VOA标准英语2012--US Mormons Say They are Misunderstood Despite Romney Candidacy
时间:2019-01-13 作者:英语课 分类:VOA标准英语2012年(一月)
US Mormons Say They are Misunderstood Despite Romney Candidacy
It is story time at the Cook home. Two-year-old Tristan gets his work-weary father Dave Cook to read him one book after another before going to bed.
As Dave and his wife Andrea sit on the sofa with their two small children on their laps, the Cooks have the look of the all-American family. But they belong to one of the least understood faiths in America, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as the Mormon church is officially known.
"Some people know a lot about our church. Some people don't know anything about our church,” Dave Cook says. “There's a lot of misperceptions about Mormons."
Mormons make up less than 2 percent of the U.S. population, around 6 million people. Another 8 million Mormons live abroad. But in the United States, some of the misperceptions Dave Cook speaks of are being challenged.
With presidential hopeful and Mormon Mitt 1 Romney gaining momentum 2 in the bid for the Republican Party nomination 3, many LDS members are excited by the prospect 4 of a president from their faith. They are also conscious of the attention their faith is getting from media coverage 5 about the award-winning Broadway show, The Book of Mormon.
A new survey by The Pew Forum 6 on Religion & Public Life found that Mormons on the whole are satisfied with their lives. "This is a group that in many ways is thriving,” says researcher Greg Smith. “And this is a group that in many ways perceives a growing level of acceptance of themselves, of their faith on the part of other Americans."
But he adds that they are aware of the misgivings 7 many Americans have about their faith. "Lots of Mormons tell us that Mormons are discriminated 8 against in the United States. And two thirds of Mormons say they are not accepted, they are not seen as part of mainstream 9 American society," Smith said.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was founded in America in the 19th century. But Mormon prophet Joseph Smith was murdered in 1844 and his followers 10 were persecuted 11.
Last year, Texas pastor 12 Robert Jeffress made headlines when he suggested that Mitt Romney is not a Christian 13 and that Mormonism is a cult 14. The latter comment reflects a view held by about one-third of Americans, mainly evangelical Protestants, according to the Pew Forum.
"To me, it's just mind-boggling why people would be that disrespectful of anyone," says Dave Cook, adding that a Mormon president would be good for America.
"We're very patriotic 15. In fact, we even believe that the Founding Fathers [of the United States] were inspired of God to found this country."
The Pew survey found that three-quarters of Mormon who are registered to vote lean toward the Republican Party and hold conservative social views. Nearly twice as many Mormons as other Americans prefer a family in which the husband is the wage earner and the wife takes care of the home and children.
- I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日,我送给他一只棒球手套。
- Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。
- We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
- The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。
- John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
- Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。
- This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
- The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。
- There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
- This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。
- They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
- The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。
- I had grave misgivings about making the trip. 对于这次旅行我有过极大的顾虑。
- Don't be overtaken by misgivings and fear. Just go full stream ahead! 不要瞻前顾后, 畏首畏尾。甩开膀子干吧! 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
- His great size discriminated him from his followers. 他的宽广身材使他不同于他的部下。
- Should be a person that has second liver virus discriminated against? 一个患有乙肝病毒的人是不是就应该被人歧视?
- Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
- Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。
- the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
- The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。
- Throughout history, people have been persecuted for their religious beliefs. 人们因宗教信仰而受迫害的情况贯穿了整个历史。
- Members of these sects are ruthlessly persecuted and suppressed. 这些教派的成员遭到了残酷的迫害和镇压。
- He was the son of a poor pastor.他是一个穷牧师的儿子。
- We have no pastor at present:the church is run by five deacons.我们目前没有牧师:教会的事是由五位执事管理的。
- They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
- His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。
- Her books aren't bestsellers,but they have a certain cult following.她的书算不上畅销书,但有一定的崇拜者。
- The cult of sun worship is probably the most primitive one.太阳崇拜仪式或许是最为原始的一种。