VOA标准英语2010年-Ivorian Presidential Candidates Hit Ca

Official campaigning has begun in Ivory Coast's long-delayed presidential race, as election officials continue preparations for the vote on October 31st.

This weekend, Ivory Coast's 14 presidential candidates officially hit the campaign trail, raising hopes the country will hold its much-awaited poll at the end of this month, after five years of delays. The election is intended to bring an end to nearly a decade of political crisis after a 2002 civil war split the country between north and south.

Former prime minister and a lead opposition¹ candidate, Alassane Ouattara, launched his campaign Friday at a rally in Abidjan. Addressing the crowd, Mr. Ouattara said this is history. He said it starts "today" at this "precise moment" and will take shape on October 31st for all Ivorians. He said the people of the nation can give a better future to their country by putting the destiny of Ivory Coast in the hands of a man who knows what he is doing.

If elected, Mr. Ouattara promised to continue on the path of reconciliation² and form a government composed of diverse political forces and civil society members.

In the capital city of Yamoussoukro, Mr. Ouattara is to take part in a meeting with other leaders of the country's main opposition coalition³, including electoral rival and former president Henri Konan Bedie. The group will discuss plans for a shared government, should an opposition candidate win the race.

In the far west of the country, Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo officially opened his campaign in the town of Man, the site of some of the worst fighting during the civil war. Mr. Gbagbo said he will bring places of work. He said it is because young people do not have work and have been lied to that they took up weapons. A young man who works, he says, does not take up arms.

Mr. Gbagbo also reiterated⁴ promises to nearly double the country's cocoa production and build a grinding factory in every cocoa-producing region. Ivory Coast is the world's top cocoa producer, and investors⁵ hope the election will clear the way for much-needed reforms to the sector⁶.

In Man, election authorities are distributing voter and identity cards. It is an important, and richly symbolic⁷, step for Ivorians, as the questions of "who is Ivorian" and "who can vote" were at the heart of the civil war and repeated electoral delays.

The head of the card distribution center in Man, Sinaly Diomande, said the ID card is like a diamond for Ivorians. He said that's because once they receive their ID card, their face changes. Diomande said voters feel they have received something worth millions, even though it is just a national Ivorian ID card.

Election observers, however, said much remains⁸ to be done before October 31st, including training polling staff and putting in place systems to tabulate⁹ results.

Analysts¹⁰ said this first round of polling is likely to be a tight contest between the top three candidates, Gbagbo, Bedie and Ouattara. There are concerns that disputes over results could reignite violence.

The United Nations has begun deploying¹¹ an additional 500 peacekeepers to Ivory Coast to support the Ivorian force responsible for security during the election. According to Ouagadougou peace accords, half of those 8,000 Ivorian soldiers will come from government troops and the other half from the former rebel factions¹² in the north.
 

1 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。

2 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

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 reiterated   

反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• "Well, I want to know about it,'she reiterated. “嗯，我一定要知道你的休假日期，"她重复说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Some twenty-two years later President Polk reiterated and elaborated upon these principles. 大约二十二年之后，波尔克总统重申这些原则并且刻意阐释一番。

5 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

6 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

7 symbolic   

adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的

参考例句：

• It is symbolic of the fighting spirit of modern womanhood.它象征着现代妇女的战斗精神。
• The Christian ceremony of baptism is a symbolic act.基督教的洗礼仪式是一种象征性的做法。

8 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。

9 tabulate   

v.列表，排成表格式

参考例句：

• It took me ten hours to tabulate the results.我花了十个小时把结果制成表格。
• Let me tabulate the results as follows.让我将结果列表如下。

10 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。

11 deploying   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的现在分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Provides support for developing and deploying distributed, component-based applications. 为开发和部署基于组件的分布式应用程序提供支持。
• Advertisement, publishing, repair, and install-on-demand are all available when deploying your application. 在部署应用程序时提供公布、发布、修复和即需即装功能。

12 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