VOA常速英语2018--民主党阻挠无效 卡瓦纳当选美国大法官

On this vote, the “yes” are 51, the “no” are 49. The motion is agreed to. By a narrow margin¹, the Senate moved to a final debate and vote on the Kavanagh nomination², led by Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell. Today we can send a message to the American people that some core principles remain unfettered by the partisan³ passions of this moment. Facts matter. Fairness matters. The presumption⁴ of innocence⁵ is sacrosanct⁶. All but one of the Senate’s 52 Republicans supported Kavanagh on the procedural vote, including last-minute decider Susan Collins of Maine.

在这次投票中，赞成票有51张，反对票有49张，所以该动议通过了。在票数相差不大的情况下，参议院进入了最终的讨论环节，并对卡瓦纳的提名进行投票，整个过程由参议院中的共和党领袖明奇·麦康奈尔组织。今天，我们要向美国人民传递一个讯息，即一些核心原则不会受到此时党派情绪的影响。重要的在于是否符合事实，是否足够公正。无罪推定的原则是神圣不可侵犯的。参议院的52位共和党人中有51位在程序性投票中给卡瓦纳投了赞成票，其中包括缅因州最后一分钟才做出决定的苏珊·柯林斯。

We must always remember that it is when passions are most inflamed⁷, that fairness is most in jeopardy⁸. At the White House, spokeswoman Sarah Sanders was upbeat. I think he has been through like I said more than any other nominee⁹ in history, and I think once that vote is confirmed, we should be able to move forward.

我们必须要永远牢记激情何时会被扑灭，而公正又是何时濒临消糜。白宫发言人萨拉·桑德斯持乐观态度。我认为卡瓦纳经历的比厉害上任何一位提名者都要多，而且我认为一旦票数锁定，我们就不应该沉浸在落定的尘埃之中了。

There were more anti-Cavanaugh protests during the vote Friday, and Democrats¹⁰ with one exception opposed him, including Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer. Let them look back on this chapter, as the shameful¹¹ culmination¹² of the scorched¹³ earth politics practiced by the hard right in America, people who will stop at nothing to entrench¹⁴ an advantage on our nation’s courts. Cavanaugh’s nomination ran into trouble after an allegation of sexual assault by California Professor Christine Blasey Ford¹⁵.

周五进行票选期间，反对卡瓦纳的抗议示威一浪高过一浪，而民主党人中除了一人外，剩下的都反对卡瓦纳，其中就包括参议院的民主党领袖查克·舒默。让他们回顾这一时期，看看强硬右派焦灼而又下作的政治猫腻是如何以可耻的方式达到巅峰的。美国人民会不惜一切在国家的法庭上建立起优势。卡瓦纳的提名遇到了麻烦，这是因为加州教授克里斯汀·布莱西·福特对其提起性侵犯的诉讼。

Both Kavanagh and Ford testified at an emotional Senate hearing last week where Kavanagh denied the allegation. Other women also came forward alleging¹⁶ sexual assault which he also denied, but Cavanaugh’s aggressive defense¹⁷ did not sit well with Democrats, like Senator Dianne Feinstein. Judges are expected to be quote even-handed, unbiased, impartial¹⁸, and courteous¹⁹, and quote, however, at the hearing last week, we saw a man filled with anger and aggression²⁰. Cavanaugh’s confirmation²¹ would give the Trump²² Whitehouse a major political victory. He would also solidify²³ a conservative majority on the nine-member High Court for the foreseeable future.

卡瓦纳和福特上周都在参议院的一场听证会提供了证词，场上氛围极具感染性。卡瓦纳当场否认了福特的指控。还有其他多位女性现身指控卡瓦纳有性侵行为，对此，卡瓦纳一并否认了。但卡瓦纳激进的自我辩护惹得民主党很不舒服，参议员黛安娜·范斯坦就是其中一个。我们对法官的预期是一视同仁、毫无偏见、不偏不倚、谦卑有礼等等，但在上周的听证会上，我们看到的是一个怒气冲天、怼天怼地的男子。卡瓦纳当选大法官对于特朗普政府来说是一次重大的政治胜利。卡瓦纳还可以在可见的未来内稳固9人组成的高等法庭中的保守派多数。

