2006年VOA标准英语-Uganda Opinon Polls Say President Likely t

By Raymond Thibodeaux
Kampala
21 February 2006

When Ugandans go to the polls Thursday they will be voting in the country's first multi-party presidential election in 25 years and the country's current president, who has been in power for 20 years, appears likely to win another five-year term.

---------------------------------------------------

 
Supporters of Ugandan president at election rally
  

By noon, the parade grounds in Kampala, Uganda's capital, are already a swirl¹ of thousands of yellow-shirted revelers, blowing whistles, singing praise songs and holding aloft placards and effigies² of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.

Mashakalugo Abubakharcan, who is 29 years old, is an unemployed³ truck driver who hopes to get a glimpse of Mr. Museveni at this rally.

Like most Ugandans, he credits the president with bringing stability and a modicum⁴ of prosperity to a country recovering from decades of civil war and brutal⁵ repression⁶ at the hands of former dictators Milton Obote and Idi Amin. "At the time when it was Obote, we saw our parents were caned⁷. Others were killed. So we did not to come again into that period. That is why we support Museveni," he said.

Independent opinion polls show Mr. Museveni with a clear lead: 47 percent of those surveyed said they would vote for Mr. Museveni compared to 36 percent for his chief rival, Kizza Besigye. Some analysts⁸ are touting⁹ Uganda's election as a test of democracy in a region of Africa where democratic institutions, traditionally weak, appear to be getting weaker.

But some observers are saying that the battle for Uganda's highest office has not been a fair fight. Mr. Museveni took power in a military coup¹⁰ 20 years ago and has remained the country's leader.

Some Western governments that once hailed Mr. Museveni as a model of African leadership are now criticizing him for embarking¹¹ on a path eerily¹² similar to the autocrats¹³ he overthrew¹⁴.
 

Ugandan President Museveni at campaign rally   
  
In a fiery¹⁵ speech to about 20,000 cheering supporters at the campaign rally, Museveni chided Western governments and foreign donors¹⁶ for meddling¹⁷ into Uganda's domestic affairs.

The Museveni government lifted a ban on opposition¹⁸ parties last year, a move made under pressure from foreign donors, who provide nearly half the country's operating budget. But the president also shocked those same donors when he forced through a change in the constitution to scrap¹⁹ term limits, paving the way for him to run for a third five-year term.

When Besigye returned from exile in South Africa, where he had fled after a failed presidential bid in the 2001 election, Mr. Museveni had him thrown in jail on charges of treason and rape²⁰. Ugandan courts ruled last month that Besigye should be released on bail²¹, but he has been in and out of court hearings ever since, hobbling his presidential bid. He is is due back in court two weeks after the election.

Many Ugandans fear change because, since independence from Britain in 1961, Uganda has never had a peaceful transition of power.

Theodora Kaweesi, 36, a painter who lives in Kampala says she will vote for Mr. Museveni one last time. "I like him and I'm giving him my vote with love. And I am saying it is the last time because everything has a beginning and an end. I feel it will be fine for him to relax and we will see him as a good president like another president - for example, Mandela," she said.

With a Museveni win widely expected, some Ugandans are shifting their focus toward what might happen after the votes are counted. Images of Ethiopia's post-election violence are still vivid in the minds of many Ugandans.

1 swirl   

v.(使)打漩，(使)涡卷；n.漩涡，螺旋形

参考例句：

• The car raced roughly along in a swirl of pink dust.汽车在一股粉红色尘土的漩涡中颠簸着快速前进。
• You could lie up there,watching the flakes swirl past.你可以躺在那儿，看着雪花飘飘。

2 effigies   

n.（人的）雕像，模拟像，肖像( effigy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• stone effigies in the church 教堂里的石雕像
• On 5 November British children burn effigies of Guy Fawkes. 每逢11月5日英国儿童都焚烧盖伊．福克斯的模拟像。 来自辞典例句

3 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

4 modicum   

n.少量，一小份

参考例句：

• If he had a modicum of sense,he wouldn't do such a foolish thing.要是他稍有一点理智，他决不会做出如此愚蠢的事来。
• There's not even a modicum of truth in her statement.她说的话没有一点是真的。

5 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

6 repression   

n.镇压，抑制，抑压

参考例句：

• The repression of your true feelings is harmful to your health.压抑你的真实感情有害健康。
• This touched off a new storm against violent repression.这引起了反对暴力镇压的新风暴。

7 caned   

vt.用苔杖打（cane的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The gaoler caned the man. 狱卒用藤条鞭打这个人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I have caned my son when necessary. 必要时，我就用藤条打儿子一顿。 来自辞典例句

8 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

9 touting   

v.兜售( tout的现在分词 )；招揽；侦查；探听赛马情报

参考例句：

• He's been touting his novel around publishers for years. 他几年来一直到处找出版商兜售自己的小说。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Technology industry leaders are touting cars as a hot area for growth. 科技产业领袖吹捧为增长热点地区的汽车。 来自互联网

10 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

11 embarking   

乘船( embark的现在分词 )； 装载； 从事

参考例句：

• He's embarking on a new career as a writer. 他即将开始新的职业生涯——当一名作家。
• The campaign on which were embarking was backed up by such intricate and detailed maintenance arrangemets. 我们实施的战争，须要如此复杂及详细的维护准备。

12 eerily   

adv.引起神秘感或害怕地

参考例句：

• It was nearly mid-night and eerily dark all around her. 夜深了，到处是一片黑黝黝的怪影。 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译
• The vast volcanic slope was eerily reminiscent of a lunar landscape. 开阔的火山坡让人心生怪异地联想起月球的地貌。 来自辞典例句

13 autocrats   

n.独裁统治者( autocrat的名词复数 )；独断专行的人

参考例句：

• Still, the widespread pessimism doesn't explain the relatively high scores enjoyed by the autocrats. 不过，普遍的悲观情绪并没有解释为何独裁者得到相对较高的分数。 来自互联网

14 overthrew   

overthrow的过去式

参考例句：

• The people finally rose up and overthrew the reactionary regime. 人们终于起来把反动的政权推翻了。
• They overthrew their King. 他们推翻了国王。

15 fiery   

adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的

参考例句：

• She has fiery red hair.她有一头火红的头发。
• His fiery speech agitated the crowd.他热情洋溢的讲话激动了群众。

16 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 meddling   

v.干涉，干预（他人事务）( meddle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He denounced all "meddling" attempts to promote a negotiation. 他斥责了一切“干预”促成谈判的企图。 来自辞典例句
• They liked this field because it was never visited by meddling strangers. 她们喜欢这块田野，因为好事的陌生人从来不到那里去。 来自辞典例句

18 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

19 scrap   

n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废

参考例句：

• A man comes round regularly collecting scrap.有个男人定时来收废品。
• Sell that car for scrap.把那辆汽车当残品卖了吧。

20 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

21 bail   

v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人

参考例句：

• One of the prisoner's friends offered to bail him out.犯人的一个朋友答应保释他出来。
• She has been granted conditional bail.她被准予有条件保释。