VOA标准英语2009-Ukraine Prime Minister to Run for President

Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has announced her candidacy for the country's presidency¹, following the collapse² of coalition³ talks with the man who lost the previous election.
　
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko announcing that she will run for president following the collapse of talks between her party and opposition⁴ forces in parliament, 07 June 2009

In a Sunday address to the nation, Ukrainian Prime Minister Tymoshenko said Ukraine faces not only a global economic crisis, but a domestic constitutional crisis. She says Ukraine's supreme⁵ law creates antagonistic⁶ and mutually exclusive centers of decision-making, as well as chaos⁷, anarchy⁸ and a total absence of accountability in government.

She said gender⁹ should play no role in politics, but added that if Ukrainian male politicians lack courage, responsibility, dignity and honesty, then she has had enough of it.

Ms. Tymoshenko says in order to prove Ukrainians did not protest in vain on the country's squares and streets, she will be a candidate in the next presidential election, which she intends to win.

The protest she mentions refers to Ukraine's Orange Revolution, in which hundreds of thousands of people braved cold temperatures for several weeks in late 2004 to overturn a rigged presidential election. At the time, Ms. Tymoshenko was closely allied¹⁰ with Viktor Yushchenko, the winner of a court-mandated repeat election. But the two have since had a bitter falling out.

Ukraine's next presidential election is scheduled for no later than January 2010. Public-opinion polls indicate public support for the incumbent¹¹, Mr. Yushchenko, at below three percent. Ms. Tymoshenko's rating is pegged¹² at around 15 percent.

Ironically, the highest support is enjoyed by Viktor Yanukovych, the candidate who came out on top in the rigged 2004 vote. As leader of the so-called Party of Regions, his support is strongest in Ukraine's industrial and largely Russian-speaking east.

Ms. Tymoshenko's recent coalition talks with Mr. Yanukovych collapsed¹³. Both appeared interested in a power-sharing arrangement in which he would have taken over as president and she would have stayed as prime minister.

Mr. Yanukovych also rejected Ms. Tymoshenko's support for a constitutional change that would have given parliament the right to elect the president. In remarks televised Sunday, he said leaders should entrust¹⁴ their fate to the people.

Mr. Yanukovych says the president of the country should be chosen in direct national elections, particularly now, when the new Ukrainian president will need to carry out very difficult tasks, including perhaps, unpopular reforms.

The Regions Party leader agrees with Ms. Tymoshenko about the need for constitutional reforms, but warned changes so close to a presidential election would be hasty and could lack needed transparency. Mr. Yanukovych adds that coalition talks collapsed because a new government would not have time before presidential balloting¹⁵ to carry out an effective fight against the global economic crisis.

1 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。

2 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

3 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

4 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。

5 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。

6 antagonistic   

adj.敌对的

参考例句：

• He is always antagonistic towards new ideas.他对新思想总是持反对态度。
• They merely stirred in a nervous and wholly antagonistic way.他们只是神经质地，带着完全敌对情绪地骚动了一下。

7 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

8 anarchy   

n.无政府状态；社会秩序混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• There would be anarchy if we had no police.要是没有警察，社会就会无法无天。
• The country was thrown into a state of anarchy.这国家那时一下子陷入无政府状态。

9 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

10 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

11 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。

12 pegged   

v.用夹子或钉子固定( peg的过去式和过去分词 )；使固定在某水平

参考例句：

• They pegged their tent down. 他们钉好了账篷。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She pegged down the stairs. 她急忙下楼。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

13 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

14 entrust   

v.信赖，信托，交托

参考例句：

• I couldn't entrust my children to strangers.我不能把孩子交给陌生人照看。
• They can be entrusted to solve major national problems.可以委托他们解决重大国家问题。

15 balloting   

v.（使）投票表决( ballot的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Clark took a commanding leading in the early balloting. 在最初投票时，克拉克遥遥领先。 来自辞典例句
• The balloting had stagnated, he couldn't win. 投票工作陷于停顿，他不能得胜。 来自辞典例句