1 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。

2 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

3 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

4 presumption   

n.推测，可能性，冒昧，放肆，[法律]推定

参考例句：

• Please pardon my presumption in writing to you.请原谅我很冒昧地写信给你。
• I don't think that's a false presumption.我认为那并不是错误的推测。

5 innocence   

n.无罪；天真；无害

参考例句：

• There was a touching air of innocence about the boy.这个男孩有一种令人感动的天真神情。
• The accused man proved his innocence of the crime.被告人经证实无罪。

6 sacrosanct   

adj.神圣不可侵犯的

参考例句：

• In India,the cow is a sacrosanct animal.牛在印度是神圣的动物。
• Philip Glass is ignorant of establishing an immutable, sacrosanct urtext.菲利普·格拉斯不屑于创立不变的、神圣的原始文本。

7 inflamed   

adj.发炎的，红肿的v.（使）变红，发怒，过热( inflame的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• His comments have inflamed teachers all over the country. 他的评论激怒了全国教师。
• Her joints are severely inflamed. 她的关节严重发炎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 jeopardy   

n.危险；危难

参考例句：

• His foolish behaviour may put his whole future in jeopardy.他愚蠢的行为可能毁了他一生的前程。
• It is precisely at this juncture that the boss finds himself in double jeopardy.恰恰在这个关键时刻，上司发现自己处于进退两难的境地。

9 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

10 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》

11 shameful   

adj.可耻的，不道德的

参考例句：

• It is very shameful of him to show off.他向人炫耀自己，真不害臊。
• We must expose this shameful activity to the newspapers.我们一定要向报社揭露这一无耻行径。

12 culmination   

n.顶点；最高潮

参考例句：

• The space race reached its culmination in the first moon walk.太空竞争以第一次在月球行走而达到顶峰。
• It may truly be regarded as the culmination of classical Greek geometry.这确实可以看成是古典希腊几何的登峰造级之作。

13 scorched   

烧焦，烤焦( scorch的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（植物）枯萎，把…晒枯； 高速行驶； 枯焦

参考例句：

• I scorched my dress when I was ironing it. 我把自己的连衣裙熨焦了。
• The hot iron scorched the tablecloth. 热熨斗把桌布烫焦了。

14 entrench   

v.使根深蒂固；n.壕沟；防御设施

参考例句：

• A series of measures were designed to entrench democracy and the rule of law.采取一系列措施旨在巩固民主和法制。
• These dictators have entrenched themselves politically and are difficult to move.这些独裁者在政治上已经站稳了脚跟，很难推翻他们。

15 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

16 alleging   

断言，宣称，辩解( allege的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• His reputation was blemished by a newspaper article alleging he'd evaded his taxes. 由于报上一篇文章声称他曾逃税，他的名誉受到损害。
• This our Peeress declined as unnecessary, alleging that her cousin Thornhill's recommendation would be sufficient. 那位贵人不肯，还说不必，只要有她老表唐希尔保荐就够了。

17 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。

18 impartial   

adj.(in,to)公正的，无偏见的

参考例句：

• He gave an impartial view of the state of affairs in Ireland.他对爱尔兰的事态发表了公正的看法。
• Careers officers offer impartial advice to all pupils.就业指导员向所有学生提供公正无私的建议。

19 courteous   

adj.彬彬有礼的，客气的

参考例句：

• Although she often disagreed with me,she was always courteous.尽管她常常和我意见不一，但她总是很谦恭有礼。
• He was a kind and courteous man.他为人友善，而且彬彬有礼。

20 aggression   

n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害

参考例句：

• So long as we are firmly united, we need fear no aggression.只要我们紧密地团结，就不必惧怕外来侵略。
• Her view is that aggression is part of human nature.她认为攻击性是人类本性的一部份。

21 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

22 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

23 solidify   

v.(使)凝固，(使)固化，(使)团结

参考例句：

• Opinion on this question began to solidify.对这个问题的意见开始具体化了。
• Water will solidify into ice if you freeze it.水冷冻会结冰。