时间:2019-01-03 作者:英语课 分类:2018年VOA慢速英语(五)月


英语课

 


Irish voters will decide on Friday whether to end the country’s ban on abortion 1 in most cases.


Voters will be asked in a referendum whether the country’s constitution should be changed to remove current restrictions 2 on abortion.


A constitutional amendment 3 banned all abortions 4 in Ireland in 1983. A change was made five years ago to permit abortions only in cases where the mother’s life was in danger. Thousands of Irish women seek abortions each year in Britain, where they are legal.


Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar’s government supports lifting current abortion restrictions.


If voters agree, the government will propose legislation to change the rules. Varadkar has said the legislation would permit women to have abortions with no restrictions up to 12 weeks into a pregnancy 5.


Recent public opinion studies suggest that there is more support for changing the existing law than for keeping it in place.


Campaigns on both sides of the issue grew intense leading up to the vote. Ireland is a majority Roman Catholic country. The Church opposes abortion.


Earlier this month, Prime Minister Varadkar criticized those opposed to abortion for some campaign advertising 6. His criticism centered on the use of images of people with Down Syndrome 7. Some ads had suggested that lifting current restrictions would lead to abortions of babies with the genetic 8 disorder 9.


Facebook and Google have moved to restrict or remove ads relating to the vote. The companies said concerns were raised about influence from unknown sources.


Lawmaker James Lawless is a technology spokesman for Ireland’s opposition 10 Fianna Fail party. He told the Associated Press that there are no rules for political campaigning on social media in Ireland.


“Somebody at the moment can throw any amount of money, from anywhere in the world, with any message - and there’s nothing anybody can do about it,” Lawless said.


The issue of social media’s role in elections has been raised in other countries as well. Facebook has admitted that Russian groups bought ads on its service in an effort to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Several European nations have also accused foreign groups of trying to influence elections through social media campaigns.


Craig Dwyer is with Ireland’s Transparent 11 Referendum Initiative. The volunteer group was set up to collect information on ads being used to target Irish Facebook users.


Dwyer said the group had collected and examined nearly 900 Facebook ads connected to the referendum. Many were placed by registered lobby groups, and most were inside Ireland.


But many others could either not be traced or were from overseas. Dwyer said some were linked to U.S.-based anti-abortion organizations.


I’m Bryan Lynn.


Words in This Story


referendum – n. election in which people in an area vote for or against an issue of public concern


abortion – n. a medical procedure used to end a pregnancy


source – n. where something comes from


moment – n. a very short period of time


lobby – n. an organized group of people who work together to influence government decisions that relate to a particular industry, issue, etc.


trace – v. find the origin of something


role –n. the part someone or something plays in an activity or a performance



n.流产,堕胎
  • She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
  • A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。
约束( restriction的名词复数 ); 管制; 制约因素; 带限制性的条件(或规则)
  • I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
  • a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制
n.改正,修正,改善,修正案
  • The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
  • The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。
n.小产( abortion的名词复数 );小产胎儿;(计划)等中止或夭折;败育
  • The Venerable Master: By not having abortions, by not killing living beings. 上人:不堕胎、不杀生。 来自互联网
  • Conclusion Chromosome abnormality is one of the causes of spontaneous abortions. 结论:染色体异常是导致反复自然流产的原因之一。 来自互联网
n.怀孕,怀孕期
  • Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
  • Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。
n.广告业;广告活动 a.广告的;广告业务的
  • 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。
n.综合病症;并存特性
  • The Institute says that an unidentified virus is to blame for the syndrome. 该研究所表示,引起这种综合症的是一种尚未确认的病毒。
  • Results indicated that 11 fetuses had Down syndrome. 结果表明有11个胎儿患有唐氏综合征。
adj.遗传的,遗传学的
  • It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
  • Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。
n.紊乱,混乱;骚动,骚乱;疾病,失调
  • When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后,他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
  • It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。
n.反对,敌对
  • 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。
adj.明显的,无疑的;透明的
  • The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明,可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
  • The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。
学英语单词
98
acidity
aerosol food
afghanistani
alloy irons
antibiolumphin
ashpan blower valve
automatic assembly
avi cable
bakeout degassing clamp
birchleaf pear
body-curved disease
bodywood
bottom relief map
Bozeman's position
bridge cloth
bullock blocks
bushing electric
call accepted signal
chondriomere
Cirbanal
close set
color constants
comebackers
commodity wastage
correptions
courier bag
Cunaxa
departmentation by process or equipment
electronic fire-control equipment
element name
encoded fields
end of astronomical evening twilight
engine pod
ensampling
epss network
featurism
ferret distemper virus
fiber-map
full electronic switching
gallucci
general-purpose diagnostic program
geographical north
geospatial engineering
glowfly
haberse
hardware stage
hexagonal mirror
hot penetration construction
Hudsonian godwit
Immobilon
interstitial distance (mather 1936)
investigation on audience
Krasnaya Polyana
layer-wound solenoid
leather loader
limestone neutralization treatment
maximal tubular excretory capacity
melanedema
natural rate of unemployment
nerr
non-coplanar transfer
norvasc
nosedives
OMR (optical mark reader)
optically positive
over bridges
partner with
Pashtunwali
patung series
paving stone degeneration of retina
permanent magnet moving coil meter
pivoted bucket carrier
plantar spaces
plunged into
prince fumimaro konoyes
prodan
psychoanalytical theory
Pterocles
pyrophoric lead
raw material of woodcharcaol
roller chamfer
schwab
Scythians
sequentially-lobed radar
signal smoke
signe de peau d'orange
slugft
So it goes
sp vol
spin space
Stackelberg decision theory
swansea
tandem electrostatic generator
terry swatch
the leaflets of the trifoliolate leaves
topochemical control
variable acceptance sampling
viscosity model
Warenford
weighing-appliance
zeomorphis