VOA标准英语2012--Scandals and Mistakes Influence US Political Campaigns
时间：2019-01-13 作者：英语课 分类：VOA标准英语2012年(八月)
Scandals and Mistakes Influence US Political Campaigns
Just as Republicans were preparing to introduce Mitt 1 Romney to the nation, a little known U.S. Senate candidate sparked a controversy 2.
Congressman 3 Todd Akin 4 was asked if abortion 5 should be allowed for a victim of rape 6.
“If it is a legitimate 7 rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down,” Akin said.
Democrats 8 like President Barack Obama were quick to pounce 9. “The views expressed were offensive; rape is rape,” Obama said.
Akin apologized, but the damage was done as the media spotlight 10 shifted for Romney.
“The timing 11 could not be worse. The last thing Mitt Romney wants to focus on is abortion and social issues,” said Allan J. Lichtman, a political historian at American University.
The Sea of Galilee, where the Bible says Jesus walked on water, was the location for yet another embarrassing event.
During an official trip to Israel, Republican Congressman Kevin Yoder decided 12 to go skinny dipping. “It’s obviously a mistake and something I regret,” Yoder said.
Some mistakes cost candidates their careers.
Take Gary Hart. He was the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination 13 in the 1988 election, but was suspected of marital 14 infidelities.
He dared reporters to follow him and they discovered evidence that forced him out of the race, including this now-famous picture.
“Incredibly, having a beautiful blonde sitting on his lap aboard a ship called 'Monkey Business.' How much worse can you get in terms of self-destructing?,” Lichtman said.
Other politicians have survived scandal.
Former Washington Mayor Marion Barry has been a politician for 40 years.
He was active in the civil rights movement with Dr. Martin Luther King.
In 1990, however, he was captured on an FBI surveillance camera smoking crack cocaine 15 and served six months in prison.
Despite that setback 16, he was reelected mayor for a fourth term and at age 76 is now a city councilman.
“You sit and you look back and say why did I do this? What was going on in my head? You can’t do anything about that. That is done. What you can do is move forward,” Barry said.
The greatest recent example of a politician surviving scandal is former president Bill Clinton.
Despite an affair with a White House intern 17, he remains 18 a popular figure.
“And now he is going to be a featured speaker at the Democratic convention and they consider him a big plus,” Lichtman said.
It's anyone's guess when the next political scandal will erupt - or whether it will end in personal disgrace or political resurrection.
- 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。
- That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
- We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。
- He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
- The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。
- She painted flowers and birds pictures akin to those of earlier feminine painters.她画一些同早期女画家类似的花鸟画。
- Listening to his life story is akin to reading a good adventure novel.听他的人生故事犹如阅读一本精彩的冒险小说。
- 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。
- The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
- He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。
- Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
- That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。
- 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》
- Why do you pounce on every single thing I say?干吗我说的每句话你都要找麻烦？
- We saw the tiger about to pounce on the goat.我们看见老虎要向那只山羊扑过去。
- This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
- The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。
- The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
- The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。
- This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
- There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
- 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。
- Her son had no marital problems.她的儿子没有婚姻问题。
- I regret getting involved with my daughter's marital problems;all its done is to bring trouble about my ears.我后悔干涉我女儿的婚姻问题, 现在我所做的一切将给我带来无穷的烦恼。
- That young man is a cocaine addict.那个年轻人吸食可卡因成瘾。
- Don't have cocaine abusively.不可滥服古柯碱。
- Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
- She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。
- I worked as an intern in that firm last summer.去年夏天我在那家商行实习。
- The intern bandaged the cut as the nurse looked on.这位实习生在护士的照看下给病人包扎伤口。