VOA慢速英语 2008 1018a

This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

Wednesday's presidential debate was the third and last between Democrat¹ Barack Obama and Republican John McCain. But on Thursday they both attended a yearly political tradition in New York, a dinner to raise money for Catholic charities. The first to speak was Senator McCain, who is fighting from behind in most national polls.

JOHN McCAIN: "A major announcement. Events are moving fast in my campaign, and yes, it's true that this morning I've dismissed my entire team of senior advisers². All of their positions will now be held by a man named Joe the Plumber³."

BARACK OBAMA: "Now recently one of John's advisers told the Daily News that if we keep talking about the economy, McCain's going to lose. So tonight I'd like to talk about the economy."
　

Joe Wurzelbacher talking with reporters outside his home on Thursday

The jokes were a change from the final ninety-minute debate the night before on the economy and other domestic issues. Yet the debate produced an unexpected star who was not even there.

A working man named Joe Wurzelbacher met Barack Obama earlier in the week during a campaign stop in Toledo, Ohio. He told Senator Obama that he was getting ready to buy a company and was concerned that his taxes would increase under the senator's tax plan.

John McCain used "Joe the Plumber" as an example to attack Senator Obama's proposals.

JOHN McCAIN: "Joe, I want to tell you, I will not only help you buy that business that you worked your whole life for and I will keep your taxes low and I will provide available and affordable⁴ health care for you and your employees. And I will not stand for a tax increase on small business income."
　

Barack Obama and John McCain with CBS moderator Bob Schieffer during the third presidential debate

Barack Obama would raise taxes on earnings⁵ above two hundred fifty thousand dollars a year. But he said ninety-eight percent of small businesses make less than that. He talked about Joe the Plumber.

BARACK OBAMA: "What I essentially⁶ said to him was, five years ago, when you were not in a position to buy your business, you needed a tax cut then. And what I want to do is to make sure that the plumber, the nurse, the firefighter, the teacher, the young entrepreneur who does not yet have money, I want to give them a tax break now. And that requires us to make some important choices."

Both candidates looked into the camera and addressed Joe the Plumber directly. His name was used more than twenty times.

But with sudden fame came news that he is not a licensed⁷ plumber and that he owed the state of Ohio more than one thousand dollars in back taxes. Also, it was not clear that his taxes would increase under the Obama plan.

Since the debate, though, Senator McCain has talked about something else his opponent said to Joe Wurzelbacher. Senator Obama said, "I think that when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody." Senator McCain says spreading the wealth means class warfare⁸.

Barack Obama argues that John McCain would continue the economic policies of President Bush.

The Democrat is campaigning heavily in states that voted Republican in recent presidential elections but which he has a chance to win. These include Virginia, North Carolina and Colorado.

John McCain is working on larger states like Florida and Ohio that voted for President Bush. Opinion polls show that both of those states could go either way on November fourth.

And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English, written by Brianna Blake. For more political news, go to voaspecialenglish.com or VOA's election site, usavotes2008.com. I'm Steve Ember.

1 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。

2 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

3 plumber   

n.(装修水管的)管子工

参考例句：

• Have you asked the plumber to come and look at the leaking pipe?你叫管道工来检查漏水的管子了吗？
• The plumber screwed up the tap by means of a spanner.管子工用板手把龙头旋紧。

4 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

5 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

6 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

7 licensed   

adj.得到许可的v.许可，颁发执照(license的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The new drug has not yet been licensed in the US. 这种新药尚未在美国获得许可。
• Is that gun licensed? 那支枪有持枪执照吗？

8 warfare   

n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突

参考例句：

• He addressed the audience on the subject of atomic warfare.他向听众演讲有关原子战争的问题。
• Their struggle consists mainly in peasant guerrilla warfare.他们的斗争主要是农民游击战。