medvedev-Putin Job Swap No

Analysts¹ Say Medvedev-Putin Job Swap² No Surprise

Russian President Dmitri Medvedev will swap jobs next year with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. In this report from Washington, senior correspondent Andre de Nesnera looks at the ramifications³ of such a move.
Expectations
Russian political experts say the announcement that Vladimir Putin will run for president in next year’s elections while Dmitri Medvedev will become prime minister in a new government took no one by surprise.
“People have been puzzling over what was going to happen, knowing that it would be between the two of them for some time, and a lot of people for sometime have thought Putin intended to come back," said Robert Legvold, a Russia expert at Columbia University. "Remember two years ago when they extended the presidential term [from four to six years], the assumption was that had been pushed through so that Putin could come back even earlier than a regular constitutional election. So it’s been around for some time.”
Elections
Many Russia analysts say the job swap between Medvedev and Putin transforms the March presidential elections into a farce⁴.
But Matthew Rojansky, a Russia expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, looks at it from a different angle.
“I don’t think that they are any more or less of a farce than they would have been," he said. "Remember, the problem here is not that you have Putin running or not running - or Medvedev running. The problem is that you don’t have full access to participatory political resources for all of the political forces in society.”
Analysts say over the years, the Russian leadership has consolidated⁵ its power by controlling most of the media and stifling⁶ political opposition⁷. That is why experts say Putin is expected to win the election and probably be re-elected six years later, keeping him in power until 2024.
“The kind of power that he exercises with or without a formal office hasn’t existed since Stalin," said Matthew Rojansky. "Putin has this level of cult⁸ of personality and political power that he exercises just through his personality that’s unlike anything else.”
Popular Putin
Many analysts say Putin is very popular throughout Russia.
But Robert Legvold says the Russian government is not.
“It may be one of the reasons why he’s resuming the presidency⁹ because I think he hopes that he can turn his personal popularity into support for the regime, for the government and for the policies that it is pursuing," he said. "Because there is quite a difference in what the polls show us in people’s attitudes toward him personally as opposed to the political environment or the political situation in Russia.”
Team work
In the end, many experts, including Matthew Rojansky, believe the two men work as a team.
“'Tandem¹⁰’ is the right word for the system. I think Putin at some point in 2007 [as president] said ‘I need a crutch¹¹ here, I can’t do all of this myself. I need for public relations purposes, for management purposes I need a loyal servant,’ said Rojansky. "And I think Medvedev became that guy and I think they work as a team. It’s not a team of equals, but I think it’s a team. And so the fact that Medvedev sat in the Kremlin for the last four years, I think is relatively¹² less significant than the fact that he was a member, he was the junior partner in the tandem, and he will remain that.”
Analysts say the Putin/Medvedev team faces some daunting¹³ tasks ahead such as modernizing¹⁴ the country’s institutions, opening up the political system and fighting corruption¹⁵. But many experts question whether the two men will tackle those issues because they really haven’t done so up to now.

1 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。

2 swap   

n.交换；vt.交换，用...作交易

参考例句：

• I will swap you my bicycle for your radio.我想拿我的自行车换你的收音机。
• This comic was a swap that I got from Nick.这本漫画书是我从尼克那里换来的。

3 ramifications   

n.结果，后果( ramification的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• These changes are bound to have widespread social ramifications. 这些变化注定会造成许多难以预料的社会后果。
• What are the ramifications of our decision to join the union? 我们决定加入工会会引起哪些后果呢？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 farce   

n.闹剧，笑剧，滑稽戏；胡闹

参考例句：

• They played a shameful role in this farce.他们在这场闹剧中扮演了可耻的角色。
• The audience roared at the farce.闹剧使观众哄堂大笑。

5 consolidated   

a.联合的

参考例句：

• With this new movie he has consolidated his position as the country's leading director. 他新执导的影片巩固了他作为全国最佳导演的地位。
• Those two banks have consolidated and formed a single large bank. 那两家银行已合并成一家大银行。

6 stifling   

a.令人窒息的

参考例句：

• The weather is stifling. It looks like rain. 今天太闷热，光景是要下雨。
• We were stifling in that hot room with all the windows closed. 我们在那间关着窗户的热屋子里，简直透不过气来。

7 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。

8 cult   

n.异教，邪教；时尚，狂热的崇拜

参考例句：

• Her books aren't bestsellers,but they have a certain cult following.她的书算不上畅销书，但有一定的崇拜者。
• The cult of sun worship is probably the most primitive one.太阳崇拜仪式或许是最为原始的一种。

9 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。

10 tandem   

n.同时发生；配合；adv.一个跟着一个地；纵排地；adj.（两匹马）前后纵列的

参考例句：

• Malcolm's contract will run in tandem with his existing one.马尔科姆的合同将与他手头的合同同时生效。
• He is working in tandem with officials of the Serious Fraud Office.他正配合欺诈重案办公室的官员工作。

11 crutch   

n.T字形拐杖；支持，依靠，精神支柱

参考例句：

• Her religion was a crutch to her when John died.约翰死后，她在精神上依靠宗教信仰支撑住自己。
• He uses his wife as a kind of crutch because of his lack of confidence.他缺乏自信心，总把妻子当作主心骨。

12 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

13 daunting   

adj.使人畏缩的

参考例句：

• They were faced with the daunting task of restoring the house.他们面临着修复房子的艰巨任务。
• Starting a new job can be a daunting prospect.开始一项新工作有时会让人望而却步。

14 modernizing   

使现代化，使适应现代需要( modernize的现在分词 )； 现代化，使用现代方法

参考例句：

• Modernizing a business to increase its profitability and competitiveness is a complicated affair. 使企业现代化，从而达到增加利润，增强竞争力的目的，是一件复杂的事情。
• The young engineer had a large share in modernizing the factory. 这位年轻工程师在工厂现代化的过程中尽了很大的“力”。

15 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。