VOA慢速英语 2008 1004a

This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.
　

Sarah Palin and Joe Biden during the vice1 presidential debate on Thursday night

Americans are a month from elections on November fourth. This week the vice presidential candidates of the two major parties met for their only debate.

JOE BIDEN: "For John McCain, there is no end in sight to end this war. Fundamental difference: we will end this war."

SARAH PALIN: "Your plan is a white flag of surrender in Iraq, and that is not what our troops need to hear today, that's for sure."

Governor Sarah Palin and Senator Joe Biden dealt with war, the economy and other issues. Their debate Thursday night produced unusual attention but no major mistakes. That seemed especially important for the Alaska governor after recent difficulties with television news interviews.

The presidential candidates, Democrat² Barack Obama and Republican John McCain, met last Friday for their first of three debates. One of the strongest exchanges took place over what to do about Iran. Senator McCain attacked his opponent's position about meeting with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

JOHN McCAIN: "What Senator Obama does not seem to understand is that if, without precondition, you sit down across the table from someone who has called Israel a stinking³ corpse⁴ and wants to destroy that country and wipe it off the map, you legitimize those comments. This is dangerous. It is not just naive⁵, it is dangerous."
　

John McCain and Barack Obama during their debate on September 26

Senator Obama answered by saying he would meet with any foreign leader if he believed it would make the United States more secure.

BARACK OBAMA: "Now, understand what this means, meeting without preconditions. It does not mean that you invite them over for tea one day. What it means is that we do not do what we have been doing, which is to say, until you agree to do exactly what we say, we will not have direct contacts with you."

Professor Wayne Fields is an expert on presidential speech at Washington University in Saint Louis, Missouri. He points out that in a debate, the candidate who makes better arguments is not necessarily the winner in the eyes of the public. He says voters often base judgments⁶ on what they hear in the debate combined with what they read later in commentaries.

The first official presidential debate was in nineteen sixty between Vice President Richard Nixon and Senator John Kennedy. Many watching TV saw Kennedy as the winner. Nixon was better received among radio listeners, but went on to lose the election.

Vice presidential debates began in nineteen seventy-six but did not become regular events until nineteen eighty-four. That year, Vice President George H. W. Bush debated New York Representative Geraldine Ferraro. She is the only woman other than Sarah Palin ever to be on a major-party presidential ballot⁷.

In nineteen eighty-eight, the vice presidential debate was between Lloyd Bentsen and Dan Quayle. People remember when Senator Quayle was asked if he had a plan in case he had to replace George H. W. Bush as president.
　

Lloyd Bentsen and Dan Quayle after their debate on October 5, 1988

DAN QUAYLE: "I have as much experience in the Congress as Jack⁸ Kennedy did when he sought the presidency⁹. I will be prepared to deal with the people in the Bush administration if that unfortunate event would ever occur."

MODERATOR: "Senator Bentsen."

LLOYD BENTSEN: "Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you are no Jack Kennedy."

But Dan Quayle was the one who became vice president.

The last two debates between Barack Obama and John McCain are this Tuesday and on October fifteenth.

And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English, written by Brianna Blake. I'm Bob Doughty¹⁰.

1 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。

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 stinking   

adj.臭的，烂醉的，讨厌的v.散发出恶臭( stink的现在分词 )；发臭味；名声臭；糟透

参考例句：

• I was pushed into a filthy, stinking room. 我被推进一间又脏又臭的屋子里。
• Those lousy, stinking ships. It was them that destroyed us. 是的！就是那些该死的蠢猪似的臭飞船！是它们毁了我们。 来自英汉非文学 - 科幻

4 corpse   

n.尸体，死尸

参考例句：

• What she saw was just an unfeeling corpse.她见到的只是一具全无感觉的尸体。
• The corpse was preserved from decay by embalming.尸体用香料涂抹以防腐烂。

5 naive   

adj.幼稚的，轻信的；天真的

参考例句：

• It's naive of you to believe he'll do what he says.相信他会言行一致，你未免太单纯了。
• Don't be naive.The matter is not so simple.你别傻乎乎的。事情没有那么简单。

6 judgments   

判断( judgment的名词复数 )； 鉴定； 评价； 审判

参考例句：

• A peculiar austerity marked his judgments of modern life. 他对现代生活的批评带着一种特殊的苛刻。
• He is swift with his judgments. 他判断迅速。

7 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。

8 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

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 doughty   

adj.勇猛的，坚强的

参考例句：

• Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质：脾气倔强，性格刚强。
• The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。