美国有线新闻 CNN 美国民主党25年来第一次赢得阿拉巴马州议会选举

 

We're starting with an unusual election in Alabama and its effect on the U.S. Senate. On Tuesday, a vote was held in the southern state. It was to fill a vacancy¹ in the Senate that was left when Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions was appointed to the job of U.S. attorney general earlier this year.

Mr. Sessions is a Republican. In fact, everyone from Alabama who's won a U.S. Senate seat since 1992 was a Republican until Tuesday. That's when a Democratic candidate named Doug Jones defeated a Republican candidate named Roy Moore to win the seat. Though as of last night, Mr. Moore hadn't conceded. He hadn't officially accepted a loss.

The election was close. With 99 percent of ballot³ counted, Mr. Jones had won 49.9 percent of the vote. Mr. Moore had won 48.4 percent.

The race wasn't just unusual because a Democrat² won in a state that usually votes Republican. Moore, a former supreme⁴ court chief justice for the state of Alabama is one of the politicians who's been named in a series of recent sexual harassment⁵ accusations⁶ made across America. Judge Moore was accused of behaving inappropriately in the past toward women who were underage. The candidate repeatedly denied all the allegations, and questioned the timing⁷ and details about them.

But despite that and an endorsement⁸ that Moore received relatively⁹ late in the race from Republican U.S. President Donald Trump¹⁰, Jones emerged victorious¹¹ on Tuesday night. The former federal prosecutor¹² said he was overwhelmed by the victory and that his campaign had been about making sure that everyone in Alabama is going to get a fair shake in life.

Senator-elect Jones will serve out the remainder of former Senator Jeff Sessions' term, but it won't begin immediately.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Take a look at these numbers. These are the ones that really matter. Republicans came in to this election with 52 seats under their control in the U.S. Senate. Democrats¹³ and their allies had 48 and the new numbers will be 51 and 49.

It may not look like much, but that is a ?world of difference. That's why President Trump so wanted Roy Moore to win and not Doug Jones, because with that one shift of the vote, it becomes significantly harder for the Republicans to pass any of his legislation on border control, budgets, entitlement.

In fact, if you even talk about this giant tax reform package they're working on, if Doug Jones is seated before the final vote on this, a single Republican defection could burn it to the ground.

So, what are the odds¹⁴ of that happening?

Well, we have to look at the calendar. The secretary of state of Alabama has to certify¹⁵ the vote result before Jones can take the oath. That will probably happen down here, around 27th, 28th, 29th, which means Jones probably get sworn in early next year, January.

But what are the Republicans are trying to do is get this tax plan fully¹⁶ approved, finished by the 22nd. So, if nothing else changes and Democrats can do nothing to speed up this calendar, they have no power over that, the two will not come together in all likelihood, and Doug Jones will not be able to derail the Republicans' last big stab at some kind of big legislation this year, before the numbers change and maybe the whole equation changes with it.

1 vacancy   

n.（旅馆的）空位，空房，（职务的）空缺

参考例句：

• Her going on maternity leave will create a temporary vacancy.她休产假时将会有一个临时空缺。
• The vacancy of her expression made me doubt if she was listening.她茫然的神情让我怀疑她是否在听。

2 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。

3 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

4 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

5 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

6 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

7 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

8 endorsement   

n.背书；赞成，认可，担保；签(注)，批注

参考例句：

• We are happy to give the product our full endorsement.我们很高兴给予该产品完全的认可。
• His presidential campaign won endorsement from several celebrities.他参加总统竞选得到一些社会名流的支持。

9 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。

10 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。

11 victorious   

adj.胜利的，得胜的

参考例句：

• We are certain to be victorious.我们定会胜利。
• The victorious army returned in triumph.获胜的部队凯旋而归。

12 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

13 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》

14 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

15 certify   

vt.证明，证实；发证书(或执照)给

参考例句：

• I can certify to his good character.我可以证明他品德好。
• This swimming certificate is to certify that I can swim one hundred meters.这张游泳证是用以证明我可以游100米远。

16 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。