时间:2018-12-02 作者:英语课 分类:VOA双语新闻 2012年11月


英语课

 


奥巴马希望打破 “第二任期诅咒”



President Barack Obama is preparing for a second four-year term after his re-election victory.  But second terms have not always been kind to recent U.S. presidents.


奥巴马总统11月早些时候赢得大选之后,正在为第二个任期做准备。奥巴马深知前几任总统的第二任期并非都很顺利。


In the wake of a rousing victory on election night, Obama vowed 1 to learn from supporters and critics alike in his second term.


奥巴马在选举日当晚对高呼“再当四年”的支持者发表了讲话。


“And whether I earned your vote or not I have listened to you, I have learned from you and you have made me a better president," said Obama. "I return to the White House more determined 2 and more inspired than ever about the work there is to do and the future that lies ahead.”


他说:“不管我是否赢得你的选票,我聆听你们的想法。我从你们那里学到了一些东西,你们使我成为更好的总统。我返回白宫连任的时候,对于我未来的任务和前途比以往更有决心,更受到鼓舞。”


Republicans are already adapting to the reality of a second Obama term, including House Speaker John Boehner.


包括众议院议长贝纳在内的共和党人已经在调整自己适应奥巴马连任的现实。


House Speaker John Boehner??“Mr. President, this is your moment.  We are ready to be led not as Democrats 3 or Republicans but as Americans," said Boehner.


贝纳说:“总统先生,这一刻是属于你的。我们准备接受你的领导,不是作为民主党人或共和党人,而是作为美国人。 ”


But if history is any guide, Obama may find his second term more challenging than his first, says former Reagan White House chief of staff Ken 4 Duberstein.


但是前里根政府的白宫办公厅主任杜伯尔斯坦说,如果历史可供借鉴的话, 奥巴马可能会发现,他的第二任期会更有挑战性。


“You know the history of second term presidents at least through World War II has been that inevitably 5 they go off track in their fifth or sixth year," said Duberstein. "Every second term president somehow finds a scandal, finds a difficulty, a mistake, and it gets elevated.”


他说:“总统连任的历史表明,至少是直到第二次世界大战以后,历届总统在第二任期--在第五年,第六年都会出岔子, 丑闻、困境、错误,都变得严重了。”


Richard Nixon won a landslide 6 re-election victory in 1972 but was forced to resign because of the Watergate scandal less than two years later.


理查德.尼克松1972年竞选连任时大获全胜,但是不到两年,就因水门事件被迫辞职。


Ronald Reagan’s reputation suffered because of the Iran-Contra scandal and Bill Clinton was impeached 7 over the Monica Lewinsky affair.


里根总统在伊朗门丑闻曝光后名誉受损,克林顿总统因为跟莫妮卡.莱文斯基的婚外情而受到弹劾。


George W. Bush was harshly criticized for his handling of Hurricane Katrina and unanticipated problems in Iraq.


小布什总统处理卡特里娜飓风备受非议。


President Obama says he’s well aware of what some historians call the ‘second term curse.’


奥巴马总统说,他深知有些历史学家所说的“第二任期诅咒”。


“I don’t presume that because I won an election that everybody suddenly agrees with me on everything," said Obama. "I’m more than familiar with all the literature about presidential overreach in second terms.  We are very cautious about that.”


他说:“我并不认为,因为我赢得了选举,每个人在每件事上就会突然同意我的看法。我很熟悉有关总统连任后因为过于雄心勃勃而失败的论述。我们非常小心。 ”


The president is wise to note the second term pitfalls 8 of his predecessors 9, says University of California historian Matthew Dallek.


加州大学的历史学者马修.达勒克说,这是明智的做法。


“So he’s very conscientious 10 of it and he’s signaling that he wants to be pragmatic and he doesn’t want the ‘world’ (everything), he’s not asking for ‘pie in the sky’ things and that he’s going to work in areas where he thinks that he can work in," said Dallek.


他说:“奥巴马对此很谨慎,他表示要务实,不好大喜功,不制定不可能实现的目标,他办事要在自己认为力所能及的范围内。”


It’s also important for the president to build political relationships, says former Reagan aide Duberstein.


前里根总统的助手杜伯尔斯坦说,总统要建立良好的关系,这很重要。


“President Reagan during the Iran-Contra incident, people wanted to believe him," said Duberstein. "He had a reservoir of goodwill 11.  President Obama to date doesn’t have those strong relationships.  That is something that I think he fundamentally has to address in these initial months of a second term.”


