VOA标准英语2013--Venezuelan Students Stage Hunger Strike for Election Reform

 

Venezuelan Students Stage Hunger Strike for Election Reform

About 25 university students have set up camp in downtown Caracas and have have vowed¹ not to eat for the ten days leading up to Sunday's presidential election. Tugomir Yepez says they are there to protest what they say is the ruling Socialist² party's unfair advantages over the opposition³ Unity⁴ party in the campaign and election.

“To be triumphant⁵ different parameters⁶ for the Unity candidate should exist and for this reason we are protesting and fighting for the enforcement of these just conditions,” Yepez said.

In recent polls, acting⁷ President Nicolas Maduro is leading opposition candidate Henrique Capriles by a significant margin⁸.

But the students say the process is not fair because President Maduro has unlimited⁹ access to state media - while Capriles is limited to three minutes per day of paid campaign advertising¹⁰.

President Maduro, like his predecessor¹¹ President Hugo Chavez, they say, also uses government resources and workers for campaign purposes.

They see officials at the National Electoral Council - who were selected by the Chavista-dominated National Assembly - as biased¹².

Some international election monitoring groups like the Carter Center have voiced concerns in the past about some of these issues such as unequal media access for candidates but have also praised the work of the National Electoral Council and have called the actual voting system in place free and fair.

The student hunger strikers are being closely monitored by Doctor Carlos Pacchano, who is worried about the long-term health effects the strike might have on some of the protesters.

“Some patients I believe, or I suspect in this case, can make it. But there are other patients, their bodies cannot operate in this form. Everybody has different metabolisms¹³ and in this case there are certain patients that won't make it till Sunday.” Pacchano said.

Despite the health risks, the students say they will continue their non-violent demonstration¹⁴ to push for election reforms. 

1 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

2 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。

3 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。

4 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

5 triumphant   

adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的

参考例句：

• The army made a triumphant entry into the enemy's capital.部队胜利地进入了敌方首都。
• There was a positively triumphant note in her voice.她的声音里带有一种极为得意的语气。

6 parameters   

因素，特征； 界限； （限定性的）因素( parameter的名词复数 )； 参量； 参项； 决定因素

参考例句：

• We have to work within the parameters of time. 我们的工作受时间所限。
• See parameters.cpp for a compilable example. This is part of the Spirit distribution. 可编译例子见parameters.cpp.这是Spirit分发包的组成部分。

7 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

8 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

9 unlimited   

adj.无限的，不受控制的，无条件的

参考例句：

• They flew over the unlimited reaches of the Arctic.他们飞过了茫茫无边的北极上空。
• There is no safety in unlimited technological hubris.在技术方面自以为是会很危险。

10 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

11 predecessor   

n.前辈，前任

参考例句：

• It will share the fate of its predecessor.它将遭受与前者同样的命运。
• The new ambassador is more mature than his predecessor.新大使比他的前任更成熟一些。

12 biased   

a.有偏见的

参考例句：

• a school biased towards music and art 一所偏重音乐和艺术的学校
• The Methods: They employed were heavily biased in the gentry's favour. 他们采用的方法严重偏袒中上阶级。

13 metabolisms   

n.新陈代谢( metabolism的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Garden snails are evolving slower metabolisms. 花园蜗牛新陈代谢进化缓慢。 来自互联网
• Elite swimmers tend to be born with certain advantages, such as superefficient metabolisms. 精华的游泳者趋于与某个优点出生，例如superefficient新陈代谢。 来自互联网

14 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。