2006年VOA标准英语-Palestinians Vote in First Parliamentary E

By Jim Teeple
Jerusalem
25 January 2006

Palestinians are voting in their first parliamentary elections in ten years to select a new 132-seat Legislative¹ Council. Thousands of Palestinian police have been deployed² to provide election security, but nearly all Palestinian factions³ have pledged not to disrupt the vote.

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Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas smiles as he receives a card as a present from an election official, Wednesday Jan. 25, 2006
  

The elections are a contest between the ruling Fatah Party of Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, and the Islamic militant⁴ organization, Hamas, which is running under the party name of Reform and Change.

Polls show the ruling Fatah Party with a slight lead over Hamas, which has sworn to destroy Israel.

More than one million Palestinians are eligible⁵ to vote, including residents of East Jerusalem

"I think there are many hopes for Palestinians because this time is very special because you have many voices, Hamas, Fatah, and all of them are like a group of parties to bring Palestinians to freedom," said one woman who came to vote in the old city. 

A Palestinian voters arrive at a poll station to cast their votes for the parliamentary elections in Gaza city Wednesday Jan. 25, 2006   
  
Each voter can cast two ballots⁶. Half of the seats in the Palestinian Legislative Council will be decided⁷ by votes for national party lists, and the other half by voting in 16 local district elections. Each of the parties competing has to get at least two-percent of the vote to gain a seat in the legislature and six of the 11 parties contesting are expected to do so.

More than 300 international observers are in place to monitor the vote and post-election developments. Observer, Trine Mach, from Denmark says voting in the East Jerusalem post office she was monitoring was orderly, but voters did not have much privacy to cast their ballots.

"I think the fact that the post office people only knew recently that it was going to be a polling station makes it hard to stick to the procedures the same way," she said. "The only thing that could be a bit worrying is that people have to vote in public. There are no small rooms where they can go with their voting lists. They have to do it in front of everyone."

Palestinians will have until early evening to cast their ballots at more than one-thousand polling stations. Seven-hundred twenty-eight candidates are competing in districts and on party lists. Early results could be made public by late Wednesday night.

1 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。

2 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

3 factions   

组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gens also lives on in the "factions." 氏族此外还继续存在于“factions〔“帮”〕中。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• rival factions within the administration 政府中的对立派别

4 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

5 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

6 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 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。