VOA标准英语2013--华盛顿政府关门成喜剧笑柄

 

Comics Seize on Government Shutdown to Mock Washington 华盛顿政府关门成喜剧笑柄

U.S. comedians¹ on late night TV love to make fun of American politicians, whose feuds² often paralyze national decision-making. When the disputes led to the federal government's shutdown this week, the jokes went into overdrive.

美国喜剧演员爱在深夜电视取笑美国政治家,他们的纷争往往麻痹国家决策。当纠纷导致联邦政府本周关闭,嘲笑进入了高速发展期。

The government shutdown has given some of America's most popular TV comedians new ammunition³ against one of their favorite targets: Republicans.

In a YouTube clip posted by Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, the host pounces⁴ on Republican lawmaker Todd Rokita for opposing President Obama's health care law.

"I just want to help the American people get by and through what is one of the most insidious⁵ laws ever created by man. And that is Obamacare," said Rokita in the clip.

"Not just one of the most insidious laws ever created by America, which has Jim Crow and slavery on its resume of laws, but by man - putting Obamacare up with the Nuremberg laws, the Spanish inquisition and 'prima nocta' - the medieval law where on your wedding night the king gets to sleep with your wife," ridiculed⁶ Stewart.

In another video posted to YouTube, Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert of The Colbert Report sees irony⁷ in Republican Senator Lindsey Graham's criticism of the president.

"Where is our commander-in-chief, why isn't he on the phone right now, calling the Senate and House leadership, and telling them our nation is at risk because of the government shutdown," Senator Graham told Fox News.

"Yes, why isn't the president telling Congress that shutting down the government is bad? And why won't he tell them the stove is hot? Boehner keeps burning his hand over and over again," mocked Colbert.

Conservatives are not the only ones being mocked. On a YouTube video of NBC's Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, host Fallon finds it hard to sympathize with the thousands of furloughed government employees.

"This is nice, actually. I saw several bars in Washington, D.C. are offering discounts on drinks to federal workers affected⁸ by the government shutdown. Or, as people who aren't federal workers put it, 'I'm a federal worker.'" said Fallon.

And in a YouTube clip of NBC's The Tonight Show With Jay Leno, the veteran comic points out that tourists have plenty of sites to see besides the monuments shut by the government.

"Well, as you know, most of the tourist stuff is closed. Well, here's the story," began Leno.

"With the government shut down, the impact is being felt far beyond the nation's capital, as zoos, libraries and national parks are now closed. However, there are some alternatives to the shutdown. For example, with the closure of the National Zoo, you can still see dangerous animals at an [Oakland] Raiders football game. The Library of Congress also will be closed, but don't worry about it - nobody goes to libraries, anyway. And for those of you hoping to get a glimpse of Joshua Tree National Park [in southern California], you might want to reroute your trip and head for the 'Kardashian butt-acle' forest," offered Leno's mock news report.

1 comedians   

n.喜剧演员，丑角( comedian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The voice was rich, lordly, Harvardish, like all the boring radio comedians'imitations. 声音浑厚、威严，俨然是哈佛出身的气派，就跟无线电里所有的滑稽演员叫人已经听腻的模仿完全一样。 来自辞典例句
• He distracted them by joking and imitating movie and radio comedians. 他用开玩笑的方法或者模仿电影及广播中的滑稽演员来对付他们。 来自辞典例句

2 feuds   

n.长期不和，世仇( feud的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Quarrels and feuds between tribes became incessant. 部落间的争吵、反目成仇的事件接连不断。 来自英汉非文学 - 文明史
• There were feuds in the palace, no one can deny. 宫里也有斗争，这是无可否认的。 来自辞典例句

3 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。

4 pounces   

v.突然袭击( pounce的第三人称单数 )；猛扑；一眼看出；抓住机会（进行抨击）

参考例句：

• The attacker thinks it's still part of the lizard and pounces on it. 攻击者认为那仍然是蜥蜴身体的一部分，向它猛扑过去。 来自互联网

5 insidious   

adj.阴险的，隐匿的，暗中为害的，（疾病）不知不觉之间加剧

参考例句：

• That insidious man bad-mouthed me to almost everyone else.那个阴险的家伙几乎见人便说我的坏话。
• Organized crime has an insidious influence on all who come into contact with it.所有和集团犯罪有关的人都会不知不觉地受坏影响。

6 ridiculed   

v.嘲笑，嘲弄，奚落( ridicule的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Biosphere 2 was ultimately ridiculed as a research debade, as exfravagant pseudoscience. 生物圈2号最终被讥讽为科研上的大失败，代价是昂贵的伪科学。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She ridiculed his insatiable greed. 她嘲笑他的贪得无厌。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 irony   

n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄

参考例句：

• She said to him with slight irony.她略带嘲讽地对他说。
• In her voice we could sense a certain tinge of irony.从她的声音里我们可以感到某种讥讽的意味。

8 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。