VOA慢速英语 2007 1103b

IN THE NEWS - Fernandez Makes History in Argentina, but Soon Comes the Real Work
By Brianna Blake / Broadcast: Fri, 2 Nov 2007 16:00:00 UTC
This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

Cristina Fernandez

Senator and first lady Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner this week became the first woman to be elected president of Argentina. The fifty-four-year-old lawyer and politician received about twice as many votes as her closest opponent, Elisa Carrio.

Cristina Fernandez will take office in December when her husband, President Nestor Kirchner, steps down after one term. She will face difficult issues including Argentina's high inflation rates and energy shortages.

Her support comes mainly from Argentina's lower classes. Political observers say she could lose that support if she is unable to slow inflation and deal with the energy problems.

Elisa Carrio, a former legislator known for her campaign against corruption¹, had the strong support of wealthier voters. She won the big cities of Buenos Aires, Cordoba and Rosario.

Argentina has the second largest economy in South America, after Brazil. The economy has grown at more than eight percent a year during Nestor Kirchner's presidency². But the country has a large international debt. And one-fourth of its thirty-seven million people still live in poverty.

President-elect Fernandez has promised to continue her husband's policies. Many people believe his success in improving the economy helped her rise to the presidency. Argentina suffered a financial crisis in two thousand one and two thousand two.

She says she will work to improve employment, health care, education -- and Argentina's foreign relations. Her husband has traveled little outside the country during his four years as president. But she has spent recent months meeting with foreign leaders.

Citizens eighteen to seventy living in Argentina are required to vote. Those living outside the country are not required. But Argentine Embassy spokeswoman Danielle de la Fuente in Washington said many came to the consulate³ to vote in Sunday's election.

Argentina also has a law to support the involvement of women in politics. It requires one-third of legislative⁴ candidates to be women.

Cristina Fernandez will join Michelle Bachelet of Chile as the only female presidents in Latin America. But while Argentina will have its first elected female president, she will not be the first woman to lead the country. Vice⁵ President Isabel Peron became president after her husband, General Juan Peron, died in nineteen seventy-four.

President Nestor Kirchner

President Kirchner and his wife lead the Peronist party, a movement that grew out of the rule of General Peron. Some people think they will try to exchange the presidency between them for the next twelve years. Argentine law permits a former president to run again after a four-year wait.

Many people compare Cristina Fernandez to American presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Both women are senators and lawyers whose husbands were governors and then presidents.

And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English, written by Brianna Blake.

1 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。

2 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。

3 consulate   

n.领事馆

参考例句：

• The Spanish consulate is the large white building opposite the bank.西班牙领事馆是银行对面的那栋高大的白色建筑物。
• The American consulate was a magnificent edifice in the centre of Bordeaux.美国领事馆是位于波尔多市中心的一座宏伟的大厦。

4 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

5 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。