VOA慢速英语2014 共和党人表示对中期选举有信心

 

AS IT IS 2014-10-08 Republicans Are Confident with Midterm Elections 共和党人表示对中期选举有信心

On November 4, voters across the United States will choose who represents them in Congress. Voters will select all 435 positions in the House of Representatives. And, this year they will select 33 of 100 Senators. 

The Republican party currently holds the majority in the House of Representatives. The Democrats¹ hold the Senate and the presidency². 

Republican party leaders say after next month’s elections they will control both the House and the Senate. If they are right, President Barack Obama will face a difficult final two years in office.  

Most political experts agree with Republican leaders and say the Republicans will either hold or increase their majority in the House of Representatives. But not everyone is sure Republicans will win the six seats the party needs to gain a majority in the Senate.

Karlyn Bowman is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and an expert on public opinion. 

“I’m not sure we are going to see a wave, a big wave that would benefit the Republicans. Clearly they will pick up a few seats in the House. They will pick up seats in the Senate, but whether it will be enough to get control, I think, is premature³.”

Some experts believe Republicans have a good chance of taking control of the Senate simply because more Republicans than Democrats vote in midterm elections. 

John Fortier is a political scientist at the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington. 

“Midterm elections tend to be a little bit more of a Republican election. More Republican voters show up. It is a smaller electorate⁴ than a presidential election. And for all those reasons I think the direction will be in the Republican direction. I think the big question is, is it enough in that direction to get control of the Senate.”

Neil Newhouse is a Republican advisor⁵. He says no one will know who will control the Senate until Election Day.

“Guys, we have a long ways to go. I mean, a lot of stuff can happen in this race. The Senate is not yet decided⁶.”

Stan Greenberg is a public opinion expert for Democrats. He says the president’s popularity may have recently increased because of his decision to attack Islamic State militants⁷ in Iraq and Syria.

“We’ll look at what happened with ISIS and Syria and Iraq, and it might represent a point in which the president edged up nationally.”

But many voters do not agree with the president’s policies on the economy and foreign policy. Experts say their disapproval⁸ could affect how they vote in November.

Charlie Cook writes about political campaigns. He says some Democratic senators running for re-election are telling voters they no longer strongly support President Obama.

“What are midterm elections about, particularly second term midterm elections? It is a referendum on the incumbent⁹ president. You know, I am going to use a technical political science term here. This is a bummer (bad) environment for Democrats.”

Michael Dimock is a public opinion expert with the Pew Research Center in Washington. He says the president has had a difficult second term.

“His handling of foreign affairs got better ratings than his overall job ratings for almost his entire first term. And now in his second term that is inverted¹⁰. Foreign policy is sort of a drag on his overall standing¹¹, not a lift.”

The election is very important for President Obama, even though he is not on the ballot¹². If Republicans control both houses of Congress, they likely will not approve legislation he supports. They may also not approve officials he names to government positions, including the Supreme¹³ Court. As a result, the final two years of Mr. Obama’s presidency may be his least successful. 

Words in This Story

election – n. the act or process of choosing someone for a public office by voting

majority – n. a number that is greater than half of a total

advisor – n. one who guides or gives advice

opinion – n. a belief, judgment¹⁴, or way of thinking about something; what someone thinks about a particular thing

legislation – n. a law or set of laws made by a government

1 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》

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 premature   

adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的

参考例句：

• It is yet premature to predict the possible outcome of the dialogue.预言这次对话可能有什么结果为时尚早。
• The premature baby is doing well.那个早产的婴儿很健康。

4 electorate   

n.全体选民；选区

参考例句：

• The government was responsible to the electorate.政府对全体选民负责。
• He has the backing of almost a quarter of the electorate.他得到了几乎1/4选民的支持。

5 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

8 disapproval   

n.反对，不赞成

参考例句：

• The teacher made an outward show of disapproval.老师表面上表示不同意。
• They shouted their disapproval.他们喊叫表示反对。

9 incumbent   

adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的

参考例句：

• He defeated the incumbent governor by a large plurality.他以压倒多数票击败了现任州长。
• It is incumbent upon you to warn them.你有责任警告他们。

10 inverted   

adj.反向的，倒转的v.使倒置，使反转( invert的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Only direct speech should go inside inverted commas. 只有直接引语应放在引号内。
• Inverted flight is an acrobatic manoeuvre of the plane. 倒飞是飞机的一种特技动作。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

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 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。

14 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。