VOA慢速英语 2008 0308

IN THE NEWS - McCain Can Launch National Campaign; Democrats² Still Stuck
John McCain secures the Republican nomination³. New life in Clinton campaign intensifies⁴ issue of re-votes in Florida and Michigan. Transcript⁵ of radio broadcast:
08 March 2008

 

This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

This week, Arizona Senator John McCain claimed the Republican nomination for president. His wins in four state primaries Tuesday gave him enough delegates to begin his national campaign for the November election. But against which Democrat¹?
　

Hillary Clinton

New York Senator Hillary Clinton won three out of the four primaries, including the big states of Ohio and Texas. She also won Rhode Island. Illinois Senator Barack Obama won Vermont.

Hillary Clinton's victories marked a major comeback. She lost twelve straight caucuses⁶ and primaries to Barack Obama. In her victory speech in Ohio, she spoke⁷ of the importance of that state. She noted⁸ that no candidate in recent history, Democrat or Republican, has won the presidency⁹ without winning Ohio.

She received the majority of white and Latino votes in Ohio and Texas. But Barack Obama remained more popular among blacks and voters under the age of thirty.
　

Barack Obama

Senator Obama still holds a small lead in the delegate count. The next big primary is in Pennsylvania on April twenty-second. Ten states along with Guam and Puerto Rico have yet to vote. But it remains¹⁰ unlikely that either Democrat will win enough delegates to secure the nomination before the party's convention in late August.

The tight race has brought new attention to Florida and Michigan. Those states want their votes to count at the national convention. But they held their primaries too early, in violation¹¹ of party rules which those states had agreed to.

As punishment, the party took away the two hundred ten delegates from Florida and one hundred fifty-six from Michigan. Hillary Clinton won the primaries in both states, though Barack Obama was not even on the ballot¹² in Michigan.

The governors of Michigan and Florida have presented a joint¹³ request to the party to seat their delegates at the convention. They say the national party is silencing the voices of more than five million people.

Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean says Florida and Michigan should repeat their primaries. But he says the national party will not pay the estimated several million dollars in costs.

As Michigan and Florida try to find a solution, the candidates look toward votes in Wyoming on Saturday and Mississippi on Tuesday.
　

John McCain with President Bush at the White House

The two Democrats are also trying to win the support of almost eight hundred superdelegates. These are party leaders and elected officials who can vote for any candidate at the convention. They represent about twenty percent of all the delegates who will vote at the convention.

On the Republican side, President Bush announced his support for John McCain at the White House on Wednesday. The two men had competed for the Republican nomination in two thousand, and Mister Bush won. The seventy-one-year-old Senator McCain now has to name a choice for vice¹⁴ president. He says he has just begun that process.

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

3 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。

4 intensifies   

n.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的名词复数 )v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• A clear atmosphere intensifies the blue of the sky. 纯净的空气使天空变得更蓝。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Blowing on fire intensifies the heat. 吹火使热度加强。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

6 caucuses   

n.（政党决定政策或推举竞选人的）核心成员( caucus的名词复数 )；决策干部；决策委员会；秘密会议

参考例句：

• Republican caucuses will happen in about 410 towns across Maine. 共和党团会议选举将在缅因州的约410个城镇进行。 来自互联网

7 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

8 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

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 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

11 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

12 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。

13 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

14 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。