他说:“在伊朗门事件中, 人们愿意相信里根总统,因为他人缘非常好。奥巴马总统到目前为止并没有建立起这么良好的关系。我认为他在第二任期的头几个月应该解决这个问题。 ”


And so even as President Obama looks ahead to an ambitious second-term agenda, analysts 12 expect he will be mindful of some of the mistakes of his predecessors.


新当选的奥巴马总统在展望未来,同时他也注意到他的前任们在第二任期所犯的错误。




1 vowed
起誓,发誓(vow的过去式与过去分词形式)
  • 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 determined
adj.坚定的;有决心的
  • I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
  • He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。
3 democrats
n.民主主义者,民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )
  • The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
  • The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》
4 ken
n.视野,知识领域
  • Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
  • Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.
5 inevitably
adv.不可避免地;必然发生地
  • In the way you go on,you are inevitably coming apart.照你们这样下去,毫无疑问是会散伙的。
  • Technological changes will inevitably lead to unemployment.技术变革必然会导致失业。
6 landslide
n.(竞选中)压倒多数的选票;一面倒的胜利
  • Our candidate is predicated to win by a landslide.我们的候选人被预言将以绝对优势取胜。
  • An electoral landslide put the Labour Party into power in 1945.1945年工党以压倒多数的胜利当选执政。
7 impeached
v.控告(某人)犯罪( impeach的过去式和过去分词 );弹劾;对(某事物)怀疑;提出异议
  • Elected officials can be impeached. 经过选举产生的官员可以被弹劾。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The judge was impeached for taking a bribe. 这个法官被检举接受贿赂。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
8 pitfalls
(捕猎野兽用的)陷阱( pitfall的名词复数 ); 意想不到的困难,易犯的错误
  • the potential pitfalls of buying a house 购买房屋可能遇到的圈套
  • Several pitfalls remain in the way of an agreement. 在达成协议的进程中还有几个隐藏的困难。
9 predecessors
n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 );前辈;(被取代的)原有事物;前身
  • The new government set about dismantling their predecessors' legislation. 新政府正着手废除其前任所制定的法律。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Will new plan be any more acceptable than its predecessors? 新计划比原先的计划更能令人满意吗? 来自《简明英汉词典》
10 conscientious
adj.审慎正直的,认真的,本着良心的
  • He is a conscientious man and knows his job.他很认真负责,也很懂行。
  • He is very conscientious in the performance of his duties.他非常认真地履行职责。
11 goodwill
n.善意,亲善,信誉,声誉
  • His heart is full of goodwill to all men.他心里对所有人都充满着爱心。
  • We paid £10,000 for the shop,and £2000 for its goodwill.我们用一万英镑买下了这家商店,两千英镑买下了它的信誉。
12 analysts
分析家,化验员( analyst的名词复数 )
  • 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。
学英语单词
alphaeus
audiofrequency meter
berti
category of vessel
cetoniidaes
closed-loop telemetry system
coinstantanean
compoundness
conformal gravity
conical seat nozzle
cross-arm
crystal loudspeaker
cute
demand quantity
diversiphiles
Eames lounge chair
earth loop
education u.s. copyright act
european swifts
floury potato
Flowery Kingdom
general-purpose control system
Gepatsch, Speicher
Great Budworth
Greec
hanft
hapned
Holy Mother
hopping john
horsetail lichens
imprisonment with suspension of sentence
initial potential flowing
inlaced
intale weight
jetadmins
kachauris
kirkland warbler
kunthianum
labourable
Likma
locatively
magnetically soft ferrite
Malimo machine
matrix graphite
mini rugby
nagyagites
Nazko R.
nebracetam
neuromechanically
Newman algebra
nonontological
North Atlantic Radio-Telephone
nucleates
obligatoriness
oil off
orange leaf disease
oxidation semiconductor
pay full value for sth
peculate
pine siskins
PMSL
policedog
protferriheme
pythmic
radiculomyelopathy
raffles
rarefied hypersonic aerodynamics
rentes
resistivity prospecting
rifampicins
rotary locking spring
Rousseauean
run-time data area
sales-driven philosophy
salinity gradient energy
seismic recorder
semicopes
skin glands
skin sarcoid tumor
slab heating
special bill
Spitskop
squeezing tube
stayes
Stria longitudinalis lateralis
technoerotic
telemechanisms
ten-ton
third stage of labo(u)r
thrombophlebitides
to squeeze out
top-lines
training expense
transinterhemispheric approach
Transjordanian
trasal glands
triphenyl orthoformate
tyre-chain repairing pliers
UNPUB
velocity of wave propagation
Visoderm